June 19, 2013

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Graduation = No Prayer

May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Graduation-No Prayer

It’s that time of year again as students who have spent the last 12 years of their life prepare to transition from high school into “the real world”.   Caps, gowns, graduation practice and rehearsals…the official banning of anything Christian…wait what?  It seems every year during the graduation season, organizations such as Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) seek-out schools, that are struggling financially, and threaten to take them to court if they allow prayer or religious songs during the high school graduation ceremony.

In fact, a Georgia school district has fallen victim to the efforts of FFRF.  The school district will no longer allow prayers or songs with religious references at graduation ceremonies after a Wisconsin group threatened to file a lawsuit and suggested that forcing non-Christian students to listen to religious music was a form of bullying.

“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples. But Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’” (Luke 19:39-40)

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/school-bans-religious-graduation-songs.html

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Out of the Mouths of Babes

January 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Out of the Mouths of Babes-Scott Liddell

Photograph by Scott Liddell

My daughter and son-in-law have decided to home-school their children for now.  Last Monday my daughter gave my five (5) year-old grand-daughter her writing assignment.  It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day so my daughter explained to her why our country was celebrating and what the man had accomplished.  Here is the final paper my grand-daughter wrote on the computer:

“you should not judge people by the color of their skin.  it is very rude and disrespectful.  also it will hurt that person’s feelings.  it doesn’t matter what color is on your skin because it does not have anything to do with the way the brain is or how people act.  instead you should watch how people are to other people.  that will tell you more than skin will.”

From the mouth of a five (5) year-old to the ears of the world… 

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Feel Good Friday: The Golden Rule

January 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Golden Rule

Five years ago, a janitor at a Washington State high school won $3.4 million dollars in the State lottery.  Today, he still keeps the high school cafeteria floors clean and in tip-top shape as he performs his daily sweeping task.  When he completes his cleaning duties, he then heads off to coach the track and field team.

 The janitor’s name is Tyrone and in a recent interview he said, “Ten years ago, I said if I win some money, I’m going to put a track here,” and that’s exactly what he did when he recently gave his boss a check for $40,000.   However, Tyrone’s charitable heart does not stop there.

The house he lived in before he won the lottery is still his place of residency where he and his wife love to open up their home to their neighborhood.  In addition, Tyrone likes to help out in the kitchen at school because he knows for some of the kids, that lunch meal may be the only hot meal they will get during the day.

Tyrone went on to say, “I always remember my mom’s words: ‘You can have somethin’, but that person next to you might not have anything. If you look out for that someone, they’ll look out for you.’ ”  Sounds like Tyrone lives by the “Golden Rule” found in Luke Chapter 6, Verse 31,“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”  Here’s to Tyrone…thank you for being a great example of what we can be like if we build our life’s foundation on solid ground.

Enjoy Your Weekend :)

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43465344/ns/today-good_news/t/he-won-million-then-went-back-work-janitor

 

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God Has Your Back

December 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo by Aleksandra P.

When does one become qualified to babysit? Is there a specific age or grade level that accurately measures a person’s ability to watch and protect another human being?  My oldest daughter used to get hired to babysit when she was in middle school; then again she was 12 going on 38.

However, a 39-year-old woman was arrested for leaving three of her children under the care of her oldest child who is 13.  When I first read the article I thought it was going to tell me that the mom abandoned her children because she was high or intoxicated but that was not the case.  She left her children for a short period of time so she could go to church (well that was different).  So what’s the problem?

The problem is that the four year old wandered into the yard across the street alone and the neighbor called the police.  Some people are criticizing the mom, while others are pointing fingers at the neighbor for not being very neighborly.  In my opinion there must be more to this story before we can read an article like this and then cast judgment on the mom or the neighbor.

I feel sorry for the mom. I do not know what to think about the neighbor, but I know God protected the little child when he or she crossed the street.   Stories like this make you wonder how many times God has protected you and me without us even knowing it.

http://www.everydayfamily.com/blog/mother-arrested-for-using-13-yr-old-as-babysitter/

 

 

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Battlefield: Missouri

September 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The State of Missouri has certainly stepped into the “battlefield” so to speak.  Last month, a law which the citizens voted into place went into effect.  It is a law to ensure that a “worship” service cannot be interrupted.   The ACLU has taken offense to this law and is now challenging its content.  Next, the people are seeking an amendment to the state constitution that would include school children being allowed to voluntarily pray to God if they chose to do so.  Here are highlights from both issues:

With the first issue, the law now makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally disturb or interrupt a “house of worship” with profane language, rude or indecent behavior or noise that breaks the solemnity of the service.

