Ron's Random Ruminations

 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?"

If you're like me and have paid the slightest attention to the news this past week, you've witnessed the very sad spectacle of human weakness, sin and it’s natural consequences. If you ever doubted that human nature is essentially bad or flawed, this week’s events should have put those doubts to rest.

I was the least bit surprised by this latest episode of human frailty as it reinforced to me a principle that runs throughout the entire Word of God from Genesis to Revelation; "the wages of sin is death" (or destruction)!

Still not convinced? Well here’s another one.

There’s the story of American astronaut, Lisa Marie Nowak. Ms Nowak was recently arrested and is being charged with attempted first-degree murder. You see, Ms Nowak was involved in a love triangle with a fellow NASA astronaut and the female Air Force Captain he was seeing. Driven by jealousy, and perhaps mental illness, she tried to rid the object of affection of her presumed lover. Again, damaged lives and destroyed families scattered all around.

Now all that’s left are a wasted life, an orphaned infant, lies, innuendos, and broken lives. Was living a life of blatant debauchery, materialism and sin really worth all of this? I bet if we could some how ask Anna this question today, her answer would be an unequivocal, “No!”

If I had the time and the inclination, I could offer you scores of examples more. This has been the sad and sordid human story throughout the ages. For, since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, sin has reeked it's havoc on the entire human race.

This is the reason why I am so thankful to God for His Son, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the sacrifice of His life upon the cross on Calvary, atoning for sin once and for all, both your sin and mine. In order that sin no longer rules over us and that He may present, before God the Father, all those who partake of His sacrifice, as a bride without spot or blemish.

For Further Reading

Chuck Colson, BreakPoint Commentary No. 070309, “Booze Didn't Make You Do It.”

By proclamation of the President of the United States, today is National Sanctity of Human Life Day. As the President says, it is a day to  "underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being".

Townhall columnist Floyd Brown has an excellent piece on Ronald Reagan and the Annual March for Life that will be held on the Washington Mall Monday. Here's my favorite part of the article,

"Abortion was, in President Reagan’s view, an infringement on God’s sacred command to protect innocent human life. Indeed, Reagan felt so passionately about the right to life that he felt without it, other rights had no meaning. He called the restoration of the right to life the most important challenge facing the character of America. President Reagan believed that the continuance of abortion, the taking of some 4,000 lives of children everyday, would only bring about trouble for America. He even posed the ominous question: “Do you really think… God will protect us in a time of crisis even as we turn away from him in our day-to- day life?”

I firmly believe our country has, collectively, turned it's back against God and Christ. But many are blinded and simply can't see this. Abortion is just one of the many symptoms of this national sickness.
 

I know I just said in a recent post that I was sick of all the media attention given to homosexuality. But this one was just too hard to resist.

"Doogie Howser, M.D.", actor Neil Patrick Harris, has come out of the closet. That's right boys and girls, television's child prodigy doctor, is gay.

Now, when I first read about this, a thought occurred within my sharp mental genius.  A few days ago, a recent study was released reporting that the levels of testosterone in men have been dropping steadily for 20 years.

So I thought to myself, "What's going on here? Is this a conspiracy?  Can there connection between lowering levels of testosterone in men and Doogie's coming out? I wonder".

The Old Testament Book of Judges speaks of a time in which when God could not find a suitable male to lead the nation of Israel.  There was a lack of leadership. There were no great men who could lead. (Sound familiar?) So, Deborah, a mother and a prophetess, stepped out and took the lead in a day when her nation denied God.

I'm saddened when I say this, but America is facing a similar crisis today, a crisis of true leadership. Who we have running the country today are a bunch of business managers and weak-feminized men.  Hmmm, must be the testosterone thing again. But come to think of it, a society with less testosterone might be easier to control and domesticate.

I'll think I'll double up on my Wheaties.

I don't know about you folks, but I'm sick and tired of hearing about homosexuality. Gay marriage, Jim McGreevey ,Tom Foley, Jim Webb,Ted Haggard, Catholic priests, and so on. What does this say about us as a society when it seems this seems to be the #1 focus in our media and entertainment?

I refuse, for now, to write about the Ted Haggard mess. I leave that up to the more eloquent , like LaShawn Barber.  She pretty much tells it like it 'tis. Check out her blog.

In the mean time, as for me,  Romans 1 is a good read.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" ~ Jeremiah 17:9

 This one is comes to us from Sacramamento, California:

Emotions spilled out into a Sacramento Superior Court hallway Friday after a couple each was sentenced to a 25-year-to-life prison terms for the beating death of their 3-year-old godson.

The outburst of crying and yelling followed even more emotion from inside the courtroom where Earl Joseph Christopher, 26, and Renecha Marina Gulley, 24, were sentenced.

"You are kicking me out when you are taking my child," cried Christopher's mother, Cynthia Brown, whose wailing caused the judge to order her out of the courtroom.

As this took place, another Christopher relative fell out of her seat.

There were no arrests and no reports of injuries after several women collapsed in the hallway and in the elevator as deputies escorted them out of the courthouse.

