World Aids Day 2008

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Every year, we set aside December 1st to observe World Aids Day.  On this 20th Anniversary, South Africa marked the day with 15 minutes of silence in an effort to combat the spread of HIV. South Africa has over 5.5 million cases of HIV and AIDS, the largest percentage in the world.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). By killing or damaging cells of the body’s immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body’s ability to fight infections and certain cancers.

Over one million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS today. Worldwide, the figure is over 33 million. Effective HIV care—including antiretroviral drug therapies and regular access to primary health care—can help people manage their HIV disease and live longer.  While AIDS is primarily associated with the homosexual population in the United States, it is primarily (95%) a heterosexual disease in the rest of the world.

The Christian response must be loving and compassionate. We must do something more than open our Bibles, denounce sexual immorality and hurry down the street. In Africa, AIDS is a modern leprosy. Christians are required to express God’s loving mercy. While it is easy to selectively denounce sin in others, it makes Christians, and Jesus appear unloving to those with AIDS as well as those in the gay/lesbian community. We are all broken and require grace in light of our sin. (1 Timothy 1:9-11)

Take a moment to pray. Then rise from your knees and take action. Any action. Make a donation. Visit a hospital. Comfort a family.

Do something to express the love of Jesus to individuals and families afflicted by AIDS and HIV.

ESV Study Bible

ESV Study Bible – Last Day to Register

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Today is the last day to register for and ESV Study Bible. You can enter by subscribing to the RSS feed via email. Enter your subscription here today for your chance to win. There are 37 entries so far.

The ESV Study Bible was created to help people understand the Bible in a deeper way–to understand the timeless truth of God’s Word as a powerful, compelling, life-changing reality. To accomplish this, the ESV Study Bible combines the best and most recent evangelical Christian scholarship with the highly regarded ESV Bible text. The result is the most comprehensive study Bible ever published–with 2,752 pages of extensive, accessible Bible resources.

I am still working out the details on how to do the drawing. Leave a comment on what you think is the best way. I have considered:

  1. Assign everyone a number and use a random number generator
  2. Put the names on a wheel and spin
  3. The tried and true, but boring, pull a name out of a hat.

Let me know what you think.

There are more details on the entry at Win a New ESV Study Bible.

Blessings,

Dr.B

Ted Stevens Takes a Hike

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After 40 years of corrupt, greedy pork-stuffing, Alaska Senator (Rep) has finally been defeated.

It’s about time. Neither political parties nor local constituents benefit from dishonest leadership. Christians especially have the responsibility to hold politicians to a high standard of integrity regardless of their political affiliation.

Take a hike Ted.

More resources here and here and here.

Freedom to Kill Act

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Barack Obama has promised to sign the Freedom of Choice to Kill Act. Anyone concerned with the rights of babies, parents, taxpayers and local governments should work to defeat this legislation.

FOCA Would Wipe Away Every Restriction on Abortion Nationwide

This would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

  • Bans on Partial Birth #Abortion
  • Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
  • Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
  • Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter’s abortion

FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

Catholic Bishops, Boomer and Gianna Jessen have articles worth reviewing.

I have the video for Gianna’s story you will want to watch.

The Myth of Clintonomics

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People that will not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat the mistakes and fail to take advantage of the wise choices.

The Obama Administration is confusing correlation and causation when it come to the Clinton tax hikes. Obama does not realize that the economy grew in spite of the policies not because of them.

Someone should remind the incoming President of the explosion of technology that took place from 1990-1995. This growth was a tidal wave. Clinton’s #taxes did not cause it but neither could they stop it. Unless America experiences another such serendipity, the Obama tax plan will plunge the country into a dark depression.

President-elect Obama says he’s modeling his recovery plan on Clintonomics because it pulled the economy out of a ditch last decade. But that’s an old myth – and a dangerous one at that.”

“I’ve got an economic plan similar to Bill Clinton’s,” Obama has said, including tax hikes on the rich and Keynesian pump-priming, among other new government spending.

He rationalizes that Clinton raised taxes during a recession, and look what happened — average wages went up, along with economic growth and the stock market. And eventually the Treasury reported surpluses after decades of deficits.

The bull market took off precisely when then-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan took his foot off the brakes and hit the gas in 1995. It was also then that Republicans took control of Congress — further blunting the effects of the Clinton tax torpedo that had taken effect the previous year.

Clinton also benefitted from innovations long in the making, including the Pentium chip released in March 1993 and Microsoft’s Windows program released in August 1995. These together made the Internet boom possible.

As for the budget surpluses, they came as a complete surprise to Clinton economic forecasters, whose static models only predicted their tax hikes on the rich would narrow the budget gap, not get it into the black.

Their “deficit-reduction plan” didn’t create the surpluses at all. They were a direct result of a tidal wave of capital-gains revenues generated by the GOP-led stock boom.

Investor’s Business Daily has the entire article.

Malkin, Right Voices, and Hot Air have good articles on taxes.

WordPress Themes Contest

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If you have been blogging long, you realize that there are thousands of themes on the Internet and many of them look and work much the same. Premium WordPress themes cost between $50 and $100 and seem a bit pricey for many personal bloggers.

BlogOHblog is having a contest that will be giving away 10 premium themes worth over $700.

Take a look at their site for some great themes.

What is a Meme and Why do I care?

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Barry Wallace wrote an article on his blog, Who Am I? that got my attention. It seems to include the Internet version of “Tag. You’re It.” It is a blog meme. While I had a foggy notion of the concept of a meme, I was not well versed in the details. My first experience with a meme came from David at Boomer in the Pew (see the article below).

Apparently, for Book Meme, the plan is to pick up the nearest book when you read this post. Done. I selected “The 267 Stupidest Things Republicans/Democrats Ever Said.” (267 each by the way). Now turn to page 123.

Oops! Only 120 pages. So I tried “The Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel. Page 123. Got it. Find the 5th sentence and post the following three sentences.

Geisler was well-aquainted with the issue. “The presupposition of your question is wrong,” Geisler replied. “These are not small innocent children.”

Having anticipated his repsponse, I pulled out a photocopy of the passage and thrust it in his direction. “Yes they were,” I retorted. “Look right here,” I said, pointing to the words.  “It says ‘little children.'”

Geisler glanced briefly at the page, immediately recognizing its source. “Unfortunately, the King James Version has a misleading translation there,” he said. (I know this is more than 3 sentences but this is my blog and I can do what I want.)

I am beginning to feel like this is one of those journey’s where you solve one riddle only to find the next clue and another riddle.

Having completed this step I am now responsible to “keep the chain” going. I am so glad it did not say something like “If you break the chain every starving child in the world will stare at you on Judgment Day. So, I select 5 people to “tag” and send them the challenge.

I am instructed to post their names and blogs here so that you may hold them accountable. It also is good way to promote blogs of friends and give them a little ‘link love.’

Here they are

Brian at Brian Cuban

Bob at Judge Right

Larry at My Take

Twana at American Truths

Eric at Self-Composed

These are all folks that I exchange blog info with. I am subscribed to each one in my RSS feed and actually read their blogs daily (well, almost daily) BTW, I read Barry’s blog too.

I encourage you to take a look at each of these blogs and become a regular visitor.

Task complete. This was fun.

Time to rest now. Right after I go to the gym.

Blessings!