Category: Christianity

What percentage of Americans identify themselves as Christians?

The War Against Christianity: Battleground Your Child’s School

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

According to a study done by The Pew Forum on Public and Religious Life, completed in January of 2011, and reported in USA Today, the number of Muslims in American will almost double by the year 2030, growing from a mere 1 % of our population to 1.7%.

However, if you read the articles about Muslims in the Main Stream Media, and all the hubbub concerning the poorly received series on TLC, All-American Muslim, an average American would think that they were a vibrant, rapidly growing, sizable minority here in America.

Liberals are bound and determined to push Islam down our American Christian Conservative throats…by indoctrinating our children:

Check out this story from foxnews.com:

A Colorado high school student says he quit the school choir after an Islamic song containing the lyric “there is no truth except Allah” made it into the repertoire.

James Harper, a senior at Grand Junction High School in Grand Junction, put his objection to singing “Zikr,” a song written by Indian composer A.R. Rahman, in an email to Mesa County School District 51 officials. When the school stood by choir director Marcia Wieland’s selection, Harper said, he quit.

“I don’t want to come across as a bigot or a racist, but I really don’t feel it is appropriate for students in a public high school to be singing an Islamic worship song,” Harper told KREX-TV. “This is worshipping another God, and even worshipping another prophet … I think there would be a lot of outrage if we made a Muslim choir say Jesus Christ is the only truth.”

But district spokesman Jeff Kirtland defended the decision to include the song.

“Choral music is often devoted to religious themes. … This is not a case where the school is endorsing or promoting any particular religion or other non-educational agenda. The song was chosen because its rhythms and other qualities would provide an opportunity to exhibit the musical talent and skills of the group in competition, not because of its religious message or lyrics,” Kirtland told FoxNews.com in an email while noting that the choir “is a voluntary, after-school activity.”

“Students are not required to participate, and receive no academic credit for doing so,” he said.

At an upcoming concert, the choir is scheduled to sing an Irish folk song and an Christian song titled “Prayer of the Children,” in addition to the song by Rahman.

“The teacher consulted with students and asked each of them to review an online performance of the selection with their parents before making the decision to perform the piece,” Kirtland said, and members who object to the religious content of musical selections aren’t required to sing them.

Rahman, who has sold hundreds of millions of records and is well-known in his homeland, has said the song is not intended for a worship ceremony. He told FoxNews.com in a written statement that the song, composed for the move “Bose, the Forgotten Hero,” is about “self-healing and spirituality.”

“It is unfortunate that the student in Colorado misinterpreted the intention of the song,” Rahman said. “I have long celebrated the commonalities of humanity and try to share and receive things in this way. While I respect his decision for opting out, this incident is an example of why we need further cultural education through music.”

The state of Florida is not immune from the Liberals’ plans, either.  Again, Fox News reports:

Parents in Tampa are the latest to protest school officials inviting a controversial Muslim civil liberties advocacy group to speak to students.

Dozens of people showed up at a Hillsborough County school board meeting Tuesday night to complain that a member of Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, spoke to history students at Steinbrenner High School last fall. They cited the group’s alleged ties to terrorist group Hamas. The group, which purports to promote diversity and tolerance of the religion, has met a similar reception in Texas and Georgia in recent years.

“We do not have a problem with Islamic groups speaking with students, but we do have an issue with a group that has ties to terrorism speaking,” Randall McDaniels, head of the Jacksonville Chapter of ACT for America, one of the groups actively seeking to stop CAIR members from speaking to students in public schools, told FoxNews.com

CAIR spokesman Corey Saylor dismissed the criticism as “fear-mongering.” Hassan Shibly, the Florida CAIR member who spoke to the students, said the parents are misguided.

“This hatred and animosity only shows the importance of reaching out to the community,” he said, “It’s insulting to the school and the students to think that one person can influence their beliefs. It’s misleading.”

The group, the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization, also has come under criticism for, among other reasons, being named by the Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terror financing case involving the Holy Land Foundation.

Michael Rubin, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute who focuses on the Middle East and terrorism, said concerns about CAIR are not unfounded.

“They have been co-conspirators in a terrorism finance trial and seek to stymie debate rather than safeguard it,” Rubin said. “Almost every day, jihadists on religious Internet forums belie CAIR’s claim that religion has nothing to do with terrorism. Ultimately, there is a battle for interpretation going on inside the world of Islam, and rather than seek to win that debate for the moderates and proponents of tolerance, CAIR acts as the jihadists’ offensive linesmen.”

