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Sarah Palin: An Excellent Choice
By Adam Groza
Many of us had been hoping McCain would choose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his VP, and this morning the AP is announcing a McCain/Palin ticket. I think this is great for several reasons:
1) She is a pro-life politician.
2) She is a pro-life mother of five children who chose to give birth to a son with Down’s Syndrome.
3) She is pro-second amendment and is a member of the NRA and a hunter.
4) She is a sensible environmentalist.
5) She was willing to blow the whistle on GOP ethics violations.
6) She will be the only person on either ticket with executive experience.
7) She is Protestant Christian.
8) She has extremely high approval ratings.
9) She took on (and beat) a current and former Alaska governor in her own gubernatorial bid.
10) An all “west” ticket for the GOP will help win independents in states like CO, AZ, and NM.
Palin state bio: www.gov.state.ak.us/bio.php
Announcement: http://www.cnbc.com/id/26454655
Beck speaks about Palin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2oVFWaEPu8&feature=related
Richard Land on Palin: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/richard_lands_v.html
On Sunday during her appearance on Meet the Press, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi commentented about abortion and the Catholic Church:
“I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.”
Her comments created a firestorm of comment from the Catholic diocese in Denver and eventually in Washington, DC. The Archbishops of Denver and D.C. have both released statements about the Speaker Pelosi’s comments. I have linked to them below:
Rev. Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver
Rev. Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, DC
I am a little disappointed that there was little comment from Evangelical sources. In fact I have noticed little press concerning Evangelical outrage over the abortion stances of the old (Pelosi, Clinotn, etc.) and new (Obama) Democrat leadership. You would think that during the Democrat National Convention this would be perfect timing to outline the life records of these individuals. For “crying out loud” we have a Democrat candidate for president who has voted three times in favor of bills that allowed “after-birth” abortions! Perhaps I am missing something, but the abortion discussion needs to gain a greater prominence in the current debate.
UPDATE (8/28/08) Add the bishop of Pittsburgh to the list!
Peace be with you,
Bishop Joe (not an Arch-Bishop) 
In her new book “Women and Religon in the West,” sociologist Kristin Aune describes a mass exodus of women leaving the Church, specifically in England. According to a news article about this book, Ms. Aune states that the reason women are leaving is because of the traditional male hierarchical structure in the Church. And what has become the stand-in for their Christianity…well Buffy the Vampire Slayer of course. While no one (that I know of) is founding a church based off the popular TV show (and not so popular movie) the article provides Buffy as the example of empowering women through spiritualism, namely Wicca.
I am not sure sure if the blame for women leaving the Church can be laid at the feet of cheerleading vampire slayers. I also don’t think that the blame for men leaving the Church can be placed on having too many flowers in the sanctuary. The root cause of this problem is a lack of biblical teaching concerning the role of gender in creation. Bible believing Christians must understand the biblical and theological reasons for male-headship in the church and in the home. Without clear biblical exposition on this matter then women can easily confuse headship with domination.
We must also teach that true empowerment for women (and men) comes not form a TV show, political organizations, or feminist manifestos. Rather it comes by the liberation from our sins purely by the Grace of God.
Romans 6:15-23
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Peace be with you,
Bishop Joe
I have come across this interesting question lately and would like to see some discussion on the topic here. I found a blog post over at Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin. His points are intriguing and I am curious about what you all may think. I have reprinted the excerpts below:
“So let me start with the punch line. First, what is a woman’s place in a worship service? The same as a man’s – at the foot of the cross of Christ, praising God in the power of the Spirit for the mercy he’s shown us in the Savior. Second, is it biblical for a woman to lead a worship service? Yes and no. There. That clears everything up, doesn’t it?”
“Part of the difficulty in answering this question is that the New Testament doesn’t contain a worship leader job description. What exactly does the worship leader do? That title can describe a number of functions – song leader, singer, band member, music minister, or worship pastor, to name a few.”
“In the church, the pastor is ultimately responsible for leading congregational worship. But that doesn’t mean our worship leaders have to be pastors. However, in Sovereign Grace churches, given the importance of congregational singing, our worship leaders are fulfilling a very important role. They aren’t simply leading “music”–we desire them to direct people’s hearts, minds, and wills to the truths that they’re singing. Their role includes elements that involve a degree of teaching, leading, and pastoring, which we believe the Bible says are male roles in the church. For that reason, all our worship leaders are men. But women make a significant contribution to our corporate worship through singing, playing instruments, reading Scripture, song writing, arranging, leading choirs, modeling expressive engagement, contributing prophetic impressions, and more.”
I look forward to your wisdom and insights.
Peace be with you,
Bishop Joe
Now thats funny!
Peace be with you,
Bishop Joe
(HT Gunny)
Top 5 Reasons Youth Camps are bunk:
5. That video.
4. It communicates that the best place for spiritual development and worship is away from the church.
3. It communicates that the best place for spiritual development and worship is away from families.
2. It places the student in a false “Christian-only” enviroment that is absolutly nothing like their day-to-day experience in the world.
1. Its too expensive. Placing a financial burden on low income families and squanders resources that could be better used in local community projects, international missions, discipleship training, etc.
My two cents.
Peace be with you,
Bishop Joe
