October 31, 2008
Barack Obama a Member of Far-Left "New Party"
This looks credible and relevant.
Stanley Kurtz offers an extensive look at Senator's Obama's background in this regard.
R.C. Sproul - The Prince's Poison Cup
Tonight I had the chance to read a pre-release copy of The Prince's Poison Cup (now available directly from Ligonier Ministries). In this wonderfully illustrated fifty-eight page children's book, a grandfather tells his granddaughter a story that mirrors man's fall in the Garden of Eden and Christ's redeeming work at Calvary. The context for the story is the illness of a man's granddaughter. She has to drink medicine to get well. The girl naturally asks why the medicine tastes so bad. And that results in her grandfather recounting the story of the prince and the poison cup. The prince is Jesus; the poison cup is the wrath of God which He drank in full on behalf of all who would ever trust in Him. But the grandfather first provides an allegorical retelling of man's fall:
At first, the King’s subjects enjoyed spending time with Him so much that they didn’t even go close to the fountain. They loved the King and wanted to please Him. But they began to get curious. They wondered why He didn’t want them to drink the water of the fountain, which looked so pure and refreshing.That first sentence, I think, gives a helpful perspective for children (and adults) to maintain: Satisfaction in God dulls sinful and curious interests.One day a stranger in a long black cloak appeared in the park. The people didn’t know it, but the stranger was the King’s archenemy. He told the people that the water in the fountain wasn’t bad at all. He said that if they would try it, the water would do wonderful things for them. It would make them as great as the King Himself.
By now the people were very curious about the water. It didn’t seem fair that the King wouldn’t let them drink from the fountain. So they decided to try it. The stranger filled a cup with the water from the fountain and gave it to the people, and they drank it.
In addition to a warm, engaging story, this book is also beautifully illustrated by Justin Gerard. Gerard has partnered with Sproul on other books such as The Lightlings (which I previously introduced). I highly recommend The Prince's Poison Cup, particularly for children 3-8.
October 30, 2008
America To Pursue a European-Style Economy?
Daniel Henninger makes the case. Excerpt: The goal of Sen. Obama and the modern, "progressive" Democratic Party is to move the U.S. in the direction of Western Europe, the so-called German model and its "social market economy." Under this notion, business is highly regulated, as it would be in the next Congress under Democratic House committee chairmen Markey, Frank and Waxman. Business is allowed to create "wealth" so long as its utility is not primarily to create new jobs or economic growth but to support a deep welfare system.
The political planets are aligned to make this achievable. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, prominent Democrats, European leaders in France and Germany and more U.S. newspaper articles than one can count have said that the crisis proves the need to permanently tame the American "free-market" model. P.O.W. Alan Greenspan is broadcasting confessions. The question is: Are the American people of a mind to throw in the towel on the system that got them here?Read the whole thing.
Implications of Obama's Tax The "Rich" Strategy
Thomas Sowell is a brilliant, articulate thinker who can also write powerfully for those of us who are not economically sophisticated. This article is fantastically clear and straightforward. Excerpts:
“The power to tax is the power to destroy.”And:It is not the money that is taxed away that is destroyed. What is destroyed is the wealth that does not get produced in the first place, because high taxes make its production not worthwhile.
Economists have trouble determining how many people are affected by a tax increase because those affected extend far beyond those who write the checks to pay the government.Read the whole thing.Taxes on businesses can get passed along to consumers, in whole or in part, even though it is only the business that writes the check to the government.
Payroll taxes or government-mandated employee benefits may be paid for directly by the employer, but these costs reduce the value of an employee to the employer. If these costs add up to $10,000, for example, employers bidding for labor may bid $10,000 less in salary than they would have otherwise.
As in other cases, who writes the checks does not tell you who really pays the costs, since the worker is now $10,000 worse off.
(HT: JT)
The Prodigal God and Bi-Directional Self-Righteousness
Tullian Tchividjian, discussing Tim Keller's recent book The Prodigal God, offers some helpful thoughts on how self-righteousness can be manifest by both the legalist and the licentious. An excerpt:
Now, it’s very interesting that in the Bible it’s always the immoral person that gets the Gospel before the moral person. It’s the prostitute who understands grace; it’s the Pharisee who doesn’t. It’s the unrighteous younger brother who gets it before the self-righteous older brother. Tim’s book points this out well.For more background, see this post and Tim Strickland's comment.There is, however, another (perhaps more subtle) side to self-righteousness that younger brother types need to be careful of. There’s an equally dangerous form of self-righteousness that plagues the unconventional, the liberal, and the non-religious types. We anti-legalists can become just as guilty of legalism in the opposite direction. What do I mean?
It’s simple: we can become self-righteous against those who are self-righteous. Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents’ conservative, buttoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of “older brother religion” with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of “younger brother irreligion” which screams, ”That’s right, I know I don’t have it all together and you think you do; I know I’m not good and you think you are. That makes me better than you.” See the irony?
In other words, they’re proud that they’re not self-righteous!