Parents in the Houston-area town of Friendswood objected to a presentation CAIR made to junior high students in 2008, sparking a furor that led to the principal’s resignation. In 2010, parents in Gwenett County, Ga., forced the school system to disinvite CAIR from holding classroom presentations.

Gosh.  The Liberals’ plans for the Islamic indoctrination of our Schoolchildren, in the name of diversity, are not going so well.  

These Liberal school administrations found out, as President Obama has, facing a backlash over his arrogant plan to force Catholic Hospitals to dispense birth control and the morning after pill, that this country was founded on a system of Judeo-Christian beliefs, and 78% of our citizens (according to gallup.com) still proudly proclaim their Christian Heritage…and they’re not about to give it up.

Obama’s War on Religious Liberty

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics6 Comments

President Barack Hussein Obama and his Administration have declared War on Religious Liberty in America.

It is all part of a spider-web of socialism, a Master Plan to control every aspect of our daily lives, including our very health itself, through the machinations of the out-of-control Bureaucracy known as Obamacare.

Per Obama’s Press Secretary Jay Carney:

The new guidelines require most private health plans to cover preventive services, including contraception, for women without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible. The guidelines were recommended by the non-partisan Independent Institute of Medicine.

New York City’s CBS affiliate has the story:

Catholic leaders are furious and determined to harness the voting power of the nation’s 70 million Catholic voters to stop a provision of President Barack Obama’s new heath car reform bill that will force Catholic schools, hospitals and charities to buy birth control pills, abortion-producing drugs and sterilization coverage for their employees.

“Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church,” said Catholic League head Bill Donohue.

Already Archbishop Timothy Dolan has spoken out against the law and priests around the country have mobilized, reading letters from the pulpit. Donohue said Catholic officials will stop at nothing to put a stop to it.

“This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets,” Donohue said.

But pro-choice groups said they will fight the church and fight for the right of employees of Catholic institutions to have birth control and other services paid for.

“The Catholic hierarchy seems to be playing a cynical game of chicken and they don’t seem to care that the health and well being of millions of American woman are what’s at stake here,” National Abortion Rights Action League President Andrea Miller said.

Catholic leaders hope they will have more sway with the White House than usual because it is a presidential election year, hoping that if even a small percentage of Catholics back Obama’s opponent it could cost him the election.

America’s Catholic Hospitals are not the only battlefront in President Barack Hussein Obama’s War on Religious Liberty:

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, wrote a letter to be read at all Sunday Masses for U.S. military personnel around the world that said that a regulation issued by the Obama Administration under the new federal health care law was “a blow” to a freedom that U.S. troops have not only fought to defend but for which some have recently died in battle.

“It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle,” the archbishop wrote.

Another line in his letter said: “We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law.”

The message from the archbishop touched off a controversy both in and outside the military when the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains told the service’s senior chaplains that Catholic priests serving as Army chaplains should be told not to read the archbishop’s letter from the pulpit.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services has described that move as a violation of the archbishop’s First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of the Catholic chaplains involved and their congregations.

But, hey, no worries, Bat-fans.  There is a hero on the horizon:  The hope of the GOP Elite:  “The Legacy” Mitt Romney.  He’ll come to the rescue.  He’ll lead the charge against this nefarious affront to our religious liberties.  Right?  Ummm…not so much.

Boston.com reports on the inconsistent (to say the least) history of the Republican front-runner:

Mitt Romney accused President Obama this week of ordering “religious organizations to violate their conscience,’’ referring to a White House decision that requires all health plans – even those covering employees at Catholic hospitals, charities, and colleges – to provide free birth control. But a review of Romney’s tenure as Massachusetts governor shows that he once took a similar step.

In December 2005, Romney required all Massachusetts hospitals, including Catholic ones, to provide emergency contraception to rape victims, even though some Catholics view the morning-after pill as a form of abortion.

He said he was acting on his legal counsel’s interpretation of a new state law – one passed by lawmakers despite his veto – but he also said that “in his heart of hearts,’’ he believed that rape victims should have access to emergency contraception.

Some Catholic leaders now point to inconsistency in Romney’s criticism of the president and characterize his new stance as politically expedient, even as they welcome it.

