One bit of actual good news is this report on a 30 year old church run affordable housing program that actually works and has not resulted in the foreclosures that are behind our current financial crisis.

Many affordable housing programs and their proponents are to blame for this mess, including ACORN.

However, there's one notable example of an affordable housing program that has avoided the foreclosure fate thus far.

Read the whole article!

Newt Gingrich delivers a powerful history lesson in this video clip, and in the process shows how much of an idiot Charlie Gibson is.

George Santayana said:

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

May we learn.

HT GatewayPundit

La Shawn Barber tells the story today of Gianna Jessen:

Jessen’s teenage mother attempted to kill her via a saline solution procedure when she was seven and a half months pregnant. During this despicable procedure, a so-called doctor injects saline into the woman’s stomach, and the solution poisons the baby as he swallows and burns his skin. The baby dies, and the mother goes into labor, delivering a dead baby. ...

Jessen miraculously survived but suffered injuries as a result of the abortion attempt. She developed cerebral palsy. Jessen’s mother put her up for adoption, which she should have done in the first place instead of trying to kill her. Today, Jessen is a Christian and pro-life advocate who has testified before the U.S. Congress and the British House of Commons. Since 2005, she’s run in two marathons.

 

I have posted before here and here about Obama's votes against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.  As Obama said himself when denying he had done what we have multiple official proofs (including an audio recording) he had done, "It defies common sense and it defies imagination ..."  Of course he was speaking of those who were telling the truth about his actions, not the evil he had supported. 

I wonder what Obama would do if confronted by Gianna Jessen?  Andrew at Founding Bloggers writes:

I am not religious, or a card carrying member of the right. I am pro-choice! And this ad is absolutely devastating.

Gateway Pundit writes:

This is the defining ad of the campaign season...

How can any decent human being let alone anyone who calls themselves Christian watch this ad and read Gianna Jessen's story and still vote for Obama?

My friend Scott Ross (I engineered his radio program back in 1970 - 1971) sent the following email to me today:

Here is a video link of Sarah Palin (forwarded to me by a pastor I used to pastor) being prayed for in her home church in Alaska, and commissioning some young people to go do missionary work. She in turn is prayed for by her pastors. She says nothing political & all this preceded her being chosen by John McCain as his running mate for VP.

Those of you who know me know that I'm apolitical. I do not support or oppose any candidate for public office, and neither does The Christian Broadcasting Network. In no way would I have you construe this to be a political endorsement of any candidate.

After all as Jesus said, "My Kingdom (Democrat, Republican, Independent or otherwise) is NOT of this world."

Praying that God's will would be done in this election season.

Thanks,

Scott

Click here to see this 14 minute video (requires Flash Player).

 

The statement of the Palin family today:

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

Obama said a little while ago:

“Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby."

As Michelle Malkin said:

"One ticket sees this as a blessing. The other sees it as a curse. Could the core differences between the two be any starker?"

 

John McCain selected Governor Sarah Palin (pronounced pale-in) of Alaska to be his running mate, and a lot of folk are asking "Sarah who?"  In an attempt to answer that question I have compiled the following bio.

Sarah Palin was born in Idaho and moved to Alaska as a child.

Known as "Sarah Barracuda" on the basketball court she helped her High School team win the state championship.  She also led the team in prayers before each game and is an evangelical Christian.

She married her high school sweetheart Todd Palin.  They have 5 children.  A strong Pro-Lifer, she refused to abort her youngest Trig, born while she was governor, when tests showed he had Downs Syndrome.  Her oldest Track, was named after the sport.  He has joined the Army and is about to be deployed to Iraq.

She was a "hockey Mom" who started in politics in the PTA then became mayor of Wasilla (her hometown near Anchorage).  She was Chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004, and the Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but quit in 2004 in protest against ethical violations by the Alaska Republican Chairman, a member of the Commission.  She went on to defeat the Republican Governor of Alaska in the primary on an anti-corruption platform, and then won the general election.

