Update of the NY gay marriage situation

I posted something yesterday about NY state passing regulations mandating that homosexual marriages occurring in other states be recognized as equal with legal heterosexual marriages. The following statement clarifies that this is in essence an unparalleled executive order from the governor. He is bypassing the legislature which just recently rejected a gay marriage bill. This paragraph is from a Family Research Council email update:

In New York, the judicial branch may have some competition in the race to redefine marriage. Gov. David Paterson (D), Eliot Spitzer's replacement, is inventing new policymaking powers for the executive office by issuing a statewide directive that same-sex "marriages" performed in other jurisdictions will be recognized in New York. Announced the day before California's Supreme Court ruling, the sweeping decision will impact as many as 1,300 rules and regulations "governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses." Under the order, same-sex couples who reside or work in New York will receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. Paterson described the decision as "a strong step toward marriage equality," instead of what it truly is--an attempt to circumvent the legislature and propel the state closer to gay "marriage" without voters' consent. Under Spitzer, a bill was introduced to legalize homosexual unions, but it never passed New York's Republican-led Senate. Paterson's office sees this as the next best thing. Although the order is the first of its kind in the U.S., other left-leaning governors will almost certainly follow suit. If you're a New York resident, please express your outrage by contacting Paterson's office at 518-474-8390 or by emailing him at http://161.11.121.121/govemail.

Homosexual Marriage is being Forced on America

There is a certain portion of our nation with an aggressive agenda to force acceptance of homosexuality upon us.

A week or so ago the California Supreme Court overturned the California referendum banning gay marriage. A solid majority of the people had voted for the ban. The LA Times reports,

In 2000, 61% of California voters approved a ballot measure, Proposition 22, that said "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California."(read article)

Now the court said that the ban was unconstitutional. The same LA Times article states,

In a 4-3 decision, the justices rule that people have a fundamental 'right to marry' the person of their choice and that gender restrictions violate the state Constitution's equal protection guarantee

Isn't it interesting that all this is happening at the same time that the nation is outraged about polygamists in Texas where teen girls are married to older men. Don't get me wrong, I'm outraged about polygamist marriage and child abuse, but I don't understand why the crowd that supports gay marriage and other perversions of morality should be so upset. Since the obvious and normal, not to mention moral definition of marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman, and since they have declared that normal definition obsolete, what is there to stop other kinds of marriages from being accepted. There is no reason why in twenty years the courts won't declare marriage between a mother and her son to be legal, between a mother and her daughter, between a man and his dog. As long as it is consensual, there will be those who argue for twelve year olds to marry their grandfathers. The naysayers will say I'm being absurd, but then everyone in America would have said that the possibility of gay marriage being legal was absurd just twenty years ago.

The bottom line is this: In the absence of some acknowledged moral authority to govern our lives, right and wrong boils down to the weak compulsions of the flesh, majority decision in the voting booth, and personal opinions of appointed judges. Who do I want as my moral authority, a bunch of atheist judges who hate God and don't believe the Bible, or the authority of God and the Bible itself? I'll take God's Word.

The courts of the state of New York have declared gay marriage illegal. This has not in the least slowed the agenda of the pro gay movement. This article yesterday informs us that while the state can not perform gay marriages, it will be illegal to not recognize the gay marriage performed in another location. The article starts as follows:

Same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere will be recognized in New York in response to a state court ruling this year, Gov. David Paterson's spokeswoman said Wednesday.

State agencies, including those governing insurance and health care, must immediately change policies and regulations to make sure "spouse," "husband" and "wife" are clearly understood to include gay couples, according to a memo sent earlier this month from the governor's counsel.

Gay marriage is not legal in New York, and the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, has said it can only be legalized by the Legislature. But the memo, based on a Feb. 1 New York Appellate Division court ruling, would recognize the marriages of New Yorkers who are legally wed elsewhere.

