If any of you watched the CNN/YouTube debate you heard some silly and unimportant questions. I did not watch it but I read and a highlights from many different sources. Now many Republicans are backing out of the debate. Some GOP supporters are telling them not to back out, because that is what the democrats did to the Fox News debate. I think there is a big difference between the two. For one, Fox may lean conservatives, but they would ask intelligent questions and democrats would watch to critique it. For two, I don’t think these people on YouTube were asking questions to get information, I think it was another means to get 15 minutes of fame. Seriously, anyone who has been on YouTube has seen these attention addicted people do the dumbest things. Candidates are extremely busy, would it be more beneficial to do a debate or campaign? Now there is outrage from YouTube viewers. Here is a look at how they represent themselves.

What is with all of the problems in the sports world? First there is of all of the steroid problems in baseball. It got to the point where the federal government wanted to intervene. Then Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was having dog fights (article). Now the NBA has found out one of their referees was gambling on games (article). I know it is not a sport, but even an entertainment wrestler killed his wife and son. You know its bad when ESPN has a poll on their website asking which commissioner is in the worst situation. I think the sport that is hurt the most is the NBA because people are going to be skeptical of their games. It is already obvious that superstar players get calls, but now it is worse. The Vick situation is the worst in regards to levels of morality and is just plain disturbing and I hope he gets punished justly. I don’t think this hurts the NFL as bad. The reputation of the NBA and MLB is tarnished because of referees and a bunch of players using steroids, whereas the NFL just has one individual player who acted foolishly on his on personal time.

Well I was kind of close predicting Wayne Brady. I had the show correct. I think Drew Carey will do alright. It will not be the same whoever took over. I think they should just cancel the show. But, if they are keeping it, I am o.k. with the choice. Article

I know I do not have kids yet, but it is always good to plan on how you will handle certain situations beforehand. Besides, I think everyone who reads this has not encountered the subjects I am about to address and if you have, then you can give some experienced advice.

First, should parents pay for some, all or none of their children’s college education? I have asked a lot of people this and the answers are fairly equal. My wife’s family was able to put here through college. I am using the G.I. Bill. We are happy that we will not have any college loans. We also realize that college is very expensive and who knows how much it will cost our future kid(s). That being said we have decided that when we do have kid(s) that we would start a college savings plan like a 529. So my answer would be to help as much as you can. We brought them into this world, we are responsible for giving them opportunities to succeed.

Secondly, what role do parents play in courtship and marriage? It seems today that the norm is to date as many people you can then when you get serious you better live together for a couple years just to make sure. People are shocked when I tell them that my wife and I did not live together before we were married. We didn’t have long lists of ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends either. I am not trying to portray myself as righteous, I am saying that this way does work. Anyway, back to the question, I think parents should play a large role in their children’s dating life. Call me old fashion, but if parents were more involved in their children’s lives it would definitely reduce teenage pregnancy and abortion. Parents need to stop trying to be friends and act more like parents.

For the last week or so, I have been listening to podcasts from various people. I found this website http://www.oneplace.com/ , it lets you download Christian broadcasts. I especially enjoy listening to John MacArthur. I also have been listening to a man named Gary DeMar. I chose him because I like how he specifically targets religion and politics. He talks about a modern society through a Biblical worldview. It is refreshing when you go to a public university that bombards you with humanism, feminism and promotes no absolutes. However, as I was listening today to his most recent podcast, he proudly shared his opinion on eschatology. While he did this he criticized dispensationalism and premillennialism, two ideals that I firmly believe in. He furthermore went on to criticize people that I respect such as, John MacArthur, Tim LaHaye, and Norman Geislser. Well LaHaye only in regards to eschatology. I appreciate his openness and to not shy away from deep yet important issues like some others do. I am actually glad that I now know where he stands and respect him for that. But, this is where the dilemma is. Should I continue listening to his broadcast? Should I screen the topics? After considering everything, I decided to not listen anymore. There is not a shortage of broadcasts that coincide with my beliefs. I have heard the other side and made a decision to follow the ideas of dispensationalism and premillenialsim. I do not have hard feelings towards him it is simply a disagreement. One that is important enough to not support his program. There are other agreements we share. For example, we both are concerned about the direction of Christian books, the rise of fiction and less focus on academia. But then again he takes it too far and we disagree again. He is against Veggie Tales. He referred to it as “Jesus junk”. I know that you will never agree with someone’s views 100%, but you have to decide what is important and where the lines are drawn.