As governor she cut state spending in Alaska, killed the "bridge to nowhere", and is a big proponent of developing Alaska's oil and gas resources to help the USA become energy independent.  She is not, however, willing to give the big oil companies what they want when she sees that as going against the interests of her state and nation.  Her husband Todd quit his 17 year position with BP to avoid even an appearance of conflict of interest, when that company became involved in negotiations with his wife's administration over a gas pipeline.

She is opposed to same sex marriage, but vetoed a bill blocking health benefits for the partners of gay public employees.

When she needed money to go to college she entered beauty contests.  She won Miss Wasilla and was runner up in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest.

She hunts, ice-fishes, and is a crack shot.  She is a Life Member of the NRA.

She has sued the Federal government to stop the listing of polar bears as an endangered species, and has a grizzly bear her father shot covering the sofa in her office.

Back when pot was legal in Alaska, she tried it.  "I can’t claim a Bill Clinton and say I never inhaled."

Todd Palin is a Union Steelworker who worked part of the year in the oil fields of Alaska for BP.  The rest of the year he runs a small commercial fishing operation.  He is part Yupik Eskimo and a 4 time winner of the 2000 mile Iron Dog snowmobile race. Last year he earned $93,000 total.

We know this because as governor Sarah Palin pushed through a strong financial disclosure law.  There is far more detail in the Palin's disclosure forms posted on the Internet, than there are in the Federal forms of our Senators and Representatives.

Ed Morrissey gives the background on how McCain came to select Sarah Palin.

Professor John Mark Reynolds writes about how Sarah Palin's experience is being undervalued.

Here is a side by side comparison of Sarah Palin and Barak Obama.

Here is the comparison in pdf form for easy printing.

Andrew C. McCarthy has a powerful article on Obama's support for Infanticide.

"There wasn’t any question about what was happening. The abortions were going wrong. The babies weren’t cooperating. They wouldn’t die as planned. Or, as Illinois state senator Barack Obama so touchingly put it, there was “movement or some indication that, in fact, they’re not just coming out limp and dead.”

No, Senator. They wouldn’t go along with the program. They wouldn’t just come out limp and dead.

They were coming out alive. Born alive. Babies. Vulnerable human beings Obama, in his detached pomposity, might otherwise include among “the least of my brothers.” But of course, an abortion extremist can’t very well be invoking Saint Matthew, can he? So, for Obama, the shunning of these least of our brothers and sisters — millions of them — is somehow not among America’s greatest moral failings."

Read the whole thing!

Of course given Obama's obvious lack of concern for "the least of my brothers" why does it not surprise me that he has a half brother George Obama living in a hut in Nairobi, Kenya.  La Shawn Barber has the story.

"The Telegraph reports that George Obama, Barack Obama’s half-brother, subsists on less than a dollar a month in a hut in Nairobi, Kenya. He says he’s ashamed of his poverty and doesn’t tell people he’s related to America’s first black major party presumptive presidential nominee.

Assuming he didn’t know how his brother was living (benefit of the doubt, and all that), I wonder what Barack Obama will do to help him now, in light of his “we still don’t spend enough time thinking about the least of these” lecture on Saturday at the Saddleback Civil Forum."

 

The more folk look at Obama's claim that National Right to Life was lying about his record, the worse that record looks.

Erik Erickson posts a transcript.

Joel Mowbray looks at who is telling the truth.

David Reinhard looks at the coverup.

Guy Benson puts Obama's position this way:

"Put crudely, once a woman chooses to abort, she’s entitled to a dead baby."

Change & Experience has the audio of Obama arguing against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.  Contrast that to his claim on CBN:

"He added that it was "ridiculous" to suggest he had ever supported withholding lifesaving treatment for an infant. "It defies common sense and it defies imagination, and for people to keep on pushing this is offensive," he said in the CBN interview."

 

Scott Johnson of Power Line just crafted a great way of putting Obama's position on abortion:

"Those who have dug into his record in the Illinois senate, however, have found evidence that Obama is a devout believer in what might be called the sacramental or positive good view of abortion: nothing can be allowed to interfere with the unfettered exercise of the purported right, including the accident of an infant born alive."

