On honor

Just read a great posting from Doc Zero. If you're just coming out from under a rock from this weekend, Glenn Beck hosted a rally on Saturday, called "Restoring Honor." Proceeds went to benefit a fund for children of special forces soldiers who had fallen in the line of duty.

I've mostly seen Americans as an honorable, moral and just people. So where did we fall down as a country? Food for thought here in this post. What are YOUR thoughts?

The post is right here.. Check it out, and toss your thoughts into the hopper.

See you next time ~ Greg

Maxwell ~~ "Acting Against Discouragement"

I like reading John Maxwell.  Having seen him in several of the Maximum Impact simulcasts, I like the way he presents lessons on ethics and leadership.  His recent post, "Acting Against Discouragement," tells the story about Samuel L. Jackson, and some lessons learned.  Thought it was good, so passing it along to you.  Because, who ISN'T dealing with some sort of discouragement?  (Especially on a Monday!)

The article is right here.  Enjoy!

Greg

"Right To Do" vs. "Right To Do"

Yes, I know that within two blocks of Ground Zero:

• There are "gentlemen's clubs".
• There is a McDonalds, Burger King, a BBQ restaurant, and a Dunkin Donuts. (While I haven't seen a photo of it, there's gotta be a Starbucks somewhere around there...)
• There is an Off-Track Betting center.
• There is a Vitamin Shoppe.
• There is an Irish themed restaurant and pub.
• There are countless street vendors selling t-shirts and other, too numerous souvenirs of the city. Probably replete with cheezy apples and replicas of Lady Liberty.
• There are so many other enterprises, businesses and centers of commerce in that area that to save you from clicking elsewhere due to boredom, I'll end the list here.

And when 19 strippers, fast food cooks, baristas, pharmacists, thoroughbred horses, or irish pub goers take up box knives (or doughnuts, bottles of vitamins or cheezy souvenirs) and kill 3000 people in the single largest terrorist act on American soil, then I'll conceed that you may have a point.

19 men, who had a twisted, distorted view of Islam, killed themselves in the name of their god. The people involved in this sick, perversion of a religion have engaged us from the shadows in what has already become our longest war.

Coupled with that, the fact that throughout history, mosques have been built right on top of churches, synagogues, and other sites holy to other religions once conquered by those in the name of Islam. Conincidence could be plausible if it only happened once or twice. Not when the world's largest cathedral and orthodox patriarchial bascilica, St. Sophia, (located in Constantinople, Turkey) is replaced with the principal mosque of Istanbul. (It is now under the conservatorship of the Turkish government as a treasure of architectural history -- it is the first example of a round dome being placed atop a square building.) We can also look to Jerusalem, where one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Temple Mount, now is the site of the Al Aqsa mosque. We can also look to Cordoba, Spain, where after that area was under Muslim control, a mosque was built immediately atop the existing churches. (It should be noted that the developer's original name for this project was "Cordoba House.") Other examples reside in the Far East, where Hindu temples have fallen to the same fate. (h/t to Polipundit.com for this post with more examples.)

Do we, as Americans, have a right to build houses of worship without government interference? Absolutely. Do these "Park 51 / Cordoba House" developers have this same right? Absolutely. But where did we lose the ability to say that while they may have the right to do a thing, that it may not be the right thing to do, and to comment and criticize accordingly? Wouldn't calling me (and all those opposed to this project) racists, Islamophobes, and all the uneducated epitaphs imaginable have a chilling effect on my right to free speech? You mean it's acceptable to argue and debate, as long as I agree with you? Just as freedom of religion is not an incremental right, neither is freedom of speech. Calling me names is just an fancy way of saying that I win in the arena of ideas.

Do they have this right?  Yes.  Is it right?  No.

Comments of all flavors are welcome. As always, be respectful, or be deleted.

Oops, almost forgot. When we talk of "property rights," are we ignoring Kelo v. New London? Or Tourkaris v. Arnold? Just wondering...

