The Land of Ozz

Have you come to the conclusion that Obama’s former pastor had some really bad days in the pulpit? It seems that Obama may have picked a less than stellar spiritual adviser on his first go around. Let’s hope that he does not turn to Oprah as his second choice.

I have received a couple of emails on regarding Oprah’s spiritual activities in recent weeks. The following video does a pretty good job of summing up my concerns over what I have been researching. Oprah Winfrey has an XM radio spot called “Oprah and Friends” that features teachings based on the books by two of these friends of Oprah that are mentioned in the following video.  This video contains footage of Oprah speaking against Jesus being the only way to God even though Jesus told us himself in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

I cannot validate the numbers quoted at the beginning of the video and I have no knowledge of the book promoted at the end of the video.

I whole-heartedly agree with the subject of the email that delivered to me a link to this video. The subject of the email said “Scary video…” I had already been doing some research on Oprah’s recent “spiritual” book endorsements and the XM radio shows that have followed. In particular I have reviewed dozens of the “A Course in Miracles” teachings. I have reviewed them with the intention of making sure that I could not be accused of taking one or two lessons out of the context of the series. This is the chief argument that Obama supporters have used to defend the Reverend Wright’s controversial remarks. I can assure you that it only took one lesson for me to become concerned about the “Course“. I later found a one hour video ¹ that takes you through the first fifty lessons from “A Course on Miracles“. I warn you not to view or read this “Course” material unless you are firmly grounded in what the Bible says about Jesus Christ and who you are in Christ. This “Course” is psychotherapy and brain-washing to the highest order. The “about” page for the “Course” states pretty clearly in their own description of the program that this is psychotherapy. Here is a quote from Oprah’s XM radio site regarding “A Course in Miracles“:

“According to Marianne, A Course in Miracles is a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy contained in three books. It is not a religion, but rather a psychological mind-training base on universal spiritual themes. The practical goal of the Course is the attainment of inner peace through the practice of forgiveness…

“A Course in Miracles (often called just “the Course“) is an educational program for retraining the mind that is spiritual, rather than religious, in its perspective. Although it uses Christian terminology, the Course expresses a universal experience, and its underlying ontology is reminiscent of ancient refrains, echoing the world’s most hallowed traditions. …”" ²

The about page goes on to quote the “Course” as it instructs its participants to ignore any leadings to question the teachings. I take this to mean that even if the Holy Spirit prompts you to question this based on your knowledge of the Bible, you should defer to the “Course” anyway.

Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true.

Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required (Workbook, p. 2).

— Excerpted from A Course in Miracles” ²

Many of the quotes in the YouTube video come directly from the daily mind training offered in the “course”. For instance, Lesson 70 states:

My salvation comes from me. It cannot come from anywhere else.

Then devote a few minutes, with your eyes closed, to reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past—in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real. Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself:

My salvation cannot come from any of these things. My salvation comes from me and only from me. ³

There are some truths in the explanation paragraph in the center of the quote about where salvation does not come from, but the teaching has the participant drill into their own heads by repeating these sayings that salvation comes from within themselves rather than through Jesus Christ.

This stuff is exactly what they say it is, “psychotherapy…psychological mind-training”. While they plainly state that this is not a religion, the teaching has been heavily peppered with Christian terms that make it sound like it may be associated with the Bible. The “Course” even uses terms like “Son of God”, “Salvation”, “God’s will” and frequently references to “God”. The “Course” even goes as far as to capitalize pronouns like “He”and “His” when referring to God. In fact, the “Course” is based on Dr. Helen Schucman’s claim that she was given this information as some sort of prophesy directly from “inner guidance which she had identified as Jesus.” ⁴ It appears that the content for this “Course” came about much the same way that the teachings of the LDS church came from Joseph Smith. While there are some good sounding Christian like principles in both LDS, the “Course” and many other religions, the core beliefs and more importantly the end results of the sinner do not line up with the Bible.

