“Only nine months ago, when he addressed an estimated 200,000 people in Germany, Barack Obama was heralded as “president of the world.” But now that he's president of the United States, the world doesn't appear to be following up on its endorsement. From France to Poland, from the Czech Republic to China, many nations are rebuffing the president and offering little wiggle room for him to negotiate economic and security policies” [FNN]
Anyone who was paying the slightest attention to President Bush’s eight years in office will remember that one of the common cries from the political Left was that Bush was destroying America’s reputation around the world. This was primarily applied to the former President’s War on Terror, even going so far as to say that America was creating terrorists because of our actions.
Which is why when I read the comments from world leaders linked in the above article, I find it ironic that Obama is now the one the world has no room for warm fuzzies. This means that Obama's honeymoon is ovuh, and I can't help but smile at this. Let me quickly remind the reader that we’re the most powerful nation in the world, the United States of America. We are the big kid on the block. It shouldn’t surprise us that we receive the most attention and criticism from even Western nations. However, even the more Socialist-leaning Europe is startled at our current President’s economic plans. France’s President Sarkozy stated, “We consider that in Europe we have already invested a lot for the recovery, and that the problem is not about spending more, but putting in place a system of regulation so that the economic and financial catastrophe that the world is seeing does not reproduce itself.”
You know something? Sarkozy is absolutely right. Europe has spent a lot; too much (the tendency of Socialists and other liberals). But European leaders have enough sense to know that when the United States spends more money on a stimulus package than Socialists do, that kind of a stimulus package could be disastrous. So much for Americans gaining the respect of the world =). For goodness’ sake, we have China lecturing us on economics.
Michael Medved commented on his radio talk-show this week that he believes former President Bush did spend too much money. He increased the national deficit, increased spending and increased government overall. Aside from his tax-cuts, most people believe that Bush was a disappointment towards his economic policies. So why would Obama, who wants to increase the national deficit, increase spending and increase government – each to a much greater extent – be considered a good solution to our problem? In other words, Bush is partly at fault for our economic woes. Why then would Obama, who is doing more of the same ol’ same ol’ work out differently? This is an important question that ought to be considered by Obama’s administration.
One thing’s for sure, it’ll be an interesting four years =)
Case of Base
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sweet and Elderly ... Socialists!
T’other day I had the pleasure of meeting a married couple, probably in their mid 70’s, at my favorite local coffee shop. The older gentleman first introduced himself to me and we hit it off right away. He turned out to be an absolutely charming fellow who struck me as one who enjoys a good conversation. And so we conversed.
Our topics for discussion flowed naturally from their world travels, life experiences, until the inevitable was bound to come up in a conversation like this one: the current recession. It only took one, maybe two sentences out of each of our mouths to realize where the other was coming from. Both the older gentleman and his lovely wife were amazed that someone as young as I am was not more liberal than they were.
I took the opportunity to politely mention that I believe that “in many cases less government involvement, specifically aimed at Social welfare, can accomplish more of the same things that everybody wants.”
Sweet Old Man: “You know … in Germany they have a safety net for people to fall back on, and they absolutely love it.”
Casey: “I understand where you’re coming from, and the European perspective on things, but while Socialism sounds wonderful it just doesn’t compare with Capitalistic free-market societies.”
Sweet Old Lady: “You sound like a Republican.” [Said to be a bit insulting, but was not crossing any lines =)]
Casey: “Actually, I am a registered Republican, but I am far more conservative than the Republican Party, especially when it comes to moral and fiscal concerns.”
Sweet Old Man: “Well, it appears we’ll have to agree to disagree.”
Casey: “That’s the remarkable thing about democratic forms of government: the option to have disagreement with the government. Would you agree the same cannot be descriptive of purely Socialistic societies?”
Sweet Old Man: [With a twinkle in his eye and a brilliant smile] “You’re a clever one.”
From there we moved on to discuss other things, but I was astounded that such sweet people who enjoy luxuries like world travel would endorse Socialism. I’m finding more and more folks are open to Socialism … even Marxism! It seems to me that people are fearful of openly affirming Capitalism and free-market economies. Whenever I mention the subject of an increase in taxes people’s heads seem to turn the other way, as though they would rather not think about it.
Conversations like this one cause me to be thankful and to count my blessings, because we do live in the greatest nation in the world with more freedoms than any other people group.
Rustoleum
Our topics for discussion flowed naturally from their world travels, life experiences, until the inevitable was bound to come up in a conversation like this one: the current recession. It only took one, maybe two sentences out of each of our mouths to realize where the other was coming from. Both the older gentleman and his lovely wife were amazed that someone as young as I am was not more liberal than they were.
I took the opportunity to politely mention that I believe that “in many cases less government involvement, specifically aimed at Social welfare, can accomplish more of the same things that everybody wants.”
Sweet Old Man: “You know … in Germany they have a safety net for people to fall back on, and they absolutely love it.”
Casey: “I understand where you’re coming from, and the European perspective on things, but while Socialism sounds wonderful it just doesn’t compare with Capitalistic free-market societies.”
Sweet Old Lady: “You sound like a Republican.” [Said to be a bit insulting, but was not crossing any lines =)]
Casey: “Actually, I am a registered Republican, but I am far more conservative than the Republican Party, especially when it comes to moral and fiscal concerns.”
Sweet Old Man: “Well, it appears we’ll have to agree to disagree.”