October 29, 2008
R.C. Sproul - Principles of Voting
Dr. R.C. Sproul gave an excellent message on principles of voting. In fact, I heard it a couple weeks ago and it has been stuck in my head ever since. The Ligonier team has made the audio and text of the message freely available. Check them out before you vote.
This message will also air nationwide next Monday on their Renewing Your Mind broadcast. Find your local station here.
October 24, 2008
Power-Sharing and Happiness in Marriage
A fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal examines how men and women share decision-making leverage in marriage and whether there is any dependency on their relative earning power. The upshot:
The general consensus of sociologists is that, whereas a woman's marital satisfaction is dependent on a combination of economic, emotional and psychological realities, a man's marital satisfaction is most determined by one factor: how happy his wife is. When she is happy, he is. Working within this framework, most husbands are unwilling to dig in their heels on any issue unless they have a tremendous incentive to do so.
HT: Ligon Duncan via Tim Challies
Tim Keller - The Prodigal God - Now Available
Tim Keller's latest book, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, is now available. The origin of this short, convicting, and compelling book is a sermon Pastor Keller gave a few years ago on Luke 15:11-32.
I read a pre-release copy of this book a few months ago and found it to be simply outstanding. Here's the nub of it: There are basically two ways of abandoning God. The first is the way of the younger brother--reckless abandon to all of God's moral authority, an unbridled launch into debauchery and licentious living. The second is the way of the older brother. On the surface, it looks diametrically opposite: fastidious pursuit of God's external standards, but not from an internal, heart-felt love for and enjoyment of God. No, the older brother (like the younger brother) simply wants to use and control the Father. He loves God for the sake of the goodies he hopes God will give him. The older brother seeks to bribe God: If I obey You, then You owe me. The older brother does not recognize his need for mercy.
Jesus, says Keller, addresses this parable to the older brothers: the scribes and the Pharisees. The parable is "an extended look at the soul of the elder brother, and climaxes with a powerful plea for him to change his heart." Check it out.
Related: Interview with Tim Keller on The Prodigal God
Rick Warren Endorses Proposition 8 (CA Ballot)
Pastor Rick Warren gives strong public support to Proposition 8, a very important measure on the ballot in California this November 4 to preserve the historic definition of marriage. Proposition 8 reads: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California." Warren gave this video endorsement (it seems) to his congregation:
HT: Maggie Gallagher
Pro-Life Officials Significantly Reduce Abortion Rates
Contrary to Senator Obama's bold inaccuracy at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, abortion rates have in fact been drastically reduced over the last twenty years. And contrary to popular opinion, pro-life legislators (and Presidents) really do make a big difference. Michael J. New, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama and a Visiting Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, New Jersey writes a helpful review which argues:
During the past 35 years, the pro-life movement has made real progress. The number of abortions has fallen in 12 out of the past 14 years and the total number of abortions has declined by 21 percent since 1990. These gains are largely due to pro-life political victories at the federal level in the 1980s and at the state level in the 1990s which have made it easier to pass pro-life legislation.Read the whole thing.
(HT: JT)
John McCain For President
If you think it is over, so why bother, this is a good word for you. A vote is a privilege and an important responsibility. Charles Krauthammer:
First, I'll have no truck with the phony case ginned up to rationalize voting for the most liberal and inexperienced presidential nominee in living memory. The "erratic" temperament issue, for example. As if McCain's risky and unsuccessful but in no way irrational attempt to tactically maneuver his way through the economic tsunami that came crashing down a month ago renders unfit for office a man who demonstrated the most admirable equanimity and courage in the face of unimaginable pressures as a prisoner of war, and who later steadily navigated innumerable challenges and setbacks, not the least of which was the collapse of his campaign just a year ago.Another excerpt:McCain the "erratic" is a cheap Obama talking point. The 40-year record testifies to McCain the stalwart.
Nor will I countenance the "dirty campaign" pretense. The double standard here is stunning. Obama ran a scurrilous Spanish-language ad falsely associating McCain with anti-Hispanic slurs. Another ad falsely claimed McCain supports "cutting Social Security benefits in half." And for months Democrats insisted that McCain sought 100 years of war in Iraq.
McCain's critics are offended that he raised the issue of William Ayers. What's astonishing is that Obama was himself not offended by William Ayers.
Who do you want answering that phone at 3 a.m.? A man who's been cramming on these issues for the last year, who's never had to make an executive decision affecting so much as a city, let alone the world? A foreign policy novice instinctively inclined to the flabbiest, most vaporous multilateralism (e.g., the Berlin Wall came down because of "a world that stands as one"), and who refers to the most deliberate act of war since Pearl Harbor as "the tragedy of 9/11," a term more appropriate for a bus accident?Read the whole thing.Or do you want a man who is the most prepared, most knowledgeable, most serious foreign policy thinker in the United States Senate? A man who not only has the best instincts, but has the honor and the courage to, yes, put country first, as when he carried the lonely fight for the surge that turned Iraq from catastrophic defeat into achievable strategic victory?