While Oprah and Marianne Williamson may not want to call this “Course” a religion, they are certainly starting to look and sound like a religion. Let’s just hope that Obama does not convert to this non-religion for his future spiritual guidance.

“…there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their Master who brought them; but theirs will be a swift and terrible end.”  2 Peter 2:1 TLB

References:

1 - http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=823374042&channel=422544479
2 - http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/mwilliamson_about.jhtml
3 - http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/200803/mwilliamson_20080310.jhtml
4 - http://www.acim.org/AboutUs/FIP/PublisherTrustee.htm

Should you tithe on your tax refund? The short answer is yes. The long answer goes back to another question. Do you tithe on gross income or net income? This is a question that I have heard discussed a few times, and I was even asked point blank by a co-worker once. My response was something like, “If you have to ask then you probably already know the answer.”

I believe that you should tithe on gross income before Uncle Sam, your 401k, or your health insurance provider gets their cut from your pay check. This is not the most popular answer, but I believe it to be the correct one. It is not your first fruits if someone else has already been nibbling.

The long answer to the original question is that it depends on whether you are a:

• Gross Income Tither - Then no, you have already tithed on this “refund” money when you earned it.
• Net Income Tither - Yes, you now have new spendable income that is flowing into your wallet that has not been tithed on already.

There is a fairly large international Christian radio network broadcasting in the local area that exclusively plays hymns and classical Christian music. This radio network plays absolutely no contemporary Christian music (CCM). Several months ago the early morning broadcast included a short sound bite calling attention to an active stance against CCM. It should not come as a surprise to my regular readers that one of my pet peeves is to hear a self proclaimed Christian rant over the practices of other Christians. It is even worse when the complaining party resorts to name calling and scripture manipulation to emphasize a position against the fellow Christians that they are criticizing. I really did not mind the fact this station avoided CCM. I akin this to Southern Baptist who are not comfortable with laying on of hands, healing prayer, and speaking in tongues. Just like I was fine listening to this particular radio station who I thought was simply avoiding CCM, I am also comfortable attending a Southern Baptist church where certain subjects are simply avoided by the pastor and congregation. But, I will not support a church or ministry that openly criticizes these things. In the instance of the radio station, the sound bite included a reference to Mathew 6:7. The person on the radio said “when you pray and sing, do not use vein repetitions.” The following is part of what I emailed to the radio network later that day.

“There was a short explanation this morning explaining your position against Christian Contemporary Music (CCM). The man speaking used Matthew 6:7 as a reference for not saying vain repetitions when praying and singing. I agree with the praying part, but I have been through over a half dozen translations of the Bible and can not find the word sing in that verse. Where does he get his reference? I am also of the firm belief that Jesus was teaching us a model on how to pray in Matthew 6.”

Now I am no theologian, but I believe these folks did get a little ahead of themselves with the use of Matthew 6:7. I ended up having over a dozen emails pass back and forth between me and a man who has worked for this network for a couple of decades.

He remained firm on his stance against CCM. That did not surprise me. What surprised me was that he also remained firm in his crusade to criticize those who listen to and sing CCM even though his own “vain repetition” argument could easily be applied to the hymn that was played immediately after the above mentioned sound bite. What follows are snippets from our email exchange as I challenged his criticism of other Christians us heathens who listen to CCM. We’ll call him Radio Joe for the purposes distinguishing his emails from mine.

From Radio Joe:

“Thanks for your comment. Matthew 6:7, as you know, is a teaching on prayer and comes just before our Lord’s teaching of the model prayer for Christians. Albert Barnes has an interesting commentary on that verse:

“Verse 7. Use not vain repetitions. The original word here is supposed to be derived from the name of a Greek poet, who made long and weary verses, declaring, by many forms and endless repetitions, the same sentiment. Hence it means to repeat a thing often, to say the same thing in different words, or to repeat the same words, as though God did not hear at first. An example of this we have in 1Ki 18:26: “They Called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us;”*

The heathen do. The original word is one commonly translated Gentile. The world was divided into two parts, the Jews and the Gentiles; that is, in the original, the “nations,” the nations destitute of the true religion. Christ does not fix the length of our prayers. He says that they should not repeat the same thing, as though God did not hear. And it is not improbable that he intended to condemn the practice of long prayers. His own supplications were remarkably short.

