Archive for March, 2008
Friday, March 21st, 2008
I just came across this article as I went through my daily reads regarding the “science” of the Bible’s advice that it’s better to give than to receive:
The researchers started by asking a sample of 632 Americans, 55 percent of whom were women, to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 5, the higher the number the happier.
Then they asked the participants to report their annual income and estimate how much they spent on paying bills, buying gifts for themselves, buying gifts for others and giving to charity.
The first two were considered personal spending and averaged $1,714-a-month, the second two were termed “prosocial” spending and averaged $146-a-month.
“Personal spending was unrelated to happiness,” said the researchers. “But higher prosocial spending was associated with significantly greater happiness,” they found.
Not content with that, they then studied 16 employees of a company in Boston, asking about their happiness one month before and six to eight weeks after each received a profit-sharing bonus from their employer.
In the second interview they also asked about personal and prosocial spending and once again those who spent more on others were happier.
“The manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the amount of the bonus itself,” the researchers found.
Finally, 46 Canadian students were asked to rate their happiness and then each was given a random envelope containing money, ranging from $5 to $20. Some were instructed to spend it on themselves, others were told to buy a gift for someone else.
At 5 p.m. that day, they were called together again and asked to rate their happiness.
The amount of money had no impact on happiness, but those assigned to buy something for another person reported greater happiness than those told to get something for themselves, the researchers said.
It struck me as I read this that I am definitely happier when I give. It also struck me, quite profoundly, how much I’ve received. Not only do I have a wonderful, beautiful wife, three healthy children, and work that I enjoy, I’ve been granted the opportunity for salvation. If anyone ever exemplified what it means to give it was Jesus. John 15:13 puts it this way:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
My giving, whether it’s to my church or to another charity, has very little to do with my inherent goodness. But I recognize how much I’ve been given—I’m not talking money here—and feel that the only way to truly be happy is to try and live my life the same way that Jesus lived His.
Don’t get me wrong. I fall short many times, and I wouldn’t dare say that I’ve accomplished the task. And I know that this article is talking about money, but I can’t escape the fact that Jesus was always giving. He gave of His time to the children. He gave of His wisdom to Nicodemus. He gave of his resources to the crowds that followed Him. He gave healing to the sick. He gave forgiveness to the sinner. And He ultimately gave His life to those who required it of Him—you and me.
Maybe you believe, and maybe you don’t. That’s a decision that you’ll have to make on your own. To believe that there was a man, God robed in flesh, who lived, died for you, and rose again takes some faith. But can I challenge you today that maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t take as much faith as you think? We live in a nation governed by people we never see, can never talk to, and who make decisions we don’t understand. Yet we have faith that the roads will still be there tomorrow, that the mail will run, that we’ll be safe … in short, we have faith that the unseen will do their jobs.
Today is Good Friday, the day we mark the crucifixion and death of Jesus. What better day to ask yourself about what you believe? About where you put your hope and faith? The only thing you have to give is some room in your life. Room for God to deal with you about His plans for you. Room for Him to change your mind about some things that maybe you misunderstand. And room for Him to give you the greatest gift you’ll ever receive. You have to give, but today is a good Friday for it.
Posted in Musings, Religion | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
This makes two comics in two weeks! I’m feelin’ mighty proud. Hop on over to the web comic and check out the newest Stranger than Fiction offering tackling Sen. Obama’s speech yesterday regarding race relations.
Posted in 2008 Presidential Race | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
“…if anyone needs a lecture on race relations it’s the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, not the American people.”
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Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
From Obama’s speech:
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
Actually, Senator — no. My pastor loves his country, prays for its leadership and preservation, and served in the U.S. military during Vietnam. He has never called for God’s damnation to fall on the country. He has never called any president, Republican or Democrat, a “C student sitting the White House”. He votes. He encourages his congregation to get involved in the process, regardless of party affiliation … I could go on, but I digress.
If you want to make excuses for your pastor, that’s fine, Senator. Just don’t drag mine down in the process.
Posted in 2008 Presidential Race | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
If this is how he deals with a single topic, can you imagine how long his State of the Union speeches are going to be?
Zzzzz….
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Friday, March 14th, 2008
Earlier this week much was made about Hillary Clinton claiming to have felt the “presence of the Holy Spirit” thanks to a link on the front page of Drudge. I would urge those who scoff and mock to remember Mr. Obama’s June 2006 speech to Call to Renewal’s Building a Covenant for a New America conference. In the speech he talks about his “conversion” experience (not insinuating anything there… non-believer converting to believer is all I’m saying):
But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.
The talking heads have made Hillary sound crazy for claiming to have felt the presence of God, but I must tell you that as a Christian I have absolutely no doubt. Hillary, as wrong as she is on so many issues, is still human and has that “measure of faith” that we’re all given by our Creator. He is real, His Spirit is real, and His presence can certainly be felt — just as Mr. Obama claims to have felt it. I sincerely hope that Hillary not only feels it, but will someday allow herself to be led by it.
That’s issue number one.
Reading the speech I just mentioned in its entirety, however, raised a second issue. How Mr. Obama feels about literalists — those of us who believe that the Word of God isn’t just allegory and hyperbole, but rather that we were created by God, that Noah built an ark, and that Moses parted the Red Sea.