This was in response to Obama's refusal to give a straight answer to Rick Warren of Saddleback Church on abortion.

Obama also claimed over the weekend on CBN that:

"anti-abortion groups were "lying" about his record.

"They have not been telling the truth," Mr. Obama said. "And I hate to say that people are lying, but here's a situation where folks are lying."

He added that it was "ridiculous" to suggest he had ever supported withholding lifesaving treatment for an infant. "It defies common sense and it defies imagination, and for people to keep on pushing this is offensive," he said in the CBN interview."

However according to the voting records from the Illinois state Senate, it was Obama who was lying on CBN and not the "anti-abortion groups".

Listen to Obama's remarks before Planned Parenthood (the largest abortion provider in the USA) to hear him deal with the subject of abortion in a forthright way that stands in direct contrast to his response to Rick Warren and his claims on CBN.

While addressing the folk at Planned Parenthood (the largest abortion provider in the USA) Obama said that his first act as President would be to overturn the ban on "partial birth abortion".  He said "On this issue, I will not yield."

La Shawn Barber comments:

    "In contrast, John McCain, a man I’ll reluctantly, with a strenuous effort, vote for in November, said this about partial birth abortion:

    'I will do everything in my power to ban that horrible procedure.'

    Now, it doesn’t matter to me whether McCain is a Christian or not. At the very least, he’s against so-called partial birth abortion, and that’s good enough for me. When it comes to unborn life, I will not yield. Any Obama supporter who claims to be a Christian ought to be ashamed."

I stand with La Shawn on this issue.

One of my all time favorite T shirts was made by my friends at Jesus People USA.  On the front it has a picture of Jesus, and the question "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?"  On the back it has a quote from C.S. Lewis "You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God."

La Shawn Barber quotes the entire passage from C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity" the above is taken from and uses it as a springboard to examine Barak Obama's claim to be a Christian.  The key quote for me in her post is:

"Must our president be a Christian? In my opinion, no. I’d vote for an atheist, as long as he’s socially conservative. But I have BIG problems with someone who professes Christ and tries to appeal to Christians through “faith,” when his words and deeds indicate he is NOT a Christian."

Read the entire thing.

Real Clear Politics VP Watch points out today that Mike Huckabee is campaigning against Romney.  One of the more interesting observations they make is that "As Martin also notes, this is about presidential politics. If Romney is on the ticket and McCain wins, Romney is immediately heir apparent in 2012 or 2016, cutting out Huckabee."

Romney did extremely well here in Colorado, and as my post below shows, Colorado will be an extremely important state this election.

There are those who are against Romney because he is Mormon.  To them I can only point out that like Obama, the worst president in my lifetime, and maybe in history, was the self-proclaimed "christian" Jimmy Carter.  Carter never met a dictator he did not like, and never misses a chance to speak ill of the USA and Isreal.  Give me a President and Vice-President who love our country and support the right to life (even if less strongly than I might like) no matter what their religion, any day over a Carteresque candidate who is ashamed of our country and is OK with murdering children who survived abortions, but calls himself a "christian".

Power Line in a post today titled "Reverend Wright, who is that?" examines Obama's claim to be a Christian.  Some key quotes:

"It is undisputed that Obama was a non-believer until the latter half of the 1980s. After that, it is undisputed that Jeremiah Wright ... inspired Obama to join his church."

and

"Obama is distorting his religious views, either by pretending that he is a believer or by obscuring the radical nature of his religious beliefs.

"On its face, it seems audacious for someone who has been revealed as the follower of a fanatical, hate-mongering minister to be touting his religious faith."

Read the whole thing.

Dr. Earl Tilford writing in the Jewish Press has an excellent Op-Ed on the problem the "Christian Left" has with Israel.   The article is excellent and well worth your time to read.  One point he makes is that "Definitive truth, righteousness, and sinfulness are concepts alien to a Christian Left that denies the existence of evil (except as it applies to political and religious conservatives, “big oil,” and anyone who questions the left’s assumptions)."

