Sunday Church Victory Fellowship

Guess who I went to church with this past Sunday, August 26, 2006. Well you can see in the picture who they are: Senator Mary Landreiu and the Reverend Doctor R. T. Kendall. We were all present at the Victory Fellowship church in Metairie, Louisiana.

Senator Landreiu was present to extend her appreciation and gratitude to the church for all of the wonderful things they have done toward the Katrina recovery. This church provides thousands of meals for worker and for homeless people in Metairie and in New Orleans.

Pastor Frank Bailey is open to the leadership of the Lord and responds to that leading in meeting needs and in preaching the word. He is truly a godly man and a complete gentleman. In his kindness and openness he invited my friend R. T. Kendall to come and preach and welcomed me to share in that time. I am truly thankful for that time with Pastor Bailey, R. T. and his son T. R. A wonderful week end. Plus it was great to meet the Senator. She is my Senator!

A Daughter's Advice

SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED!

this is the Mama

Last night my youngest daughter sent a message telephonically from Hong Kong via her mother advising me to spend more time updating and adding to my Blog! This, of course, is very hard work and requires the exercise of my prolific brain and an ability to sort through all of the cascading thoughts that run through my brain.

Rather than telling her to tend to her knitting (see picture), which she does very well, I have decided to redouble my efforts and share my thoughts with world.

Pat Robertson Laments Cease Fire

Time to get rid of Pat Robertson

Robert Parham of the Baptist Center for Ethics said the time has come for conservative evangelicals to "disown Robertson for his theo-politico wackiness and false teachings from the Bible" and for the CBN board to "act responsibly and remove him from office."

He said Robertson "distorts the biblical witness and puts at risk the global Christian community."

"Robertson distorts the biblical witness and puts at risk the global Christian community. As for the former, he confuses the biblical Israel with the political state of Israel, an all too common mistake within fundamentalist Christianity and a popular trick among TV preachers who lure literalists for loot. As for the latter, when he prays with Israel's prime minister for Israel's victory, he places Christians in Muslim countries in harm's way. Regrettably, non-Christians wrongly think that America is a Christian country at war against non-Christian countries and that Robertson is a representative Christian. Neither is America a Christian nation, nor is Robertson a good representative of Christianity.

"When will conservative evangelicals disown Robertson for his theo-politico wackiness and false teachings from the Bible? When will his own board act responsibility and remove him from office?"

AlterNet: Blogs: The Mix: Christian Zionist Lies

Little fat preacher from San Antonio who draws

a lot of people to hear his babble. He seems to think

of himself as God's only representative on earth.

Well if not God then the savior of God's people Israel! I would view this little blight on humanity as one of the most dangerous

men in America ... That is if I could stop laughing at him.

He is truly funny.

You can catch his act on almost any day on TBN or one

of the other wingnut religious radio/tv stations.

He is most disappointed, I only surmise, with the cease fire between God's people and the Party of God. I bet he sees all of the nations who are sending peace keepers as precursors to the Last Battle

AlterNet: Blogs: The Mix: Christian Zionist Lies

AlterNet: Stunned, Scared and Silent

AlterNet: Stunned, Scared and Silent

We have nothing to fear but fear itself, especially since fear is now being fomented and manipulated for political purposes by a bunch of shameless hacks. Who is trying to make you afraid and why? This Karl Rove tactic is getting quite threadbare, in fact, and so much so that it is getting dangerously close to comedy.
My favorite episode, of course, was the Miami terrorists, a fearsome horde of seven described by the FBI's deputy director as, "More inspirational that operational." That means wanna-bes. An FBI informant posing as a member of al-Qaida offered to supply the plotters with material for the jihad, so they asked for boots and uniforms. Every terrorist needs a uniform.
Of course, even a nincompoop can succeed occasionally -- but the list of wanna-bes keeps growing. Seventeen people were arrested in Canada for intending to behead the prime minister. Has anyone in all of history ever cared that much about a Canadian prime minister? Their national motto is, "Now, let's not get excited."

Read the whole article. Molly Ivins is on target as usual.