{q} “as the heathens do” Ec 5:2
{*} The following is a specimen of the vain repetitions of the Romans.

“Pious Antonine, the Gods preserve thee. Gentle Antonine, the Gods preserve thee. Gentle Antonine, the Gods preserve thee.”

I would submit that a CCM tune could be put to the above phrases.

One of the reasons we criticize CCM is that it robs the Christian of the great teaching in the hymns. I had a sample CD sent to me and it had 14 songs on it. Only one identified the Lord by name. Those other songs could have been song to a lover or sweetheart with the same result. Isn’t it amazing that in crisis times, people turn to the hymns and not CCM?”

My response:

“I agree with you that many of the CCM songs out today “could have been song to a lover or sweetheart with the same result.” I agree that there is value in “the great teaching in the hymns.” Our church “Seacoast Church” does incorporate hymns in the singing. However, I believe [the network] takes there position a little too far in calling Christians heathens for singing CCM. Some CCM may be unacceptable, but that does not justify stereotyping, name calling, and twisting of scripture to justify your position.

For instance, you have once again left out the three words that lead into the that part about vain repetitions in Mat 6:7. “When you (or ye) pray…” Not “when you sing”. Not “when you give praises to God the father”. It is “WHEN YOU PRAY”. Please do not try to twist this scripture to fit your man made rules on church music.

I call it a loose apples and oranges example at best in your 1 Kings example. These people in 1 Kings were praying to Baal and Elijah was warning them, the heathen, about praying to their god. This was not a command from God to avoid praising Him with CCM music.

I submit that even if you want to try and tie prayer to singing like you are doing with Mat 6:7, then think about the numerous verses where you find, “pray without ceasing”. Look at Romans 1:9 in particular where Paul says, ” For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” Would you call Paul a heathen too? I do not believe you would. I know this verse is not about vain repetitions in singing, but it does illustrate that repeating even prayers is a practice of the apostle Paul.

I don’t believe I am far off here in illustrating that the apostle Paul was admitting to repetition in his prayers even though it appears to go against what Jesus said in mat 6:7. Let’s see what Barnes has to say on Romans 1:9, ” That without ceasing, adialeiptwv. This word means constantly, always, without intermission. It was not only once, but REPEATEDLY. It had been the burden of his prayers. The same thing he also mentions in regard to other churches, 1Th 1:2 2:13.” (my emphasis of all caps added)

The bottom line is that what ever we do, if truly by the leading of the Holy Spirit, whether we are praising, praying to, or worshiping God, how can any man criticize it? I encourage you to stand on James 4:11-12 in your feeling against CCM.

“Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-who are you to judge your neighbor?” (NIV)

I also encourage you to stand on Titus 2:8 as a fellow believer:

“Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.” (NLT)

I truly believe that your critical spirit can be more damaging to the body of Christ even if you were correct. You and [the network] have not been sent to earth to judge.

As [the network] continues to criticize other believers who listen to and sing forms of CCM, then as one of those Christians, I will stand on Ecc 7:5 (NLT) It is “better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.” Notice I am referring to you as a wise person as in being characterized by scholarly knowledge. I believe you are certainly misled in some of your interpretations and uses of scripture just like any of the rest of us are subject to at times.”

Response from Radio Joe:

This will be my last reply to you, as I have a lot of positive emails to answer. You agree that the people in First Kings are Baal worshippers. Why, then, would CCM imitate them by repeating the same words over and over? Does Baal worship honor God?

Praying without ceasing does not mean repeating a Rosary type prayer over and over. Would you talk to another human, like your father, that way? Did Jesus ever pray that way?

