10 reason public schools are better than homeschooling...

From the Detroit Examiner...

China setting new standards for religious freedom...

This story from ChinaAid.org tells the story of Zhu Baoguo, a house church pastor in China. He was arrested in mid-October for the crime of being a leader of an "evil cult," namely Christianity. On October 30 he was sentenced to 1 year of "re-education through labor."

This is obviously wrong, but it doesn't look like the Chinese government is going to stop persecuting Christians anytime soon.

How can Christians affect what's going on over there? I see a few ways:

• Pray! Pray for Pastor Zhu, who is going to be away from his friends and family for a while. He also has a heart condition, which makes matters worse. Pray for God's protection and comfort for him and his family.
• Pray! Pray for the leaders of the Chinese government. The most powerful force for change in the world is still God's saving work in a person's heart. We are one revival away from seeing the end of persecution in China.
• Inform U.S. government leaders that this is an important issue to you. We hold massive amounts of power over the Chinese if we choose to use it. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our politicians are more concerned with pocketing money from those who do business with China than they are with how Chinese Christians are treated. Maybe those politicians need to know how we feel.
• Remember that all that cheap stuff we buy from China comes with a heavy price, including the blood and freedom of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Keep that in mind while your doing that Christmas shopping...
  

Most tolerant people on earth...

Proposition 8 was on the ballot here in California last Tuesday. It was an amendment to the state constitution, saying that marriage was to be defined as only between a man and a woman. The intent was to make homosexual marriage illegal in California. It passed.

I have some mixed feelings about it, mostly because I think Christians are overly-focused on the evils of the homosexual lifestyle, while ignoring many of the other sins of society.

Since the election, relatively small groups of homosexual activists have been protesting, demanding tolerance and acceptance of gay marriage. Only, it seems that the tolerance only goes one way. Watch what happens when an elderly lady tries to express a differing opinion:

From KPSP news, Palm Springs, CA

Veterans Day...

To everyone who served, and the families who waited, hoping they would make it back home, thank you. My family is free to work, play, and worship because of what you did.

Here's a story of one of these heroes: John Ripley

Ripley passed away recently, but we are richer because he was here.


His words at the end are profound. "When you know you're not going to make it, a wonderful thing happens. You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you're going to save your butt."

I wonder how different I would live if I really understood that I'm only here for a short time, and no one here gets out alive...

NFTW #021--A "Kingdom of God" perspective on the election; Are you a Christian atheist?

The election is over! How do Christians put everything into the right perspective?


Also, are you a Christian atheist?


Listen here:



Or download this episode by right-clicking here.

Here’s a link to Wyman Richardson’s very thoughtful blog post.

Read 1 Peter 1:17-21.