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MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — An Ohio middle school teacher says he won't obey an order to remove a Bible from view of students.
John Freshwater said Wednesday he agreed to remove a collage from his classroom that included the Ten Commandments, but that asking him to remove the Bible on his desk goes too far.
Officials with the Mount Vernon School District say they don't oppose religion but are required by the U.S. Constitution not to promote or favor any set of religious beliefs.
Freshwater says being forced to keep the Bible out of sight would infringe on his rights.
Mount Vernon is about 40 miles northeast of Columbus. -Fox News

Are you "All In"

I am very happy for a friend of mine who recently took a pastorate in Dixon, California. Jeff Myers is a great man of God and is someone who you can be totally honest about with your failures. I was thinking about Jeff today because he did a sermon called "All In" that became the name of this here blog.

Funniest thing about it is that I haven't even heard the sermon. Simply the idea caught hold in my mind. Have you ever played no limit texas hold em. Wow. One of my favorite games to say the least. Deception, reading people, some skill, and nerves of steel are what make you a great player in this game.

There comes a point in each game though, when you read your cards, the cards on the table and your opponents and you say to yourself. It is all or nothing. I am risking it all on these cards. If I'm wrong, I've lost and the game is over for me.

There is something special about that moment when you finally make that decision and you push every last remaining chip into the center of the table. You sit back survey the situation, breath deep and feel the pounding of your heart in your chest. You know that your fate rests for better or for worse in the events that are about to play themselves out. I love that feeling.

In some games especially when I've slowly bled chips it is less dramatic. Just an attempt to stay in the game. Other times it is more of an attempt to finish off another player, or just to buy the pot. (poker players will understand.)

The question I pose, and I assume the question Pastor Jeff was posing, is are you "All In" regarding your walk with Christ. Or are you just putting in your ante to stay in the game. Think about it.

*I have never actually bet money on a game.
*If you would like to find out more about Jeff Myers, see the link on my blog roll.

More on Health Care

But Jay, Are you saying that I don't have the "right" to be seen by a doctor when I am sick? Yep. That is what I'm saying. I don't see anywhere in the constitution where you are guaranteed the right to medical care.

Now let me clarify. You have the right to health care in the way you have the right to eat a ham sandwich. Sure you can have it. No one has the right to stop you. But YOU have to pay for the ham sandwich, and you should have to pay for the health care if you want it.

Due to the way our system works, they do not turn people away in emergency situations. That is an oath they have taken, and it is a noble thing to do. However, YOU are still responsible for the services YOU have purchased.

Again redistribution of income is not the American way. More on this topic later.

Another new right

Now I know I'm likely going to ruffle some feathers with this idea, but where are you gauranteed the "right" to health care. In the past 50 years there have been movements to recognize healthcare as a human right.

In 1948 the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one’s family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care.”

Since 1991, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council has recognized that “every person has the right to adequate food, housing, clothing and health care”.

Okay, Great. And this so called right is provided by whom. So let me get this straight, If I, by way of sheer slothfulness, have the right to food, housing and medical care, what incentive do I have to put in a days labor.

If each person subscribes to the same philosophy who will be left to shoulder this burden. Furthermore, where in the constitution do you see these rights spelled out for you? Simple you don't. What makes this country great is the right to do these tasks for yourself.

You do have the right to possess or attain each of those things mentioned. You do not on the other hand have the right to force another person to provide food, housing, and medical services for you or your family. Don't kid yourself. When you take government funds, they are coming out of someone's pocket.

Income redistribution in all forms is not the American way, or at least it shouldn't be.

Your Rights

The pie chart to the right was the response you have when a clerk at a store wishes you a "Merry Christmas". I've been thinking alot this week about Rights. Some you could say are endowed by our creator, others have been given to us by government of the country in which we live. It seems as of late however, that rights have been expanding. There seems to be a whole new class of rights. You can find them nowhere in the constitution or bill of rights, yet they exist none the less, as you can find examples of them every day in the news.

One example of these new rights. Is your right not to be offended. You can this in schools, public buildings, malls, just about anywhere in the public domain. It could be a t-shirt, banner, christmas tree or anything else, but if it offends, even just one, it must be taken down. After all it has infringed on someones right not to be offended.

