Posts: Feb 26 to Mar 4, 2007
Sunday's Post
Sunday, March 04, 2007 1:40 AM
Well I know in my introduction I said I was going to try to pick topics other than my family, church, etc. Well since it's my blog, and I made the rules, then I've decided to break them for my Sunday's Posts. It's my intention to post late on Saturday night/Sunday morning the outline of my Sunday Morning Sermon. So here goes, and may you have a blessed Lord's Day!Well I've picked an interesting week to start this as I'm doing an illustrative sermon with props based on a wonderful email from a friend. I'll let you figure out the props - here's the outline.
God’s Hands!
1. A basketball in my hands is worth about $19. A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million. It depends whose hands it's in.
2. A baseball in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball in Johan Santana's hands is worth $4.75 million. It depends on whose hands it's in.
3. A tennis racket is useless in my hands. A tennis racket in Venus Williams' hands is championship winning. It depends whose hands it's in.
4. A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea. It depends whose hands it's in.
Exodus 14:15 - 18
5. A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy. A slingshot in David's hand is a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it's in.
1 Samuel 17:40, 45, 48, 506. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands. It depends whose hands it's in.
Luke 9:12 - 17
7. Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse. Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.It depends whose hands it's in.
John 19:15 - 18
This message is now in YOUR hands. What will YOU do with it?
It Depends on WHOSE Hands it's in!!!
Planned Parenthood: Dialing for death
Saturday, March 03, 2007 10:26 AM
Did you know that your tax $$$ go to this horrible death machine? I encourage each person who reads this to contact their representatives in Congress and Demand that our tax dollars stop going to fund the killing of thousands of innocent lives!
Planned Parenthood: Dialing for deathBy Matt BarberFriday, March 2, 2007
Although it’s a sound concept in terms of fundraising techniques, Planned Parenthood’s latest scheme to profit off the backs of young, impressionable women by sacrificing their children to the god of convenience reminds us once again that it’s not so much about a woman’s sacred “right to choose” as it is about the abortion industry’s unholy “rite to schmooze.”
In a recent press release, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) announced that it would be “giving customers the power to make a difference with every [cell phone] call they make.” Tragically, however, when Planned Parenthood talks about making a difference, we know it’s the difference between life and death.
In what it bills as “a unique wireless [cell phone] program that enables consumers to choose where their mobile phone dollars go without sacrificing quality service,” the abortion Goliath – already enjoying an annual budget of nearly one billion dollars – boasts that the plan “will provide an impressive 10% of revenues generated directly to PPFA, transforming a simple phone call into a personal act of support.”
The abortion provider innocuously calls the fundraising effort “Planned Parenthood Wireless.” The cheerful tone of the press release is uncanny. Read between the lines, and it shamelessly chirps: “you make a call, we kill a baby.” And in light of the many acts of abortion violence Planned Parenthood commits each year, “Dialing for Death” is a more fitting banner.
But the latest 411 on Planned Parenthood’s money lust only underscores the fact that the organization already benefits tremendously from a government mandated, taxpayer boondoggle.
Addressing Planned Parenthood’s new venture into telecommunications, Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, said, “Planned Parenthood constantly demands more tax dollars, even though they already make money from charging for their services, corporate grants, aggressive mailings, fundraisers and other revenue streams. This newest marketing ploy provides evidence that Planned Parenthood is capable of making lots of money, and taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize Planned Parenthood and their hefty salaries,” said Wright.
But somehow, Planned Parenthood’s latest fundraising ploy just seems to smack of tasteless arrogance. It’s not that the concept is illegitimate, but rather that the dark nature of the organization employing the concept makes it creepy and unseemly.
And the fact that “Planned Parenthood Wireless” offers a “family plan” drips with morbid irony. In view of the group’s twisted interpretation of “family” and the millions of lives it snuffs out each year (fueled by that phantom “right” to unfettered abortion on demand), this plan will apparently have no need for roll over minutes, and every dropped-call will amount to a precious life spared.