Greg

"The Destiny Of A Free Nation"

Read through this article by Doctor Zero at , and was thouroughly impressed. A great statement on what The American ideal is, and what it should not be. Beyond that, I can add little else. Take a read, and tell me where I'm wrong, or right.

Here's the article at HotAir.com. The article at Doctor Zero's site can be found right here. Or just head to www.doczero.com and check out this and other articles.

Until later,
Greg

Reflections on 3000 People and God's Sword

Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing, from various sources, references to the Book of Exodus.  (Jeremiah is also coming up, but I need to do some more reading...)  It seems logical -- with high unemployment, trying economic times, and unrelenting summer heat ("Heat index DOWN to 118 degrees"?  C'mon!), it's definitely a time of testing, trying, and purification for all those enduring the summer time doldrums also known as the "dog days of summer."  But as I was at the gym at 4 a.m. (going through some testing and purification of my own!), I caught something from one of the televangelists that seemed to stick with me, and I thought that I'd share it with you.

As I said earlier, what the Israelites went through in Exodus could definitely be considered trial, test and purification  (Wandering around the desert for 40 years definitely qualifies in my book).  But it's also a rather "bloody" book.  Moses kills the Egyptian overseeer (Exodus 2:11-15), the 7 plagues that God sends down to the Egyptians (Exodus 7:14 through 12:39), and finally, the closing of the Red Sea on the Eguptian army chasing the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 14).  But the instance used in his message was when Moses brought down the original tables holding the Ten Commandments, and found the Israelites worshiping a golden calf. (Exodus 32:15-28)

Moses turned around and came down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. God made the tablets and God wrote the tablets— engraved them.

When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses, "That's the sound of war in the camp!"

But Moses said,
Those aren't songs of victory,
And those aren't songs of defeat,
I hear songs of people throwing a party.

And that's what it was. When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, melted it down with fire, pulverized it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Moses said to Aaron, "What on Earth did these people ever do to you that you involved them in this huge sin?"
Aaron said, "Master, don't be angry. You know this people and how set on evil they are. They said to me, 'Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don't know what's happened to him.'
"So I said, 'Who has gold?' And they took off their jewelry and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf."
Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is on God's side, join me!" All the Levites stepped up.
He then told them, "God's orders, the God of Israel: 'Strap on your swords and go to work. Crisscross the camp from one end to the other: Kill brother, friend, neighbor.'"

The Levites carried out Moses' orders. Three thousand of the people were killed that day.

That's right. Under orders from God, 3000 Israelites died.  God's sword fell on those who had sinned against Him.  Even after this, God sent down a plague on the remaining refugees as a further punishment. (Exodus 32:30-35).

Flash forward a whole bunch of years -- to the first Pentecost.  Another group of 3000 saw the effects of God's sword, but from a whole different angle: (Acts 2:37-41)

Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?"


Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites."

He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, "Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!"
That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

And here's where I started to see parallels and changes.  Just as 40 days is a symbolic statement for "a sufficient period of time," I see the use of 3000 people as a good number of people.  We're not talking small groups or gatherings here, but a rather significant number of people.  In Exodus, I see the sword of God of the Old Testament -- a jealous god that tolerated no substitution, no competition, and no quarter.  Sin against Him at your own peril.  In that time, we were all sinners, falling fall short of God's expectation of us, and there was nothing we could do about it.  Even worse, there was nothing, no one that stood between us and God.  This meant that the sword was leveled at us -- or, more specifically, the 3000 that didn't stand with God in Exodus 32.

The sword that we see in Acts at that first Pentecost is the same sword.  The sword of a jealous god.  We're still sinners, and nothing that we could do to change it.  However, we had someone on our side -- Jesus Christ -- to stand in our stead to take our punishment.  And in a post-Easter world, it's Christ that not just stands in our stead for our punishment, but also stands by our side.  Here, in this post-Easter world, God's sword is no longer pointed at us as it was in Exodus, but at the Devil.  Me thinks I'll keep standing with God.

Greg