Paul did not say that he prayed the same exact words over and over, but brought the same requests to God in prayer.

If you believe that Paul never criticized anyone when they were wrong, read Galatians 2:11 “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”

That was not his last email. There were eight more (4 each) after that one.

My Response:

It might be best if we do drop this subject. I have never won a person over to Christ by arguing with them and I do not expect you or [the network] are going to change policies regarding on-air criticism of fellow Christians based on one man’s input. I am confident that I am not the only one who has voiced these types of complaints to you regarding your criticism of CCM.

The very music played on [the network] repeats phrases so your vain repetition argument goes out the window pretty quick anyway. Once again, go back and listen to the song that played just after the sound bit that I have been referring too. I counted at least 12 instances of “Take me gently”. No I would not speak to another human that way either. I really did not want to split hairs to make my point, but you are being very hypocritical. I have no problems with [the network]’s use of hymnal music, and in fact like that it is used it in our church from time to time.

We are Christians singing and praising God with the music and instruments that we feel led of the Lord to use. We are not heathen praising and worshiping a false god as referred to in 1 Kings. You are either comparing apples to oranges, or you are questioning who I am praising with my use of CCM. Either way, I believe you may be on dangerous ground with God. Stop going by what your religious teachers taught you and ask God to speak directly to you through the power of the Holy Spirit. You may not even be aware of how God can use you if you will just surrender yourself to him.

As I said, this went on for a while and then he closed one of his emails with this phrase.

From Radio Joe:

“… God bless you, Hank. If CCM is your thing, that is between you and your God, not between us.”

“You and your God”? Like MY God is different from the God that other Christians praise and worship?

I will skip a few emails to one that neared the end of our exchange.

My Response:

You did it again. In your last line you wrote to me as if my God were different than yours. It is as if you are speaking to me in a condescending way based on my choice of music. It is a shame that you think God can only be worshiped your way with music. Believe it or not, I do understand your point at some level even though I do not agree with it.

I have never in my emails with you requested that you start playing CCM on [the network], not once. Play the hymn music and enjoy it. It is great. Even promote your support of hymn only music. What I request is that you stop criticizing the things you do not play. Stop criticizing Christians who sing and listen to CCM.

Through our conversations I have come to a sobering realization that you have not yet disputed. It appears that you are questioning the salvation of others based on the fact that they sing and listen to CCM.

The conversation pretty much ended as we exchanged a few pleasantries and went on about our own business. Unfortunately, [the network] can easily be replaced with [a church or pastor] and the term CCM can be replaced with at least a few dozen other items like: what you wear, the translation of the Bible you reference, your religious denomination, whether you get your baby baptized, what parenting philosophy you choose, whether you have tattoos or nose rings, and the list goes on and on.

Can’t we Christians all just get along without criticizing things about each other that have nothing to do with our personal relationships with Jesus Christ? If you have turned your life over to God, it doesn’t mater what you look like, what tunes you sing to praise God, or whether you attend a particular church. All that matters is that you have Got Jesus.

How much information is too much information? I have struggled with this quesiton for a couple of years. How much is too much when sharing information about myself on the Internet?

One of the blogs I watch in my RSS reader touched on this subject a few weeks ago. Below is an excerpt from “Privacy of the priesthood”: Keeping our sins to ourselves by The Evening with Kent.

“Secrets are chains, and Jesus has come to set us free.

Anyway, once I realized this, the chains came off. As you may have noticed from the blog, I’ve got nothing to hide. (Well, other than B’s identity, which is none of your business anyway.) I’ll tell people anything if they just ask… and sometimes even when they don’t. I’ve been advised many times, “Don’t tell people that! They’ll just use it against you.” Well, they’ve tried… and failed, ’cause I admit to it, and confess it to everyone long before they can. Or they’ll say, “If you tell people too much, it’ll weird them out, and they’ll never look at you the same.” That’s partly true… but how were they going to look at me before? Unrealistically? To hell with that.”

