Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Jim Crow

Jim Crow
For many, that name will mean nothing , so let me give you a little history lesson:
The term Jim Crow comes from the minstrel show song "Jump Jim Crow" written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, a white English migrant to the U.S., the originator of blackface performance. The song and blackface itself were an immediate hit. "Jim Crow" became a standard character in Minstrel shows, being a caricature of a shabbily dressed rural black; "Jim Crow" was often paired with the character "Zip Coon", a flamboyantly dressed urban black who associated more into white culture. By 1837, Jim Crow was being used to refer to racial segregation.
The term then was used to describe what was called Jim Crow Laws:
In the United States, the so-called Jim Crow laws were made to enforce racial segregation, and included laws that would prevent African Americans from doing things that a white person could do. For instance, Jim Crow laws regulated separate use of water fountains and separate seating sections on public transport. Jim Crow laws varied among communities and states. The term is not applied to all racist laws, but only to those passed post-Reconstruction starting in about 1890, the start of a period of worsening race relations in the United States. Similar laws passed immediately after the civil war were called the Black Codes.
you can read more at:
There is no doubt that horrible things have been done to African-Americans in our country. But at the same time, when people today resurrect the crimes of the past to try and say things today are just like they were then, you have to shake your head in disbelief. When a person uses such faulty logic, it hurts their argument.
Consider the following artice which was posted at:
Resurrecting Jim Crow for Political Gain Voter fraud is also a threat to minority voters.
Monday, August 22, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

The Voting Rights Act, whose 40th anniversary we celebrate this month, has helped minorities elect 81 sitting members of Congress and thousands of local officials. But the rally civil rights groups held in Atlanta earlier this month to push for extension of the act's key temporary provisions downplayed those gains and instead pushed wild claims that some state laws requiring an ID to vote are the functional equivalent of Jim Crow poll taxes.

Both Judge Greg Mathis, the star of a syndicated courtroom TV show, and California Rep. Barbara Lee claimed that the last two presidential elections had been "stolen." Judge Mathis told the rally Republican leaders "need to be locked up because they're all criminals and thieves." Other speakers claimed Georgia's new photo ID law would suppress poor and elderly minority voters who might lack such a document. When the bill passed the Georgia House in March, black legislators sang slave songs and one even slammed a prisoner's shackles on the desk of the sponsor.

Juan Williams, a National Public Radio correspondent and author of "Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years," is "stunned" by such vituperation. He told Fox News that it is "reacting to devils that have been slain 40 years ago." He says that "in service to having no fraud elections, I think you could say to people, go and get a legitimate ID. I don't think that's too much to ask."

Andrew Young, the former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador who spoke at the rally, believes that in an era when people have to show ID to rent a video or cash a check "requiring ID can help poor people." He noted that Georgia is deploying a mobile bus to issue voter IDs and allowing groups like the NAACP to arrange for it to go to specific sites.

Mr. Young says rehashing arguments about the 2000 and 2004 elections doesn't solve much--"I accept the recounts that show George Bush won"--and says it's time for fresh thinking. "[Let's] ask what we do about low voter turnout and whether it's the result of racial discrimination or not," he told me. "I don't think it is, since everyone is equally inconvenienced by how we vote." He suggests moving Election Day to a weekend and expanding the hours polls are open.

But many liberals can't be bothered with a positive agenda. A new 300-page report by the American Center for Voting Rights, a group with Republican ties, documents both examples of voter fraud as well as the flimsy nature of many charges of voter suppression. David Porter, the deputy editorial page editor of the Orlando Sentinel and an African American, says he was "bewildered" last year by reports of voter intimidation in his city that didn't pan out. John Kerry routinely accused Republicans in the 2000 election of "disenfranchising a million African Americans and stealing their votes" but provided no evidence. In that vein, a Kerry election manual advised workers that if they hadn't seen signs of intimidation they should "launch a 'pre-emptive strike'" and cry wolf anyway.

Such cynicism exasperates some Democrats. Last year, Joe Andrew, who served as Bill Clinton's chairman of the Democratic National Committee, blasted conspiracy theories that electronic voting machines, or DREs, would be used to steal votes and said "most liberals are just plain old-fashioned nuts" on the subject. He lamented that prominent Democrats "are rallying behind the anti-DRE bandwagon in a big election year because they think that this movement is good for Democrats."

