If you are anything like myself, there are times when some of the people you're not 'crazy' about write or say something you MUST agree with? I'm not fond of getting into the political discussions of the day, this is one of those moments when I must agree. I'm sure several of "my friends," will want me to jump off a bridge, but sorry, facts are facts and truth is well, the truth. "Ubuntu" T


Sunday July 29, 2012 7:45 AM

Free Speech applies to Christians, Too - commentary by Cal Thomas

Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy is in hot water with the LGBT community because he committed the cardinal sin in an age of political correctness: Thou must not speak ill of anything gays, lesbians, bisexuals or transgenders wish to do.

In an interview with the Baptist Press and later on a Christian radio program, Cathy, whose father, the philanthropist Truett Cathy, founded the company, defended marriage between a man and a woman and when asked about the company’s support of traditional marriage said: “Guilty as charged. We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.” Cathy believes American society is rotting (and where is evidence to the contrary?) because the country has turned away from God.

That was it. Cathy did not say he would deny someone with a different view than his the right to eat in or work at any of his fast-food restaurants, which would violate the law. He did not say anything hateful about them. He simply expressed a deeply held conviction rooted in his Christian faith.

The reaction tells you everything you need to know about certain liberals who believe every sort of speech, activity and expression should be protected, except the speech, activity and expression of evangelical Christians.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he would try to deny Chick-fil-A’s application for permits to open restaurants in that city. Now that’s discrimination. Menino wants to ban Chick-fil-A in Boston, not for discriminating against customers or employees, but because of its owner’s beliefs, a threat he has since backed away from. Does Boston have “thought police” who might investigate whether other business owners already operating in the city hold similar views? I’ll bet there’s someone at Durgin-Park who holds similar views. What about a player for the Boston Red Sox? Better follow them to see if any of them go to church.
Maybe Menino would like to force business owners in the city to testify before an official panel of grand inquisitors and then deny operating licenses to anyone who believes traditional marriage should be the norm.

In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said, “Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values.” Are Chicago values represented by the anti-Semitic firebrand Louis Farrakhan, with whom Emanuel is going to partner in hopes of reducing the number of homicides in his city? Are Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic and anti-gay sentiments somehow more palatable, more of value, than Dan Cathy’s support of marriage and family?

The Weekly Standard found a video posted on the Nation of Islam’s website of a Farrakhan speech two months ago in which he blasted President Barack Obama for endorsing same-sex marriage. Farrakhan said Obama is “the first president that sanctioned what the scriptures forbid.” He added, “Sin is sin according to the standard of God,” and “the Bible forbids it.”
That goes a lot further than Dan Cathy.

The Jim Henson Company has decided to pull its Creature Shop toys from Chick-fil-A and donate profits already made to GLAAD, the media-monitoring group that promotes the image of LGBT people. I knew Jim Henson when we both worked at the NBC-TV station in Washington in the mid-1960s. While we never discussed politics, I don’t think at the time, at least, he would have wanted his characters, which appeal to everyone, involved in a cultural and political battle.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum, both also former presidential candidates, have called for a show of support for Cathy. They want people to eat at Chick-fil-A restaurants on Aug. 1.

This is more than an economic battle. It is a First Amendment issue. Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution. Dan Cathy has a right to his opinion, so does Farrakhan, so do we all.

The real “war” in this country is not only against the supposed civil right of nontraditional marriage. It is a war against conservative Christians and a denial of the same rights the LGBT community claims for itself. Free speech is an American value. We shouldn’t settle for anything less.

Cal Thomas writes for Tribune Media Services.

Praying Together on Monday - 7/30/2012

Abba, 

Today I thank you for redeeming me and calling me into your service. You could have done the first and not the second. You have given me more than I deserve or could have thought possible. Your blessings are overwhelming, THANK YOU.

I pray today for those of us who have called into a life of service, and find ourselves in places we never expected. We question why me, why here, why now. We wonder if I got it wrong, and yet we struggle to fight on, not with others, but so often we my (our) selves. I ask for your continued courage to keep moving in and at your direction. 

Forgive me because I fall victim to cult of now, the fashion of the moment, the desire to become, when all you really want is my heart. Jesus, I'm not a good listener, but the noise of this world (life) causes me to mistake activity for time alone with you. thank for these times, when it's just you and me. Help me shut out the busyness of my daily routine and find a place just for you and me.  Even now, come Lord Jesus, come. 