Is Michigan that bad? Consider other states such as Pennsylvania who partial shut down their government. They could not agree on a budget plan and they have a $650 million surplus (article). Michigan has a deficit and agreed on a budget plan. Well not really, they agreed to barrow money and figure the problem out later.

In addition to Pennsylvania, Republicans in Illinois are trying to impeach their governor (article). Yes impeach, Illinois law permits impeachment of governors.
So in my opinion, Michigan is still worse. Unfortunately, Michigan suffers from both of these problems. A legislature that cannot agree and a governor who cannot lead

Is Family Christian Bookstore different or just another Hallmark store? I was very displeased when they started opening on Sundays. I wrote them a letter and received a very weak answer. That is not the only issue I have. I receive vouchers as a rewards program from one of my credit card. I had a lot of points because I used it for my tuition. My wife and I were both looking for specific items. She was looking for a devotional and I was looking for a book on church history. They had a very limited selection of devotionals and I could not find one book on church history. She decided to get a decorative item that was 50% off. I got a book by John MacArthur and a pocket size concordance. The price of what my wife got was $20 and it was half off so it was $10. When we got home we noticed that the previous price was $14.99. So we were not saving as much money as we thought. I thought this was a deceiving act and would not expect this from such a store. In addition, with their limited selection of devotionals and no books on church history, we noticed the store was filled with fiction books, charismatic books, and music cds. No joke, there were 12 Joyce Meyer books just on the end cap. I would encourage the people of Family Christian Bookstore to conform to better practices. Other businessmen have been successful doing so, such as David Green of Hobby Lobby and S. Truet Cathy of Chic Fil A. Both of their stores are closed on Sundays. Here is an article ranking Christian entrepreneurs. I guess from now on if I want certain books I will have to go to http://www.christianbook.com/.

I found another article about atheist books being best sellers. Dennis Prager, (who I am not familiar with, He is a conservative writer for Townhall.com, but I not sure about his religious beliefs) lists reasons he believes is the cause of the atheism movement. He starts with the wave of Islam into our country and the extremism that has occurred around the world. This is a key issue for non-believers to wonder why God allows bad things to happen. Secondly, is the secular indoctrination that is occurring in public schools. Secular educational institutions have completely separated themselves from God with the help of their advocate the ACLU. Lastly, Prager suggests that even some Christian sects have moved away from fundamental doctrinal practices. I think Prager is accurate with his assessment. There are other factors, but I think these are the main ones. Americans have to be cautious with tolerance with regards to eastern religions. I say this not to pick on certain faiths, but they go against the principles of this country.

There is no doubt we are in a cultural war. The original article I wanted to use for this topic is from a paid subscription to World Magazine. However, I did find a similar article. It was brought to my attention that anti-Christian books written by atheists are filling up the best sellers list. People are making a name for themselves by writing these books. One of the more popular ones is “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” by Christopher Hitchens. It is frightening to see the success that has been made by atheists. It makes me wonder how fast America is turning away from God. The first part of Psalm 33:12 says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”. This is very important. I am not an expert, but I have read some books for classes and written papers on Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli and other political philosophers’ view of a perfect polity. What I have learned especially on our form of government, a representative republic from reading the federalists and anti-federalists papers was that morality is an important factor. Actually, morality plays an important role in any form of government. Starting with the state of nature, which is no government. Thomas Hobbes believes that man needs a form of government to establish and enforce laws. Laws are formed on morality. Whether it is the morality of a monarch, aristocracy, or democracy. Our laws are pretty close to those of the Bible, for the most part. We need to stick to these Biblical principals. Isaiah warns of people who will confuse moral distinctions. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, an good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” The battle is real and there are only two sides. I will end with 2 Timothy 2:3-4 “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”