Nor has the truth stretching stopped with the election. Barbara Arnwine of The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights claims photo ID laws "could disenfranchise 10% of the electorate." In June, DNC Chairman Howard Dean issued a report on last year's election in Ohio. He claimed it backed up charges of widespread "voter suppression." But after a scholar involved in writing the report told journalists that wasn't so, Mr. Dean had to return to the microphones to revise his remarks: "While we certainly couldn't draw a proven conclusion that this was willful, it certainly has the appearance of impropriety."

But William Anthony, Democratic chairman in Ohio's capital of Columbus, scoffs at such suggestions. Mr. Anthony, who is also chair of the county elections board, said the high turnout and a ballot that involved more than 100 choices for some voters did create lines, but told the Columbus Dispatch he was offended by "a band of conspiracy theorists" alleging suppression. "I am a black man. Why would I sit there and disenfranchise voters in my own community?"
This isn't to say dirty tricks aren't pulled to lower minority turnout. Mr. Dean has pointed to anonymous flyers that publicized Election Day as being on a Wednesday or informed voters they had to clear up parking tickets to vote. But the only documented case of serious deception involving more than fliers was committed by the Kerry campaign. On Election Day, a Marion, Ohio, judge enjoined Democrats from calling GOP voters and giving them incorrect polling locations while claiming they had to bring four separate forms of ID to vote.

Cathy Chaffin, the county Democratic chair, has signed an affidavit on the incident that reads like a plea from a hostage. In late October, she learned that Kerry workers who had taken over her office space were making the calls and ordered them to stop. Days later she learned the calls were still being made and repeated her command. On the morning of Election Day she learned "the activity had not in fact stopped" and told Kerry staffer Jim Secreto "he could not operate out of the headquarters if he continued to violate my directive."

The Voting Rights Act ensures the right to vote for all Americans. But as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says it's "just as important to preserve the value of that vote from those who would corrupt the election process." His office is currently pursuing 120 election fraud investigations and since early 2003 has charged 89 people with fraud.
Those cases don't get as much play as the conspiracy theories, but they have the advantage of having facts behind them. It's time media outlets that analyze the accuracy of campaign ads vigorously apply the same truth detector to all charges of election chicanery.

Mr. Fund, a regular contributor to OpinionJournal's Political Diary, is the author of "Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (Encounter Books, 2004).

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 8:32 AM   0 comments

Friday, August 19, 2005

True followers of Christ; Be prepared to have a world make jokes at your expense. You can hardly expect a world to be more reverent to you than to Our Lord. When it does make fun of your faith, its practices, abstinences, and rituals-then you are moving to a closer identity with Him Who gave us our faith. Under scorn, Our Lord "answered nothing". The world gets amusement from a Christian who fails to be Christian, but none from his respectful silence.
-- Bishop Fulton Sheen

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 8:13 AM   0 comments

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

48 Million and still not happy!


If you were told that your current employer was going to pay you $48.97 million dollars over the next seven years, would you be happy? What kind of employee would you become? Most people would say they would be very happy. They would become the best employee in the company. Well, I guess things are a little different in the NFL.

Owens leaves camps after argument with ReidBy DAN GELSTON, AP Sports WriterAugust 10, 2005