How I Just Voted (in California)
Via absentee ballots, my wife and I cast our votes tonight in the following manner:
President/Vice-President: John McCain/Sarah Palin
44th Congressional District: Ken Calvert
State Senator: Bob Dutton
State Assembly: Brian Nestande
Riverside Community College Districts: Not Voting (they all sound terrible)
Proposition One: NO
Proposition Two: NO
Proposition Three: NO
Proposition Four: YES
Proposition Five: NO
Proposition Six: YES
Proposition Seven: NO
Proposition Eight: YES
Proposition Nine: YES
Proposition Ten: NO
Proposition Eleven: YES
Proposition Twelve: YES
It turns out we were in total agreement with the Capitol Resource Institute.
The Importance of Submitting to Earthly Authorities
HT: JT
October 22, 2008
Shelly Moore Band - Hope and Decay
When I was in Raleigh, NC for the ReThink Conference I had the pleasure of meeting Shelly Moore. Shelly has a band and a new album called Hope and Decay which I've been really enjoying over the last few weeks. She describes her genre as "Indie Rock" -- which I've actually never heard of (look, I'm pretty out of it, sorry). What I can say is that Shelly has a very clear, melodic, relaxing voice and an overall soothing musical style. It makes her album a great vehicle for a combination of comfort, background music, and edification. The lyrics are rich with theological truth, particular on our daily need for God's grace.
My favorite song on the album is "Be Exalted" - a cry of thanksgiving for God's sometimes mysterious and always good leading connected with a hearty petition that God would be exalted by His creation, that His excellencies would be more widely known and appreciated. The lyrics are:
Jesus, I’m amazed by You/By the way You lead, by the way You love / Jesus, I am changed by You / By the way You lead, by the way You love / With unfailing love for those you’ve redeemed / * You’ve captured my heart / You’ve captured my mind / O God / * Be exalted, O God / God of the amazing, God of the amazing / Be exalted, O God / God of the amazing, God unchanging – yes / * Jesus, I’m amazed by You / By the way You lead, by the way You love / Jesus, I am changed by You / By the way You lead, by the way You love / With unending love for those you’ve restoredAnother great song is called "Solid Ground". This one is about waiting for God, trusting in His promise in the midst of deep pain:
Hearts are broken, walls fall down / Oh the walls come crashing down / Pillars of strength, now piles of rubble / In tears we try to make sense of this puzzle / * Seasons will change / Colors will fade / These notes will be heard no more / One day the pain / Will cease to remain / Because this was never a story about me / * Hearts are hurting, faith is shifting / But our souls don’t rest on sand / A picture of youth, now reminds us of glory / Because this was never a story about me / * For now we cry / Wiping the tears from our eyes / And we wait for You / We wait for You / You are making all things newYou can listen to portions of several songs for free on her My Space page (including "Solid Ground"). I highly recommend getting the album (follow the links--songs are available for $0.99 each on Itunes). Scroll down here to find information about her booking agent and press contact.
Letter From 2012 in Obama's America
An anonymous individual has authored an outstanding (if chilling) sixteen-page depiction of what America could look like in 2012 if Barack Obama becomes President and a Democratic majority remains in both houses of Congress. I appreciate this author sounding the alarm while maintaining strong confidence in the sovereignty and goodness of God (rather than appealing to shrill, ungodly anxiety). [If you'll permit me sharing my opinion: The election outcome is not final.] The letter's preface:
What will the United States be like if Senator Obama is elected? The most reliable way of predicting people’s future actions is by looking at their past actions. Jesus himself taught, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Anyone who has hired employees knows that – the best predictor of a person’s future job performance is not what he tells you he can do but what he has actually done in the past.Read the letter (which can also be freely downloaded).So here is a picture of the changes that are likely or at least very possible if Senator Obama is elected and the far-left segments of the Democratic Party gain control of the White House, the Congress, and perhaps then the Supreme Court. The entire letter is written as a “What if?” exercise, but that does not make it empty speculation because every future “event” described here is based on established legal and political trends that can already be abundantly documented and that only need a “tipping point” such as the election of Senator Obama and a Democratic House and Senate to begin to put them into place. Every past event named in this letter (everything prior to October 22, 2008) is established fact and has already taken place.
This letter is not “predicting” that all of the imaginative future “events” named in this letter will happen. But it is saying that each one of these changes could happen and also that each change would be a the natural outcome of (a) published legal opinions already written by liberal judges, (b) trends already seen in states with liberal-dominated courts such as California and Massachusetts, (c) recent past promises, practices, and legislative initiatives of the current liberal leadership of the Democratic Party and (d) Senator Obama’s previous actions, previous voting record, and previous public promises to the far-left groups that won the nomination for him.
Many of these changes, if they occur, will have significant implications for Christians. This letter is addressed particularly to their concerns so they will be aware of what is at stake before the November 4 election.