Casey: “That’s the remarkable thing about democratic forms of government: the option to have disagreement with the government. Would you agree the same cannot be descriptive of purely Socialistic societies?”
Sweet Old Man: [With a twinkle in his eye and a brilliant smile] “You’re a clever one.”
From there we moved on to discuss other things, but I was astounded that such sweet people who enjoy luxuries like world travel would endorse Socialism. I’m finding more and more folks are open to Socialism … even Marxism! It seems to me that people are fearful of openly affirming Capitalism and free-market economies. Whenever I mention the subject of an increase in taxes people’s heads seem to turn the other way, as though they would rather not think about it.
Conversations like this one cause me to be thankful and to count my blessings, because we do live in the greatest nation in the world with more freedoms than any other people group.
Rustoleum
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Gospel of Peace
It happened my sophomore year of high school. I was very interested in dating a Roman Catholic girl I knew from the school band, until one day we began sharing our religious experiences. She was utterly baffled by the concept of my being “saved” as a past-tense, once-for-all time event. You can be sure I was equally surprised by her lack of understanding, and her questioning the fact that a person can be certain of their salvation in this life.
Years later, and with the help of some solid Christian reading material, I came to the realization that the differences between what I believe about the gospel and what Roman Catholicism believes about the gospel actually means that they are two different gospels.
Roman Catholicism has been on my brain for the past few weeks due to the fact that God has provided me the opportunity to discuss our differences with a few Roman Catholic friends. Two issues have remained at the epicenter of our discussions, and were the topics I was hoping for: Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.
To prepare for these discussions (which are still ongoing), I re-read a few books on the subject, and was reminded again by the stark contrast between my gospel and the gospel of
“The reason for the uncertainty of the state of grace lies in this, that without a special revelation nobody can with certainty of faith know whether or not he has fulfilled all the conditions that are necessary for achieving justification” (Ott, Ludwig. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. Pg. 262.
Did you catch all that? Without a special revelation from God a faithful Roman Catholic cannot have certainty that he has completed all the conditions for attaining a right-standing before God. Contrast that with Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NASB). How is a sinful person justified? By faith. Is it by works at all? The Bible is very clear that a sinner’s justification before God has absolutely nothing to do with works: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28, NASB). This is as close a statement expressing the exact sentiment of “Faith Alone” as you will find in the New Testament.
Peace with God; every sinful creature is in desperate need of this. If a gospel (good news) does not provide peace, then it is not really good news at all, is it? I would submit to you that the gospel of
On Wednesday nights, I share the privilege of teaching the junior high class at my church. It took about 3 years, but we finally worked our way through Paul’s letter to the Romans. If they remember nothing else from Romans, I hope my students remember the doctrine of justification by faith alone that I pounded into their heads each week. If so, the entire three years will have been worthwhile. I agree with Martin Luther who said that the church stands or falls on the doctrine of Justification.
A question I will be asking my Roman Catholic friends is, whether they can call themselves the blessed man that Paul speaks about in Romans 4:6-8? I believe that the one firmly trusting in the gospel of Peace is able to make this claim with confidence, resting on the finished work of the perfect Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ.
Thanks for reading,
Rusty
Our Little Corner of Cyberspace
Welcome to our little corner of cyberspace. If you’ve made it this far more than likely you have a personal connection with either myself or one of the other contributors to this blog. I have been a denizen of the Blogosphere since 2003 but have found myself slacking in the realm of creating substantive posts. I thought I would pull a TeamPyro, along with many others, and create a new blog with multiple authors to keep the content flowing and the discussion more interesting.
What you should expect to find here are topics primarily focused on … whatever is on our hearts and minds at that time =). Since the three of us share a likeminded faith, you will undoubtedly see topics about true religion, apologetics, politics and social issues. Other quirky subjects like sports and personal updates will find its way as caffeinated-musings.
… Suppose I should mention that along with myself, Scott, Mark and Eli will be my partners in crime as we stumble our way through the perils of the Blogosphere. If I may take a moment to brag about each of these gentlemen, you will hopefully gain a glimpse of my excitement to start this writing project with them. Scott has been my best friend since junior high, and has turned into a brilliant writer. His ability to string words together to communicate his thoughts and ideas is an art form. He is currently working on his first fiction novel, to which I look forward to reading (maybe he’ll let me proof-read sometime? =)). Mark is another close friend and shines best when he is considering and communicating what is most passionate to him. He is one of the men I trust to go to gain a better understanding of the Scriptures. I can honestly say that I regularly learn from him. Last, but certainly not least, is my good friend Eli. Eli and I met at Starbucks years ago, and it was Eli who first introduced me to coffee, believe it or not. The first thing I noticed about Eli is that he is a man powerful in the Scriptures. I will never forget the day he walked me through Ephesians 1:13-15 and made sense of it for me. He has been a partner in the gospel with me, and I am excited to work with him in this.
Each of us is looking forward to getting started, as Mark said it best, “I have a lot to say; this will be perfect!” My hope is that this blog will be an encouragement to our audience, a challenge to differing perspectives, and above all: God-honoring. We welcome your interaction in the form of comments and emails. Please, don’t be shy.
In the words of Calvin: “Every day I have to get up and go to school. Nothing ever changes. It’s just school, school, school. But not today. Today, I go for the gusto.” (Watterson, Bill. The Indispensible Calvin and Hobbes. Missouri: Universal Press, 1992).
I’m with Calvin on this one.
Rusty
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