I like Kent’s blog for a number of reasons, but mainly because of what he says in this paragraph. He represents himself honestly and then has nothing to hide.

I have a similar attitude towards sharing information.  I feel like people get a little weirded out around me when I share some things about myself or my past, but I have to ask the same question that Kent asks. Do they have an unrealistic view of me if I am not transparent?

So what is my conclusion? There is no such thing as too much information when you are trying to gain someone’s trust. The timing of when you expose a person to some bits and pieces of your past might need to be considered, but there is no danger in honestly and confession of your sins to your fellow man.

A little history how I ran across The Evening with Kent.  I found Kent’s blog when searching for blogs on Smith Wigglesworth. I am a huge fan of the Smith Wigglesworth Devotional.  Kent runs a separate blog called the Smith Wigglesworth Blog.  Those who believe that God is still performing miracles today through the power of the Holy Spirit will love this devotional and the Wigglesworth blog.

The Growing Kids God’s Way Student Workbook has a new look.  The look and feel of the book is where the change ends.  The principles of Growing Kids God’s Way are exactly the same.  You can read the full details about this awesome new edition of the Growing Kids God’s Way Student Workbook at GrowingKids.org.

I was sifting my RSS feeds today and got turned on to a great article titled How to Earn $1 Million by Not Watching TV. I found the link via Maki over at DoshDosh who pulled out some great points on how convert that tube time into online revenue. The big thing that jumped out at me was the piece on commercials.

“A huge hidden cost of TV that people never consider are all the commercials they watch. The commercials are there to get you to buy products — and they are effective. Economist Juliet Schor estimated that for every hour of TV a person watches each week, he or she will increase his or her annual spending by about $200, according to a 1999 article in the Spokane, Wash., Spokesman-Review. In 2005, Nielsen Media Research reported that the average person watched approximately 4.5 hours of TV a day, or 31.5 hours a week. At $200 in extra spending for each hour watched, that means that the average person spends an extra $6,300 a year due to TV commercials that they wouldn’t have spent if they didn’t watch TV.”

WOW…I knew that TV marketing was powerful, but $200 of additional spending per hour of TV watched per week. I am glad my wife and I scaled back on the number of hours in front of the TV. I am not sure how much it has affected my spending, but it sure has increased my availability for other much more important things. The article goes on in the Opportunity costs section to talk about how much your time is worth. I charge anywhere from $50 to $100 per hour for the work I do in my side business HOEI LLC. That means I miss out on anywhere between $6,750 and $13,500 (”$50 OR $100″ x 4.5 hrs x 30 days) per month by watching as much TV as the average American. It is not likely that I will ever fill each available hour of time with billable dollars, but these numbers should stop you in your tracks if you watch a lot of TV. There is money to be made on the Internet, but you won’t find it in front of the TV.  That is between $81,000 and $162,000 per year by working 4.5 hour per day in place of watching TV.

Since most of us will never be able to measure exactly how much money we save or could have made by not watching TV, let’s consider what else we might be able to do with that time. How about spending more quality time with family or friends, volunteering to help the needy, attend college classes, attend parenting classes, work a part-time job, or grow spiritually through participating in a church small group or Bible study? How about simply reading and studying the Bible? Can you imagine how much better of a witness you would be for the Kingdom of God if you spent 4.5 hours per day studying the Word of God? Many of the professing Christians I know will readily admit that they have never read all the way through the Bible even once. It only takes about 80 hours to read the entire Bible or listen to it on CD if that is your preferred method of consuming reading material. That is less than three weeks of TV time for the average American according to these statistics.

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

I believe this scripture is often taken out of context in this day and age filled with “name it and claim it” preachers. I heard a pastor (not a name it and claim it dude) on the radio explain this passage this week in a way that rang so true to me. I don’t believe this scripture is saying that if you delight in the Lord he will give you what you are already wanting in your heart. I do believe the scripture is saying that if you delight in the Lord, He will put into your heart the desires you need in order to be in line with His will. Another way to say it might be, “delight in the Lord and He will give you desires for your heart.”