Matt Barber is one of the "like-minded men" with Concerned Women for America and serves as CWA's policy director for cultural issues. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MattBarber/2007/03/02/planned_parenthood_dialing_for_death
A Journalistic Cover-Up
Friday, March 02, 2007 2:08 PM
Friends as I have posted this first week of "Do the RIGHT Thing", I've tried to hit upon several topics, and not be focused on just my pet subjects. I will continue to try to provide diverse and I hope insightful posts.However, today is one of my pet subjects that needs to be addressed. Folks if we want the RIGHT message to get to our friends, family, and like believers, then it is up to us to get the job done. To just sit around and complain about the Main Stream Media only serves their purpose. The Truth must come out and if it is person by person, so be it. I am thankful that with the power of modern technology each one of us can reach hundreds if not thousands just by taking the time to do so.Stand up for the country we all love, it's worth the effort.Side note: Thank God for the answer to prayer for Snooper's hospital procedure! God is good! (I told you in the intro this would happen - and if you don't know what I'm talking about, read the very first post I made).
A Journalistic Cover-UpBy Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.comThursday, March 1, 2007
In the summer of 2003, Operation Predator was launched by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency. The investigation has targeted individuals who make and consume child pornography worldwide. Because much of this stuff is manufactured overseas and shipped to America, ICE agents took the lead in tracking down the bad guys in the USA.In case you don't know, child pornography features children from infants on up, being raped in a variety of ways by adults. It is expensive to purchase and, because of the Internet, the distribution of this evil material has become easy. Have a credit card, you can get it.According to ICE agents, one of those who used a credit card to purchase child porn is attorney Charles Rust-Tierney, the former President of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia. Tierney was arrested and charged on February 23rd.Tierney apparently told the feds that he paid for the child porn using a PayPal account and then downloaded images of prepubescent girls being violently raped onto CD-ROM disks, which the authorities seized in his home.One of the images Tierney was in possession of showed a little girl tied up and screaming while being violently raped.This shocking case received little media attention even though Tierney, 51, is a well known figure in the Washington, DC area and strenuously fought against limits on internet access in libraries.On December 1, 1998, Tierney issued this statement: "Recognizing that individuals will continue to behave responsibly and appropriately while in the library, the default should be maximum, unrestricted access to the valuable resources of the Internet."And included among those "resources" is child porn. The ACLU in Virginia successfully blocked any filtering of objectionable material in Loudon County libraries.This is off the chart disturbing, and you would think the media would be all over it. When Ted Haggard was scandalized by a male prostitute in Colorado, the media relentlessly hammered the preacher. He deserved much of it, but the coverage was everywhere.How many of you have heard of Charles Rust-Tierney?The only major liberal news organization to cover the story was the Washington Post. It ran a small mention of it in the second section of the paper, essentially burying the situation. The New York Times ignored the story entirely. So did NBC News, CBS News, and CNN. ABC News mentioned it on its website.There is no question that an ACLU big shot who fought against library filters being busted on federal child porn charges is a big story. So what's going on?To read the rest of the article, use this link:http://www.billoreilly.com/site/product?st=2&satype=1&said=502&pid=20996
This is Encouraging to Me!
Thursday, March 01, 2007 4:09 PM
This is an encouraging article to me from a "Do the RIGHT Thing" prospective. It's not that I rejoice over the loss of sales (although that helps take the reward away), but it's the comments in the article on why this is happening that encourages me! This partial story is from Fox News.com and the link to the entire article is at the bottom.
Sales of Rap Albums Take Stunning Nosedive
Thursday, March 01, 2007
NEW YORK — Maybe it was the umpteenth coke-dealing anthem or soft-porn music video. Perhaps it was the preening antics that some call reminiscent of Stepin Fetchit.
The turning point is hard to pinpoint. But after 30 years of growing popularity, rap music is now struggling with an alarming sales decline and growing criticism from within about the culture's negative effect on society.
Rap insider Chuck Creekmur, who runs the leading Web site Allhiphop.com, says he got a message from a friend recently "asking me to hook her up with some Red Hot Chili Peppers because she said she's through with rap. A lot of people are sick of rap ... the negativity is just over the top now."
The rapper Nas, considered one of the greats, challenged the condition of the art form when he titled his latest album "Hip-Hop is Dead." It's at least ailing, according to recent statistics: Though music sales are down overall, rap sales slid a whopping 21 percent from 2005 to 2006, and for the first time in 12 years no rap album was among the top 10 sellers of the year. A recent study by the Black Youth Project showed a majority of youth think rap has too many violent images. In a poll of black Americans by The Associated Press and AOL-Black Voices last year, 50 percent of respondents said hip-hop was a negative force in American society.Nicole Duncan-Smith grew up on rap, worked in the rap industry for years and is married to a hip-hop producer. She still listens to rap, but says it no longer speaks to or for her. She wrote the children's book "I Am Hip-Hop" partly to create something positive about rap for young children, including her 4-year-old daughter.