This is similar to my often stated view that the Left does not believe in "evil" other than violence.  To many on the Left, all violence is EVIL and can never be justified.  This of course opposes all use of military force.  As Dr. Tilford writes "Further, Israel does something Christian leftists find incomprehensible: it uses military power to defend itself."  I believe things are even worse on the Left than he claims, as many of those on the Left believe that the mere fact that Israel has and uses military force PROVES Isreal to be evil.  This of course does not only apply to Israel, but also to the USA.  Much of the loathing of our country by those on the Left is due to the fact we have a powerful military and use it.

Of course the use of force by all the truly evil regimes and dictators around the world is excused by the Jimmy Carter Left who have never found a despotic government they did not favor.

HT to Free Republic for the link to the Op-Ed.

Family Research Council Action has just published links to many Voter Guides, including the Colorado Voter's Guide published by Rocky Mountain Family Council. RMFC has taken positions on many of the Amendments and Referendum on the ballot this November.

Christian Coalition of Colorado has just published their Voter Guide in conjunction with Christian Family Alliance of Colorado.  The Alliance has voter guides for all 7 Colorado Congressional races available here.  Christian Coalition of America the national organization, has a Voter Guide for Colorado Congressional Districts 4 and 7.

Focus on the Family has lots of general information of interest, and their political action wing Focus on the Family Action has lots of voting information.  Focus on the Family Action together with Family Research Council Action has just published their 2006 Voter Scorecard.  It shows the votes of all members of the US House and Senate on key issues, and rates the members.  Here in Colorado, Bob Beauprez who is running for Governor received a 100% rating, as did Marilyn Musgrave and Thomas Tancredo, both of whom are running for re-election.

The Colorado Catholic Conference has just published a Letter to the Faithful signed by Archbishop Chaput urging support for marriage, and in particular voting for Amendment 43 and against Referendum I.

Gun Owners of America has just released their 2006 Congressional Candidate Ratings Guide.

The Hill has just published commentary on the NJ Supreme Court decision demanding the NJ legislature pass Gay Marriage or Civil Unions.

The hate mail and phone calls from groups opposed to our great representative Marilyn Musgrave have been coming regularly.  One recent mailing tries to smear Rep Musgrave as corrupt, and to try to fool folk into believing they are a pro life group, call themselves "Coloradians for Life".  Another mailing tries to falsely paint Marilyn as a tax and spender who is running up our national debt.  This mailing comes from a leading "Gay Rights" group.  Since Marilyn Musgrave is a strong supporter of traditional marriage, they will do anything they can to defeat her.  They could care less about the debt, but to try to get conservatives to not vote they put out misleading stuff like this.

Be sure to vote Tuesday!

I will be adding to this post new sources as I find them.

Dean Barnett today posted 10 questions and answers about Israel and the situation in the mid-east.

"1) What would happen if all the Arab nations and their terrorist proxies like Hezbollah set down their arms and gave up their ambitions to drive Israel into the sea?

"There would be peace in the Middle East.

"2) What would happen if Israel disbanded the IDF, junked its nuclear weapons and declared to its neighbors that she would do anything to live in peace?

"Israel would be annihilated, millions of its citizens killed. The term genocide could be used to describe the ensuing holocaust, but since that term has been so hopelessly debased by American academics, a new term would have to be created like super-duper-mega genocide to really capture the nature of things."

That is about as good a short summary of the situation as any I have heard. Go read the whole post.

Charles Krauthammer identified Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency -- nay -- the very existence of George W. Bush."

Dr. Sanity now exponds on Christianophobia or Christianity Derangement Syndrome (CDS) defined as "The excacerbation of acute and severe paranoia about the imminent imposition of a Christian theocracy in the U.S.; in an individual already suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome as a reaction to the very existence of (1) the Christian religion; (2) the practitioners of Christianity; and (3) symbols of Christianity anywhere within the culture; while simultaneously completely ignoring and dismissing any threat from the religious fanatics of Islam who repeatedly and clearly have stated that their goal is the imposition of a world-wide Islamic theocracy (or "Caliphate")".

