Jesse Jones' Speaks

The picture above is of soldiers in Iraq celebrating the 4th of July by re-enlisting. Many of them celebrated by becoming naturalized citizens. Hats off to our brave men and women who understand better what is going on in Iraq than our pundits and agenda driven politicians. We thank God that we have a military that fights not only for our safety but for the freedom of those in Iraq also. Such nobility is not recognized often in our strange world. An Army that fights for freedom is a good and virtuous, if not highly unusual thing.

Thanks to God for each and every American Soldier.

Speaking for these soldiers in Iraq today, Jesse Jones, Sgt from Olympia, Washington, stationed near Boquaba Iraq: "Today I'm just basically relaxing and refitting, getting ready to go back into the city," he said. "As much as I want to be home, I don't regret being here. This is a good place to celebrate the Fourth of July. Not only are we celebrating independence, we're fighting for independence, too."

Warning. These are the Bad Guys

In theory bad guys should be sneaky about their plans to destroy you. However, in our day of passive American lethargy, our enemies prance about, smiling for cameras and make no apologies for their plans for our demise.

Here is Chavez, who is simply Castro all over again, and President Tom of Iran. Guess what? They are forming an economical unity. Furthermore, they are "against" the US, formally. They are gathering other nations to join them. Chavez, I know you probably didn't hear about this in the news, visited Russia in the last few weeks. I'm sure those talks were in our best interest, aren't you?

It's not like they have to hide it. Americans are busy at their bar-b-Q's.

Chavez: "Those who try to convince the world that in Iran there are a bunch of barbarians are barbarians themselves."

Well, now. There's a piece of brilliance if I ever heard one. I don't think we are barbarians. I do think we are sleeping while our enemies dance and sing about our destruction.

What a Man Thinks in His Heart, So He Is

Car bombs in England are disturbing. What is more troubling is that recent arrests are pointing towards Muslims in the medical profession who were responsible. Actual doctors, in fact. What kind of ideology encourages medical doctors to plant car bombs? Think about that contradiction for a moment.

To save lives through medicine is seen as a good deed. As Westerners, we tend to think that doctors are on the side of all people in need. However, that is because we retain the framework of Christian worldview (even though we don't acknowledge it). In the history of man, the practice of medicine is not always so noble. It ebbs and flows in its morality.

In India, for example, many in the medical field do not treat the lower castes of society, believing that they're karma resigns them to a lower level of value. In America, to our shame, in decades past, some white physicians (not all, nor even most, of course) would refuse treatment to minorities.

But has anyone seen an ideology so vicious and so convoluted that the hands that heal are also the hands the blow up cars? (I know, some of you are thinking about abortion in America, and you have a point, however, very few doctors in America are performing abortions, thank God; the ones who do at least hide from their crime by rationalizing about feminism, the rights of women, et al. It doesn't justify their crime, but it at least it shows a desire to show at least a minimum respect for morality.).

This is not to say that all Muslim doctors blow up cars and people. But the fact that some do, and say they do it in the name of Allah raises issues. These are not renegade doctors. These are mainstream, respectable members of the medical community.

Islam is an ideology of conquest. It has been from the beginning. Islam holds the belief that infidels are unworthy of life and to be killed or conquered. This is not a twisting of their theology, it is in their holy books, taught by their Imams, and begun by their founder, Mohammed.

What a man believes about God truly matters.

Newton's Other Work

Isaac Newton, the father of modern physics, was a scientist. But he was also a Christian. As a student of the Bible, he applied the same rigor to his studies of the holy text as he did to his study of the physical world.

The papers above were recently put on display in Israel. Note that one of them is entitled: "Rules for Interpreting Words and Language in Scripture." If you continue reading you will see that he was concerned with ascertaining the original intended meaning of the author. Funny, that is exactly what I learned in seminary today. I suppose in Newton's day, there were many people twisting scripture by interpreting according to their desires instead of taking it's plain meaning, in context. The same is true today.

The second paper includes his calculations regarding the book of Daniel and the second coming of Jesus. He was apparently annoyed with so many people predicting the date of Jesus' return, and then being proven wrong, that he took it upon himself to "do the math" found in Daniel and project a date that it could not be before. In other words, his stance was this: "I don't know when Jesus is coming back, but it's not before 2060, so all you fakers, knock it off! Your bad predictions are giving us a bad name!"

Whether he was right in his calculations or not remains to be seen. What is encouraging is to see that he is a rigorous and zealous defender of the same faith we defend today. I may not be able to help him further physics (I'm not that smart), but we're working together on the Scriptures.

What's Going On In Gaza, and Why Do I Care?

In the news this week we will continue to hear about the fighting in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah. We might be tempted to tune this out. All these groups killing one another, it can be hard to sort out what is happening.

But we should make a bit of an effort to grasp this if we are concerned with understanding what is happening in the middle east.

The Gaza is a small piece of land, 5 miles by 25 miles, bordered by Israel on it's right, and the Mediterranean sea on it's left. It should be a great tourist town as it has a nice beach and many hotels and restaurants (which are now empty and falling down). It is controlled by the Palestinians. However, it is cut off from what is called, "The West Bank." The West Bank is the larger piece of land controlled by the Palestinians. Think of it like Alaska, which is cut off from the rest of America by Canada. The two pieces of Palestinian territory are cut off from one another by Israel. This smaller piece, Gaza, is where all the action is right now.