Making a boat load of money is a great thing for surviving and sharing in this life. How much greater it is to know that you are doing the right things and making the right decisions in your life.

Free up some time by turning off the TV and then use that time to seek and become closer to the Lord. You will be amazed at the results. He may even show you how to use some of that free time to make a few extra bucks. 

It seems that lines are being drawn within Christian circles with regards to immigration reform. At least one Catholic Church as well as one Lutheran Church in California are offering sanctuary to illegal immigrants. The story also mentions Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago as making news for sheltering Elvira Arellano and her son Saul Arellano.

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is following a different line of thinking in regards to immigration. The final sentence in a report titled REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH TO STUDY THE PROPRIETY OF THE RECEPTION OF ILLEGAL ALIENS INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP pretty much sums up this denomination’s kid-glove approach to illegal immigrants.

“It seems wise that presbyteries and sessions ought to delay ordination and installation until matters relating to being an illegal alien have been satisfactorily addressed.” Source - http://www.opc.org/GA/aliens.pdf

I found the OPC document by way of La Shawn Barber’s Corner in a post titled Christians and Illegal ‘Immigration’. La Shawn has been very outspoken in favor of dropping the hammer on “lawbreaking illegals”. I don’t see the issue as cut and dry as she does and that leaves us two Christian bloggers on different sides of a very complex issue. La Shawn left a comment on a previous post here on this blog titled Amnesty for Illegals.

“Disagreement isn’t a bad thing…What I’m waiting to hear, although I think I’ll be waiting in vain, are more Christians speaking out against illegal aliens who profess Christ. How does their defying government authority and making DEMANDS on their “host” country square with their profession?”

La Shawn went own to ask a very similar quesiton on her own blog this week.

“I asked those same critics, sometimes in the post itself, sometimes in the comment section, if they’ve ever admonished illegal aliens who say they’re Christians, and if not, what they’d say to them about crossing our borders in violation of our laws and showing little compassion themselves.”

I want to offer a response to La Shawn’s questions. First, there seems to be an assumption by La Shawn as well as a host of other Americans that illegals in this country had prior knowledge of the US immigration law before entering this country. Let’s make a different and probably more accurate assumption by putting ourselves in their shoes prior to entering the US. To do this, take a moment to write down on a piece of paper some notes from your knowledge of the immigration policy of any other country on this planet. The average American will likely not leave a single mark on the paper during this exercise.

Is it the fault of the illegals that our borders were not protected? Is it the fault of the illegals that the system allows for them to drain tax dollars without contributing in all the ways the rest of us contribute? Is it fair that many illegals have taken more than they have contributed. Ask your average native American Indian if they feel like their ancestors were given a fair deal during the forming of this country. Ask them if they think the settlers gave much attention or even had knowledge of tribal laws of immigration during the settling of the Americas. No one wants to talk much about how the settlers busted in on the native American Indians for some reason.

Let’s consider another question. How many Christians complain about aliens families taking their tax money yet wouldn’t think twice about filling the offering plate to help the same families if they were still suffering in their own country?

As Christians, how should we be responding to illegals in this country? The answer is simple. We should be displaying the character of God as seen in his son Christ Jesus. How? By rejecting the prideful, selfish, judgmental, condemning and unforgiving attitudes that are dominating the fight against illegals.

Do my suggestions mean that I believe we should continue to allow illegals to pile into this country? Absolutely not! We have learned in recent years how bad border security really is and we need to fix it. We also need to work on streamlining a process to make legal all those who want to become legal. I have used the word amnesty and that may be a little strong. As Christians trying to operate in a Christ-like manner, we need to exercise forgiveness ahead of admonishment.

I suggest that many illegals immigrants may not understand that the average American tax payer is bearing the burden for the services that they are receiving mostly for free. I say “mostly for free” because even illegals have to pay some taxes (i.e., sales taxes) that do end up funding some of the services they are using. Even if they do understand now that the average American is footing the bill, it is entirely possible that they had no idea how our government was structured and funded prior to their arrival into this country.