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- All-Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens left Eagles training camp Wednesday after a heated exchange with coach Andy Reid.
Reid asked the injured Owens to leave after their discussion, according to Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge. She said Owens was asked to return next Wednesday and had gone to his home in New Jersey. ``I got sent home until Wednesday for whatever reason,'' Owens told Comcast SportsNet for a TV interview from his front lawn. ``It was just a difference of opinion. I was defending myself.'' Comcast SportsNet reported the disagreement occurred during a team meeting. Owens then got his belongings and cleared out of training camp at Lehigh University. ``T.O. was asked to leave by Andy Reid,'' Etheredge said. ``I don't think that it was heated, it was a difference of opinion. I don't know if there was an argument.'' Owens did not say what the argument was about. ``If the truth needs to be told, then that's what I'll do,'' Owens said. ``If he (Reid) wants me to be a man about it and have me really go on the air and really tell the people what happened, then I can. It was a difference of opinion.'' Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko had no comment. Drew Rosenhaus, Owens' agent, did not immediately return several messages left on his phones. Owens is unhappy the Eagles have refused to redo his contract as he enters the second season of a seven-year, $48.97 million deal. He hired Rosenhaus and threatened to skip camp completely. Instead, Owens reported, then injured his groin last Thursday. He was day to day and the injury wasn't considered serious, but he missed practice Wednesday for the fifth time in six days. Owens worked out with the team's assistant trainer for about 20 minutes on a separate playing field from his teammates, catching balls from a machine and doing some light running. He did not speak to reporters or acknowledge the fans who chanted his name. Owens also skipped a scheduled autograph session with the rest of the Eagles' receivers after practice. ``He was unable to attend because he was injured,'' Etheredge said. Owens said the fans have been great, but he didn't sign autographs at the tent because he was rehabbing his groin. He also said he was having fun at camp, even if it didn't look that way. Since arriving at camp Owens has been distant on the field with his teammates. After signing autographs and slapping hands with fans on a nearly daily basis at last year's camp, Owens has jogged on and off the practice field without much acknowledgment of their chants and screams of support. ``Just because I don't talk to everybody, that's up to me,'' Owens said. ``Everybody needs to understand the situation is all business, it's nothing personal. The situation is between me and management. They know what's going on. ``I think some people are kind of ticked off because I haven't really said much. They don't pay me to go in there and talk to everybody and be friendly to everybody. They paid me to play and they paid me to perform. That's what I've been going in there and doing.'' The Eagles had a special teams practice Wednesday afternoon and Owens was not required to attend. Last season, Owens had 77 receptions for 1,200 yards and a franchise-record 14 touchdowns before severely injuring his ankle late in the season. He missed the final two regular-season games and the first two playoff games before returning for the Super Bowl, in which he had nine receptions for 122 yards. While Owens has been an off-field distraction, the Eagles sorely need his production. Todd Pinkston is on injured reserve and out for the season with a torn Achilles' tendon, and the rest of the wide receivers –Greg Lewis, Billy Mc Mullen, and Reggie Brown -- are young and inexperienced.

Wow, what can I say? I read something like that and my initial thought was, "Man,I would never act like that if I got paid that much!" But after taking some time and thinking about the article, I came to some conclusions:


1. Money, no matter how much, never seems to make people happy. I know there will be many who read this who will argue that point, but time and time again we read of those who have so much yet never seem to be truly happy. In fact the Bible dedicates a book to this idea. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes is the journal of a man who had everything but was still not happy! King Solomon had come to a conclusion about life. In fact, he begins the book with these words: "Vanity of vanities." He goes on to say,"All is Vanity!" The word vanity means meaningless and empty! Solomon decides he is going to figure out what life is all about, what will make him happy and content. Look at some of the things he tries: - Education: He decided to gain as much knowledge and wisdom as he could (Ecclesiastes 1:13, 16-18) His conclusion was that all he found was vexation of spirit, grief, and sorrow! - Pleasure: He sought out those things that would make him feel good, things to make him laugh.(Ecclesiastes 2:1-2) Again he concluded that all was vanity!- Material things: You can read about all the things he acquired in chapter 2:1-10, but, once again, his conclusion was that all was vanity! That sounds like so many people. I find myself looking for happiness in things, money, and entertainment. All these things are vanity and insufficient to bring true joy! Just take some time to think about it. We live in a time where we have so much available to us! We have movies on demand and hundreds of TV channels, yet people complain they are bored and seem to be discontent. I cannot list all the things that are available to people on a daily basis, but no matter how much they have, they want more or something else. Hmm... maybe we are not much different than Terrel Owens. Consider Luke 12:15.

2. We never see how good we have it. We don’t take the time and consider that we may not be happy with our job, but I can guarantee there are people who desperately want it. Consider the number of people that at times risk their lives to just get to the United States. Illegal aliens would probably take our job in a second. They probably think, "I would be so happy working there, and I would be a great employee!" Yet we look at what we don’t have and never take the time to be grateful for what we already posses. Some people complain about where they live and want to live somewhere else. Some complain about what they have and want something else. The bottom line is that we never seem to look at how much and how good we already have it!

