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Showing posts from November, 2014

Political Philosophies & the Gospel

The following is an account of a parable that I thought of recently. The Hospital, the Patients and the Nurses There is a hospital with sickly and dying patients. There are nurses running around and caring for the patients, in every way they can, as best as they can. The prognosis of death is certain -- the patients know it and so do the nurses. However, the nurses are animated and intense and intentional in their activity. For they have heard a rumor -- that a doctor who has the cure is on his way. And, when he arrives, all will be well with the patients....and, with themselves as well?!?! For, on closer inspection, one learns that the nurses were themselves patients in this hospital. They still carry with them the marks of the same wasting disease. However, at some point, they believed in the rumor and in the hope it afforded, they found sufficient energy to get up, join the nurses and continue the work of caring for the patients and telling them of the rumor. They spend th

On God's Sovereignty and Providence and on the origins and nature of evil

The sermon today was based on a passage from Acts 4, esp. v 24 - 31 (copied below), that brought to the fore the age old question,  "If God is good and powerful, what is evil, where does it come from and why does it exist and must it, necessarily, be?". Acts 4 : 24 - 31 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage,     and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves,     and the rulers were gathered together,     against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined

2016 GOP Dream Team -- a little of bit of this, a little bit of that

The current GOP primary field is exciting and diverse, with respect to life experience, cultural/regional background and ideology: Rand Paul  (opthalmologist, Presbyterian, Libertarian) Ted Cruz (lawyer, Southern Baptist, Tea Party, Cuban-Canadian) Ben Carson (neurosurgeon, Seventh Day Adventist, Constitutional Conservative, Detroit, MI) Allen West (US Army Lt. Col. retd., Tea Party, Georgia) Mitt Romney (Private equity/venture capital, Mormon, Moderate, Michigan) Jeb Bush  (Real estate, Roman Catholic, Moderate, Texan) Chris Christie (Lawyer, Roman Catholic, Moderate, New Jersey) Scott Walker (Politico, Nondenominational Evangelical, Moderate) Nikki Haley (Accounting, Methodism, Indian-American from South Carolina) Bobby Jindal (Roman Catholic, Indian-American from Louisiana) Mike Huckabee (pastor, Southern Baptist, Arkansas) Mike Pence (Attorney, Evangelical, Indiana) Rick Perry (Air Force capt., Nondenominational Evangelical, Texas) Susana Martinez (Att

Two factions of the Democratic party

This is my crude and evolving understanding of two factions within the Democratic party: old corrupt machine politicos Chicago, New York and the South believe in absolutely nothing easily switch between leftist and moderate agendas will say anything to get elected able campaigners uses classism, racism, sexism, etc. (i.e. "War on Women", "War on minorities", etc.) to keep the electorate divided Some major sub-factions : Unions, Jewish lobby Examples : Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Elijah Cummings idealistic progressive left the West Coast radical leftist technocrats & community organizers seeking to push their agendas, either by winning elections, or otherwise (judicial activism, executive orders, municipal ordinance and statute, etc.) truly believe that classism, racism, sexism, etc. are real (i.e. believe in "War on Women", "War on minorities", etc.) and works to end them Some major sub-factions : greens, civil libertar