Cal Thomas thinks Democrats can regain lost votes by reforming one institution they still control - government schools.  The implication is that the moral values voter is growing stronger and the secularist is growing weaker.  Are we at the beginning of a new Great Awakening?

As predicted, oil prices are coming down.  Check out this column by Frederick P. Leuffer at NRO titled The Oil Bubble: Listen for the "pop"

As I have been reading blogs since the election, I have been formulating a theory about the "mood" of the electorate.  In most pre-election polls a majority of respondents felt the country was on the wrong track or headed in the wrong direction.  Normally this would spell doom for the incumbent, but not this time.  Maggie Gallagher at NRO comments on the rise of the moral values voter based on information from a recent Pew Research poll.  So why now in 2004 did the moral value voter arise and hand Bush the victory?  Because the counrry is on the wrong cultural track and George W. Bush is willing to lead in the right direction. 

 

The more mainstream America saw of the liberal left A-Team, the less it liked.  I believe that the average American has reached leftist fatigue.  It started with the environmental movement and many choose to do the PC thing and recycle.  Then the TV shows turned radically left, followed by the commericals (when was the last time you saw a white male cast in a favorable role other than as a sex symbol?).  As the entertainment (not!) moved left many of us bailed out and quit watching network TV and stopped going to the movies.  The secular humanist take over of public shool cirriculum was completed and Mother's Day was banned because some kids have 2 dads. Many of us moved to the exburbs where the schools still had rural traditional roots.  Meanwhile, on college campuses, parents were suffering through double digit rate increases to have their kids major in "Women's Studies."  What they did find out is the only thing most college professors wanted your kid to learn was that all the values you spent your life teaching them were "relative" and no intelligent person could possibly hold anyone to an objective standard of right and wrong.  Unless your kid disagreed with them and bothered to say it out loud.  Try as the moral values voter could, the A-Team was never satisfied.  Give up a little more of those values, we were told.  Only dumb Bible toting rednecks would believe in objective truth, we were told.  A funny thing happened on the way to the 2004 election though.  New media outlets and Karl Rove's GOTV effort got a lot of people talking about the cultural decline of the country.  In red counties mortgages have to be paid and clothes bought.  Life is real and very objective. Opportunity is tempered with effort. Truth is evident to all that care to look.

 

It has been said that if you tell a lie often enough, most people will believe it.  This has happened to the A-Team.   All their lives the lie of secular humanism has been told and retold to the point that new positions or viewpoints cannot be tolerated.  So for many of us in the red counties, we laid low and tried to make peace with the A-Team.  Then we got tired of the demands of how to live our lives and raise our kids.  And finally, in November, we decided it was time to take down the bully who was claiming to be king of the moral hill.   

 

 

Last night two of the churches in rural Georgia met in a annual common Thanksgiving worship service.  The visiting pastor gave a wonderful message on "was's," "is's," and "shall be's."  The "was's" are the blessings God has already given us, i.e. the earth and our bodies, the "is's" are the blessings of today, i.e. food, clothing, shelter and salvation, and the "shall be's" are the the blessing yet to come, i.e. heaven, the second coming of Christ, the new earth.  We ended the service with a couple of songs of praise and then gathered in the fellowship hall for food, iced tea and conversation. 

 

What makes this so special?  Because all of God's children came together to worship and praise God in unity and love.  Oh, and by the way, one church is "white" and one is "black."  

One more time...No where in the Constitution does the phrase "separation of church and state" exist.  You may search for yourself here and amemdments here.  What it does say is Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

 

It is way past time for the nuanced left to read the words as they are written. In English, without French subtitles.  Hanging a plaque in a public place should be governed by community standards of decency, not religious bigoty.  Like or not the absence of religion is a religion and should compete with all others.  That is exactly what the Founding Fathers envisioned.