"I'm not removed from it, but I can't really tell the difference between Young Jeezy and Yung Joc. It's the same dumb stuff to me," says Duncan-Smith, 33. "I can't listen to that nonsense ... I can't listen to another black man talk about you don't come to the 'hood anymore and ghetto revivals ... I'm from the 'hood. How can you tell me you want to revive it? How about you want to change it? Rejuvenate it?"
Hip-hop also seems to be increasingly blamed for a variety of social ills. Studies have attempted to link it to everything from teen drug use to increased sexual activity among young girls.
Even the mayhem that broke out in Las Vegas during last week's NBA All-Star Game was blamed on hip-hoppers. "(NBA Commissioner) David Stern seriously needs to consider moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize," columnist Jason Whitlock, who is black, wrote on AOL.
While rap has been in essence pop music for years, and most rap consumers are white, some worry that the black community is suffering from hip-hop — from the way America perceives blacks to the attitudes and images being adopted by black youth.
But the rapper David Banner derides the growing criticism as blacks joining America's attack on young black men who are only reflecting the crushing problems within their communities. Besides, he says, that's the kind of music America wants to hear.
"Look at the music that gets us popular — 'Like a Pi*p,'," says Banner, naming his hit.
"What makes it so difficult is to know that we need to be doing other things. But the truth is at least us talking about what we're talking about, we can bring certain things to the light," he says. "They want (black artists) to shuck and jive, but they don't want us to tell the real story because they're connected to it."
Criticism of hip-hop is certainly nothing new — it's as much a part of the culture as the beats and rhymes. Among the early accusations were that rap wasn't true music, its lyrics were too raw, its street message too polarizing. But they rarely came from the youthful audience itself, which was enraptured with genre that defined them as none other could.
"As people within the hip-hop generation get older, I think the criticism is increasing," says author Bakari Kitwana, who is currently part of a lecture tour titled "Does Hip-Hop Hate Women?"
"There was a more of a tendency when we were younger to be more defensive of it," he adds.
During her '90s crusade against rap's habit of degrading women, the late black activist C. Dolores Tucker certainly had few allies within the hip-hop community, or even among young black women. Backed by folks like conservative Republican William Bennett, Tucker was vilified within rap circles.
In retrospect, "many of us weren't listening," says Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of the new book "P!mps Up, Ho's Down: Hip-Hop's Hold On Young Black Women."
"She was onto something, but most of us said, 'They're not calling me a b!tch, they're not talking about me, they're talking about THOSE women.' But then it became clear that, you know what? Those women can be any women."
One rap fan, Bryan Hunt, made the searing documentary "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," which debuted on PBS this month. Hunt addresses the biggest criticisms of rap, from its treatment of women to the glorification of the gangsta lifestyle that has become the default posture for many of today's most popular rappers.
"I love hip-hop," Hunt, 36, says in the documentary. "I sometimes feel bad for criticizing hip-hop, but I want to get us men to take a look at ourselves."To read the remainder of this story, click on this link:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255606,00.html
The people's champ
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 4:04 PM
In a day and time when professional athletes are more like pampered brats, this story is perfect for "Do The Right Thing". It's an example of hard work and how doing things the right way really does pay off, and how priorities in life should mean more than how much money we can make. (PS. I'm a lifelong Cardinal fan, but I would have posted this even if he was a Chicago Cub - I think). Link to story is at the bottom.
The people's champBy
Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports
JUPITER, Fla. – Four months later, the flush hasn't left David Eckstein's cheeks.
The winter was good to him, despite having to lug the World Series Most Valuable Player trophy to all those professional wrestling promos. In wrestling, we're thinking, it's always better to be taller than the guy on the trophy.
We missed it, but apparently the Fightin' Ecksteins (David and older brother Rick, the St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A hitting coach) threw down with the Totally Irritatin' Pierzynskis (A.J., along with Jeff Torborg's son, Dale – don't ask) in some kind of steel-cage match.
Along a somewhat separate theme, Eckstein re-released his children's book, called "Have Heart," with a new chapter about how, if you work hard and play the right way, you not only might win a World Series someday, but you might win two. He also caught up with some of his old Los Angeles Angels pals – John Lackey, Darin Erstad and ex- and current middle-infield mate Adam Kennedy – to watch the Ohio State-Michigan football game, where everybody got to hear Erstad's stories about being a punter again. You know, presumably.