Some will respond to this letter by saying, “Well, I hope hardship and even persecution come to the church. It will strengthen the church!” But hoping for suffering is wrong. It is similar to saying, “I hope I get some serious illness because it will strengthen my faith.” Jesus taught us to pray the opposite: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). Paul urged us to pray not for persecution but “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2). So Christians should hope and pray that such difficult times do not come. But if they do come, then it will be right to trust God to bring good out of them and also bring them to an end.
Of course, there are many evangelical Christians supporting Senator Obama as well as many supporting Senator McCain in this election. Christians on both sides should continue to respect and cherish each other’s friendship as well as the freedom people have in the United States to differ on these issues and to freely speak our opinions about them to one another.
Unfashionable - Tullian Tchividjian
Tullian Tchividjian is putting the finishing touches on a new book which sounds quite interesting: Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different
Finding Your Vocation
Boundless just published an article I wrote on discovering your vocation. It is based on interactions I've had with a variety of college students over the years on choosing a major/career path (as well as my own personal journey). The opening:
A hundred years ago young adults did not have anywhere near the mind-boggling and almost debilitating number of options available today. In general, sons took on the line of work of their fathers, and girls adopted whatever domestic, social, and vocational roles their mothers held. It wasn't so much about "finding your calling" as it was about your calling finding you.Here is the full article if case you are interested.Today, relatively few pursue the line of work of their parents. How might Christians think about the additional freedoms and opportunities afforded by modern life? Is it really entirely up to us to choose our line of work, or can we wait to specifically hear from God on the matter?
In the Bible we see both Moses and David go from being anonymous shepherds to big-time prophet/miracle worker and king, respectively. But they had the advantage of remarkable divine intervention. How many of us would love to have God announce our life work to us audibly from a burning bush? Or have a prophet seek us out with anointing oil, announcing what career to pursue?
October 21, 2008
Richard Epstein: The Obama I (Don't) Know
Richard Epstein is a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and a professor of law at the University of Chicago, visiting this fall at the New York University School of Law. Given Obama's former association with the University of Chicago Law School, Epstein used to know Obama and corresponded with him when he was a state senator.
Given their personal relationship, it seems significant that Epstein joins millions of anonymous Americans in wondering: Do we really know Obama? Epstein writes:
The odd point is how his many learned and thoughtful supporters couch their endorsement. Almost without exception, they praise the man, not the program. Their claim is that Obama has proved himself to be a consummate politician who understands that the first principle of holding high office is to get reelected. His natural moderation in tone and demeanor, therefore, translate into getting advisers who know their substantive areas, and listening to them before making any rash moves. The dominant trope is that he will be a pragmatic president who will move in small increments toward the center, not in bold steps toward the left.Epstein goes to describe "three key components, which, taken together, can convert a shaky financial situation into a global depression."But is it all true? The short answer is that nobody knows. Virtually everyone who knows him recognizes that he plays his cards close to the vest, so that you can make your case to him without knowing whether it has registered. At this point, my fear is that the change in office will not lead to a change in his liberal voting record, as reinforced by a hyperactive Democratic platform. My great fear is that a landslide victory will give him solid majorities in both Houses of Congress, so that no stalling tactics by Republicans can slow down his legislative victory procession. At that point his innate pragmatism will line up with his strong left-of-center beliefs on issues that have thus far been muted during the campaign.
The first of these is his anti-free trade attitude that loomed so large in the primaries. But even Obama cannot repeal the principle of comparative advantage. Any efforts to scuttle NAFTA, deny fast-track approval to other agreements, or limit outsourcing will not be as dramatic as the Smoot-Hawley tariff. But combined, they would act as a depressant on general economic growth. Everyone would suffer.Read the whole thing.Second, Obama is committed to strengthening unions by his endorsement of the Employer Free Choice Act, a misnamed statute that forces union recognition without elections and employment contracts through mandatory arbitration thereafter. That one-two punch could tie up the very small businesses that Obama seems determined to help. Tax relief won't work for firms that won't get formed because a labor fight is not in their initial budget.
And third, he is in favor of progressive individual taxes and high corporate taxes. It is as though the U.S. does not have to compete for labor and capital in global markets. My fear is that with his strong egalitarian bent, he has not internalized the lesson that high rates do not offset declining revenues.
October 18, 2008
John McCain Brings The House Down
The first 10 minutes are pure hilarity, followed by a few serious remarks:
October 17, 2008
New Law May Reduce Down Syndrome Abortions
On October 8, 2008, President Bush signed the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act into law. The Baptist Press summarizes this legislation (authored by Senator Sam Brownback):
The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act requires parents whose children receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or another malady to be provided with the latest information on the condition and be informed of support services available. This would apply to a diagnosis on a child before birth or until a year after birth. The measure also would establish a registry of families willing to adopt special needs children.The report goes on to note:
It has been estimated about 90 percent of American children diagnosed in the womb with Down syndrome are aborted, sometimes after their parents have been given hopeless descriptions of their offsprings' futures. A similar abortion percentage exists for unborn babies diagnosed with spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and dwarfism, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., has reported.Read the whole report.