While Dr Sanity has a point, I think those suffring from CDS have been around far longer than those suffering from BDS and that instead of CDS being a subset of BDS the other way around may be closer to the truth.

Two very recent examples of CDS are "The Da Vinci Code" and Time magazine's article by Andrew Sullivan "My Problem with Christianism". "The Da Vinci Code" of course is the virulently anti-Christian and anti-Catholic work of fiction which in book form clearly stated it was a novel, but Sony Pictures has refused to so label the movie version. "My Problem with Christianism" on the other hand is merely the latest example of someone who denies the doctrines of Christianity insisting loudly he is a better Christian than those who follow Christian doctrine.

For those who have questions about "The Da Vinci Code" a good place to start is Dr. Mark D. Roberts "The Da Vinci Opportunity".

For those with more basic questions about Christianity and Christian doctrine I recommend C. S. Lewis' "Mere Christainty".

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7

Today Power Line has a post titled "Sound and Unsound Minds". In in John Hinderaker links to Dr. Sanity, a psychiatrist/blogger on Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS). In it he quotes Charles Krauthammer's definition of BDS "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency -- nay -- the very existence of George W. Bush."

I was reminded of this yesterday by the comment I received on my Quote of the Day for 11/3/05. In the comment he took exception to the quote. I replied, but today would like to expand on part of my remark "This is the real problem for Christians in the Democrat party: How to justify supporting a party where the entire base is so far gone into the fever swamps of conspiracy, that they actually "believe a lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:11) and honor someone like Michael Moore."

Lest someone think this characterization of the Democrat base and much of their leadership is unfair, here are some examples:

On December 1, 2003, Howard Dean (now the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee) was asked by a leftist interviewer on National Public Radio "Why do you think he (Bush) is suppressing that (Sept. 11) report?" Dean's reply "I don't know. There are many theories about it. The most interesting theory that I've heard so far -- which is nothing more than a theory, it can't be proved -- is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis. Now who knows what the real situation is?" Notice how Dean promotes this "theory" while trying to insulate himself from its obvious falsehood. This is the man who the Democrat party later chose as their national leader!

Disgraceful former President Jimmy Carter just claimed "President Bush's policies conflict with American values." This from someone who honored Michael Moore with a seat in the President's box at the Democratic National Convention, and accepted the Nobel Peace Prize after it was publicly stated that it was given to him as a way of attacking the USA.

Mary Mapes the former CBS producer of Dan Rather's infamous attack on President Bush based on fake documents, still pathetically tries to claim the story was true.

Rob Reiner the Hollywood actor, director and producer and leading Democrat spokesman claimed about President Bush "When I hear that on the weekend of the Super Bowl an Iraqi expatriate was explaining to him the difference between Kurds and Sunnis and Shiites, it makes me want to cry. I want to cry!" The only problem is other than Reiner's claim he heard "this anecdote on cable news or talk radio", there is no evidence that this is anything other than another example of BDS made up in Reiner's fevered brain.

Dr. Sanity comments:

"The number of things that Bush has been blamed for in this world since 9/11 (even acts of God like Tsunamis, hurricanes and other natural disasters) is the stuff of major comedy. You name the horrible event, and he is identified as the etiologic agent.

"He is blamed when he does something (anything) and he is blamed when he does nothing. He is blamed for things that occurred even before he was President, as well as everything that has happened since. He is blamed for things he says; and for things he doesn't say.

"What makes Bush Hatred completely insane however, is the almost delusional degree of unremitting certitude of Bush's evil; while simultaneously believing that the TRUE perpetrators of evil in the world are somehow good and decent human beings with the world's interests at heart.

"This psychological defense mechanism is referred to as "displacement"."

Scripture tells us that "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." As we look at everything in life, political or otherwise, we should be mindful that a sound mind comes from God, but that the devil is the "father of lies".

"Democrats love to mock the Republican base for believing the Bible is true. Democratic basemen believe "Fahrenheit 9/11" is true!" - James Taranto writing in Best of the Web Today about the differences between the Republican and the Democrat bases.