In speaking about the contest in 2004 against Alan Keyes for the U.S. Senate seat he now inhabits Obama discusses a claim that Keyes made that Jesus would not vote for Obama. He talks about how he was given advice to let it go and forget about it, but that he wanted to respond more harshly:
But what they didn’t understand, however, was that I had to take Mr. Keyes seriously, for he claimed to speak for my religion, and my God. He claimed knowledge of certain truths.
Mr. Obama says he’s a Christian, he was saying, and yet he supports a lifestyle that the Bible calls an abomination.
Mr. Obama says he’s a Christian, but supports the destruction of innocent and sacred life.
And so what would my supporters have me say? How should I respond? Should I say that a literalist reading of the Bible was folly? Should I say that Mr. Keyes, who is a Roman Catholic, should ignore the teachings of the Pope?
Unwilling to go there, I answered with what has come to be the typically liberal response in such debates - namely, I said that we live in a pluralistic society, that I can’t impose my own religious views on another, that I was running to be the U.S. Senator of Illinois and not the Minister of Illinois.
I must say that on first reading it doesn’t seem like much, but when you realize that he’s confessing how he felt was the truthful and more intuitive way for him to respond, there’s reason for pause. Can it be that Mr. Obama feels that a literalist reading of the Bible is folly? That the Pope, whose teachings he referenced in the same breath, should be ignored? I can’t say for certain, but it looks that way to me.
I know his next words are “unwilling to go there” but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t believe it. It simply means that he wasn’t willing to make a mistake that could hurt his Senate chances.
Mr. Obama may call himself a Christian, but if you listen to his words — all of them — you quickly gain the sense that he certainly isn’t a Christian that is committed to full Biblical Truth. He believes, and has even intimated this, that he is able to pick and choose what parts of the Bible to believe, and that his faith is enough to make him a Christian. Allow me to set the record straight — faith alone does not make you Christian. You must act on that faith in a way that is in line with Biblical truth. Mr. Obama says he believes in Jesus, but it’s important to note that belief doesn’t make him a Christian, either. That’s right— I said that if you believe in Jesus that isn’t enough to save you or to make you a Christian:
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?… Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone… Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?…Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only… For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2)
More shortly…
Posted in 2008 Presidential Race | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
I just posted a new Stranger than Fiction comic — the first in nearly 10 months. 10 months. I couldn’t believe that number was right at first but looking at the last post with its oh-so out of date reference to Giuliani as the GOP front runner I was forced to admit that I’ve been woefully neglectful of the comic. So go check it out post-haste.
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Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
From KnoxNews.com:
NASHVILLE - A proposal to make it a crime for illegal immigrants to accept pay for work done in Tennessee is headed for floor votes in both chambers of the General Assembly.
The Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously today to advance the proposal to make it a misdemeanor for illegal immigrants to accept pay.
The measure sponsored by Sen. Joe Haynes, a Goodlettsville Democrat, could lead to fines of $500, up to six months in jail and require illegal immigrants to forfeit any earnings they receive.
Haynes says the Legislature is prevented from enacting tougher penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants because the state must defer to federal laws on the matter.
While I’m for measures to penalize illegal immigration, I think this is a moronically backwards way of doing so. Why aren’t we going after the employers? How is it even feasible to enforce this (”I can’t ask if you’re here illegally, and I’m not profiling, but hypothetically if you were here illegally, have you been working and getting paid? Because if you have I need to give you a fine. No? Okay. Here’s a driver’s license and a voter registration card — sorry to have troubled you.”)?
How is it that lawmakers are getting paid to come up with junk like this? My six year old son could draft a better document.
Sigh. I digress. Here’s why it’s stupid: Haynes says that the state has to defer to federal laws on employers. I call bull-feces.
Tennessee regulates labor and workforce on a state level, as evidenced by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce. That’s right — an entire department devoted to enforcing Tennessee State Labor Laws. But Mr. Haynes says they can’t do anything about employers. Their hands are tied, poor kids. They’d like to be able to regulate the workforce, they just can’t.
This is just a sad, sad attempt by state Democrats to make themselves look more conservative before November. There are a number of bills being introduced this year for that exact purpose (my own representative, Jim Hackworth, has his name attached to an “interesting” abortion bill). However, those bills don’t stand up to close scrutiny by the informed.
Fortunately for the Dems people don’t seem very interested in being informed this election cycle. They prefer to be inspired.
Posted in TN Politics | 3 Comments »
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://youtube.com/v/KDwODbl3muE” class=”center” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
From the Democrat Party’s website regarding their agenda item of Election Reform:
A fundamental tenet of our democracy is the right to vote and have that vote counted. We must be vigilant in protecting this right and ensuring that our voting system is fair for every American.
Yet, this morning Mr. I Have a Scream sang a different song when asked about a request from Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) for the DNC to pay for a new election to be held in his state:
“We can’t afford to do that,” Dean stated on CBS’s “Early Show.” “That’s not our problem. We need our money to win the presidential race.”
Whoah, there Howie — not your problem? YOU are the one who made the decision to disenfranchise the 2.5 million Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan. I’m pretty sure that makes this problem ALL yours.
Posted in 2008 Presidential Race | 1 Comment »