(HT: Daniel L. Patterson)
October 16, 2008
Joe The Plumber Gets His Own Commercial
October 15, 2008
Greg Koukl Discusses Proposition 8
Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason discusses California's Proposition 8, which deals with the definition of marriage.
October 14, 2008
Robert George: Obama's Abortion Extremism
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has a law degree and a theology degree from Harvard, and a doctorate from Oxford. He is a member of the President's Council on Bioethics and previously served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Today, Dr. George published an article entitled Obama's Abortion Extremism, which begins this way:
Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.Read the whole thing. If you don't have time, Justin Taylor provides a helpful summary. Also, Dr. George was the guest on Dr. Albert Mohler's radio program today.Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals - who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view.
What is going on here?
PBS Frontline Special: John McCain & Barack Obama
PBS has a two-hour documentary entitled "The Choice 2008", which will air tonight on public television. You can also watch it on-line. My guess is that it will be fairly pro-Obama, but it looks interesting.
Obama's Kenya Ghosts
(HT: Mark R. Levin)
October 13, 2008
Obama's "95% will get tax cut" Illusion
The Wall Street Journal writes an extremely fair, helpful, and succinct review of Obama's tax proposals. The author helps readers understand why Obama claims to give tax cuts to 95% of Americans: by "tax cut" Obama includes tens of billions of dollars in government handouts that are disguised by the phrase "tax credit." If you think Obama is somehow better for the economy, this article is a must read. Don't forget to look at the chart. It is not too hard to understand: look what happens at about the $45,000 mark: your marginal tax rate goes up. This disproportionally punishes low-income workers for earning raises or bonuses --cutting off the incentive for achievement and growing one's income:
Because Mr. Obama's tax credits are phased out as incomes rise, they impose a huge "marginal" tax rate increase on low-income workers. The marginal tax rate refers to the rate on the next dollar of income earned. As the nearby chart illustrates, the marginal rate for millions of low- and middle-income workers would spike as they earn more income.Read the whole thing.Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working overtime or taking a new job. As public policy, this is contradictory. The tax credits are sold in the name of "making work pay," but in practice they can be a disincentive to working harder, especially if you're a lower-income couple getting raises of $1,000 or $2,000 a year. One mystery -- among many -- of the McCain campaign is why it has allowed Mr. Obama's 95% illusion to go unanswered.
Why Obama Has Been Winning The Debates
A great article on debate strategy, and why McCain has been missing chances to score points.
October 12, 2008
USA Today: Church Giving "Lukewarm"
USA Today gives this decidedly unflattering report:
Americans spent nearly twice as much on first-day sales of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV as would be needed by the Southern Baptist Convention to share the gospel with all the world's "unreached people groups" by 2010, according to a new report on church giving.This data comes from the annual report of Empty Tomb Inc. -- an Illinois-based ministry dedicated to helping the poor and assisting "historically Christian congregations increase missions spending as a portion of total spending."
The USA Today article goes on to note that while an estimated 2800 additional missionaries are needed to engage the remaining unreached people groups, and while it would cost about $11 per Southern Baptist to fund those extra missionaries, the denomination's "2008 goal of $170 million to support existing missionaries is the equivalent of asking each Southern Baptist to donate just 31 cents more than last year."
I am not sure why the article focuses so much attention on the SBC (whom the journalist praises as a "denomination that takes this religious task seriously"), since the data is really a stinging indictment on all Christians. The closing thoughts:
"The total portion of per capita income given to churches in 2006 was lower (in 2006) than in the worst year of the Great Depression," the authors found.The report estimates that for only $26 a year per evangelical, U.S. evangelicals as a whole could fund $544 million in efforts through evangelical-affiliated denominations and other missions agencies.
The report estimated that it would cost each U.S. church member just 8 cents a day to help reach the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal of cutting infant mortality by two-thirds by 2015.
(HT: Daniel L. Patterson)
Thomas Sowell on Freddie, Fannie, and the Bailout
Thomas Sowell helpfully and succinctly dispels the notion that pure free-market economics led to the collapse. In short: Elected officials such as Congressman Barney Frank and Senator Christopher Dodd "wanted the government to push financial institutions to lend to people they would not lend to otherwise, because of the risk of default". The mantra was "affordable housing" and the avoidance of "redlining" (whereby loans are denied in circumstances where the financial risk is deemed too great). The problem was the built-in assumption that politicians "can assess risks better than people who have spent their whole careers assessing risks". Sowell writes:
"If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were free market institutions they could not have gotten away with their risky financial practices because no one would have bought their securities without the implicit assumption that the politicians would bail them out."Read the whole thing.
