Remember

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. -From the television show The Wonder Years.

Flowers, flags, parades and picnics. This past weekend we remembered. Memorial Day is time of remembering the more than 3.9 million men and women who have bravely given the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee our freedom, their lives. It is a day where “We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them". -Francis A. Walker

We were created with an amazing capacity to remember. Sometimes our memories haunt us. They are painful and filled with hurts that require a journey of deep healing. Often the healing is mostly about changing our focus from grievous experiences to the faithfulness of God. Paul challenges us to think often about, and remember, the good things. “…whatever is true… honorable… just… pure… lovely… commendable… think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8 ESV)

It is interesting that the word remember is used over 150 times in the Bible. Like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2, we have the propensity to forget our first love to forget God to forget His fidelity and His faithfulness in our everyday life. And like that church, the spirit of God calls us to remember.

“…remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So shall you remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.” (Number 15:39-40 ESV)

“Remember the wondrous works He (God) has done…” (1 Chronicles 16:12 ESV)

“Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14 ESV)

“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Psalm 143:5 ESV)

“I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words.” (Psalm 119:16 ESV)

Celebrating the good reminds us of His faithfulness, especially during times of brokenness. “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Set up some “memorial days” in your life. Times where you stop, commemorate, and remember the good things of God. “Remembering” just might turn your life around.

Source: AACC, The Wonder Years, Francis A. Walker.

Hello Nicole

One of the things we must get used to as residents of this great state of Florida is the fact that we get uninvited visitors all the time in the guise of hurricanes, tropical depressions, and tropical storms. Today is one of those days. We are getting ready to welcome Tropical Storm Nicole. As a result of Nicole stopping by we find ourselves with the need of canceling our Wednesday night service. We don't want to put any of our brothers or sisters in danger by having to drive through flooded streets. So stay home, stay dry, and have church at home like they used to do 2000 years ago. We will see you this weekend.

Hypocrisy in Action

Speaker of the House Pelosi says that those who disrupt and protest at town hall meetings are un-American, however check the video out, and see her commending protestors and disruptors during protests agaisnt the war. I guess it only applies when people protest agaisnt what she supports, what a hypocrite.

Going to Jail for Praying?

Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer. Story Here.

Big Brother is Coming

The White House strategy of turning supporters into snitches when they see "fishy" information about the health care debate may run afoul of the law, legal experts say. Story Here.

Congress Gets an Upgrade or The Irony of Hypocrisy

Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds. Once again our representatives laugh in our faces and spend our hard earn tax money. Read Story Here.

Twitter Down

If you were having problems posting on Twitter or Facebook, this might be the reason why. Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, Google Blogger and other Web sites were hobbled Thursday Twitter was completely down for many users and it all appears to have been because of a coordinated online attack on one political blogger in the Republic of Georgia. Read it Here.

Chicago Style Politics

Following reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been orchestrating an effort to intimidate members of Congress and Governors who raise legitimate concerns regarding the effectiveness of the stimulus, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Emanuel saying “While this type of scare tactic may work In Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other Members of the United States Congress.” Read letter here.

The People are Fed Up

I got this article from the Family Research Council:

Being home is no picnic for the Democrats in charge, as one blogger makes abundantly clear in a home video taken during a recent townhall meeting on health care. In a packed gymnasium, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were booed so loudly that you can barely hear their answers to some basic questions. The comments that were audible only managed to cause more outrage.

One audience member asked how Americans can be confident in Congress to reform the health care system when members won't even read the legislation. Sebelius's response? "I'm not a member of Congress," which apparently absolves her from understanding the $1 trillion plan her Department will be tasked with implementing. That answer is still better than Sen. Specter's explanation, which was, "...[W]e have to make judgments very fast, and every bill is... understood by me before I vote." Sebelius tried to interrupt the hissing crowd but her defense of Senate Democrats was almost impossible to hear amid the jeering.