“The initial injury to Catholic religious freedom came not from the Obama administration but from the Romney administration,’’ said C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. “President Obama’s plan certainly constitutes an assault on the constitutional rights of Catholics, but I’m not sure Governor Romney is in a position to assert that, given his own very mixed record on this.’’

To recap:

We have the most divisive president in U.S. History declaring a War on our Religious Liberty, and a potential Republican Presidential Nominee whose own implementation and advocacy of a socialist, state-run Healthcare System precludes him from taking the moral high ground in the upcoming battle.

So…tell me again about “Mr. Electability”?

Tags:  Obamacare, Romneycare, Romney, religion, Catholicism

Football, Politics, and The Economy

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment, Politics2 Comments

It’s Super Bowl Sunday….A lot will be happening today, per yahoo.com:

According to Hallmark Cards, Inc., The Super Bowl represents the No. 1 at-home party event of the year. Believe it or not, it’s even bigger than New Year’s Eve. (One wonders when we might see cards celebrating the event not to mention Super Bowl Monday sympathy editions for the losing team’s fans.) Hallmark also figures the average number of people attending a Super Shindig to be 17 so, calculating with reference to per capita beer consumption, hosts should probably buy … a lot.

No matter how much the economy slumps, the week before the ‘Bowl sees a deluge of shoppers that could damn well carry the entire national economy. No fewer than $55 million is expected to be spent on food for The Big Game. After spending an estimated ten million man-hours (give or take a couple of seconds) preparing all that grub, Americans are expected to consume the lot within approximately fifteen minutes, well before the first touchdown is scored.

Yessir, the country will come to a virtual standstill, around 5:30 p.m. Central.

We’ll all watch as our modern-day gladiators meet on the field of battle, reminiscent of the halcyon days of the Roman Coliseum, without the lions. (Especially the ones from Detroit, who never make the Superbowl.)

Americans hold these football heroes in such esteem, I’ll bet one could even run for president.  Reuters.com was thinking along the same lines:

Asked which NFL playoff quarterback they would choose for president of the United States in the coming election, more than one in four voters go for Tebow, according to the results of a new Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters released on Friday.

Tebow’s success on the field in the past few months helped to make him a media sensation as he turned a struggling Denver Broncos team around. His open and oft-professed religious faith gained him huge support in the evangelical community.

But perhaps it is his famous post-touchdown knelt-in-prayer pose – known as “Tebowing” – that has most inspired fans around the world. Many have posted pictures of themselves “Tebowing” on sites such as Tebowing.com.

The online survey of 2,475 people was conducted earlier this week, just ahead of the Super Bowl, the annual championship for America’s most popular sport.

The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

Tebow managed to do something in the poll he could not quite manage on the field – easily beat New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady, who is married to super model Gisele Bundchen, came third, one percentage point behind New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, ironic since they face each other this Sunday in the Super Bowl.

The only other quarterback to start in the playoffs this year who got into double digits in the poll was New Orleans’ Drew Brees, at 15 percent.

Of course, at 24, Tebow is too young by the standards of the U.S. Constitution to be president (you have to be at least 35). There might also be questions over whether he could be disqualified because he was born in the Philippines – his parents were American missionaries.

But this isn’t real life, this is football.

The way this presidential election is shaping up, it’s bearing no resemblance to real life, either.

As we are entering the home stretch, all of the sudden, unemployment percentages are going down….and the economy is, at least according to the Administration’s Propaganda Machine, improving.

Unfortunately, out here in the Heartland, things are still tough all over.  

Americans are looking desperately for work (those who haven’t given up) and scores of small businesses are closing their doors, while other businesses are laying off valued employees, just to keep their doors open.

One-sixth of Americans are still receiving SNAP (food stamps), while other adults have moved back in with their parents, children, pets, and all.

Robert Reich,  a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and, previously, the secretary of labor during the Clinton administration, writes on marketplayground.com that

Our working-age population has grown by nearly 10 million since the recession officially began in December 2007 but many of these people never entered the workforce. Millions of others are still too discouraged to look for work.

The most direct way of measuring the jobs deficit is to look at the share of the working-age population in jobs. Before the recession, 63.3 percent of working-age Americans had jobs. That employment-to-population ratio reached a low last summer of 58.2 percent. Now it’s 58.5 percent. That’s better than it was, but not by much. The trend line here isn’t quite as encouraging.