A jury last month convicted Christopher and Gulley of the murder of Christopher David Thomas, who died July 19, 2004, of severe head injuries sustained in what the prosecutor described as a week of physical and emotional abuse.

In opening remarks to the jury, Deputy District Attorney Robin Shakely said the boy was forced to box with his 5-year-old brother for "spectator sport" of Christopher and Gulley. The boxing matches and other acts of violence in the Rancho Cordova apartment were for the amusement of the godparents who were taking care of the boy for the parents, trial evidence shows.

The boy, who died of bleeding in the brain, also had several bruises on his chest, hip, knees, shins, hands and legs. He had a bruise on his buttocks in the shape of a hand.

His parents, who have since moved out of Sacramento, said they were not able to attend the sentencing, but wrote a letter that was read in court.

"We put our child in the hands of people we thought would love him and care for him as much as we did," wrote the parents. "Godparents are there to be the secondary parents to a child. Why did someone have to go and hurt him? He had all of the love in the world to give and now it is lost."

Dwight M. Samuel, Gulley's lawyer, told the judge his client loved the boy. There were nine letters of support from family and friends sent to Judge Laurie M. Earl pleading for leniency.

But among the two charges the couple was convicted of - second-degree murder and child homicide -- the latter carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life.

Christopher's lawyer, Russell Miller Jr., said he had consulted with his client's family several times about the outcome of the sentencing hearing. Samuel said he too told relatives there was nothing the judge could do to change the sentence.

"It is reality setting in," Samuel said after the hearing as the defendant's relatives could be heard sobbing in the hallway.

This is terribly sad for all those involved and for their families. For one mother lost little son. Another mother loses her son to prison for the next 25 years. But this will not bring back little Christopher David Thomas. A precious life lost and another wasting away in a cell. Oh how dark the human condition can be.

***FULL DISCLOSURE: I AM NOT NOR HAVE EVER BEEN A FAN OF ROSIE O'DONNEL. ALSO, I WASN'T THRILLED WHEN SHE REPLACED STAR JONES AS A COHOST ON THE "VIEW".

Wednesday, on ABC TV's "The View" co-host Rosie O'Donnell stated, "There is no difference between radical Islam and radical Christianity." Miss O'Donnell's comment drew applause from the mostly sympathetic audience of Gay and Lesbian supporters. She couldn't have been anymore wrong.

The goal of radical Islam is to KILL all "infidels," (Read that Christians, Jews Hindus, et. al) or those who reject their false religion (including Ms. O'Donnell and her ilk). Now, compare that to the goal of what Rosie calls "radical Christianity" which is to lead people to everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ. Radical Islam is a RELIGION of hate and death. Radical Christianity is a RELATIONSHIP of LOVE and everlasting LIFE!  Given the choice of the two, I'd take Radical Christianity anytime. In fact, I wish there were more truly Radical Christians around so that the world could witness the awesome power of God in operation. But alas, many are only luke warm Sunday morning Christians.

After experiencing the Pentecost, the Christians in the Book of Acts would, today, be considered radical. Lord, give your Church that same kind of radicalism!

Rosie O'Donnell is a huge advocate for gay rights and the leading proponent of gay adoption. In her eyes, Christians are the enemy because they are the ones standing in the way of the drive to make homosexuality mainstream. So she will take every opportunity she can to discredit or mock Christians. God's Church is the only bastion of TRUTH standing in the way of evil. The homosexual mafia is at war against the Body of Christ.

My mission on this blog is to shed the TRUTH of God's Word on the issues of the day. Ms. O'Donnell is spewing her anti-Christian bigotry and hate out of a debased mind (See Romans 8:28). She is blind to the TRUTH that is presented to us in Christ Jesus. In a word, she's insane.

So do we get angry at her? No. We can take pity upon her because she is deceived. But most importantly, we can intercede for her and pray that God will reveal His TRUTH to her and that she may be delivered from her darkness.

***IF THIS POST WAS A BLESSING TO YOU, maybe you have a loved one or someone you care about that you would like to share this Word with. If so, you can copy and send them the following link:

http://ruminations.blog.com/1056584/

BE BLESSED!

Kay S. Hymowitz, writing for City Journal, has an eye-opening (and long) piece on the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the welfare reform bill and it's striking success., It's a surprise to most everyone, supporters and detractors alike. Hymowitz discusses not only why so many of the predictions were way off-base but how they were wrong.

She begins her essay by recalling the outcries from skeptics on the left about how the welfare reform bill, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), would further the downfall of America's poor and needy i.e. "children begging for food." She discusses the four chief concerns of what would happen to women and children once they left the welfare roles and the problems left unsolved by reform.

Some of the outcomes Hymowitz presents are over powering. For example, she writes:

So much for the doomsayers out there who were against reform! What'cha got to say now Ted Kennedy?

Here's some more good news: the rapid decline of people on the dole allowed federal money, normally spent on welfare benefits, to be used for "work support-transportation, child care and the like." That's a win-win situation folks! I also think it's a better method for getting people moving onto better lives than to have them just sitting around collecting a check.