3. True meaning and happiness can only be found in one place! It may be hard to believe, but true joy and true meaning in life cannot be found even in 48 million dollars! The book of Ecclesiastes ends by pointing us in the right direction. Verse 13 of chapter 12 tells us, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments." Wow! The answer is not found in us. It is not found in those around us. It is not found in what we posses. It is only found in God! In fact, many of the Christian Catechisms begin with the following question and answer:

Question 1: What is the chief end of man?Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.Ps. 86:9; Isa.42:8; 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa: 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4

Wow, now that is a revolutionary concept. We are to look to God and what pleases him! We are not to live for our own desires and passions but for God. Some who read this blog need to understand that before we can begin to live for God and enter into a relationship with him, we have to understand a few things:

- We are guilty before God! I know you are saying, "Not me." But it is true. We are all sinners who have broken the Law of God and are guilty! The scriptures are clear on this point. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned! If you think that you are ok before God, take some time to review the law of God. You can read it in Exodus 20. Any honest person will admit that they have broken at least some of them! But there will be those who insist that they're not that bad. Jesus summed up the entire law like this, "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." We all know that we do not love God supremely. Therefore we are guilty and deserve punishment! Jesus went on to say that the law of God consists of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Again, we all know that we don’t do this either. So if we are going to enter into a right relationship with God, we must understand that we are guilty, and there is nothing we can do to remove our guilt!

- Jesus Christ is the Savior: We are guilty and need a savior, and the only savior that God has provided is Jesus Christ. He was born of the Virgin Mary, (Matthew 1:21-25) sinless, (Hebrews 4:14-16) more then just a man, and God in the flesh! (John 1:1, 14, John 20:24-28) He died for our sins (Romans 5:8)and was buried and rose again on the third day. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) - Trust in Christ alone: If we are guilty before God, but there is nothing we can do, and God has provided a savior who has done everything for us, then we must trust in that savior alone for our salvation! (John 3:16-18) We must acknowledge our guilt and turn from our sin and trust in Christ! (Mark 1:15)

If we have turned to Christ and truly believed, then we should realize all that we have in Christ! We have received the forgiveness of sins. We are now made the children of God We have an inheritance, and we are going to spend eternity in heaven! We have God with us today! As Christians, we should realize we have a relationship with God, and we should be joyful and content! We have more than 48 million could ever buy! Maybe we should start living like it!


Trevor Hamnmack
vbc.sermonaudio.com
www.worldvieww.blogspot.com

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 9:02 AM   0 comments

The following article can be founbd at:

http://www.founders.org/blog/

I found this article very informative and thought I would share it here as well:

Monday, August 15, 2005
Church and politics


Lest I be misunderstood, let me try to clarify my thinking on church and politics. The nature, purpose and mission of the church is to be determined by the Word of God and the Word of God alone. As a pastor I have often been lobbied by individuals and organizations who have wanted "my church" to go on record in support of (Right to Life) or protest against (public schools) various political and social causes. By and large I have declined such overtures. I have done so while having strong convictions and being very outspoken about some of those very causes (prolife is my one-issue-litmus-test for candidates for public office and I think the government education system is hopelessly broken). This has resulted in charges of being inconsistent, "pietistic" and even "liberal" (it is hard to imagine how anyone could confuse me with a liberal!). In my own mind, I am simply trying to be carefully consistent.I make a distinction (a necessary one, it seems to me) between the role and function of the church and the role and function of individual believers. A Christian can go to war in behalf of the state, but a church must never take up the physical sword as part of its mission. A Christian can be a magistrate (king, president, senator, etc.) but a church must never seek to rule a geo-political structure with political authority. In 1996 I wrote the following words. They still express my convictions on this matter:
There is within the religious right much which is commendable. Their stated motivations and intentions are worthy of every Christian's appreciation. Who among the people of God is not dismayed over the cultural decay all around us? Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, abortion, and euthanasia are now widely hailed as standard practices of the new morality. Governmental corruption is accepted as inevitable. Educational lunacy prevails at what are supposed to be the highest centers of learning. The prophetic judgment against "those who call evil good, and good evil" (Isa. 5:20) cannot help but resonate within the heart of the believer.We all recognize that some kind of action is called for, and at least the religious right is doing something. They will not allow us to close our eyes to the moral degeneration all around us. As citizens, individual Christians who fulfill their calling in this way can provide a tremendous ministry. It is right and proper for Christians to be involved in every level of politics as individual citizens. But when they call for a Christian congregation to become institutionally involved in political activism they are guilty of distracting that church from its God-given mission. It is precisely because of this that the religious right's proposals are disastrous for evangelical churches (from "Reformation, Revival and the Religious Right").I find much agreement with Martyn Lloyd-Jones at this point. In an interview with Carl Henry in 1980 he said, "It amazes me that evangelicals have suddenly taken such an interest in politics." He went on to call such interest "sheer folly.... You can't reform the world. That's why I disagree entirely with the 'social and cultural mandate' teaching and its appeal to Genesis 1:28. It seems to me to forget completely the Fall. You can't Christianize the world. The end time is going to be like the time of the Flood. The condition of the modern world proves that what we must preach more than ever is 'Escape from the wrath to come!' The situation is critical. I believe the Christian people--but not the church--should get involved in politics and social affairs. The kingdom task of the church is to save men from the wrath to come by bringing them to Christ. This is what I believe and emphasize. The main function of politics, culture, and all these things is to restrain evil. They can never do an ultimately positive work. Surely the history of the world demonstrates that. You can never Christianize the world" (Christianity Today, February 8, 1980, pp. 33-34).It is for this resason that all the calls to "reclaim America for Christ" leave me cold. Our real need is to reclaim the church for Christ. When Christ is exalted in His church, when He is loved and revered and cherised with passion by those who bear His Name--in other words, when the church starts living like the church--then His body cannot help but make an impact on culture.
# posted by Tom : 8:47 PM 2 comments
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Justice Sunday II
Tonight was Justice Sunday II, hosted by Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. "God Save the United States and this Honorable Court!" This announcement that is made when the Supreme Court sits in session was the theme for JSII.Joe Carter of the Evangelical Outpost blogged live from the event. Here is one of my favorite comments from his report:
5:50pm -- After thirty years as an American evangelical you'd think I'd be used to seeing an American flag in the church. But while I respect the symbol of our country, I've never been comfortable with an object that inspires patriotism sharing the stage with the symbol of our Savior's sacrifice. So I feel a bit uneasy seeing the two flags flanking a cross with a plaster statue of the Ten Commandments centered in front, used as the backdrop for the speakers. The cross is sufficient for salvation. Why is it not sufficient for the church?Why indeed? I met with others for worship tonight, so I was not able to tune in for the show. Other than what I read at the EO, I do not know how the program came off. These kinds of events strike me as David trying to combat Goliath by using Saul's armor. He had sense enough to realize that it wouldn't work. Many evangelicals seem to think that encouraging churches to engage in political activities in order to attain desirable moral goals is a wise strategy. I think it is wrong-headed and self-defeating. The church has been given a mission and it has nothing to do with exerting political pressure. Impact on culture and political structures has been most signiificant when it has come as a by-product of that mission being pursued with zeal and passion. If evangelical Christians want to see the moral degeneration of our culture reversed then they must become more serious in preaching and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their churches. The best thing that the church can do for the world is not to try to influence who gets appointed to the Supreme Court but to be the church. Well-ordered, Gospel-saturated, Christ-centered churches are a far greater need in our country than are the right kind of judges. I am not at all suggesting that Christians should not care about the political process. I am suggesting that a church as a church should never allow itself to be confused with a political action committee. Hosting a political rally does exactly that. Our churches are filled with people who give no signs of regeneration, who cannot even recite the ten commandments, who do not know the Gospel and who do not live any differently from their unconverted neighbors. What we need is biblical reformation. Political activism is much easier and may well rally and excite the masses of unregenerate people in many churches, which means that the success of such theopolitical efforts may prove more deadly than their failure. Anything that keeps us from facing up to our greatest need, no matter how much "good" it may apparently accomplish, is spiritually deadly. That is one of my greatest fears in all of this: that JSI and JSII and all the future JS gatherings may actually be politcally effective. If they are, then look for more of the same which will mean that we will continue traveling further and further from what Christ has called His church to be and do.