Given how many people have lost their jobs and how much larger the total working-age population is now, we’ve got a long road ahead. At January’s rate of job gains – 243,000 – the nation wouldn’t return to full employment for another seven years.

No wonder Americans participated in a survey comparing NFL Quarterbacks as president.  At least, they know how to reach a goal (line)…and it doesn’t take them 7 years, either.

Seriously, though, the next president, Scooter, Mittens, or whomever, needs to attack this horrible economy with a vengeance.  The dark clouds of despair are hanging over the shining city on the hill.

Americans deserve better than this.

Give Us This Day…Someone Else’s Daily Bread?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics7 Comments

Yesterday morning, at the National Prayer Breakfast, United States President Barack Hussein Obama used the teachings of Christ to justify “spreading the wealth around”.

Zeke Miller from Buzzfeed reports:

“And so when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren’t discriminating against those who are already sick, or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren’t taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody. But I also do it because I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself.'”

“I know the version of that Golden Rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs — from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato,” Obama added.

The president said he often falls to his knees in prayer, and emphasized the role of his religious values in determining where to lead the country.

“I’d be remiss if I stopped there; if my values were limited to personal moments of prayer or private conversations with pastors or friends. So instead, I must try — imperfectly, but I must try — to make sure those values motivate me as one leader of this great nation.”

Obama maintained that his call for the wealthiest to give up their tax breaks, he’s doing so out of economic necessity, but also in line with biblical teachings.

“And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense. But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required,'” Obama said, noting Jewish and Islamic teachings say much the same thing.

Obama also defended foreign aid from assault, noting that it not just enhances the nation’s security — but fulfills the biblical requirement to look out for those who cannot speak for themselves.

“And when I decide to stand up for foreign aid, or prevent atrocities in places like Uganda, or take on issues like human trafficking, it’s not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure. It’s also about the biblical call to care for the least of these — for the poor; for those at the margins of our society.

To answer the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.'”

Monday, in an article found on Forbes.com titled, Was Jesus a Socialist, a Capitalist, or Something Else?, contributor Bill Flax wrote

The Bible prescribes impartial justice, sound money and sanctions property. Scripture also advises limited government – the foundations of free markets. Christ even employed capitalist principles in several teachings. Jesus obviously understood incentives. He created us.

However, Christ wasn’t Adam Smith any more than liberals fancy him a hippie. The Bible provides a guidebook for life including politics and economics. It ought to inform our very essence. Yet, when Joshua asked pre-incarnate Christ before Jericho, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” Christ responded. He captained the Lord’s army.

Capitalism began in Christendom and surged post-Reformation. Some say Calvin invented capitalism or attributed its success to the “Protestant Work Ethic.” This is exaggerated, but Calvinists did commend material progress as socially desirable and developed usury codes in keeping with the spirit rather than letter of Mosaic Law.

Although capitalism appears compatible with Christ’s teachings the Bible never specifically endorses free enterprise. Neither are markets anywhere condemned, only the sinful actions of those abusing others. Markets offer freedom, which amplifies character. Without room for good or ill, morality is irrelevant.

Capitalism wonderfully fulfills the supply half of economics. It says nothing about applying the output. Free enterprise bestows bounty extraordinarily well, but Christian compassion remains a vital complement filling the gaps. Charity is necessary helping those incapable of fending for themselves.

Benevolence is best done privately through evangelistic outreach. Charity ought not to enable those who could, but won’t provide their own needs. Nor can voting others’ wealth into your coffers be supported scripturally. As detailed here: Government welfare is often counterproductive and un-biblical.

Like his friends, the Reverends Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s interpretation of the Holy Bible is slanted toward his own political ideology and embracing of  social justice.

He could have, just as easily, quoted Karl Marx, who said

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.

But…that would have been way too obvious.

The Dream Lives On…

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment, Politics4 Comments

Today, a lot of Americans, including me, have the day off.  Why?  America is observing a national holiday in observance of a civil rights pioneer:

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family’s long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters…

And he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “l Have a Dream”, on August 28, 1963, in front of the Lincoln Memorial:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

Also during those years…

He conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

As I wrap up today’s blog, allow me to share a vivid memory, of a life ended way too soon:

It’s the night of April 4, 1968.  A 9 (and almost 1/2) year old boy is watching a program on a black and white television set in his home in the mid-town area of Memphis, Tennessee.  Suddenly, the screen changes to the Civil Defense logo and he hears a voice saying:

Will all members of the National Guard, please report to the Armory and all police and fire personnel please report to their stations.