Bush's Fondness For Fundamentalism Is Courting Disaster At Home and Abroad

Bush's Fondness For Fundamentalism Is Courting Disaster At Home and Abroad

Here is an excerpt from the whole article. It is well worth reading. If moderate Christians do not inform themselves we're are on the road to disaster.

Whatever Bush's personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behaviour of a president, who, it is said, believes that God chose him to lead the world to Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and whose selective concern for life issues has now inspired him to veto important scientific research. It explains his unconditional and uncritical support for Israel, his willingness to use "Jewish End-time warriors" to fulfil a vision of his own - arguably against Israel's best interests - and to see Syria and Iran (who seem to be replacing Saddam as the "enemy of the north") as entirely responsible for the unfolding tragedy. Fundamentalists do not want a humanly constructed peace; many, indeed, regard the UN as the abode of the Antichrist. The willingness of the US to turn a blind eye to the suffering of innocent people in Lebanon will certainly fuel the rage of the extremists and lead to further acts of terror. We can only hope that it does not take us all the way to Armageddon. [italics added by me]

Some Evangelicals Get if Right Maybe?

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock - New York Times

Maybe the tide is turning and more Evangelical pastor's will join this brother in denouncing the right wing religious agenda in favor of Christianity!

July 30, 2006
Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.
The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?
After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.
“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”
Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul — packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals — was passionate. Some members walked out of a sermon and never returned. By the time the dust had settled, Woodland Hills, which Mr. Boyd founded in 1992, had lost about 1,000 of its 5,000 members.

The Joy of Kitty Kats

This is our "grand-cat". Not ours by choice, but we have come to love her as one of our very own children.

This lovely Kat if Maya and she belongs to Annette and Wes Sutherland who presently abide in Hong Kong, PRC. They expect to get her back upon their return. That remains to be seen!

Christianity vs Christianism

kingdomcoming.com

Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg

This has been my 4th of July reading. An apt description of how we are losing our freedoms in America. This present administration is out to destroy as much of our inalienable rights as possible. So far this has been a chilling read. Ms. Goldberg makes a distinction between "Christians" and "Christian Nationalist" or Christianity vs. Christianism.

Excerpt from a Review of the book:

In Kingdom Coming, Goldberg demonstrates how an increasingly bellicose fundamentalism is gaining traction throughout our national life, taking us on a tour of the parallel right-wing evangelical culture that is buoyed by Republican political patronage. Deep within the red zones of a divided America, we meet military veterans pledging to seize the nation in ChristÂ’s name, perfidious congressmen courting the confidence of neo-confederates and proponents of theocracy, and leaders of federally funded programs offering Jesus as the solution to the countryÂ’s social problems.


With her trenchant interviews and the telling testimonies of the people behind this movement, Goldberg gains access into the hearts and minds of citizens who are striving to remake the secular Republic bequeathed by our founders into a Christian nation run according to their interpretation of scripture. In her examination of the ever-widening divide between believers and nonbelievers, Goldberg illustrates the subversive effect of this conservative stranglehold nationwide. In an age when faith rather than reason is heralded and the values of the Enlightenment are threatened by a mystical nationalism claiming divine sanction, Kingdom Coming brings us face to face with the irrational forces that are remaking much of America.

Marriage is safe in Alabama

Welcome to Ethics Daily.com!

Excellent article written by James L. Evans pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church in Auburn, Ala. Here are some excerpts.

The primaries are now over and the main races are set for November. Marriage is also safe. With the Marriage Protection amendment to the Alabama state constitution, marriages in our state are now secure from the ravages of the so-called "gay agenda." We haven't figured out yet how to save marriage from what actually threatens marriage—I guess that will require yet another amendment in some future campaign.

Vote for Jesus. Republicans have really learned how to play the Jesus card! Hosea reminds us: "They Sow the Wind, and Reap the Whirlwind". One day all of the chickens are going to come home to roost.

Incidentally, Jesus also weighed in on the issue of marriage, but not once did he mention homosexuality as the main threat. Jesus seemed to think that something he called "hardness of heart," was the main cause of marital failure. I'll leave you to do your own biblical research, but don't be surprised to learn
that hardness of heart basically means "commitment to bad habits."