One thing sorely lacking in lower income families is the sense of personal responsibility. Children, and in turn adults, are not being taught self-reliance, especially when there's no father around and Uncle ‘Sugar" is there to provide.

Hymowitz hits upon what is the most leading aspect of prosperous living when she says, "Human beings tend to do pretty much what they are expected to do. When the culture expects self-sufficiency, people will try to achieve it."                                                                                                                                                                                                  Amen! That's the gospel truth ladies gentlemen, boys and girls. Set low standards and exceptions and people will, unfailingly, meet them. The opposite thought also stands true. Expect more for people and raise the bar and they will, with some support, rise to meet it. In fact this principle displayed throughout the Bible.

Man, a noble creature, created in the image of God, fell to a level below that for which he was made as a result of his disobedience. God, in His infinite mercy and love, held out to man a standard, an expectation of what He meant man to be (see the Ten Commandments). Knowing that man could not meet this high standard in his fallen state, God sent One who could. That One is Christ Jesus. Through Christ's death, burial and resurrection we now have the ability, through Christ, to meet that standard. And that's the Gospel truth!

What other Bloggers are saying:

La Shawn Barber

...And only if you're married!

In an USA Today op-ed titled “The Liberal Baby Bust,” Phillip Longman, of the New American Foundation, describes the effects of falling birth rates for liberals.  In it, Longman argues that demographic trends predict “a far more conservative future.” That’s because fertility “correlates strongly with a wide range of political, cultural, and religious attitudes.”

Whoopee! The liberals are doing themselves in by not replicating. It's probably due to all those abortions they've been having. As Longman put it, among liberals and “progressive secularists,” “childlessness and small families are increasingly the norm.” So, in places like Seattle (a definite mecca of liberalism) there’s nearly 45 percent more dogs than children.

But for conservatives, the outlook is rosy. "Nearly half of Americans who attend church weekly say that they want three or more children", says Longman,  leading to a “dramatic, demographically driven transformation” of American culture. “Traditional values” will “make a comeback,” if for no other reason than the alternatives are self-annihilating. The “secularists and counter-culturalists” of the future will have never been born!

Christians, for the, most part, have bigger families because we believe that children are gifts from God, and not  burdens—and because we believe that God intended our good when He said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Gensis 1:22) And the key here is to replace one generation of faithful Christians with another generation of faithful Christians. "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

As always, obeying God’s commands is always the best strategy for improving ourlives and therefore our world.

Hey folks.

I came across this little news story today and it warmed my heart. So I'd like to share it with you all.  It holds out hope for the human race. And I'll lay ya 10-to-1 odds that this lady is a Christian.

If anyone knows of a similar story, I'd like to hear about. 

Have a great weekend!

Pregnant Teen Waitress Gets $1,000 Tip

By Associated Press

ROANOKE, Va. - A pregnant teenage waitress got an unexpectedly large tip when a sympathetic stranger left her $1,000 in cash, according to a media report Friday.

After a lunch of burgers, fries and drinks with a bill of $26.35, the woman left Amanda Newkirk ten $100 bills and a handwritten note reading "Keep the change! Have a great day," the Roanoke Times reported.

The 19-year-old thought it had to be a joke. But the manager at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant confirmed the authenticity of the bills with a counterfeit-detection pen, according to the paper.

Erin Dogan, a 28-year-old widow, called Newkirk's general manager and said she had left the tip while at lunch with her fiance.

"It involved a lot more than good service at a great restaurant," Dogan told the Times. "I didn't need it. It helped someone who ... needed it. God put us there together. God answered my questions."

Dogan, whose husband died last year, told the paper she loves to shop and could easily have spent the money at a nearby mall. But she decided to put it to better use.

"It made me feel phenomenal," Dogan said. "It has changed my life."

Newkirk plans to use some of the money to help pay for medical bills related to her pregnancy. But aside from a few national radio and television appearances, life continues as normal for the teen.

"I'm not going to retire with a thousand dollars," she said with a laugh.

According to a recent AP-AOL poll, Jesse Jackson and Condoleezza Rice are considered the top Black leaders:

"Jesse Jackson and Condoleezza Rice get the top support among blacks asked to name the nation's 'most important black leader,' according to an AP-AOL Black Voices poll. Next come Colin Powell and Barack Obama. "

I must tell you, I’m tired of seeing these types of polls. Why is it that we don’t see polls on the "most important white leader"?

As a born-again Christian, I know that due to the fallen state of man, all men are fallible. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Since this is true, I do not put my faith or trust completely in the hands of any man nor woman. I like what one person said in the article when asked who he thought was the "most important black leader":

"What is 'the most important black leader?'" asked Thomas Miller, a 59-year-old political independent who lives in Philadelphia. "You have to lead your own self, don't put that on anybody else. Putting faith in somebody else is blind."

I fully agree with Mr. Miller’s analysis, especially about blind faith. The only One we should put total faith in is the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is infallible and not prone to the temptations of a sinful and fallen world.