Normal programming resumed.  Then, all of the sudden, or so it seemed, President Lyndon Baines Johnson came on the television saying:

I come to you tonight with a heavy heart…

And everything changed.

But, the Dream lives on.

Tim Tebow: Forever a Winner

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment7 Comments

I received this picture in an e-mail from a friend the other day and it asks a very good question:

Tim Tebow, former starting quarterback for the University of Florida, and, presently, starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League, is the most controversial figure in professional sports today.

Tebow is a devout Christian.  He is someone who talks the talk and walks the walk….a very rare quality for a professional athlete to have.

Because he dares to be a witness for his faith, he is  a huge target for Liberals in this country, who would rather Christians sit down and shut up, while at the same time hollering at the top of their lungs that Conservative Americans are intolerant, because we refuse to embrace Sharia.

For example, on December 28th, 2011, abc.com reported the following:

A tweet from liberal firebrand Bill Maher has incurred the wrath of conservatives across the U.S., who are now calling for a boycott of the political commentator’s HBO series after he slammed Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

Maher, after the Broncos lost 40-14 to the Buffalo Bills Saturday, tweeted, “Wow, Jesus just f***ed #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler “Hey, Buffalo’s killing them.”

Tebow, who has left sports fans in awe of his prowess on the football field, is known to be devoutly religious, and has popularized the term “tebowing” – as in getting down on a knee and praying as events, such as a football game, still unfold around you.

The comment by Maher, who is an atheist and took world religions to task in his 2008 documentary “Religulous,” led to some colorful backlash, notable from Fox News’ Eric Bolling: “Bill Maher is disgusting vile trash. I can’t even repeat what he just tweeted about Tebow..on Christmas Eve. #straighttohellBill,” a tweet from Bolling read.

Meanwhile, a movement to boycott Maher’s HBO current events show “Real Time with Bill Maher” is developing across Twitter. The comedian has yet to comment on the controversy.

Maher’s tweet must have been missed by Tebow himself, who after the game wrote on Twitter, “Tough game today but what’s most important is being able to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas everyone GB2.”

What is it about a Christian man giving thanks to God during a professional football game that is so controversial?  Last Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked a couple of “experts”:

…What is it about him that has drawn so much attention and controversy?

One thing may be how visible Mr. Tebow is, said Brian Miller, an assistant professor of sociology at Wheaton College, a well-known evangelical school in Illinois. His practice of singing gospel songs while on the sidelines, taking a knee in prayer at the conclusion of the game, thanking Jesus Christ in postgame interviews and telling reporters “God bless,” before leaving all are hard to ignore.

“I think that ties to his outspokenness,” Mr. Miller said. “Any time someone talks about religion that strongly, people will react strongly.”

By contrast, players like Mr. Polamalu are quieter in the way they signal their faith or discuss it.

“When he crosses himself, he isn’t really talking to anybody, he’s not necessarily on camera,” said Mr. Miller.

The concept of “civil religion” helps explain the reaction to Mr. Tebow, Mr. Miller said. Civil religion is a term used in the sociology of religion field, he said, in which “you can invoke God sort of vaguely in American life” without spurring many objections. Examples would be a politician saying “God bless America” at the end of the speech or the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

But “when you get to specifics, like mentioning Jesus,” you have crossed a boundary from the socially acceptable “generic Christian culture” and into the realm where people become uncomfortable, or angry, Mr. Miller said.

Others see Mr. Tebow as courageous and a representative of what faithful Christians should do.

“If you believe in God, if you believe in Christ, and you want to show it, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Mr. Clark said. “I think sometimes people criticize what they don’t understand. I think he takes a little bit of negative criticism that’s unwarranted. Also, I think sometimes they make it like he’s the only Christian in the NFL. And that’s not right, either.”

A University of Pittsburgh religion professor said that it’s what Mr. Tebow says, as well as his style, that attracts criticism.

“I would first point out that if God exists, it seems unlikely that she spends her time worrying about the results of football games,” said Paula M. Kane, Marous Chair of Catholic Studies at Pitt, in an email response to questions.

She said that Mr. Tebow “represents a certain tendency among American Christians to adopt or opt for that kind of evangelical model of being highly (some would say obsessively) focused upon Jesus and imagining that only those who embrace his style of Christianity are true members of the faith” and who “see others as prospective converts because they are somehow defective.”