On the other hand I would like to offer up that in this great country of the United States of America you have the right to be offended.

You have the right to be angry, upset, or livid. You can protest. You can print t-shirts, banners and discuss your distaste in all forms of media. Yes in this great country you have the right to be offended. What a great country it is indeed.

Ladies and gentleman, do not give up this right in favor of the right not to be offended. While on the offended end of the argument it would seem as though it would be nice to stiffle that offense, which may cause legitimate anger, it in the end erodes other rights you hold so dear.

Imagine if you will, you and your family, pull up at a stoplight next to a luxury sedan. You know instantly from the limousine style tinted glass, low profile tires and hydrolics that you are about to be offended. It has happened before. Then just as you had guessed the bass line begins to hit, you can even feel it from your vehicle. Your kids giggle because they think it feels neat. However you know what is coming next, and suddenly your ears are bombarded with lyrics so vile you wish the light would stay red long enough that you could get out of your car and teach those little punks beside you a thing or two about respect.

I've been in this situation as I'm sure you have as well. It might seem like a good idea to put a stop to that expression which is almost undeniably vile. However, every sort of music offends someone, and who is to be the monitor that decides what can be played at what decible. When your Christian music concert is cancelled due to it's offense of the public you may want to reconsider your position.

Again I say. Hold fast to your freedom to be offended. To do otherwise forfeits at very least your freedom of free speech and freedom of religious worship.

Rights

What are your rights as described in the constitution? Do you know them? Could you tell me what protections you are afforded under the Bill of Rights? I'm going to test myself... here we go.

Right to protection from warrantless search and seizure
Right to face my accuser in court
Right to a speedy trial
Right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Right to bear arms
Freedom of speech
Freedom of religious worship

I'm pretty much petering out at this point. I want to ad something about a right to have representation in a governing body, but it doesn't ring a bell. I'm only thinking about adding that because of the way the colonies were upset about "taxation without representation". Let's see how I did.

1. Freedom of Religion (Got it)

2. Right to Bear Arms (Got it)

3. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. ( Missed it)

4. Protection against search and seizure (Got it)

5. Due process (Missed it)

6. Speedy trial and right to face your accusor (Got it)

7. Right to a trial by jury (Missed it)

8. Protection from cruel and unusual punishment (Missed it)

9. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. (Missed it)

10. Resersves powers not granted to the Federal government to the people or states. (Missed it)

4 out 10 That is a failing grade no matter how you look at it. I obviously need to do better when it comes to knowing my rights.

How did you do?

Knowledge shall Increase....

Daniel 12:4

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

I recently read a post on one of my favorite blogs from Shirley Buxton discussing the mixing of human and animal dna to create a new being. This isn't fiction. It is being done.

http://writenow.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/we-have-created-human-animal-embryos/

I don't want to get into the morality of this. Not only will we not change anyones opinion, but we certainly aren't going to change what it being done around the world. The subject of this is whether or not this points to the end times as mentioned in Daniel 12:4.

I'm sure through out the ages every time a technological or mechanical break through was made there was some preacher standing there to point out that this is an indication of the "end times". I don't want to be another Edgar C. Whisenant, (if you don't know who this is, do a quick google search) but I think the over all picture of the last 100 or so years warrants some discussion.

Here is a quick list off the top of my head:

motorized vehicles
electricity
antibiotics
mri imaging
xrays
space travel
plastics
rubber
vaccums
steel
harnessing steam power
air travel
nuclear fission
and my new favorite the toaster oven

This is just a quick list I could obviously go on and that doesn't even include the digital age. As we begin to look at how computers have changed the landscape the knowledge curve only appears to rise at a more dramatic rate.

Through the years sure there have been advancements, but has there been anything on par with the last 100 years. It would seem to me that either foot or horse travel was pretty much the standard with no other options until recently. And the same goes in the medical realm. Most of the major advances have seemed to happen in the last hundred or so years.

Am I claiming a time and date for the coming of the Lord. No. While I can't imagine knowledge growing any faster or farther. It certainly can. Knowledge could continue to grow for hundreds of years... but maybe not.