October 11, 2008
Three-Way Conversation: John Piper, Don Carson, Tim Keller
An absolutely fantastic six-part conversation between John Piper, Don Carson, and Tim Keller (total time 1 hour):
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
(HT: JT)
October 10, 2008
Obama and Acorn: McCain Ad Tough and Fair
John Piper: The Ultimate Meaning of Womanhood
John Piper's message from last night entitled The Ultimate Meaning of Womanhood is now available in both MP3 audio format (free download) and in manuscript form. Pastor John is speaking at the True Woman conference. The conference organizers have unveiled a True Woman Manifesto, which Piper highly approves.
Krauthammer on Obama, Ayers, Rezko, and Wright
Charles Krauthammer, with usual wit and verve, explains why Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, and Jeremiah Wright are legitimate issues for Barack Obama.
Why are these associations important? Do I think Obama is as corrupt as Rezko? Or shares Wright's angry racism or Ayers' unreconstructed 1960s radicalism?Read the whole thing. Incidentally, in Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and InheritanceNo. But that does not make these associations irrelevant. They tell us two important things about Obama.
First, his cynicism and ruthlessness. He found these men useful, and use them he did. Would you attend a church whose pastor was spreading racial animosity from the pulpit? Would you even shake hands with -- let alone serve on two boards with -- an unrepentant terrorist, whether he bombed U.S. military installations or abortion clinics?
Most Americans would not, on the grounds of sheer indecency. Yet Obama did, if not out of conviction then out of expediency. He was a young man on the make, an unknown outsider working his way into Chicago politics. He played the game with everyone, without qualms and with obvious success.
Obama is not the first politician to rise through a corrupt political machine. But he is one of the rare few to then have the audacity to present himself as a transcendent healer, hovering above and bringing redemption to the "old politics" -- of the kind he had enthusiastically embraced in Chicago in the service of his own ambition.
Second, and even more disturbing than the cynicism, is the window these associations give on Obama's core beliefs. He doesn't share Rev. Wright's poisonous views of race nor Ayers' views, past and present, about the evil that is American society. But Obama clearly did not consider these views beyond the pale. For many years he swam easily and without protest in that fetid pond.
, Obama recounts Jeremiah Wright's sermon on the day he first visited the church. It included statements like "white folks' greed runs a world in need." Can you imagine McCain's political chances if he had spent twenty years in the church of a pastor with white supremacist leanings? Obama's book is also a helpful window into his Marxist perspective on globalism and economics.
Persecution of Christians in Eastern India Still Severe
Susan Wunderink of Christianity Today reports:
Like many people in the eastern India state of Orissa, Nikhil Kumar Kanodia knew an attack on Christians was imminent. But unlike others, Kanodia was a police superintendent. When he declared that Hindu attacks on Christians in his district of Kandhamal would be prosecuted, he was immediately transferred. Soon afterward, Kandhamal became the epicenter of massive anti-Christian violence. Nationalist Hindus have killed, raped, and otherwise assaulted Christians, burned Christian schools, churches, and houses, and left tens of thousands homeless.Read the whole thing.Nina Shea, vice chair for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the attacks are essentially pogroms "to rid the state of the Christian minority." The World Christian Database says active Christians make up about 3.3 percent of the state's population.
October 09, 2008
Tim Keller - The Prodigal God
When you're looking for ESV Study Bibles, you'll also want to check out Tim Keller's forthcoming book The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. I read a pre-release copy over the last few weeks and it exceeded my already high expectations. The book is convicting and encouraging at the same time--a rare combination. It is also very easy to read and fairly short (can be read in a few sittings). Here's an excerpt of an interview I conducted with Pastor Keller about the book:
CHEDIAK: Why do you think Luke 15:11-32 has come down to us as "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", and might you walk us through a little bit on how you came to see it as something more?
KELLER: I don't know why over the years our interpretation of the Luke 15:11ff parable has focused so much on the younger brother. Even if you just count the verses it is clear that his part is only about half the story. If you read the parable in its context--Luke 15:1-3--it is clear that Jesus was directing the parable at Pharisees, 'elder brothers', who hated Jesus warm reception of tax collectors and sinners, 'younger brothers.' So the fate and decision of the elder brother is the real climax of the story. (And it is a cliff-hanger--we never find out how the Pharisee/elder brother responds.) Dick Lucas once preached a sermon on this parable entitled 'Jesus Pleads with His Critics'! In this parable Jesus is speaking to the people who will eventually kill him, yet he, through the father in the story, comes out and beg the Pharisee/elder brothers to relent and come in to the feast of salvation. I find that so moving. Dick Lucas, Ed Clowney and others showed me that the parable is about both brothers and especially the elder.
Read the whole thing.
Yes on Proposition 8 - a Spanish ad
CBS Poll Finds Proposition 8 Ahead By 5 Points
A CBS 5 poll released October 6 finds that California's Proposition 8 has picked up support in recent weeks, perhaps in response to new television ads. A San Francisco affiliate reports:
"According to the poll, likely California voters overall now favor passage of Proposition 8 by a five-point margin, 47 percent to 42 percent. Ironically, a CBS 5 poll eleven days prior found a five-point margin in favor of the measure's opponents.It also seems that Yes on 8 has raised $25 million compared to $15.75MM for No on 8.The only demographic group to significantly change their views during this period were younger voters — considered the hardest to poll and the most unpredictable voters — who now support the measure after previously opposing it."