"It was a whirlwind," Eckstein, the Cardinals' shortstop, said this week, still sweating from an early-morning workout. "The biggest thing we did was the children's book that hopefully will inspire young kids to go out there, and if they dream something they can accomplish it with hard work. The other thing I've been trying to do some good with is organ donation, to please sign up to be an organ donor. Those are the two biggest things that, because of what happened, might have gotten a little more publicity."
And to think how some NFL players are spending their offseason.
Genetics have not been altogether good to the Eckstein family, of course. Two of David's sisters, one of his brothers and his father have required kidney transplants. Now doctors think two of David's nephews – Kenny is 6 and David is 8 – might also need transplants.
"They're not sure about a timetable," he said. "We're hoping they'll be like my father and need it later on in life. But, we think the younger one, Kenny, might be a little quicker."
Kenny, David said, could be mistaken for a 2- or 3-year-old.
"They've been tested," he said. "They definitely have the protein in the urine and all that, the signs that they're going to need it. Kenny's a little more advanced than David."
It seems an unending cycle for the Ecksteins, who thus far have concluded David and Rick should save their kidneys for their own children, should that be necessary.
"I have not been tested yet for my nephews," David said. "I fully see myself some day, somewhere along the way, to have to give up a kidney. The biggest concern in my family, I would definitely love to have kids one day and they want to make sure my kids are OK. That was one of the biggest points with my father with Rick and myself, to see what our family looks like before we start giving them up."
So it is that David Eckstein, at 5-foot-7, takes on so many comers – kidney disease, organ donation, children who need a push, stereotypes of pro athletes, and A.J. Pierzynski's pile driver. And then he plays a full baseball season plus a month, bats .364 and drives in four runs in the World Series, and allows a nation's baseball fans to fall in love without fear of betrayal.
Six years ago he showed up in Angels camp with a glove and a crooked cap, no one sure his arm would last that afternoon, much less nearly 900 big-league games. Now he's a career .283 hitter, a career pest, a career inspiration, a career gamer.
His brother, Rick, crossed his ankles and propped himself against a red fungo bat on the main field here, watching players run home to second, then second to home. The brothers share an engaging personality, a knack for compassion, and an addiction to the game.
"He definitely hasn't changed as a person because of it," Rick said of David's MVP honor. "The greatest thing about that award is you win the World Series. It means you won a championship. That's what he suits up for."
Indeed, it would not have been surprising if Eckstein had blushed on that stage at Busch Stadium.
"In baseball," Rick said, "we get so caught up in the five tools. Sometimes we overlook heart and hustle and how those affect other players. David's a talented player. He has talent. But, he also has a knack for bringing out the best in others. That has value."
The 2006 championship ring will go alongside the 2002 championship ring, David said, to his father, Whitey, who will store it in a safe deposit box. Then it'll be time to start over, to prove again that he is big enough, strong enough, and talented enough to do this. He's been called an overachiever, which, of course, is impossible, but David doesn't mind.
"I have to be full-go," he said. "I have to make sure that is my focus so I don't let off at all. I'm not good enough to let off. … I like to think that maybe I give people hope. I think it's kind of funny because I hear it all the time, 'If you can make it to the majors, I can make it.' "
They mean it as a compliment.
"Right," he said, laughing. "This is a wonderful game. The best thing about it is anybody can play it. There's roles for all different types of guys on the club. If that inspires some guys to go out there and play harder at a younger age and try to achieve it, that's something special." http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AsAs5LytgHzkm7KrZySr3345nYcB?slug=ti-mlb_07_eckstein022707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Let's say I break into your house &&&&&&
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:40 PM
An email from my friend LCRW!