This is the second most violated commandment.  It started with the Israelites before Moses even came back with the stone tablets.  He had been gone so long, they convinced Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship.  Since then we haven't done much better.  This is because Man was made to worship.  In all cultures there is worship.  Even the atheists worship themselves and their superior intellect over the ignorant people of faith.  Everywhere and at anytime in history Man has worshipped.  It is who we are.  It cannot be changed nor denied.  Our only choice is what or who we will worship. 

 

God clearly calls us to worship Him. Period.  Take this simple test.  For one day, count the number of times you place your loyalty to someone or something above your committment to God.  Be honest, no one needs to know except you and God.

Normally when discussing the walk of faith, talk focuses on life. Living for the Lord, have abundant life, etc.  Too many of us want to fast forward our lives to this point in our walk with God.  But, before you can have life in God, you must first die to self.  To me this was the hardest thing I have ever done.  I am convinced that most Bible believing Christians are stuck on this issue and as a result never experience life in Jesus.  Caught in the constant battle to retain a portion of self, we fight against ourselves and the circumstances God engineers for our education.  We never reach the point of transparency because we refuse to die.  Only in total transparency can we be who God made us to be, His Child.  By keeping your SELF in control, you violate the first commandment -- I am the Lord your God and you will have no other gods before Me.  You are making SELF a god.

 

What are you holding on to?  Money? Career? Let go. Die so you may LIVE!

Funny how some things are so clear looking backwards.  Oil is falling through the mid 40's per barrel.  Analysts are surprised since many of the same factors that drove up the price are still true.  But, the price is falling.  Look for it to fall faster as all the speculative positions must be covered.  What have we learned?  Looking back it all makes sense.  Walking with God is like that.  While you are walking, where you are going is very uncertain.  But when you look back you can see clearly the milestones where God was working in your life.  What should you have learned?  Stop trying to drive.  Focus on God and let Him take you where you could never go on your own. You'll remember the trip for eternity.

Mush ink has been split over the question of moral issues as prime mover in this election.  Can we ever know for sure? No.  Is it likely? Yes.  For many years, I have heard this prayer: "Lord, help us return this nation to a place where we honor you" in churches and bible study groups.  Scripture says The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16)  Are we witnessing the answer to those prayers?

Per the Wall Street Journal:

 

Oil prices have slid recently, and experts are forecasting easing markets but warning the danger of new surges remains. Crude rose $1.49 on the Nymex to $48.86

 

Looks like the market will slide down instead of a rapid crash.  Look for prices in the low forties by mid December and continuing to fall during the winter.  Expect natural gas to creep up a little more and then start to fall as well.

 

If elections in Iraq happen as planned in January and are not marred by massive violence then expect a more rapid decline.

Much has been said about the liberal media needing to have "foreign" correspondents sent into the heartland to learn more about the "red" states.  That's fine with me.  Come on down.  Stay with me for a couple of days and meet the family, go to church, stop by the school.  It will be better than reality TV.  You will be exposed to the depth of our compassion and convictions.

 

P.S. Don't let the sterotype scare you.  I was nervous the first time I walked New York City at night, but found it fascinating.  So are we.  Come see.

Check us out on TV tonight.  Live on Comcast Connect, Channel 4.

Just finished the state soccer playoffs.  Victory is very sweet.  One player stood out from the crowd.  Once considered arrogant and cocky, now a solid leader.  Steadfast, relentless in pursuit of victory.  Cheered on by a previously vanquished team.  Sought out by players on the losing team after the game.  Admired by kids for what he accomplished on the field.  Why?  Because others recognize he plays not to glorify himself, but Someone much more important.  He plays to glorify his Creator, the giver of the talent.  In doing so, The Giver draws others to him. 

 

Who do you play for?

At prayer meeting on Wednesday, one man's prayer was for God to use us to reach out to those who supported Kerry.  I have a suggestion.  Before the signs come down, find someone in your neighborhood that you don't know with a Kerry sign up.  Bake a cake, cookies, etc. or put together a nice gift basket and take it over to them.  Don't mention you're sorry their canidate lost or even that you're happy Bush won.  Instead, follow the 2nd greatest commandment of Jesus (Matthew 22:39) YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

Make a difference. Start today.