So, while gay marriage is illegal in the state, a state agency will be breaking the law if they fail to recognize a gay marriage from another state and give health and insurance and other benefits to that couple. Presumably a person refusing to obey this court made law could face loss of job, fines, or who knows, maybe imprisonment! Something is vastly inconsistent and wrong when the state declares the marriage illegal but punishes those who fail the recognize the validity of it.

Well, Fight the Good Fight of Faith.

What's on my mind?

What's on my mind today? Well I've just been reading the news and am getting an overwhelming feeling of being overrun by a giant machine. The machine is one of beliefs which are basically antithetical to mine. It's Darwinisms, humanism, atheism, . . . homosexuality, partial birth abortion, rising teen pregnancy rates, and materialism. I'd like to comment on all these things based on articles in the news lately. Hopefully soon.

Keep fighting the good fight!
Forward Ever, Backward Never

Expelled the Movie

You won't hear me promoting very many movies. I'm not exactly promoting this one either, but it might be about the best thing in theaters in ... O.... about the last 50 years. I don't think it is in any way promoting Biblical Christianity. However, it is a documentary which wages war on one of Biblical Christianities greatest opponents - Evolution. The documentary is about how scientists and academics who dare to question Darwinism are "Expelled". In other words they are fired, denied tenure, denied publication, denied credibility. To the degree that it informs our public of the facts and creates an environment of free discussion as opposed to the blind lies taught our children concerning evolution, it could be a good thing. I'm not telling you to go to the movies, but if you just have to waste ten or fifteen bucks this weekend on a movie, waste it on this one... then let me know what you think because as interesting as this thing sounds to me, I won't be going.
Check out trailers here http://www.expelledthemovie.com/

Global temps down!

I'm not going to try to hide this, I believe that the "global warming" hysteria is a bunch of political hype. Over the past few years I've read just about every article I've come across on the topic and it is clear to me that, at the very least, there are serious problems with the theory (being taught as fact - like evolution) that we are in a man made catastrophic global warming trend.

As I've stated previously, the biggest reason I'm not concerned about global destruction from global warming and ice melt is that I already know how the earth ends. Actually, it does end with global warming, but it is instantaneous burning up of the heavens and earth. However, according to my understanding of the Bible we are at least a millennium away from that.

Could God use or allow global warming to harm many people on the earth? Absolutely! But from the evidence of many, many, many scientists the globe is not warming because of man made intervention. I've got a collection of articles saved which point out the impact of the sun (sun spots), water current patterns, and wind patterns, among other things. Many world renowned scientists are writing about the impact of these things upon weather and temperatures. I'll be highlighting these from time to time.

What is interesting is the way those promoting the industry of "global warming hysteria" to the public and our children spin facts when it is convenient for them. They simply explain away the facts. Here is an article that came up today from the BBC News science department. (see it here).

First the article admits that the globe peaked in temperature in 1998. Then he tells us that the total global increase has been about 0.74 C this past century, but he then says that this year will only be about 0.4 C warmer than the average of 1961-1990. Now it seems to me that he is saying that we increased by 0.74 C, but are now only up 0.4 C. So we have had a net gain of .34 and the trend is moving back down.

He then gives a scientific explanation for the increase. He says that La Nina is to blame for this cooling. La Nina is a Pacific ocean current which has significant historical effects on cooling. Places like China have had record breaking cold this year because of La Nina.

Now let's think, the increase for the whole last half century, which has the world in hysterics, was 0.74 C, and La Nina, an ocean current cooled the whole earth by 0.34 C in one year. Is there really that big of a problem? Add to this some of the studies being done by real scientists on the impact of sun spots and other factors and I think we can all relax.

Despite the fact that the author of the above article essentially agrees with what I've just said, he ends by stating that he is confident that we are still in a warming trend and that in five years we will likely see record high temperatures. But of course he offers no science for that personal opinion.