Let's say I break into your house &&&&&&
A lady wrote the best letter in the editorials in ages!!! It explains things better than all the baloney you hear on TV. Her point: Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests. Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house). According to the protesters: You are Required to let me stay in your house You are Required to add me to your family's insurance plan You are Required to Educate my kids You are Required to Provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do all of your yard work because he is also hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part). If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there. It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house. And what a deal it is for me!!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior. Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you to learn MY LANGUAGE!!! so you can communicate with me. Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?! Only in America .....if you agree, pass it on (in English). Share it if you see the value of it. If not blow it off......... along with your future Social Security funds, and a lot of other things.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:45 AM
This article is a prime example of why this blog was created. Is this where we are at in America, and are you and I going to settle for these types of rulings? I would be interested in your opinions on what we as individual Americans can do to stop these types of decisions from happening. I've got my opinion, I'ld like to hear yours. Credit for this article goes to Citizenlink.org
Parental Rights Under Attack in Massachusetts
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Judge shoots down lawsuit brought by outraged parents."The shot heard 'round the world."
That's how Ralph Waldo Emerson described that moment in 1776 when the Minute Men fired the opening salvos of the American Revolution on the village green in Lexington, Mass.
It's also how parental-rights advocates describe what happened last week when a federal judge in Boston shot down a lawsuit by some parents who objected to what Lexington schools were teaching their young children about homosexuality.
Last Friday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark Wolf told David Parker and Rob and Robin Wirthlin that they had no legal right to challenge the schools -- at all.
"It's so absurd, you can hardly even discuss it," said Brian Camenker, executive director of the Boston-based group MassResistance. "The judge said that the schools have a right and an obligation to teach about same-sex relationships, even in the elementary schools -- and that parents' rights end at the schoolhouse door."
The judge also indicated that if parents don't like what the schools teach, they are free to put their kids in a private school or to home school their kids.
"That's pretty offensive," Camenker said. "You can imagine a federal judge, during the civil-rights era when blacks wanted to vote or be seated in restaurants, saying, 'Your options are to either start your own restaurant or elect a city council that allows that.' "
Parker had objected to a book bag that his son brought home from kindergarten that included a book on "diversity" called ''Who's in a Family?" It portrays same-sex couples as just a different type of family.
The Wirthlins objected to a book their second grader was forced to read called "King & King," in which one prince kisses another prince.
Both families wanted to be alerted when homosexually themed material was to be taught.
In his 38-page decision, Wolf said parents "have a fundamental right to raise their children . . . (But) the Constitution does not permit them to prescribe what those children will be taught."
The judge said diversity is "a hallmark of our nation" which trumps everything else.
"It is reasonable," he wrote, "for . . . educators to find that teaching young children to understand and respect differences in sexual orientation will contribute to an academic environment in which students who are gay, lesbian, or the children of same-sex parents will be comfortable and, therefore, better able to learn."
Glen Lavy, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, isn't surprised at the decision. Courts increasingly view parents as nuisances whom public schools can ignore.
"I think what the Massachusetts judge said was consistent with what the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said last year -- basically, that 'the right of parents to direct the education of children stops at the schoolhouse door,' " Lavy said.
In the 9th Circuit case, the court told parents they couldn't challenge a California school district that had elementary students complete a questionnaire about their sexual thoughts and activity.
"The questions assumed that the kids were all having sexual experiences," Lavy said. "The 9th Circuit told the parents who sued the school -- 'It's basically none of your business. The school can do whatever it wants.' "
The overarching message is a dismal one for parents, Lavy added.
"If you put your child in public education, you have no ability to determine what that child is going to be taught, regarding morals or anything else," he said. "We got to this point by having a legal system where judges do not feel constrained by law, do not feel constrained by history; do not feel that what the Founding Fathers intended to create in our legal system has any bearing on what they do today."
Even if the parents in Lexington and California appeal, Lavy said, they're not likely to prevail.
"I don't know that we have support even in the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning that kind of decision," he added. "We need people to be involved politically, to elect politicians who are going to pass good laws, and who will appoint judges who do not believe that they are mini-monarchs."link to article -
Blog Introduction
Monday, February 26, 2007 11:49 PM
I am proud to be an Ambassador for the Presidential Prayer Team, which is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that commits to praying for our President, our National Leaders, and our troops.
Most of my life revolves around my Christian faith and activities with those people and groups listed above.And while I'm sure (ok positive) that my Christian values will come out on a regular basis, this blog isn't about bragging about my loved ones (I love doing that), my church activities (I love where God has placed me and what He has me doing) or recruiting people for the PPT (you can contact me my email if you want info on that).This blog is about the name listed at the top of the page - "Do The Right Thing".
There is a tremendous need in our country today to rally the Silent Majority to raise up and take action, before our country goes too far down the path of destruction. You and I can make a difference in this country - 1 person at a time.God Bless You (told you it would come out)!
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