Read the whole thing.
ESV Study Bibles Ready To Order Tomorrow
The good folks at the Westminster Book Store just gave me two pieces of great news:
1. They will be ready to start taking orders on the much-anticipated ESV Study Bible starting tomorrow (with prices starting from $28.49 - 43% off).
2. Mindful of these difficult economic times, all orders under $35 can now qualify for $3.00 US Postal Service Economy Shipping (3-21 days). [Orders $35 or more automatically get UPS shipping for just $4.00. Understandably, they want to retain the excellent tracking and reliability of UPS for these higher value shipments.]
I plan to order this ESV Study Bible tomorrow!
The Toxic Desire For Wealth
I can smell it. It’s like toast or steak or brownies. It doesn’t just draw our desire, it creates desire. Deep drops in the stock market make many people salivate. They know it will rebound. They are sitting on cash. By year’s end their pile could ride the recovery to riches.Read the whole thing. This is also a good time to pray for those in authority. They have an important duty to discharge before God. And we should pray for the economy, while actively seeking the well-being of others.For such people I have a word from God. The word is: Don’t desire to be rich. It will kill you. And in a world like ours many will probably perish with you.
Related: Thinking Biblically About the Banking Industry Collapse
True Woman Conference Begins Today
Looks like a very interesting conference. Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes:
True Woman '08 is a call to join thousands of other women who are saying, "Yes, Lord! I want to be Your woman. I surrender my life to be used for Your Kingdom purposes. May my life display Your glory to this generation and the next."General session peakers include John Piper, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Mary Kassian, Karen Loritts, Fern Nichols, Janet Parshall, Joni Eareckson Tada. Also, pre-conference seminars will be given by Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt. Numerous workshops will also be held.
Tim Challies is live-blogging the event.
October 07, 2008
CNN Exposes Barack Obama on Bill Ayers
To my great surprise, CNN does a short segment on Senator Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers, exposing the lie that Ayers was "just a guy in the neighborhood."
(HT: Ed Morrissey)
Related: Thomas Sowell on The Real Obama
October 06, 2008
The Courage To Be Protestant - David Wells
This week's White Horse Inn broadcast (Michael Horton, Kim Riddlebarger, Ken Jones, Rod Rosenbladt) features special guest Dr. David Wells and a discussion of Wells' most recent book, The Courage To Be Protestant. Wells is an insightful observer of today's evangelical church and its historical trajectory with regard to interaction with the broader culture. With scholarly attention to detail, Wells explains that many pockets of evangelicalism have accommodated the culture in ways that prohibit our being a witness to it. As with all that Wells writes, this book sounds well-researched and very interesting.
The endorsements:
"A stinging indictment of evangelicalism's theological corruption."
- Time
"Can serve as a catalyst for evangelical self-examination."
- Christianity Today
"David F. Wells speaks for a great many commentators inside and outside the evangelical camp when he contends that American evangelicalism is sick at soul . . . His work is being hailed as a bombshell by evangelical leaders who hope it will wake up American evangelicals and alert them to their peril."
- The Christian Century
Wells urges the church to return to classical spirituality and not to allow the message of that spirituality to be diminished by the cultural habits of the modern world. This argument is one that has recurred throughout history, but wells makes it in plain language accompanied by a straightforward critique of the ways in which, he believes, secular culture's notions of virtue fall short of Christianity's."
- Publisher's Weekly
"David Wells is one of the most profound Christian thinkers of our time . . . .His insight is keen, his burden righteous, his moral pain deeply felt."
- Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
"Groundbreaking . . . .The acuity of Wells's analysis and his self-critical spirit show something of the intellectual prowess and recuperative powers within evangelicalism"
- Religious Studies Review
John McCain's Act III?
Peter Wehner gives a spot-on assessment of what Senator McCain needs to do in the remaining weeks before election day:
This past weekend has made it clear that Obama’s unremittingly liberal voting record, as well as some of his past associations (weirdly excluding the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, which is the association that deeply troubled a lot of us), will be an issue during what I have called Act III of the McCain campaign.Read the whole thing.What remains to be seen is whether this line of criticism will succeed given the current environment. If so, the case McCain makes needs to be powerful and precise, accurate and believable. He must convince a large segment of the public that his argument is not backward-looking but is instead intensely practical. To be more specific, McCain need to demonstrate to voters why Obama’s past record and associations will shape, in important and harmful ways, how Obama would govern as president. To invoke a line used by Senator Biden during last Thursday’s debate, McCain needs to explain why “past is prologue.”