Of course, the mainstream press would have us believe through carefully choreographed broadcasts that Americans are perplexed but receptive to the White House plan. Producers have been wary to air anything but footage of the President in a controlled townhall environment, where he answers softball questions from a handpicked crowd. The media may show the grassroots as an agreeable bunch on the President's proposal, but as you'll see from the video on Panzramic, these public forums are turning into a public relations nightmare for the liberals in power.

In "Townhalls gone wild," Politico chronicles another side of the debate that includes "screaming constituents, protestors dragged out by the cops, [and, sad to say] congressmen fearful for their safety." More Democrats are canceling meetings, concerned about "angry, sign-carrying mobs" that greeted a long list of their colleagues including: Reps. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Thomas Perriello (D-Va.), Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), and Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). Bishop, who was escorted away by police after his meeting got out of hand, said, "I have no problem with someone disagreeing with positions I hold. But I also believe no one is served if you can't talk through your differences."

Unfortunately, Americans are talking. The leadership just refuses to listen. Until it does, House and Senate Democrats can expect a long, uncomfortable August where the temperatures outside are nothing compared to the heat they're feeling inside their District offices. FRC has posted a schedule of townhall meetings across the country and sample questions you can ask. Please make a point of going to the forums near you and share--in a respectable manner--your thoughts with your congressman. While you're at it, why not bring your video camera?

Only in a Free Country

Have you seen this poster?

Apparently, it's beginning to appear in odd places in Los Angeles, but nobody seems to know who's responsible for it.

Does this Surprise Anyone?

Ex-Idol Contestant Says Show Is Rigged, some ousted season 8 American Idol top 36 semi-finalists including Felicia Barton, Kendall Beard, and Ju'Not Joyner participated in an online chat with the Idol website AI Now today. And during his frank online conversation with fans, Ju'Not came right out and said that the TV talent show is in fact rigged, and that its contracts are unfair to contestants. Full Story Here.

This is a New One

W.H. makes CEOs pay for lunch. Four of the most powerful business leaders in America arrived at the White House one day last month for lunch with President Barack Obama,but even for powerful CEOs, there’s no such thing as a free lunch: White House staffers collected credit card numbers for each executive and carefully billed them for the cost of the meal with the president. Read Full Story Here.

They Don't Get It Do They?

Despite the questionable impact of the first stimulus package, there is actually discussion of a second stimulus package. So far, the states have spent roughly 10 percent of the $787 billion package, but it has yet to register on the "recovery" radar. In fact, the only thing that seems to have changed is the unemployment rate and not in the direction the President had hoped.

Given where the money's been directed, maybe none of us should be surprised. Mark Kelly of the Heritage Foundation did some digging on where the House Speaker funneled her District's dollars, and the list of projects is enough to send taxpayers through the roof. Let me put it this way: Nancy Pelosi is trying to stimulate a lot more than San Francisco's economy. While the average American is worried about losing his shirt, Congress is funding actors who aren't wearing any!

Here are some of the Speaker's pet project that are being funded with yours' and mine hard earned dollars:

According to Kelly, $50,000 was sent to an initiative called CounterPulse in San Francisco that just sponsored a "Perverts [Sleep Around]" event on July 25, urging people to "Join your fellow pervs for some explicit, twisted fun!"

A company called Jess Curtis/Gravity, Inc. will receive $25,000, presumably to help boost their Symmetry Project, which features nude couples in compromising positions.

Other programs are too crude and embarrassing to even mention. But shouldn't that say something to the third most powerful leader in America? If these projects are too obscene to talk about, what business does the U.S. government have funding them? This isn't just waste it's reckless, indecent garbage sponsored by Congress and paid for by you and me. If these are the priorities of America's new leadership, then we should definitely get a second opinion on their vision for an issue as significant as health care. For more on Pelosi's "waste" line, visit Mark's blog here.

Sources: FRC. Mark Kelly

The Glorious Fourth

In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams told her of the actions of the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. "The second day of July, 1776 [the actual day the Declaration was signed], will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever."

As we celebrate Independence Day, as John Adams so aptly predicted, we must not forget nor overlook the intense struggle our Founding Fathers faced. Their Christian faith played a critical role in an era that altered the history of the world.