The bottom line on this whole issue is that many Americans, Christians included, are making a boat load of assumptions about who knew what and when. What we as Christians can do is demonstrate a face of forgiveness and comfort to these illegals and let God worry about who sinned when and how bad. For those Christians who disregard any notion of forgiveness in this immigration issue and are dead set on punishing these illegal alien lawbreakers, I repeat the words of Jesus in John 8:7 (NLT), “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

I saw a news headline titled Arkansas couple welcomes 17th child and knew before I read it that it was referring to the Duggar family.  I have seen their story on TV and have read about them on the Internet.  “They asked God to bless them with as many children as He saw fit in His timing.“  That is exactly what God is doing.

This is a tough subject for some folks, and some folks are pretty mean in their responses to the Duggar’s family planning practices.  Adam’s Blog has a post up highlighting some of the negative responses.  I will not grace those blogs with another link, but will instead ask you to check out Adam’s Blog if you are interested in how cruel people can be on this subject.

I think the Duggars have an awesome attitude towards family planning. 

Congratulations Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar on the birth of your baby girl!

Wal-Mart’s move into toy action figures based on characters from Bible stories is likely a pure business decision and not because a senior executive got saved in church last Sunday. A story posted on USAToday.com tells of the retail giant’s move into a new line of toys in about 13% of its stores. The toys are distributed by one2believe.com. The web site URL for this company will redirect you to a Yahoo! online store with a URL of store.messengersoffaith.net where the company lists Focus on the Family and FamilyLife.com (a division of Campus Crusades for Christ) as partners.

Sadly enough, I think Jim Silver, editor of Toy Wishes magazine has probably nailed the fate of this effort.

“Once children turn 4, parents tend to get them what they want. And right now, kids are asking for Transformers.”

I find it interesting that 4 year olds get turned on to characters from a PG-13 movie like Transformers, but that is a subject for another day. Anyway, I agree with Mr. Silver, it is transformers this week, it was Spider-man a couple of months ago, and it will be more Harry Potter dolls in the weeks and months to come. With the release of the most recent Harry Potter movie (also PG-13), next week’s release of the latest book, and the upcoming Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, the magical world of Harry Potter will cast spells on millions of American families.  Many will be Christian families.

Many parents can plead ignorance to the words given to use from God through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6: 12-13.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

For those Christian parents who do read and study the Bible regularly, I do not understand how they can still endorse things like Harry Potter, Spider man, and Transformers for their children, especially the young ones.  My rule of thumb is: If I discern a program, book, or toy to be anywhere between morally neutral and glorifying to God, then I will consider investing in that item for my children. I know, the real issue for each Christian is where to draw the line on the morally neutral end? My answer: If you are having to ask then you are probably too close to the line. Many Christians are under a misconception that God put us on this planet for our own personal enjoyment. While I do believe good clean fun for us humans is a good thing in God’s eyes, we were put here to glorify Him and serve His wishes above our own happiness.

The point that I am trying to come to is to tie together the comments of another person quoted in the USAToday article.

“Laurie Schacht, president of The Toy Book, a toy industry publication, says some parents also are dissatisfied with toys from conventional toymakers: “There are a lot of wild things out there. Parents want to give kids wholesomeness.”"

This lady got close to my point of view on toys, but her wording is just a little, shall we say, worldly. In all fairness, she is likely referring to parents in general and not just Christian parents. I personally want to teach my kids holiness above happiness and wholesomeness. There are not many items on your average Wal-Mart toy isle shelf to help get that job done.

It will be interesting to see how these faith-based toys sell in Wal-Mart.   “Stores that sell a lot of Bibles will carry the new line,” says Melissa O’Brien, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.  This line of thinking seems a little shallow and I hope they did not hinge too much of their marketing strategy on this one statistic.