McCain's Health Care Policy
Michael Cannon provides a helpful corrective on the caricature conveyed by Senator Biden at the VP debate last week. Excerpt:
He [Biden] suggested the $5,000 family tax credit is paltry compared to the $12,000 average premium for a family plan, as if the two numbers were comparable, and complained that the $5,000 "will go straight to the insurance company," calling that "the ultimate Bridge to Nowhere."Read the whole thing.Yes, the tax credit would go to the insurance company of your choice, where it would reduce the cost of your coverage by $5,000 - which, we apparently must repeat, is larger than the tax break most people get today. The Post awarded Biden another two "Pinocchios" for Thursday night's misrepresentations.
But the most important part of McCain's tax credit is something that Biden still doesn't get: McCain would replace the current tax break with not one tax cut, but two.
The average "employer contribution" to that $12,000 family plan is about $9,000. In a recent survey, 91% of health economists agreed employers take their "contribution" out of your wages. If employers weren't providing health benefits, the labor market would force them to add that money to your cash compensation. In other words, the current tax break for job-based coverage lets employers control several thousand dollars of your earning.
October 04, 2008
Mike Huckabee on "Bailout" Bill
Mike Huckabee writes:
"I wanted to write you to convey my disgust with the passing of this 451 page bailout bill. Wall Street has gone trick-or-treating in Washington a little bit early this October. Wall Street is getting the treats and America is getting tricked. The “Axis of Arrogance” has tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the Main Streeters and in doing so hid a sty full of pork in a bill whose constitutionality is questionable at best. Friends, the folks in Washington continue to treat your wallet as their tip jar and this has to stop."Huckabee goes on to list some of the earmarks, and then notes that "within minutes of the bill passing the state of California was already in line asking to be the next recipient of a Government hand out." Sounds like Governor Huckabee is beefing up his conservative credentials (to his credit).
Bush Signs Pork-Ladden "Bailout" Bill
I question the wisdom of the recently passed "bailout" legislation. I find it strange that while Americans from all political parties overwhelmingly expressed concern over Congress's $700 billion bill (see full text), our national leaders rushed to pass it (except, of course, those leaders most vulnerable in the upcoming election). Tammy Bruce (with help from Ed Morrisey) provide a list of new earmarks that helped sweeten the deal, successfully enticing legislators to sign the bill:
Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)
Meanwhile, these other earmarks were "extended" by the "bailout" bill:
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)
- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)
Why didn't John McCain clearly explain to the American people the cause of the recent problems? At the very least, was it not unwise for McCain to rush to pass the bill when Americans overwhelmingly opposed it? Instead, he first says he will not attend the debate until the crisis is fixed, then he looks weak backing down and attending anyway. He has been running seven points back ever since. If McCain loses, I think this may be the defining issue that helps spawn a new generation of conservative leaders.
October 01, 2008
Narrative And Theology: Modern Parables
Melissa Morgan, writing for By Faith magazine, interviews Thomas Purifoy, producer of Modern Parables. I previously reviewed Modern Parables, a rare blend of cinema and theological truth, produced and directed with finesse and creativity. Here's an excerpt of their rendition of the parable of the two Prodigal Sons (Luke 15:11-32) -- which goes excellently, I might add, with Tim Keller's forthcoming book The Prodigal God (release date: October 31).
Related: Interview with Tim Keller on The Prodigal God.
Vulnerable GOP and Dem Representatives Reject Bailout
This is probably old news by now, but I find it interesting that although there has been widespread criticism of the House Republicans, it seems that vulnerable members of both parties in the House voted against the "bailout bill" earlier this week. Josh Kraushaar of Politico reports:
The vast majority of politically vulnerable members from both parties voted against the $700 billion package, fearing serious flak from their constituents back home. Of the 205 members who supported the bill, only seven — four Democrats and three Republicans — are facing highly competitive races.Read the whole thing.The vote breakdown is in sync with skeptical public sentiment toward the plan. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll, for instance, showed 56 percent of those surveyed favoring something different than the proposed bailout package. Only 22 percent supported it.
Indeed, it was almost impossible to find a politically vulnerable Republican who supported the deal. The only three Republicans in tough races who supported it were Reps. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Jon C. Porter of Nevada.
Most of the politically vulnerable Democrats bucked their party’s leaders and voted against the package as well. While 15 of the 33 Democrats on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s incumbent-retention Frontline program supported the bailout, the majority aren’t at serious risk of losing their seats.
Indeed, only four Democrats facing highly competitive reelection bids — Reps. Jerry McNerney of California, Tim Mahoney of Florida, Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania and Jim Marshall of Georgia — voted for the bailout
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Recent Posts
- Barack Obama a Member of Far-Left "New Party"
- R.C. Sproul - The Prince's Poison Cup
- America To Pursue a European-Style Economy?
- Implications of Obama's Tax The "Rich" Strategy
- The Prodigal God and Bi-Directional Self-Righteousness
- R.C. Sproul - Principles of Voting
- Power-Sharing and Happiness in Marriage
- Tim Keller - The Prodigal God - Now Available
- Rick Warren Endorses Proposition 8 (CA Ballot)
- Pro-Life Officials Significantly Reduce Abortion Rates