Someone wrote to me offended by what I had written about Colorado C & D tax increases. This post is adapted from my reply.

The individual who wrote me is a MD who did not feel he could do what he does to care for the poor without the taxes that C & D would bring in. I replied:

It is the height of irresponsibility to pick the programs folk feel are most vital and threaten to cut their funding in order to try to blackmail the taxpayers into paying more taxes. It is not as though the state has been enduring economic hard times.

C & D are excuses for the legislature to not have to make real decisions about what is worthy of funding and what is not. I can't see how it benefits the residents of Colorado to reward legislators who refuse to do what we hired them to do with even more money with which to act irresponsibly.

This MD further correctly pointed out that we as Christians have a mandate to care for the poor. He felt I needed to temper my "rhetoric to include a Biblically based concern for the poor". I replied:

Concern for the poor has nothing to do with this situation (raising taxes at a time when there is a surplus).

Yes, as Christians we have a mandate to care for the poor. Both as individual Christians and as churches we are commanded to care for the poor.

However, we can't rob someone by force and claim God's blessing on what we do just because we happen to use some (very small) portion of what we take to fund what God commands us to do.

What if the Good Samaritan had setup a toll booth on the highway and charged everyone who wanted to use the road a fee to "help the poor man who was robbed and beaten". Instead of binding up his wounds and paying for his care and treatment himself, he made up posters with the likeness of the wounded man and told everyone the poor man would die if they did not pay the toll. Of course part of the money collected went to pay for a nice house for himself, a really nice toll station, assistant toll collectors, and armed guards for the toll facility. Even though he was collecting tolls there were still robbers attacking travelers so there was a never ending supply of new wounded folk to use for the posters to convince folk they should pay the toll. Those traveling the road knew they had paid a toll "to take care of those attacked" so they no longer felt they needed to take personal responsibility for those robbery victims they might happen to see. After all the "toll collector" was taking care of them. Thus their hearts were hardened and turned from God.

This is the dilemma of raising taxes to "do good". It is intellectually dishonest to use the commands of scripture to Christians to justify governmental action. Sorry it just will not wash! Government can only get the funds to do anything by taking those funds (by force if required) from the governed. You can look at it at best as "Robin Hood" and at worst as "Highway Robbery". In neither case can you justify this by quoting what scripture commands Christians to do, as not all the governed are Christians (and today very few are), and even God does not compel Christians to obey him. Government however compels obedience on pain of imprisonment or death.

This does not mean I am opposed to all governmental welfare programs, but it does mean I believe they must be justified to the taxpayers on their own basis as good things to do, without trying to twist scripture into supporting such programs.

I believe that caring for the poor and sick must start with the individual:

1) Christians must do what God leads them to do as individuals first.

2) Christians then should do what the Lord leads them to as families.

3) The local body of Christians must work together to follow God's commands.

4) Larger groups (state, national, and international in scope) of Christians should work as lead by God.

I truly believe that if Christians did all of the above there would be little left over for other groups to do.

In particular I believe governments should be cautious in what they do to "help folk" because of the danger of unintended consequences. The dangers of governmental action are the least when the control is local since folk can see what is going wrong and take action to fix things with the least bureaucracy. Therefore what can be done at the town or city level should be left for this most basic governmental unit to deal with. Only when things absolutely must, should they be bumped up to County, State, or Federal levels.

Hugh had a panel of three blogging pastors.

Dr. Tod Bolsinger told how he got into blogging and why he limits his scope to just those issues where he feels he has something worthwhile to offer which is almost never politics.

Dr. Mark Roberts told how Hugh got him to start blogging, and how his posts addressing some of the issues raised by The Da Vinci Code started his influence to spread.

Dr. John Mark Reynolds said he comes the closest of the panelists to dealing with political issues. When he deals with politics it is more to show himself as a rounded person than to be a political commentator. He wants to present a Christian world view, and will visit sites from non christians to see what they believe so that he can better present the Christian world view.

