Your Next Steps

Ok not to sound like a political analysis but after yesterday hearing about the intimidation of the Supreme Court this should make you a little angry.

To think that that there was an eye witness to voter intimidation AND he was a civil rights lawyer. Then to top it off they dismiss the whole thing!?

It seems to me now the we have seen the interpretation of the law by the government. Law is only good if it works for you. It is call postmodernism.  It is a way of thinking that quite honestly doesn’t make sense.  Read that definition of that word and then watch the news for a while.  Then give me your honest opinion of how Washington works.

If you want to know how I think we need to get back to reality you can watch an old post/message of mine here.

Wake up now. We need to show up in droves and vote for the way we want the country to go at the next election.

WARNING!  The following post is not meant to be political outside of talking about politics…. Ahem..

Catching up on some news today I came across the following video. I wanted to share it with you all because this is the type of thing that will go unnoticed because of the oil spill or what’s going on in Afghanistan. It was a major precedent upheld (remember our talk about doctrine) in the Supreme Court about our Second Amendment rights.

In this piece of information we find that in a 5 to 4 decision that again it was decided that you cannot take away the right for citizens to bear arms.  No big deal because it is a pretty cut and dry wording in that particular amendment.

Although, here is what I found to be interesting.

• Justice Sonia Sotomayor is nominated by the left and yet she sides with the right, whoops bad choice there.
• Congress is actually accusing the courts or Judicial Activism saying that it is putting their political interests above making fair decisions based on law.
• They are accusing John Roberts of being a ring leader?  Seriously?  Common man…
• Mr Schumer and Mr. Frankin (still can’t get over him being in there ) state that the courts are denying the rights of citizens and going on the sides of special interests.  Are they reading the same Bill of Rights I am?

So we ask why?  Well I think our commentator kind of hit it on the head.  Could it be a threat?  Can people actually try to intimidate the Supreme Court?

We shall see because like it was reported in the end all the Obama Care trials are coming.  I wonder if we shall see a balance of power actually come into play?

Should be interesting…

These movies are classics and I usually end up watching them during the month of July.  There is something about them that relates to me about something about the summer’s of my childhod and/or something about being American.

1.   The Patriot – reminds me of a lot of stuff.  Fighting for freedom, good   triumphing over evil, and what it takes to be a passionate dad.  And yes, it makes me cry evry time his little girl runs up to dad and begs him not to go.   But it also makes me more determined to keep the faith and live like I should.

2.  Jaws – Oh yeah!  Real patriotic right?  Nah, but there is something about watching this movie in summer because that’s when all the craziness goes down in this town during the opening of a holiday season.  By the way the water is still too cold to swim up there in the summer time. Been there done that, Crazy!

3.  Star Wars – By this I mean the original 1977 Episode IV A New Hope.  I remember the summer release of this movie and unfortunately so did my mother.  It was the first time I ever made her take me to see a movie twice.  Miss you mom!

4.  Meatballs – Oh the memories of summer camp (by the way I hated summer camp but Heather’s dad was an actual camp director, she loved it! Go figure…)  If you are a Bill Muray fan then you would like this film.

5.  Any type of John Wayne Western.  Why?  Because he’s American and cowboys is about as American you can get!  You won’t go wrong with one of these choices and you just might introduce your family to an old icon.

Well there you go, my top 5 movies I like to watch this time of year. Do you have something you like to watch in the summer?  Got some holiday traditions for the 4th?

Whatever your holiday traditions are do them with friends and family and remember God is the reason that America is great.

Happy 4th of July!

Confession…… I love NPR news.  I know, some of you were probably thinking I am a FOX man, which I do occasionally listen to.  But NPR at least gives me our national news with a little less bias than the networks.  By the way if you want a good picture of world news check out BBC.

I was listening to some of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings. At one point Senator Dianne Feinstein asked her how could the Supreme Court over turn gun legislation based on decades of litigation based on a 5 to 4 decision.

Basically (and I am summarizing here so if I am misquoting please forgive me) Kagan stated that doctrine can be changed.  That if the precedents set are found not to be useful or the doctrinal foundations begin to erode then change will happen.  Also if some of the original facts that established the doctrinal beliefs are found to be misgiving then it can change.

Meaning, that the beliefs of the High court can change when they find it no longer useful for what they are trying to do.  Although, they should respect precedents.

In Honor of God at the Movies Oak Leaf Style

Now, funny thought comes to mind.  I think it’s important to understand something here.

Culture reacts the same way with Biblical Doctrine.  Culture will accept long standing biblical doctrine as long as they like it and it helps them in what they want to do.  When it stops working for them it is time to change.

Questions that come to mind:

Is it ok to change doctrine?

When is it ok to switch from one doctrine to another?

Can everyone be right?  If not, then who has the right answer?

These are just some of the questions that I have been asking myself over the last couple of years.  Because, I have found myself changing lately?  Am I changing to help myself cope with culture?  Or, is God showing me how it really is?

What about you?

To quote myself the other day (thanks Emily for pointing it out) “If you have a doubt talk it out.”

Hmmm, what was I trying to say?

I think what I meant was, “Look, everyone has doubts about things in their life.  By not talking about them it isolates you and makes the doubts stronger.”

What do you mean you don't know where we're going!?

I don’t think I have ever counseled with anyone that was doubting a decision they made, their relationships, their own self worth or even their faith and thought, “You Idiot!”.  Want to know why?  Because, I’ve been there.  And so has everyone else in the Universe.  We all have doubts.  We all have times in our lives where we are always questioning ‘why’.

Doubts come from a lack of faith in what you think should be the accepted norm.

That means WE are interpreting a set of circumstances and have judged it on predetermined data.  The problem is many times the way WE interpret things is based on past evidences and faulty human judgments.  [By the way a great book on this is Blink.]

By discussing these things out with others we are able to hear the thoughts in our heads out loud.  Someone else is then able to help you see where you are struggling.  Then WE can make a better judgment call on what WE are doubting about.

Social Media along with blogging has allowed people the ability to process out loud just be careful of who you are listening to.  Personal conversations are still the best way to wrestle with your doubts.

If you are a Christian here’s a great example for you.

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas the apostle was no idiot.  And it just might be that if you are brave enough to talk out your doubts that God just might show up and give you the 411 through someone.

Try it and find out…