Let me add this. While I think that there are numerous problems surrounding this issue, I do believe that as wise stewards of the planet, we should seek the most economic, clean, and safe means of energy possible. But remember, God gave it to us to be used.

Great weekend

We had a work day at church on Saturday morning. A great bunch of guys and one gal came out to clear the overgrowth from the hedges along the church.

There was one pyromaniac in the group.
This is Jack McHale and this is a normal situation--sitting at my kitchen table with a fork and a smile. Jack has been a good friend and faithful servant with us in the ministry for many years.
One of his ministries is web master for our church web page. He only keeps the job because he really likes having "master" attached to his name. Gives him a feeling of power.

Church Teen Game Night

Tonight I had the privilege of driving a group of teens from our church up to a game night at the Independent Bible Church of Duryea. It was a great night of fun and fellowship with believers. The kids played battle ball and relay games for about an hour and fifteen minutes and then had snacks. The evening ended with a few songs and a great message from my pastor, Dr. Al Cremard. He preached from Galatians 6 on sowing and reaping. I didn't take notes but I believe the four main points were 1) We reap what we sow. 2) We reap more than we sow. 3) We reap the same kind of fruit as sown. 4) We can't stop the process of reaping what we have sown. He then illustrated the truths with four true stories. Great night. I think our kids had a good time too.

A few pics of the kids tonight.

Here is Pastor Cremard, my pastor and the primary pastoral influence
in my adolescent and adult life.

Johnny Rivera, an excellent man all the way around, a growing Christian, and a good friend.
He has a real desire to serve God along with his family and they have been tremendous blessings to me. Johnny has recently been used of God in bringing two people to knowledge of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Society working to destroy our kids purity

The following is part of an email news item I received from the Family Research Council (frc.org). It simply points out the wholesale mis-use of information prominent in our world. A study which says that condoms don't help protect from disease in a very reliable way is used to say just the opposite. (emphasis added is mine)

So much for truth in advertising! A full-page ad in major newspapers today sponsored by the Trojan company is loaded with misinformation about the effectiveness of condoms in preventing disease. The page leads off with the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) latest report about the number of teens (one in four) who are infected with an STD. "America is not a sexually healthy nation," the text warns. "We should evolve the way we approach sexual health in our country." Not surprisingly, the company's solution to the problem is supplying more of their product, which the ad implies would help eliminate diseases such as the human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes, and trichomoniasis. Trojan and their liberal sex education allies are out to persuade Americans that condoms make sex "safe." Not so, says the very government agency that Trojan quotes in its ad. On HPV, the CDC's official position on condom efficacy is entirely contrary to Trojan's. In its report to Congress, the agency plainly states, "The available scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend condoms as a primary prevention strategy for the prevention of genital HPV prevention." While condoms may reduce the risk of chlamydia, herpes, and other diseases, it cannot eliminate the risk. Teenagers may be half as likely to contract various STDs if they use condoms correctly, but the problem is that few of them do. It's an established medical fact that teenagers' correct and consistent condom usage is much lower than adults', and the effectiveness of the contraception decreases even more as a result. Beyond disease, condoms are not even a reliable method for reducing teen pregnancy. About one in every five teens using condoms becomes pregnant within one year, according to the National Survey of Family Growth. Condoms are incapable of providing the protection Trojan claims they do. Once again, the industry is proving that it cares more about profit than prevention. It continues to astound me that our society is willing to tell kids to abstain from the dangers of drinking or smoking but not premarital sex. If America is truly committed to disease prevention, and the emotional well-being of our teens, then we must be committed to abstinence--the only method that works 100% of the time.

Lord, have mercy on our kids.

Getting Started

This will be my third attempt at starting a blog. We'll see how it goes. My goal here is to toss out ideas and thoughts about things that impact our lives and things which may effect Christians in the world today. However, you may find items here for a simple laugh. I may direct readers to articles or news sources, or I may quote from them and comment on them. As long as comments remain clean and appropriate I will leave the option for replies open. Please feel free to respond.