"And it makes sense when we think about it. Marriages fail when people are committed to bad habits that wreak havoc in relationships." (From the article)

Jewish family flees Delaware school district's aggressive Christianity

Jewish family flees Delaware school district's aggressive Christianity This is the sickest thing I have ever read. What are we coming to as Christians in America. Forcing others to adopt our faith ways in public places is not a good witness. I am really weary of all of these folks who want Christian prayer in schools and the Ten Commandants posted all over the place.

Prayer at the World Cup

It could have been my imagination but I noticed a lot of players from many countries offering prayers as they entered the pitch and prayers when a score was made. These were private prayers and no one was forced to bow their heads and join it ... That's the way it should be and that is a great witness.

Religious groups work to hurry apocalypse - baltimoresun.com

Religious groups work to hurry apocalypse - baltimoresun.com We live in a world filled with religious kooks. This article talks about hastening the end times and the return of Jesus to the earth. Weird!

I rejected this theology when I was 12 or 13 years old. By this theology I mean Dispensational Premillenialism. I raised the issue with my Pastor in Wickford, Rhode Island as to why at the end of the 1000 years Satan, who had been bound in Hell, would be loosed and people would follow him? He tried to explain. My response was that it just did not make any sense and sounded silly. My mother dealt with my theology when we got home from church!

NPR : New Book Examines Christian Nationalism

NPR : New Book Examines Christian Nationalism

Journalist Michelle Goldberg, a senior writer for the online magazine Salon, and covers the Christian Right. In her new book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, she writes that Christian nationalists believe the Bible is literally true -- and they want to see the nation governed by that truth. This is copied from "Fresh Air" page. Look at the link and you can hear Terry Gross' interview with Michelle Goldberg. It is really scary. A wake up call??

The following is copied from Bruce Prescott's Blog Mainstream Baptist and he is quoting Buddy Shurden of Mercer College:

IT CAN HAPPEN HERE


Let me tell you why I believe it can happen here, this idolatrous mixing of church and state.

It can happen here because "Generation Joshua" is loose in our country. Have you heard of "Generation Joshua?" It is an effort by Michael Farris, founder of Patrick Henry College, to
turn Christian, home-schooled students into political foot soldiers to gain political power in order to subsume everything -- entertainment, law, government, and education -- under their right wing version of Christianity. Like Joshua of the Hebrew Bible, Generation Joshua's job is to possess the land,
to conquer the land, or, in the words of the religious right, "to take back the land." And, according to Michael Harris, in the spring semester of 2004, Patrick Henry College had more interns in the White House than any other college in the
nation. It can happen here because of a religious right-wing militancy.

It can happen here because by 2004 The Christian Coalition gave 42 out of 100 United States senators a rating of 100%. More than half of the senators received ratings of 83% by the militant Christian Coalition. It can happen here
because sincere religious ideologues are rampant in our country, and they mean business.

It can happen here because a recent survey of 100,000 high
school students in America concluded that one out of three students believes that the First Amendment goes TOO FAR in the rights it guarantees! That last sentence ought to be absolutely horrendous to your ears. In fact, that sentence
reminds me of a phone call we got about 12:30 one night when we were living in Louisville, Ky. The call was from Wayne Dehoney, pastor of Walnut Street Baptist Church in the city. He said, "Walter, this is Wayne Dehoney, I just received a call from Cullman, Ala., and Grady Nutt was killed in a plane crash tonight. I knew that you were close friends, so I am calling to tell you so that you can go be with his wife." It was my first and only death notice in the middle of the night. I remember saying in stunned shock and disbelief, "Wayne, you are going
to have to say that again." He said, "I understand." And then, with all those years of pastoral care under his belt, he slowly said once more, "I received a call from Cullman, Ala., and Grady Nutt was killed in an airplane crash tonight."

I do not trivialize my dear friend Grady Nutt's death by
saying to you that, if you hear it carefully, the sentence about the high school students and the First Amendment has all the tone and sound of a death announcement in the middle of the night about someone you love. So I want to repeat it, slowly, so that it will sink in: ONE IN THREE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THIS REPUBLIC SAYS THAT THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES GOES TOO FAR IN THE RIGHTS IT GUARANTEES TO YOU AS A CITIZEN!