Mr. Tebow said he is not trying to make a grand statement with his words and actions; he simply wants to be a good Christian.

“I’m just somebody that has a relationship with Jesus Christ, and if they view that in me, then that would be a huge honor,” Mr. Tebow said. “Hopefully they just see someone that loves other people, loves what he does, tries to get better every day and tries to be someone that goes out there and makes other peoples’ lives a little better.”

Often, he said, his religious expressions are as much for him as they are other people, to “humble myself and continually tell myself who I’m putting as No. 1 in my life.”

In a telephone survey conducted by Poll Position, 1,076 Americans who are familiar with the player were asked, “Do you believe that any of Tim Tebow’s success can be attributed to Divine Intervention?” Forth-three percent of respondents said yes, 42 percent disagreed, and 14 percent expressed no opinion.

Tebow and the Broncos lost their Play-off Game last night, 45 – 10, to a strong bunch of New England Patriots.  I’m sure there will be some idiots out there today, questioning the sovereignty of God, and the entire efficacy of Christianity, over the outcome of one professional football game, a myopic view of egregious proportions.

What the critics don’t understand is, that when it comes to the game of life, Tim Tebow has already won…even when his team loses a game.

When Did I Turn Into My Parents?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment, Politics6 Comments

What made the “Greatest Generation” great?  Was it the technology available to them?  No.  Was it, as with today’s generation, worship of shallow politicians and movie stars?  No.  Per valuesofamerica.com, it was something else:

As this generation came of age, their future seemed to crash around their shoulders as the economies of the world collapsed. But this generation, following the leads of their parents and the entire heritage of America, would not surrender. They did not bow their heads in misery and despair.

During the Great Depression, the Greatest Generation, with their parents, accomplished whatever tasks opened before them. They built Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building under budget and under schedule.

Hundreds of CCC projects around the nation were completed creating many of the courthouses of the nation, many improvements to the national parks and all manner of public work.

The burden of the Second World War fell almost entirely upon the shoulders of the Greatest Generation. Their backbones had become as strong as steel, their shoulders wide enough to carry the republic through the turmoil of complete war, through rationing, past defeat and into the atomic age.

I’ve written about my Daddy (Southern colloquialism for male parental unit) before. He was a member of the Greatest Generation.  He was a Master Sergeant in World War II, who landed at Normandy, during the D-Day Invasion, as a part of an Army Engineering Unit.  They went on to help clear out the concentration camps.

He never talked about the Invasion.  All I knew was that he was in Europe during World War II, and his first wife sent him a “Dear Ned” letter while he was over there.  When he got back, he worked at various jobs, including being a car salesman, and driving a truck for a beer distributor.

One of those jobs was as a furniture salesman for Sears.  It was there where he met my Mother.  She worked in Unit Control, where she ordered women’s shoes.  She, too, was divorced and had a young daughter, whom my Daddy proceeded to raise as his own.

They had a daughter together, my sister, and settled into the day-to-day-business of living, believing their child raising days would soon be over.

The Lord, as he often does, had other plans.  I arrived 9 years after my sister was born, and 3 days before my Mother’s 40th birthday.   To this day, I believe that they were going to name me “Oops”.

I had a typical American childhood, being raised by 2 Middle Class Working Parents, in a Christian home.  My parents were a little different from others.  My Daddy sang in church, had a joke or story for every occasion, and made friends with every one he met.  My mother was a sports fan, who loved  St. Louis Cardinals Baseball and Memphis State University Tiger Basketball.  She’s the one who pushed me as a child.  So much so, that I wound up graduating high school 30th out of a class of 360.   Our couch always seemed to have one of my sister’s friends camped out on it, who was having trouble at home.  They knew where they could find a sympathetic ear.

My parents were Southern Democrats…until Ronald Wilson Reagan came along.  It’s funny, looking back.   I was experiencing a political awakening, while working as the Campus Radio News Director as a 20-something collegian, and so were they.  As the Democratic Party they knew and loved all those years, morphed into an unrecognizable Liberal imposter of its former self, my parents bid adieu and became Republicans.  So did I.

This joint political conversion should have given me a clue.

I eventually married and gained a step-son, then a daughter of my own.  Looking back, as I was holding and loving my special child, I was mimicking my Daddy.  My special girl is 24 now, and I value every moment I get to spend with her.