There is not a better example of this seamless devotion to God and country than Samuel Adams. In his time, Sam was far more famous than his cousin, John. Sam was known as the last of the great Puritans and the father of the Revolution. It was Sam Adams who organized the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence. (By the way, if you're going out to a Tea Party on Saturday, historians believe that the first tea party, the one in Boston, was organized by Samuel Adams. It was that Boston Tea Party that lit the fuse of the American Revolution).

When Sam Adams was elected to that First Continental Congress and traveled to the gathering of leaders in Philadelphia, he thought the Continental Congress needed to begin its work on its knees--in prayer. But when the motion was made to call in a local clergyman to lead the worship, John Jay of New York and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina objected. We are too diverse, they said. We could never agree on whose prayers to say.

Rising to his feet, Sam Adams spoke: "I am no bigot," he said, "I can hear the prayer of any man of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country." Deeply moved, the delegates voted to approve Sam Adams' idea. The next morning, amid reports of the British moving against the people of his hometown of Boston, Sam knelt in prayer with his fellow delegates, as the Rev. Jacob Duch? prayed. "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight against them that fight against me."

That inspired move by Sam Adams did much to overcome suspicions among the delegates. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia called that prayer "a masterly stroke." Those Founding Fathers could now work together for liberty.

Soon, Sam Adams would sign the Declaration of Independence. Alongside Sam Adams' name you can find that of Charles Carroll, a delegate from Maryland. Carroll was the richest man in Congress and the only Roman Catholic. Nowhere else on earth in 1776 could you find an Evangelical like Sam Adams pledge "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" alongside a Catholic like Charles Carroll. They both risked death by hanging for signing that great Declaration. But they served the King of Kings and had no fear of King George III.

In our efforts to maintain the freedoms won by our forefathers we must be like them--people of action and prayer. We must never sever our personal faith from our public stand for faith, family and freedom.

Resources: FRC

If You Are Stressing About the Swine Flu

Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild. In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare. Read It Here.

A RINO Goes Home

After more than four decades, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) is officially going home. The once-GOP leader announced his re-affiliation with the Democratic Party yesterday after years of work as one of its greatest allies. Sen. Specter "moderate" agenda as a senator on life, spending, marriage, and judges often did more harm to the pro-family cause than good. When asked about the switch, the Pennsylvanian said frankly that he didn't believe he could win the Republican primary against a staunch conservative like Pat Toomey.

His departure officially puts the RINO's (Republicans In Name Only) on the endangered list. One of the few liberal senators left in the GOP, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), lamented Specter's passage in a New York Times editorial. "... It was when we began to emphasize social issues to the detriment of some of our basic tenets as a party that we encountered an electoral backlash." She aggressively tried to make this case to her colleagues yesterday as Republican senators met to discuss Specter's departure.

Of course, the fundamental problem with Snowe's theory is that in the last eight years, the GOP's emphasis on social issues has been as absent as its fiscal discipline. And that, not Snowe's "shrinking ideological confines," is what has banished Republicans to the political wilderness. Moderates like Specter and Snowe voted for the stimulus, the bailouts, legislation that takes innocent human life, and bills that harness free speech. With a track record like that, what exactly is the difference between the two parties if social issues don't distinguish them?

Source: FRC

Weasel of the Day Award!!!

Mutiny Within the GOP

In GOP base, a 'rebellion brewing'. A quick tour through the week’s headlines suggests the Republican Party is beginning to come to terms with the last election and that consensus is emerging among GOP elites that the party needs to move away from discordant social issues. Read It Here.

More Heat on Pelosi

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is upping the ante on Speaker Nancy Pelosi — asking the Obama administration to release CIA notes taken during a 2002 briefing session with Pelosi and other Congressional leaders. Read It Here.

The Irony of Hypocrisy

Pelosi now playing defense on torture. Many Republicans,led by former CIA chief Porter Goss, are accusing Democrats like Pelosi of “amnesia” for demanding investigations in 2009 after failing to raise objections seven years ago when she first learned of the legal basis for the program. Read It Here.