The survey did not end there, however. It contained more surprises. More shocking still, only one-half of the students surveyed said that a newspaper should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

My friends, we are talking about my grandchildren's future here! This is America's tomorrow speaking! One third of them want the freedoms of the First Amendment curbed. And one half of them want newspapers to secure government approval for their stories!! These are astonishing and inconceivable attitudes for high school students in the United States of America. This survey is a terrible, scary phone call in the middle of the night about what has happened and what is happening in our nation. It can happen here because of ignorance of our History.

PEACE TAKES COURAGE

PEACE TAKES COURAGE This is the web site of a 15 year old girl, Ava, from Alabama. She is a peace activist and has done several animations on the theme. Click on the link. These are very moving.

Stephen Colbert Exposes The Hypocrisy Of� 10 Commandment Bill Sponsor

Stephen Colbert Exposes The Hypocrisy Of� 10 Commandment Bill SponsorThis is really funny. Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (GA) sponsored a bill to post the 10 commandments in various public buildings. Watch the video.

Custodians of chaos

Custodians of chaos Read this article it is great and I cannot improve upon with comment.

George W Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka Christians, and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or PPs, the medical term for smart, personable people who have no consciences.

Not a Christian nation

The Prayer Breakfast Presidency

Yet the Founding Fathers knew they would be governing a pluralistic nation. In 1790, his first full year as president, George Washington wrote a powerful letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, R.I., underscoring the American commitment to religious liberty: "It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights," Washington said. "For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. . . . "

And a treaty with the Islamic nation of Tripoli of Barbary begun by Washington, finished by Adams, and unanimously ratified by the Senate in 1797, said: "As the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion . . . it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

It is my humble opinion that if the present group of right wing Christians gain the upper hand in control of government ... America is doomed!

Add One Second to New Year's Countdown

From the Los Angeles Times
IN BRIEF / AND FINALLY …
Add One Second to New Year's Countdown
From Times Wire ReportsDecember 25, 20052006 has been postponed. But not for long. A leap second will be inserted in the world's clocks just before midnight — Greenwich mean time — on New Year's Eve, the U.S. Naval Observatory says. That means 7 p.m. EST, Dec. 31, will occur one second later than it would have otherwise. Leap seconds are needed occasionally because modern atomic clocks measure time with great accuracy, while the rotation of the Earth can be inconsistent. The rotation of the Earth has been slowing down, so leap seconds keep the clocks and the Earth from getting out of sync with each another.

Welcome Wes!

We are all pleased and excited about Annette and Wes' wedding. We are pleased to welcome Wes to our family.

Christmas Letter 2005

Here it is … Christmas 2005 and what a year it has been …

• Diane spent 30 days in Australia visiting with her mother who had just celebrated her 101st birthday! She continues to direct the Montessori School at the New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Mandeville.


• Bob has had a few more cardiac procedures and at the moment is well and happy and a lot thinner.


• The biggest event for the family was the marriage of Annette and Wes Sutherland on August 13, 2005. Two weeks after the wedding and honeymoon they moved to Hong Kong with Annette’s job. They will be there for two years. And we got the cat!


• The next biggest event was the graduation of Richard and his employment with the University of Southern Mississippi as a research Associate in Polymer Science.


• Angela continues to enjoy her work at Samford University.


• And then there was Katrina! Diane and I stayed in our house and rode the storm out. We both agree that that is not one of our most intelligent decisions. Thankfully neither our person nor our house suffered any damage. We did not lose even one shingle off our roof. We did lose some food in our freezer and refrigerator. Many of our neighbors were not so blessed. We have a lot fewer trees and a lot of trees without any tops. The old town of Mandeville along the lake shore was flooded for about three or four blocks by both Katrina and Rita. You can believe that we will not ride out another storm! We did evacuate to Angela’s house in Birmingham because the heat was unbearable.


• This brings you up to date on the major events in the Ferguson household.

This comes with our sincere wish that you know only the very best of God’s blessings for the coming year and as we celebrate the coming of Jesus.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season’s Greeting and a very Happy and prosperous New Year.

Bob and Diane Ferguson