I went on to have two more step-sons, both remarkable young men now.  My current step-son and his wife have presented my bride and I with a wonderful grandson, now 4 years old, as a playmate to keep around the house and send him back home when we’re through spoiling him, or, he wears us out, whichever comes first.  I truly believe that his first words were:

Grandpa…cookie!

Looking at the way I relate to him, and the way I related to my step-sons, my darling daughter, and even my niece and nephews, I look in the mirror and see my Daddy.  In my 30 years of singing in churches and leading services, I’ve heard him standing right beside me, singing in my ear.

Every time I watch my Alma Mater, the University of Memphis, play basketball, or watch the St.Louis Cardinals play baseball, I think of my mother.

So, when did I turn into my parents?

It happened the moment I started accepting responsibility for those other lives that God gave me stewardship over.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kingsjester’s 2011

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

Hello, 2012!  It sure did take you a long time to get here.  It feels like forever.

But, by God’s Grace, we’re still here, living in the greatest country on His green Earth.

Last night, my bride and I were watching a Gaither program on our local PBS station, that was taped at the Billy Graham Training Center.  The great Rickey Skaggs was on the program and he sang a song, whose words touched my heart.

And I as sat down later and read about this Blog’s accomplishments for 2011, the words hit me right between my eyes:

Somebody’s praying

Somebody’s praying for me

Mighty hands are guiding me

To protect me from what I can’t see

Lord I believe

Lord I believe

Somebody’s praying for me

Angels are watching

I can feel them

Angels are watching over me

There’s many miles ahead ’till I get home

Still I’m safely kept before Your throne

Lord I believe

Lord I believe

Angels are watching over me

Well I’ve walked barren wilderness

Where my pillow was a stone

And I’ve been through the darkest caverns

Where no light had ever shone

Still I went on ’cause there was someone

Who was down on their knees

And Lord I thank you for those people

Praying all this time for me.

Thank you for supporting me this year.  You are my experts, my critics, and, truly, the wind beneath my wings.

Today is my 640th post.  I could not have written one, with your prayers and support.

As we head toward Election Day, November 6, 2012, I resolve to continue to fight the good fight, to write about the country I love, and the American values that have made her great.

I’m going to keep my chin up.  You do the same.

Now, please click on the following link to see what we have accomplished together in 2011.

I love y’all.  God bless America! – KJ

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 58,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 21 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Celebration of the Greatest Gift of All

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity4 Comments

Luke 2: 8-14 (ASV)

8 And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

9 And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:

11 for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

In 1912, C.P.J. Mooney worked as  the editor for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN.  He wrote an editorial that has become a yearly tradition, not only in Memphis, but around the world.  Here it is, presented for the second year, as my Christmas Gift to you, my much appreciated readers.

Jesus, The Perfect Man

There is no other character in history like that of Jesus.

As a preacher, as a doer of things, and as a philosopher, no man ever had the sweep and the vision of Jesus.

A human analysis of the human actions of Jesus brings to view a rule of life that is amazing in its perfect detail.

The system of ethics Jesus taught during His earthly sojourn 2,000 years ago was true then, has been true in every century since and will be true forever.

Plato was a great thinker and learned in his age, but his teachings did not stand the test of time. In big things and in little things time and human experience have shown that he erred.

Marcus Aurelius touched the reflective mind of the world, but he was as cold and austere as brown marble. …

Thomas a Kempis’ ”Imitation of Christ” is a thing of rare beauty and sympathy, but it is, as its name indicates, only an imitation.

Sir Thomas More’s ”Utopia” is yet a dream that cannot be realized.

Lord Bacon writing on chemistry and medicine under the glasses of the man working in a 20th century laboratory is puerile.

The world’s most learned doctors until 150 years ago gave dragon’s blood and ground tails of lizards and shells of eggs for certain ailments. The great surgeons a hundred years ago bled a man if he were wounded.

Napoleon had the world at his feet for four years, and when he died the world was going on its way as if he had never lived.

JESUS TAUGHT little as to property because He knew there were things of more importance than property. He measured property and life, the body and soul, at their exact relative value. He taught much more as to character, because character is of more importance than dollars.

Other men taught us to develop systems of government. Jesus taught so as to perfect the minds of men. Jesus looked to the soul, while other men dwelled on material things.

