I’ve been watching a PBS TV show called “God in America”, and they’ve been talking about how religion in America has shifted from emphasis on personal salvation to emphasis on a social Gospel. And I think it’s true…sort of.

Only, pastors aren’t preaching a Social Gospel. They’re preaching a Socialized Gospel.

In political terms, liberal and libertarian politics are not inherently Christian, despite what left and right Christians tell you, but are actually, and inherently, atheist and evolutionist. And they’ve reached in a grabbed at Christianity. “Human Rights” or “Liberty” battle each other in the church, and nobody realizes that their buying into Screwtape’s “Christianity AND”. And the AND came from

We even have battles that have originated in the church, but are truly matters of a society. The Protestant Church has developed a pocket of stagnate doctrine that has created the dogmatic Hyper Calvinists, and their dangerous followers. In response to what is perceived as “radical fundamentalism”, the Emergent Church has appeared, raising its standard of “What Ever is Popular”. And they fight, too. Homosexual rights are popular…so they say that God cares about people’s hearts, and that it’s just a surface issue.

The common thread is “Christianity AND”, even though must claim that they are preaching the Gospel. The REAL THING.

You all know that I’m outspoken on politics. My friends know that I talk about the Church a lot. But what about the Pattern of Sound Words? “We hold Christ Crucified…”

What is the Gospel? It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel IS JESUS CHRIST. We’re supposed to be out there, preaching all of Jesus. And Jesus was about a lot of things. But those were side issues. They were consequences of the real mission: to SAVE MEN’S SOULS. Now, I know that Jay, for instance, doesn’t believe in the modern meaning of “the Great Commission”. But we are called to two things.

To preach Jesus Christ to the world, and to be as much like Jesus as we can. Since His primary mission was salvation, shouldn’t that be yours?

We stand on the brink. We are in the position to change our country. Our church. Our family. And I’m all for taking our culture back. The first step is to be as much like Christ as possible. When CHRISTianity returns to CHRIST, then we can work on the rest.

We need to submit to the Lord, and walk in the shoes of Christ. When we’ve done that, we can walk in strength and take back our nation. But ultimately, we are walking toward sacrifice. Will you give everything up for Jesus? Will you give your AND?

God in America. Christ in America. Us, in America.

Get to work.

I want to show you that capital punishment, and it’s war time cousin, are not murder, when they are done with justice.

First, you must realize that the Old Testament makes a distinction between murder and killing. What forms the line between murder and killing? Bloodguiltiness.

For example, see Leviticus 20. Read the entire chapter. Notice that this statement: “Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” What in the world does that mean?

It’s justifying their killing, essentially. Look again, at the last verse.

Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stone, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”

What God is essentially saying is this: “Kill them. Because of their sin, the blood guilt which would be on your hands for their death is on their hands instead.”

Let’s apply that to government. Most of you know my views about crime: if you violate a person’s life, liberty, or property, you are a criminal. Let’s say that a person commits the highest atrocities possible: a rape, followed by the murder of the victim. As violator of rights, they have forfeited their own rights. So, the capital punishment of such a person would not, itself, be criminal.

But would it be moral? I think yes. Because of this person’s incredible sin, if they die, I believe that God will place the bloodguilt on their own head.

Now, quickly, I want to explain what bloodguiltiness is.

Bloodguilt has a dual nature: It is a curse on us during life, and is a penalty during eternity.

Let’s not concern ourselves with the curse right now. It’s an interesting topic, but it’s not my point. Let’s talk about the penalty.

When you carry someone’s bloodguiltiness, it means you are held responsible for their death. When the Judgment Day comes, you’re a murderer.

So, what we’re being told by the Bible is that, when capital punishment is justified, that is, when the right to life is forfeited, then the person punished will be held as their own murdered.

So, to put it briefly, a justly slain criminal is his own executioner.

Maybe yes, maybe no, but one thing is certain: we have William F. Buckley to thank for the existence of much of Conservatism, good and bad. Jeremy Lott makes sure that we understand that very important fact.