Hugh then presented his 7 questions:

1) You were all busy people, how have you balanced your time to fit in blogging? - Reynolds took from his football time and put limits on his time devoted to blogging. - Roberts said he started calling it a hobby but now realized it is a ministry. - Bolsinger feels blogging is part of being a Pastor. Reynolds asked about ghost blogging.

2) The dangers of email, or what motto would you put over your computer? Roberts mentioned the danger of posting when angry. Bolsinger said “do not let the Send button go down on your anger.” Reynolds talked of developing a thick skin as a blogger. Wait till you have won.

3) The dangers of fame in the blogosphere? Bolsinger quoted the Sermon on the Mount on doing things “to be seen of men” as opposed to doing it as a service. It is an issue of motivation. Reynolds said that in his profession blogging fame can harm his career. He quoted C.S. Lewis on the humble man thinking he is humble which means he is not. Roberts told of how a stranger complimented his blog, and how that felt so strange. He mentioned he must keep centered on serving the Lord.

4) The warning signs of the person who should not blog? Reynolds said if you are convinced you have something you must share. If you can’t abide criticism, or if you can’t take a stand. Roberts said if blogging is an escape from the world, or if blogging takes you away from things you must do, or if you are angry, or if you can’t use proper grammer. Bolsinger said you have to know how to write, and be comfortable writing. Blogging must be part of your Christian community.

5) It is against the law in the USA for a pastor to do candidate advocacy from the pulpit, but they can as a private individual blog on these issues. Should they? Roberts said if political things distract from your primary mission you should steer clear of politics. Bolsinger said he keeps his blog separate from his church, but that is just to keep a line of separation. However, he must always keep in mind his main job is as Pastor. Reynolds also keeps his blog separate from his job, but limits what he says in this sort of public forum.

6) Have you encouraged someone to blog? Bolsinger encouraged a Christian liberal to blog, and hopes he will come back to blogging. Reynolds would like Matthew Anderson and his other students to blog, and some Islamic friends who are upset with the hijacking of Islam. Roberts would love to see more thoughtful and wise folk including academics blogging. He mentioned Dennis Prager.

7) Christians of the past who it would have been great as bloggers. Reynolds - Joan of Arc & Charles Stewart. Roberts – Luther, the Apostle Paul, Calvin. Bolsinger – Abraham Kyper, Jurgen Multline [I’m sure I have mangled these last two names].

Joe Carter raised the fact that the best bloggers are servant leaders. Being a servant is limiting, and sets limits for the scope of our blogs. Matthew Anderson asked about being a specialist versus a generalist. Reynolds said both can be valid, where the generalist can show how to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. GodBloggers say Jesus is Lord, and that colors all they do.

Hugh asked if women bloggers have a harder time getting respect? Most women felt women bloggers face no undue hardships.

I was not able to keep up with all the final questions and comments.

Reynolds concluded he blessed bloggers since they can reach some of his students he can’t. Bolsinger said he needs interaction with people to help him improve his communication of the gospel to laymen. Roberts mentioned how his church became a partner of a church in New Orleans via the Internet.

One of the blessings of GodBlogCon has been the connections that have taken place between Christian bloggers in attendance. Besides the folk mentioned in Thurs Eve at GodBlogCon there were a few others I should mention. Marvin and Lisa Hutchens spent a lot of time fellowshipping with me which was neat since I think we were the only folk from Colorado to make it to GodBlogCon. Marvin is the blogger (www.LittleRedBlog.com), but he would not be able to if it were not for the support of his wife. Truly a Godly wife is a blessing from the Lord!

Peter Shinn of MarchTogether.com is passionate about uniting Christians to end abortion. I was able to be a small help by letting him post using my laptop. John Gillmartin of The SHEEP'S CRIB has neat sheep graphics on his business card.

Shelley Henderson of Kicking Over My Traces was one of a number of women bloggers at GodBlogCon. Others included La Shawn Barber, Melinda Penner of Stand to Reason, Christy-Lynn Wilson of B Relevant and The DeMoss Group, Amy Hall of A-Team Blog, Lores Rizkalla of Just a Woman, and Denyse O'Leary of Post-Darwinist. There were others but these were those that I remembered meeting.