After the experience of 2,000 years no man can find a flaw in the governmental system outlined by Jesus.

Czar and kaiser, president and Socialist, give to its complete merit their admiration.

No man today, no matter whether he follows the doctrine of Mill, Marx or George as to property, can find a false principle in Jesus’ theory of property.

In the duty of a man to his fellow no sociologist has ever approximated the perfection of the doctrine laid down by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount.

Not all the investigations of chemists, not all the discoveries of explorers, not all the experiences of rulers, not all the historical facts that go to make up the sum of human knowledge on this day in 1912 are in contradiction to one word uttered or one principle laid down by Jesus.

The human experiences of 2,000 years show that Jesus never made a mistake. Jesus never uttered a doctrine that was true at that time and then became obsolete.

Jesus spoke the truth, and the truth is eternal.

History has no record of any other man leading a perfect life or doing everything in logical order. Jesus is the only person whose every action and whose every utterance strike a true note in the heart and mind of every man born of woman. He never said a foolish thing, never did a foolish act and never dissembled.

No poet, no dreamer, no philosopher loved humanity with all the love that Jesus bore toward all men.

WHO, THEN, was Jesus?

He could not have been merely a man, for there never was a man who had two consecutive thoughts absolute in truthful perfection.

Jesus must have been what Christendom proclaims Him to be — a divine being — or He could not have been what He was. No mind but an infinite mind could have left behind those things which Jesus gave the world as a heritage.

So, on this Christmas Day, as you spend time with family and friends, remember that we have an Advocate in Jesus Christ the Righteous…and Rejoice!  For unto us a child is born…unto us a Son is given.  Hallelujah!

From the Innkeeper’s Point of View

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity8 Comments

Luke 2:  1-7 (ASV):

 1 Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.

2 This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

5 to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.

6 And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  Caesar Augustus had come up with the bright idea that a census should be taken of the whole Roman Empire, in order to more effectively tax the stew out of all of us.

It especially hurt small businessmen like me.  You see, I’m nothing but a lowly innkeeper, barely keeping my head above water, working 16 hour days.  Oy!  I could continue to gripe, but who would listen?

Anyway, like I said, Caesar decreed that everyone should get themselves registered for the Census.  In terms of business, that actually turned out to be a good thing.

I was about to lock up for the night, when a young man and  woman came to the door.  He was a strong, rugged-looking young man.  I think he was a carpenter.  She was a beautiful, pregnant little thing.  Bless her heart, she looked like she would deliver at any moment.  Their names were Joseph and Mary.

My inn was packed, for once, and I had no rooms available.  But, some part of my heart told me that I just couldn’t send them away, so I offered them my stable, which would at least offer some protection from the elements.

What happened that night was wondrous.  Men are still talking about it to this day.  A precious little baby boy was born that night and the most miraculous things happened.  People said that animals actually spoke!  And the local shepherds said that angels came to them and told them about this baby.  They sang His praises and told the shepherds that they needed to come to my stable to see and worship that little baby.

Three wise men, sent by Herod, showed up later, bearing gifts for that special infant.  They were overcome by that little one and decided that they would not report back to Herod, but, instead, would return to their homes.

It was quite a remarkable time.  As the years went by, I heard stories about that child.  They named Him Jesus.  He grew in knowledge and stature.  At 12, his parents lost Him.  They found Him in the synagogue, teaching the old men that should have been teaching Him!  Can you imagine?

He grew up working beside His father in his carpentry business and when He was 30, I heard that He was baptized by that wild man, John The Baptist.  According to witnesses the heavens parted, and they heard the voice of God saying:

This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

For three years, He traveled with a group of twelve disciples, performing miracles, preaching and teaching about God’s love and His plan for mankind.

And, now I’ve heard that just yesterday, they nailed Him to a cross, executing Him as they would a common criminal.

So sad.  But, you know, there is a still, small voice inside of me that’s telling me that His story is not over, yet.

I truly hope that you enjoyed this post today.  I originally wrote the preceding story 1 year ago today in honor of this special night.

Tonight, we celebrate the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ.  In closing, I want to share two videos with you.  The first is a video entitled, “That’s my King!”, as read by Dr. S.M. Lockridge.  The second video is a song that I’ve had the privilege of performing many times.  Written by Gaither Vocal Band member Mark Lowry and musician Buddy Greene, it has become a favorite of Believers everywhere.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!  And may God bless us, everyone!