This was cute - a friend sent it to me - take it will a grain of salt.

Twas the night before elections

And all through the town

Tempers were flaring

Emotions all up and down!

I, in my bathrobe

With a cat in my lap

Had cut off the TV

Tired of political crap.

When all of a sudden

There arose such a noise

I peered out of my window

Saw Obama and his boys

They had come for my wallet

They wanted my pay

To give to the others

Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money

And quick as a wink

Jumped back on his bandwagon

As I gagged from the stink

He then rallied his henchmen

Who were pulling his cart

I could tell they were out

To tear my country apart!

'On Fannie, on Freddie,

On Biden and Ayers!

On Acorn, On Pelosi'

He screamed at the pairs!

They took off for his cause

And as he flew out of sight

I heard him laugh at the nation

Who wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think

On this one final note-

IF YOU DONT WANT SOCIALISM

GET OUT AND VOTE!

We the People

I know my wife will love this one!

Some great videos you have to check out!

http://www.timhawkins.net/video.php

Margaret make sure Hannah sees the Chick Fil-A song!

Katie and Michael - watch this one!

Matt & Belinda - watch this one!

Super Bowl Ad NBC Rejected

You didn't get to see this one.

John Piper preaching to us and to President Obama

Follow this link and listen to John Piper preach for just 3.40 seconds. Very powerful!

Public Prayer at the Inauguration

I have had the opportunity to pray in public forums on many occasions. Not long ago the administration asked me to pray at my daughter's high school graduation. This was the second time, two years earlier I did the same thing for my son's graduation. I was told that there would be those in the auditorium that do not believe, so "be sensitive."

My thinking at the time and and now is that I am a Christian pastor, and they have asked a Christian to pray. So I prayed to the Loving God, and I prayed in the name of the one who died on the cross for me.

I will never be called on to pray for a president's inauguration. I am glad the Baptist pastor Rick Warren has been. He has been criticized because our new president is blatantly pro-choice. We are Biblically commanded to

 pray for our leaders - and my hope is that Rick will be like Mother Teresa when she spoke at the President's Prayer Breakfast years ago, standing right beside pro-death/abortion president Bill Clinton. She boldly called the country and him to repentance for his stand against life. Ask Mother Teresa to speak and she spoke the truth. So pray for Pastor Rick.

Here is her speech from 1994. Here specifically is what she said about abortion.

But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against

the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.

And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we

 must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even His life to love us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.

By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems.

And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion.

Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

She ended the speech with:

If we remember that God loves us, and that we can love others as He loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the world.

From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak - the unborn child - must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!

Recently,  according to the NY Times, president elect Obama has also asked the gay Episcopalian bishop Gene Robinson to pray at the kick-off event before the actual inauguration.  I am sure it will be more "air time" than Pastor Rick's prayer. Here is what he said about his opportunity to pray.

I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation.

–Gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, explaining how he will approach the task of praying at one of next week’s presidential inaugural events.

In recent years, and especially during the inaugurations of President George W. Bush, ministers gave explicitly Christian prayers. Bishop Robinson said he had been rereading inaugural prayers through history and was “horrified” at how “specifically and aggressively Christian they were.”

Bishop Robinson said, “I am very clear that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won’t be quoting Scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.”

He said he might address the prayer to “the God of our many understandings,” language he said he learned from the 12-step program he has attended for his alcohol addiction.

And this is from The Living Church:

The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, has accepted an invitation to offer a prayer at a Jan. 18 inaugural event to welcome the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.  Bishop Robinson said he has not yet composed the prayer he will offer, but said he will not use a Bible.  “While that is a holy and sacred text to me,” he said, “it is not for many Americans. I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation. It won’t a happy clappy prayer.”

My last word - pray for our leaders to the God who will answer!

Our New President

I got this picture off the OBAMA website. Doesn't it look like a Christmas card announcing a messiah? Is that Bethlehem or Chicago in the background?

I thought I would write my reflections about our new president and what should be our attitude toward the new administration. Then I read Dr. Al Mohler's blog. He said what I was going to say. So read it here and just think that this is what I was going to say!

Spread the Wealth Around Experiment

Got this from a friend today - makes you think.

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read
"Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed. Once in the restaurant my
server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away
his political preference--just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Tax System Explained so that I can Understand

Tax Cuts: A Simple Lesson in Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

I guess the bartender ate the remaining dollar but it is not really germane to the outcome

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20 declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money among all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Attributed to
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Joe Biden

This will make you laugh! Check it out! Three Words: Apologize to Quayle Now

Of a Political Nature

I always like graphics that show an overview. Since at this time we do not watch TV, I am getting alot of my news from the internet. The NY Times has a great graphic that shows The Words They Used  in the Democrat and Republican conventions. 

I feel like I listened to it all now and saved a lot of time!