When this book arrived in the mailbox, I realized that it wasn’t going to be the biography I was expecting. But, I realized that it was alright. A biographer may have missed many of the insights that Lott saw when looking at the big picture of Buckley’s Life.

Lott, rather than defend Buckley himself, persuasively uses Buckley’s own actions and statements to prove that Buckley was a Christian and a true conservative. Beyond trying defend Buckley’s character from the many attacks he faced in life, and now after his death, Lott also demonstrates the humorous side, and the genius side, of Buckley’s persona.

One minor quibble is not with the book but with Buckley’s own statement that, “Protecting the rights of its citizens is a government’s highest duty”.  While this statement is in harmony with conservatives in general, it also demonstrates everything that is wrong with conservatives.  The hazy, unclear, general statements that are difficult to apply.

But, as I said, Buckley contributed a lot of good and bad to our conservative movement. Either way, we have a lot to thank him for, and Lott’s book proves it.

So, because this book is so important to understanding a key figure in Christian and conservative society, I offer a heartfelt recommendation and five bright stars.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Not very often. And yes, it is.

As John Maxwell explains in his book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, connections are vital to achieving your communication goals.

The book is full of sound connection advice, memorable examples, and a large number of useful quotes.

As a speaker and debater, I have found this book a useful tool in achieving my goals, competitively and in real communication situations.

This book is a must for anyone who struggles, suspects they struggle, or has been told they struggle with communication.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

When I read An Army of Ordinary People, I did not expect the author to be as blatantly opposed to the traditional church model as she turned out to be. Barna tried, and failed, to overcome my suspicions in the forward, but he did manage to make me believe that Dale wasn’t against traditional church entirely.

As it turned out, I think she is.

Dale starts with several mistaken premises, each of which contributes to her mistaken book.

1. She places greater importance on “love” (relationships) than on truth. The leads to her criticism of advanced theology: she claims that complexity drives away the unbeliever. This leads us to her second mistake:

2. Dale claims, in more words, that “Jesus created the organized church as a means for evangelism.” Dale, however, is confusing organized church and the body of Christ. The organized church exists as a conduit for fellowship and edification: two things an unbeliever cannot share with us.

3. Dale also seems to believe that each believer is called to be an evangelist. While I agree that every believer should take opportunities to share the Gospel, I do not agree on what the Gospel, and a calling, is. To Dale, the gospel is a message that Jesus saves, and a calling is a command. To me, the Gospel is living like Jesus, and a calling is a spiritual occupation: it’s how you use your gifts. If gifts differ, then so do callings. So, not everyone is called to be an evangelist.

Dale’s movement will create a faith that is fifty miles wide, and about a centimeter deep. A shallow faith, that accepts all into the church as they are: saved, or otherwise.

The Body is a Body of Believers. Not a body of seekers.

I received this book for free from Tyndale in return for an honest review.

The young Elf lords have finally arrived in Allyra, and adventure strikes immediately. With the Wisp-spies infiltrating their ranks, and the Elven Council in an uproar, the young Elves find Allyra more threatening than they thought.

I will say that Batson and Hopper do a great job at creating a trick ending. Not a surprise ending, mind you, a trick ending. But beyond that, the book does not compare to The Curse of the Spider King.

Where Spider King hinted at a huge, well constructed back story and background, Venom has revealed that Batson and Hopper appear to know very little more than the readers do. Stereo-typical races and creatures that are more humorous than fearsome  inhabit a predictable landscape. The background in general could use a lot of development.

However, the foreground is well constructed. Characters are realistic, and the plot takes some unexpected turns. But, again, we find some stereo-typical plot devises.

However, struggling through that mess to arrive at the dramatic climax was worth it. Batson and Hopper throw a serious curve ball, and the story definitely does not look over yet…

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I found this book to be very interesting, and full of good thoughts. A compilation of quotes successful professionals, Classic Wisdom includes some of the greatest, such as Warren Buffet.