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 8:58 AM   0 comments

Friday, August 12, 2005

Sometimes things just make you wonder what people are thinking! Consider the following article :

Phelps' Group Protests At Soldier's Funeral
Fri Aug 5, 7:58 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/kmbc/20050805/lo_kmbc/2866367

Members of the Rev. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., are picketing military funerals, KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported Friday.
The group has made national headlines for traveling throughout the country to picket gay churches, gay weddings, and the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was murdered in Wyoming in 1998.
Friday, about 15 members of the group -- some of them children -- picketed the funeral of a St. Joseph soldier who was killed in Iraq. Mahoney reported that the group stood across the road from the Grace Evangelical Church during the funeral of 21-year-old Spc. Edward Myers.
"The first sin was being a part of this military. If this young man had a clue and any fear of God, he would have run, and not walked, from this military," said protester Shirley Phelps-Roper. "Who would serve a nation that is godless and has flipped off, defiantly defied, defiantly flipped off, the Lord their God?"
One protester had an American flag tied to his belt that draped to the ground. He was holding a sign that read, "Thank God For IEDs," which are explosive devices used by insurgents to blow up military convoys.
Protesters said America has ignored the word of God, and those who defend the nation must pay a price.
"That's the first piece of solid evidence that you have that the young man is currently in hell," Phelps-Roper said.
"The soldier is in hell now, you believe?" Mahoney asked.
"Absolutely," Phelps-Roper said.
'Protesters Were Rude'
About a dozen veterans stood across the road from the protesters, and Mahoney reported that there were some harsh words and insults traded between the two groups. However, sheriff deputies were stationed about 100 yards away and there was no violence.
"The protesters were so rude -- were disrespectful," said veteran Jim Fields.
"Do I like it? No, I don't. But what can you say, it's a free country," said veteran Dave Campbell.
Veterans told KMBC that a member of the soldier's family shouted at the protesters to leave, and they left about 20 minutes after the funeral started. Mahoney reported that there was applause from veterans and other crowd members when the protesters left.
After the funeral was over, one of the mourners commented on the irony of the protesters showing up at a soldier's funeral.
"They shouldn't protest the funeral for a man who was out there dying to protect the rights that they're demanding they receive," said Marvin Russell.
Russell said he thinks the soldier's family saw the protesters.
"I think it saddened them. They didn't say anything outright, but you could tell by the way they looked down that this was a sad thing to do. They're already in mourning, they don't need people like this to make it worse," Russell said.
Myers was buried with full military honors in Leavenworth National Cemetery. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
One of the protesters said the group is planning to picket other military funerals.

What can I say! this truly makes me very upset. If you don't approve of the war OK, but please remember that without the military you would most likely now live under a government who would kill you for protesting what they did or did not do! So at least show some respect to those who serve to protect your rights and at times die to protect those rights!

Then to make matters worse this group protesting is a Baptist Church! I would think they at least own a bible, maybe they should spend more time reading it then protesting funerals!
Consider

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Matthew 5:43-44
Even if they consider this soldier and his family their enemy, they are instructed to love them! I don't see how protesting at the funeral would accomplish this!

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 5:54 PM   0 comments

If you have been watching the news at all recently, then you have heard the name Cindy Sheehan. She is the mother of Casey Sheehan, who was killed on April 4, 2004. Cindy Sheehan has been camped out near President Bush's ranch prostesting the war and demanding to meet with the president. It appears not everyone in the Sheehan family has Cindy's same opinion. The Drudge report is posting a letter that is reported to be from Casey's aunt and godmother. It reads:
Our family has been so distressed by the recent activities of Cindy we are breaking our silence and we have collectively written a statement for release. Feel free to distribute it as you wish. Thanks, Cherie In response to questions regarding the Cindy Sheehan/Crawford Texas issue: Sheehan Family Statement: The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect. Sincerely, Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins.



