Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed"

Ben Stein taking on the world's smartest scientists? This caught me by surprise. Ben Stein was a speech writer for Nixon and Ford and had his own TV game show on Comedy Central.

Ben traveled the world to surface the persecution of scientists who take on an "intelligent design" view. I wonder how this film will affect our nation in regards to what kind of science should be taught in the class room. I'm excited to see the film.

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Sex, Sushi, and Salvation

I just got done reading the book "Sex, Sushi, and Salvation". It is an easy, entertaining, yet deep read on faith and the God who authored it. I highly recommend this book! This is bound to soar to the heights that "Blue Like Jazz" did.

Here is a quote from the book:

“You don’t have to be a writer to tell the story of Jesus. If you’re an artist, paint it. If you’re a singer, sing it. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you are, every one of us can point beyond ourselves. If you are in retail, tell us about the transaction of salvation. If you are a gardener, describe His crown of thorns. If you are a mathematician, describe the length of the nails. Doctors can best portray His pain, and lawyers can best understand our pardon.”

– Christian George, author of Sex, Sushi, and Salvation

A Freedom That Leads To Slavery

Is it possible for a free person to be a slave?

Is it a paradox that a person growing in earthly freedom can actually become less free?

Rob Bell, in his newest book, Sex God, says something quite interesting:

“Often freedom is seen as the ability to do whatever you want. But freedom isn’t being able to have whatever we crave. Freedom is going without whatever we crave and being fine with it.”

Let’s look at a drinking scenario since it is a rather common occurrence in fraternities and sororities.

Many Greeks have the potential to become pendulum swingers when it comes to personality and attitude. During the big parties, these students are energized, happy, humorous, and seem to enjoy life to the fullest. But during the school week comes complaining, bitterness, and depression. Thus, the weekly Wasted Wednesday becomes an oasis opportunity for these guys and girls to drink and be satisfied with life again.

As these students choose the freedom to drink in increasing measure and start to rely on these “party nights”, they slip more and more out of freedom.

We often become dependent on what we are free to do. Therefore we become un-free.

Guys who choose to look at pornography because they are free to do so, become addicted and then become slaves to pornography. Girls who choose to date one guy after another because they are free to do so, become addicted to dating and then become slaves to dating.

So, how can we be really free?

The bible makes it clear that we are born as broken people. We are slaves to doing the things that bring chaos instead of order. We’d rather be addicted to things that benefit ourselves rather than benefit others. We are slaves of wrongdoing.

Jesus, however, offers us an alternative – being slaves or right doing. Can you imagine being the type of person who can’t help but do the right thing in every situation?

This is true freedom: Not being addicted to any wrongdoing.

However, simply abstaining from wrong things will not lead to satisfaction. A lot of Christians are really good at following the rules and abstaining from the wrong things. But there is no joy and not satisfaction in their life. That is why they secretly envy their fraternity brothers or sorority sisters who are living it up, partying, and enjoying life to the fullest. This type of envy makes it easy for them to condemn the wrong doers because they wish they could be having “fun” too!

No, true freedom means replacing the addiction of wrong things with the addiction of right things. True freedom means leaving behind the story of your life for a better story.

By receiving Jesus into your life and submitting to his way of life, you will eventually become more and more addicted to him and a life of right doing. You will find yourself desiring to go down and serve Hurricane Katrina victims rather than going on a party trip to Mexico. You will find yourself serving your housemates by doing extra chores rather than locking yourself in your room to look at pornography. You will find yourself hanging out with and mentoring younger brothers and sisters in the House instead of spending an hour on the phone each night with your boyfriend or girlfriend – who you will eventually break up with.

Being a slave to right doing is the only kind of addiction you want to have in your life. And this change of desire can only come through Jesus.

He died and was resurrected so that we could die to a life of wrongdoing and be resurrected into a life of right doing.

Jay Leno: Why Are Americans Unhappy?

Jay Leno offers some interesting thoughts on unhappy Americans....

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?'' Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames th us saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of tha nking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled un grateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful be hind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Si mpson to write a book about "how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way"...Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Jay Leno
2007

God’s Not On Their Team

Whose team is God on? I bet that most people will get this question wrong.

I believe that there has been a huge misconception about God and who he is for and who he is against.

Most tend to categorize the world into two groups: religious and irreligious, good people and bad people, the righteous and the sinners. They think the protagonists are the priests, pastors, and church members who go to church three times a week. The antagonists are the people at the bars, the strip clubs, the cheating bosses, the gossiping co-workers, and so on.

So, the desire of most non-Christians is to become more religious throughout their life to try to work their way closer to the religious people (you know, the people on God’s team).

But most people see the priests in the news who molest boys, the televangelists who hoard money, the judgmental aunt who makes them feel guilty about everything, the condemners who show up downtown yelling about how “God hates fags” as the ultra-religious people who are on God’s team. They look at this team, shudder, and tell themselves that if God is their God, then they want no part it!

Most people forget that the religious people are the ones who killed Jesus.

Jesus tells a parable in Luke 18 that describes the story of a religious man and a sinner. The religious man prays and boasts about how good he is. The sinner beats his chest and asks God to have mercy on him. Jesus then concludes by saying, “This man [the sinner], rather than the other, went home justified before God.”

There are not two teams – the religious and the irreligious. There are bad people and bad people as Mark Driscoll claims. There are bad people who think highly of themselves and there are bad people who think lowly of themselves - and cry out to God.

Which team is God on?

Jesus showed us which team he was on by who he hung out with while he was on earth. He visited the sinners most often. He loved to hang out with the social outcasts, the prostitutes, the people who knew they were spiritually sick. And when he ran into the religious people, it usually ended in a fight.

So, when you run into your neighbor, co-worker, or friend – share with them the good news that Jesus is not on the side of the legalists, the fundamentalists, the judgmental church-goers, or the proud and arrogant.

He’s on the side of the broken, the needy, the humble. That is God’s team.

THAT is good news.