However, quite a bit of the book was either redundant or rubish. I’m not sure this book could really be called Christian. That’s not to say that the book is bad, but when I read a book from Thomas Nelson I generally expect a Christian worldview. That’s not exactly what you’ll find in this book.

And in fact, many of the professionals quoted in this book appear to disagree. For example, success and prosperity are sometimes equated, and sometimes separated.

So, while I found the book to be very encouraging and very useful for my purposes, actual professionals may have a bit of difficulty with the book. And so, I cannot highly recommend this book. But I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy it, either. Just take it with a grain of salt, for flavor.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I digress. I digress strongly.

Are we now to condemn a thing, not based on its own merit, but on it’s consequences? Shall the Ends be made the judge of the Means?

This is not a case of cause and effect. Free market legislation did not cause the Great Depression; Unintelligent behavior on the part of business men who didn’t know what a free market was, let alone how to use it, were the cause (if we must place blame on any one group of people) of the Great Depression.

Suppose that someone has spoken rudely to me. I, in keeping with Proverbs, hold my tongue. This serves to anger the rude person more. Is my action to be condemned because it was taken advantage of by another person? No! And yet, the free market (which I highly doubt existed just before the Depression) is blamed, despite the fact that couldn’t be held legally responsible? (Or at least, shouldn’t.)

Law, we Christians understand, is a set of absolutes, come directly from the throne of God. Should people choose to take advantage of their liberty, to be stupid, their property, to gamble it, or their life, to waste it, let that be their own business! Should these rights be removed from all men, because a few abused them? Should free market be taken from us, because a people of the past didn’t take advantage of its full potential?

They say: All people should have health insurance, not because it is wrong to forgo health insurance, but because doing so may result in undesirable consequences? They say: All people should wear helmets while on a bicycle, not because it is wrong to ride without a helmet, be because it is stupid! Now the government is to prevent stupidity? What is next? Will the government restrict illogical behavior?

Such falsity will only lead to ruin.

Law is absolute. Leave stupidity for the church and private enterprise to deal with. If the government stopped trying to legislate it out of the country (an impossibility, and a stupid action), it might be driven out by more effective means.

Read this post: http://siremethmimetes.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/how-to-maintain-the-distance/. Tell Jay what you think.

Now, you tell me, does that sound like something from a “Code of Honor” to you? Sure does to me.

We have the greatest Code of all: The Bible.

But sometimes it would be nice if it was more accessible. What if the Code was written as a Code? What would it say?

Comment below, and tell me what you think.

And so, without further adieu, Beware the Darkness Blog presents: “Need” by Jay Lauser.

“A want is a desire that you have.

Everyone wants to hear about their wants. Everyone wants to hear about their needs too, but not as much. That is one reason why you need to want what you need.

You always do what you want most. There are no exceptions.

If someone points a gun at you and tells you to hand over your money, and you do so, that is because you wanted to give him the money. Of course, the reason why you wanted to was because you wanted to live. If he had not pointed the gun at you, he would not have connected your want to live with your want to keep your money, and you might not have wanted to give him the money so much. But in any case, you did exactly what you wanted to.

If someone literally (taking the meaning of that oft-misused word literally) forces you to ‘do’ something by physical force in such a way that your volition is utterly removed, you of course are not really doing it, and so this principle does not apply.

So why am I forcing this point? Because I want to.

I want to explain this in excruciating detail because it is vitally important to your life.

God commands you to do things and to avoid things. For you to obey, you have to want to. Therefore, because God never commands you to do something that you cannot do, you can change your wants.

So you need to want to change your wants to conform to the wants that God wants you to want.

But… what is a need?

A need is something that God wants for you to have or do.

You only need life as long as God wants you to live.

You only need as much income as God wants you to have.

God always wants the best for you. So we have another reason to conform our wants to our needs. We need (God wants us) to.” ~ Jay Lauser

There you have it. Now, go do something you need to do.