May I find peace in the place where you call me too, the work you given me, the people with whom I serve, my family. Thank you being near, not only in this moment, but every moment. Thank you for loving me, where I am, but you're always moving me ever closer and  near to yourself, I bless you in your own name, AMEN!!! 

Romans 8:31

Enjoy the beautiful flowers . . . .

An Angel says: 'Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.' 1. Pray 2. Go to bed on time. 3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed. 4. Say no to projects that won't fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your mental health. 5. Delegate tasks to capable others. 6. Simplify and unclutter your life. 7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.) 8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. 9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together. 10. Take one day at a time. 11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it. 12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases. 13. Have backups: an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc. 14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble. 15. Do something for the kid in you every day. 16. Carry a spiritually enlightening book with you to read while waiting in line. 17. Get enough rest. 18. Eat right. 19. Get organized so everything has its place. 20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life. 21. Write down thoughts and inspirations. 22. Every day, find time to be alone. 23. Having problems?Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray. 24. Make friends with Godly people. 25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand. 26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you GOD'. 27. Laugh. 28. Laugh some more! 29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all. 30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can). 31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most). 32. Sit on your ego. 33. Talk less; listen more. 34. Slow down. 35. Remind yourself that you are not the General Manager of the universe. 36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. 'If God is for us, who can be against us?'(Romans8:31) My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless, and I picked you. I decided to send it to more than four, because I didn't want to limit blessings.

Abba,

Today I want to thank you for Monday, the first day of a new work week. Thank you for the opportunities you have and will set before me and the means by which you will help me walk through them. Thank you for those I work with and those I have yet to meet who will help me  to them see you transform the situation we will face. Thank you for your presence in the little things, for options I didn’t know I’d have and for those you will guide me through into unexpected places and results.

Thank you for new friends and fellow believers who are struggling with ugly situations and feelings of being betrayal. The anguish of pouring your heart into a ministry of love and finding your home and ministry ransacked, and find the very items used to bring blessings stolen and torn apart. For those who know only how to love those unlike themselves but it was and is your Spirit that motivated us to move and serve as we attempt to do.

Thank you for fellow servants who walk with us, especially those who are near and want to share the burden; thank you for their hearts, prayers and tears. Thank you as they share their resources, even while limited. I praise you for those who have help with their limited  resources and yet they too struggle with challenges I don’t understand.

Thank you for Monday, and with it your blessing to begin again, start again, and throw myself into your powerful and loving arms, you have a purpose and a plan even when I don’t understand why? Thanks for being near and yes dispelling my doubt and fears for filling me with a faith in yourself. For your confidence that you will arrange an outcome, that pleases yourself. by faith I’m learning to walk into it, with thanksgiving, In Jesus name I pray, AMEN!!!

JUST THINKING:- 7/20/2012

In every area of your life there ought to be some (here goes, "watch this, . . .") FUN! Enjoyment if you will. If you have a job and you need to grab yourself by you backside and drag yourself into work every day, find somewhere else to work!


In ministry it's the same, if you are out of place, go to God in prayer and with the support of those you work with, find out what you do best and were you should be, then work to place yourself where you will find joy in working. God may choose to call you to a place of suffering or struggle, that's His choice, but even there He will provide you with strength of the battle and journey. Learn to laugh again, even if it's at yourself! I'm sorry that you've never done anything dumb, I know I have, and I hate being there alone. 


Being so stiff you lost the joy of serving, doesn't make you Holy or superior, you just look and feel funny to others. Get over yourself and have some FUN! "The joy of the Lord is your strength," and we both know it. Want to talk about it, love to, write me at thobur1@gmail.com Keep growing!!! Love ya,

JUST THINKING:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Loving deeply is the only way to love. Love requires throwing your heart into a relationship or ministry which means you risk everything for it. But what if . . ., there is no what if in love, its all or nothing. Sadly, I too have had love thrown back, rejected in my face, but I'm called to remember Jesus on the cross, " . . Father forgive them, they don't know what they do." Christ rose from the dead, and so can you, when you love as He did, He does and He will live love out of and through you. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. " When they reject you, without knowing it, they are rejecting His gift to them. Then who is the loser?

Worship in Black and White | Christianity Today

Worship in Black and White | Christianity Today