Travis Fell of Voice in the Wilderness is working to influence the Texas legislature for God. As a former Texan I can only pray his efforts are sucessful. In his post of this evening he mentions Dr. Mark Roberts allusion to blogging as "a harsh mistress" but appears not to have gotten the reference to Robert A. Heinlein's classic "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" which is an updating of the story of the American revolution set in the future.

I am so blessed to have met these brothers & sisters in Christ who are also using this new tool, the Blog.

This afternoon I got to meet Dr. John Mark Reynolds, Dr. Mark Roberts, Dr. Andrew Jackson, Joe Carter, David Wayne, Marvin Hutchens, DJ Chuang, Stacy Harp, and La Shawn Barber. Then this evening Dr. John Mark Reynolds gave a great opening session.

His theme was "The Long Running Tension between Live versus Preserved Performance" complete with quotes from Plato and Dante, where Christianity fits into this divide, and how Blogging helps span the divide. Very interesting look at how bloggings fits into history, and the future. I believe Biola may post the recording of this talk at some point, and I will link to it if they do.

Tomorrow I will be heading to GodBlogCon held at The Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University in La Mirada, California. I hope to meet some of you there!

If you are local to Biola here are some things you should be aware of. There are some seats open to the public for the Friday night dialogue between Hugh Hewitt, John Mark Reynolds, Mark Roberts, and Tod Bolsinger. There is also a one-day only fee of $35 for Saturday only. Last, courtesy of Grace Hill Media, GBC are excited to offer a pre-screening of [ http://www.elizabethtown.com ] Elizabethtown for all GodBlogCon attendees. To take advantage of any of these offers please contact GBC directly. Click on the GBC logo above to reach their website.

Today Hugh Hewitt posted a link to an excellent piece by Donald Sensing titled Moral Levees. In it he discusses what went wrong and what went right when the moral levees failed in New Orleans. Read it!

The American Motor Coach Association has asked their members to send 500 buses to help transport folk out of the disaster area in coordination with FEMA. Grace Coach Lines/International Family Missions a bus company from Lafayette Colorado is participating.

Vinelife Community Church in Boulder Colorado is sending a driver and team from the church youth group on one of GCL/IFM buses with supplies down to the disaster area. They are asking for supplies and volunteers to go help with the rescue efforts. If you can bring non perishable food to the church between 8:30 and 10 AM Saturday 3 September 2005 it will get on this bus. For directions to the church click here.

They would also like to bring down:

Bibles

Paper Goods - plates, cups, diapers, tissue

Cleaning Supplies - Bleach, Top Job, Mr. Clean type products

Water - Bottled drinking water (NO glass containers)

Single Serving Snacks - Pop Tarts, Cereal Bars, Granola bars

Peanut Butter

Canned Meat

Heat and Eat Foods - Chili, stew, canned pasta with sauce, canned vegetables etc.

Lunchables or other single serving foods that DO NOT REQUIRE REFRIGERATION

MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat)

Personal care items

Formula

Diapers

Even if you can't get items to the church at that time, please call the church at (303) 449-3330 and drop things off to go on a later bus.

They are also looking for places to live for folk who might want to relocate to Colorado. If you know of living spaces that would be available please contact Vinelife (303) 449-3330.

Today folk all across the Blogosphere are uniting to ask folk to donate to help those who are suffering in the wake of hurricane Katrina. I am joining this effort with the suggestion that you consider donating to the Salvation Army. Whenever disaster hits they have been out front providing relief to the victims and are one of the most efficient organizations around doing relief work. There are no huge salaries in the Salvation Army, just folk doing what God commanded and helping the poor and downtrodden.

Glenn Reynolds has a master list of charities to which you could also consider dontating.

My employer was giving a 50% match for donatations to the Central Texas Red Cross who are helps tens of thousands of the refugees from Katrina so I gave there too.

So please give.

After giving please go to N. Z. Bear's website and log your contribution. You can do so anonymously if you wish. He is keeping track of the contributions made because of this worldwide Blog effort. As I write this over $500,000 has been raised via blogs.

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