In the second issue, the Missouri Constitution would be amended to ensure that the right of Missouri citizens to express their religious beliefs should not be infringed upon.  Along with school children having the right to pray and acknowledge God voluntarily in their schools. Finally,  all public schools shall display the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

Below is the first amendment to the Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

http://fox2now.com/2012/09/11/judge-weighs-missouri-disturbing-worship-law/

http://fox2now.com/2012/08/07/poll-does-missouri-need-a-right-to-prayer-amendment/

 

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Sex Education

June 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Fifth grade students at Onalaska Elementary School in the State of Washington just recently received an eye opening and mind disturbing, sex education lecture from their school principal.

It appears the principal thought it was a good idea to talk to these 10 and 11-year-old children about oral and anal sex during the state adopted sex education lesson.  There is no indication that the principal taught abstinence on this topic; instead she gave a graphic description as to how these acts are performed.

We sure have ventured a long way off from having our schools teach reading, writing, and arithmetic.  The idea of having our teachers handle the sex education for our children does not seem to be going so well.  Here are some disturbing statistics from Kaiser Family Foundation:

  • Genital herpes has grown by 30% in the last two decades; more than one in five people over the age of 12-45 million Americans-are now infected with this incurable viral STD.
  • The diagnosis of symptomatic genital warts has risen dramatically during the last two decades and its asymptomatic counterparts, HPV infections of the cervix and vagina, have emerged as the most common STD among young, sexually active people. While some 5.5 million new HPV infections occur each year, it is estimated that at least 20 million people have been infected with HPV.
  • Despite the availability of a vaccine, 77,000 new sexually transmitted cases of hepatitis B (HBV) occur annually; 750,000 people are now infected with sexually transmitted HBV.
  • The annual number of new HIV cases in the United States has been stable for several years, with about half of new cases-20, 000 infections per year-acquired through sexual transmission, and the majority of new cases occurring among minorities. About 560,000 people are now infected with HIV as a result of sexually transmission.

Maybe it is time we go back to the biblical foundation of how to raise our children.  Proverbs Chapter 22, Verse 6 gives parents this advice, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/parents-furious-after-school-teaches-5th-graders-about-oral-anal-sex.html

http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/1445-std_qa.cfm

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1 Way To Celebrate Mediocrity

June 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It amazes me how we continue to invent ways to celebrate mediocrity and then wonder why we are struggling to compete on a global basis.  Below is an excerpt from the news article that created my cause for concern:

“Dustin Do, 16, scored the 2012 BMW 128 Coupe, but it was his parents who were feeling lucky:  They get to drive the $36,000 car until their son comes of age.  Dustin, a sophomore at Sam Houston High School in Arlington, was one of 10 local students randomly selected from a pool of students who didn’t miss a day of school for the last six weeks.”

Not missing a day of school for six weeks earns this student a brand new BMW?  I truly hope this is a misprint.  Not missing school for six years may be something to celebrate but not six weeks.  If we continue to lower the bar of the exceptional then for the first time in our society we will no longer strive for excellence because we will have truly lost sight of the meaning.

According to the Encarta Dictionary, the word “excellence” is defined as “The quality or state of being outstanding and superior.”  With this definition in mind, here is what the Bible has to say in Philippians Chapter 4, Verse 8:

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

For what it is worth, I am proud of Dustin for not missing school for six weeks…but a new BMW?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/08/kid-wins-car-cant-drive-it-off-lot/

 

 

 

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6 Commandments

June 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In a follow up blog from my Monday’s blog entitled 10 Commandments, I have attached an article that sums up why we can’t reduce them to the 6 Commandments.  This was the suggestion by the judge that oversaw the Giles County School Board case which was mentioned in my Monday’s blog. 

The link below is an amazingly written blog and I would highly recommend everyone to take 1 minute out of your day and read what the author, Lauren Green, has to say on this topic.  Please be patient, the link may take a few seconds to load.  Enjoy: 

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/11/ten-commandments-theologically-cant-be-six/

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10 Commandments

June 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Cecil B. DeMille Film

If nothing else, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is relentless in their pursuit of the 10 Commandments.  They recently sued on behalf of a student that did not like the 10 Commandments being displayed on the wall at Narrows High School in Roanoke, Virginia.  The result…the Giles County School Board voted to have it removed.

In turn, the school board voted unanimously to replace The Commandments with a copy of a page from a history textbook that mentions the Ten Commandments in conjunction with American government and morality.

Here is a list of the 10 Commandments, least we forget:

  1. Do not worship any other gods.
  2. Do not make any idols.
  3. Do not misuse the name of God.
  4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
  5. Honor you father and mother.
  6. Do not murder.
  7. Do not commit adultery.
  8. Do not steal.
  9. Do not lie.
  10. Do not covet.

 

 

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