The hope for a "two state solution" is the idea that the Palestinians could set up a government and it could rule both Gaza and the West Bank. Currently, such a recognized government does not exist (some would say because the Israelis have prevented it, some would say because the Palestinians can't get their act together --both might have some valid points).

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW: Hamas is working to take over Gaza from the somewhat moderate control of Fatah. Their plan is to take over Gaza and make it a little Muslim area ruled by strict codes: kind of like a little Iran. Why is this bad? For several reasons:

1. The more than one million Palestinians living in Gaza are the victims caught in the crossfire between Hamas and the Fatah party. They are poor people, who are demonstrating in the streets, asking for peace. However, Fatah and Hamas both have wealthy supporters in the Muslim world who are supplying them with the guns they need to fight each other.

2. This fighting jeopardizes the possibility of a recognized Palestinian government that could peacefully co-exist with Israel.

3. The Iranians are funding Hamas. They would like use Gaza as home base for gaining Islamic domination of the Holy Land. This, no doubt, would make Gaza a base for more and more terror against Israel, and possibly Egypt to the South if Hamas viewed them as unfriendly towards their tactics.

4. Israel gains nothing. When they crack down on Gaza, as they will have to if Hamas takes over, the world press will quickly sympathize with the many poor Palestinians who would get hurt. However, if they don't crack down, then they will be attacked regularly. There is no winning for them.

5. The poor of Gaza would continue to be oppressed, victimized, and militarized by Hamas.

The solution? There might be many. But it is hard not to notice that if Iran were neutralized, Hamas would decline, as would, by the way, a good bit of the insurgency into Iraq.

Iran has been at this since the 1970's. Eventually, someone will have to stand up to Iran. They have no plans of backing down.

Gore Criticizes Bush 41 For Ignoring Iraq's Ties To Terror!

I offer this video as evidence. Not of Al Gore's differing views. He is not a political factor these days. Rather, I offer it to show the potential power of the internet in the coming years. The people now have access to the past in a way they never have. This video, though long and somewhat dry, is one that I'm certain Al Gore wouldn't want the American people to see. Yet, we can see it. No one has fully exploited this technology yet. But people will. Some honestly. Some not so honestly.

Technology is changing the world.

Thoughts?

Here's Why I Love John Piper

Your thoughts?

More for Your Money

If you were stuck for a half of an hour, upside down, as these Arkansas amusement park riders were, would you feel like you got more for your money, or that it was a nightmare?

The Color of the Game

Okay, here's the controversy: Professional Baseball players Gary Sheffield and Torii Hunter have publicly stated that the number of blacks in baseball is going down because of the increase of Latinos who are both less expensive and "easier to control." To read more, click here.

Of course, this is nonsense. Here's why:


Sheffield may be right about Latinos having less leverage as they come up. However, the same is true of Latinos having less leverage than white Americans. It's a red herring. It has nothing to do with why there are fewer blacks in baseball.

The answer is urban access and urban appeal. Many, though certainly not all, black athletes grow up in more urban areas. In such places, where fields are few, kids play basketball, and, through their schools, football, and track. Baseball just isn't as popular a sport to participate in.

School's out today. How many pick-up baseball games are going on today in Detroit?

Fact is, the best players on the radar screen of MLB teams will be on an MLB field. The owners are as competitive as the players. They'll put up with almost anything to get players.

One other thing to note: Sheffield is quietly insulting blacks in general. Professional sports is filled with many black athletes and they are also normal citizens, not needing to be "controlled." It is an insult to blacks to say that they have a level of rebellion that makes them undesirable to baseball teams.

Boys and men love to compete in sports (I know, women do to, but let's not be so PC that we don't see that a greater percentage of males love to participate in competitive sports), be they black or white. If you expose them to the games, they will play them, no matter what the game. The influx of white Europeans into the NBA should be proof that the issue of who plays at the highest level has less to do with race and more to do with what we have access to in our culture. Kids in Europe, especially Eastern Europe where the USSR urbanized the majority of the populations, took up basketball. They like it. They're getting good at it. It's what they play.

Urban kids just don't play baseball like they did at one time.

You want more blacks in MLB? Clear more lots, build more fields, send more coaches, and start more clubs. The MLB would do great to invest dollars in kid's baseball clubs in urban areas. And, according to Hunter and Sheffield and Guillen, they should have the money if they just use what they are saving by signing so many Latinos. :)

Truth in Jest

The picture above was sent by a friend. It made me smile. However, there is a sad truth that is not spoken. This picture reveals less about the global temperature than it does about our decreasing modesty. We devalue humanity when we make an idol of the human body and expose it to all who look. Women are less valuable today in the eyes of man, than in decades past. They are more viewed as a commodity to be consumed than the feminine reflection of the image of God.

Men, stop leering. Seek and promote beauty in modesty. Raise your daughters to know they have incredible value and it is not measured by the number of men who leer at them. Raise your sons to know that the value of a woman is not less than her physical beauty, but it is immeasurably more.