If this letter proves to be authentic, it will be interesting to see how much of the press will cover it.

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 5:36 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Love or Obsession


By tsrk30

I have to admit there are things that I like a lot. But when what you like becomes what controls you, then you have a problem. Consider how one man's like became, well let’s just say, maybe an obsession:

S. Korean man dies after 50 hours of computer gamesTue Aug 9, 1:11 PM ETA South Korean man who played computer games for 50 hours almost non-stop died of heart failure minutes after finishing his mammoth session in an Internet cafe, authorities said Tuesday.The 28-year-old man, identified only by his family name Lee, had been playing on-line battle simulation games at the cybercafe in the southeastern city of Taegu, police said.Lee had planted himself in front of a computer monitor to play on-line games on Aug. 3. He only left the spot over the next three days to go to the toilet and take brief naps on a makeshift bed, they said."We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official said by telephone.Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported after interviewing former work colleagues and staff at the Internet cafe.After he failed to return home, Lee's mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the cafe, Lee said he would finish the game and then go home, the paper reported.He died a few minutes later, it said.

So what is it that you like that could easily become an obsession? Please let me know:tsrk30@sbcglobal.net

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 10:18 AM   0 comments

Tuesday, August 09, 2005


By tsrk30

A Blog is simply a web page in which a person or persons write short or long articles. For those interested you can read an informative article about Blogs at the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog

Now since blogs are written articles, the quality of the blog usually is dependent upon the person's ability to write. This is the very thing that concerned me with creating a blog. Most people agree that I am a very good public speaker, but the ability to write is a very different thing. What is amazing is that it appears that many people have the same problem. Consider the following article:
College Students Can’t Write?What a “scoop.”
By Stanley K. Ridgley

he Chronicle of Higher Education recently discovered something that parents have known for at least the past 15 years — America's universities don't teach college kids how to write . . . at least, not how to write very well.
In fact, hundreds of thousands of recent college graduates today cannot express themselves with the written word. Why? Because universities have shortchanged them, offering strange literary theories, Marxism, feminism, deconstruction, and other oddities in the guise of writing courses. They've offered everything, really, but the basics of clear writing.
This higher-education failure has been an open secret among employers and among those of us who have dealt with college writers and their writing over the years. I witnessed this deficiency myself as a college instructor at Duke University. Only now has this gross failure of higher education drawn the attention of the Chronicle.
Although the expose in the Chronicle's (Jan. 3) focuses on the failed undergraduate writing programs at Duke and Princeton and recent efforts to improve or replace them, the Chronicle identifies what has been a nationwide trend for some time.
College students generally can't write well, and the fault lies entirely with the universities.
You can read the rest of the article at: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-ridgley021903.asp

Now I disagree that the fault lies with the university. I believe the problem begins with the elementary school and continues with the high school. The public school system did me no favors in its low standards and simply passing me on to the next grade when, in many cases, I did not have the skills to write that I needed. I hope as I continue to post, my writing will improve. I am curious about how other people feel about their education as it relates to writing. Please share your experiences with me. Please send your experiences to tsrk30@sbcglobal.net

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 6:10 PM   0 comments

The Beginning

By tsrk30

I have decided to name this blog Worldview. Some of you may be familiar with that term, but there are those who may not be quite as familiar, so let me explain.
Worldview is taken from the German word Weltanschauung, which means look onto the world. A worldview is the way in which a person sees the world. Everyone has a worldview whether they know it or not. It may be a worldview that has been influenced by things like peers, media, or simply a worldview shaped by many influences. This blog will obviously reflect my worldview. I will post thoughts on things that are happening in the world. I will post thoughts on just about any topic, because everything can be seen through a worldview! I hope the blog will be informative and at the same time will challenge how others may see things. Will the blog be entertaining? That I cannot be so sure of :) I will do my best. Every journey begins with great expectations and hopes, and this post represents the first steps in a new journey for myself. Will my hopes and expectations be met? I don't know, but the unknown is what makes the journey so exciting! :)

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> posted by Trevor Hammack @ 4:10 PM   0 comments