Women in Combat...it is finally here!

"The civil law, as well as nature herself, has always recognized a wide difference in the respective spheres and destinies of man and woman. Man is, or should be, woman’s protector and defender. (Bradwell v. Illinois, U.S. Supreme Court, 1873)
The Air Force Times, in reporting on the story, explained:
The Defense Department should eliminate restrictions on women serving in combat units and end all ‘gender restrictive policies,’ according to a blue-ribbon panel created by Congress. The move would end the military’s long tradition of all-male combat units and open up career fields like infantry and armor to ‘qualified women.’ . . .

What is being proposed by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission is reprehensible to God’s moral order. It is horrendous, and it must be opposed."

To read this entire article by Doug Phillips, go to Vision Forum.

Glorying In Our Shame

"Things that used to be shameful are now glorious. Pick something that would have been shocking during Laura Ingalls Wilder's day and see how tame and commonplace, even lauded, it is now. Out of wedlock births? Abortion? An entitlement mentality? A victimhood status? Foul language? Serial marriage? You name it and we're glorifying it. No longer are these "lifestyle choices" something to be embarrassed about. Instead, they are actively embraced and celebrated. Wheee."
Read this entire awesome article by Patrice Lewis over at WND.

The Pulpit is Responsible

World Net Daily
by Dave Welch
Posted: February 10, 20091:00 am Eastern© 2009

For thousands of years, prophets, priests and pastors have served as the voice of spiritual, moral, cultural and governmental accountability to the laws and sovereignty of God. The clergy during the colonial era were known as the "Black Regiment" and were feared by the British for their role in birthing the fire of freedom. Pastors like Lyman Beecher, Charles Finney and hundreds of others among their peers stirred the flames of abolition, temperance and racial justice.

We could list columns of names and situations of those filling pulpits who took responsibility for the condition of their flock, their community and their nation. However, beginning sometime in the last 100 years, a new "Gnosticism" asserted itself, an old heresy asserting that only the spiritual has value and that all things physical are evil.

As Christian historian Timothy Paul Jones describes the distinction exposing the lie of Gnosticism, "For Christians, salvation isn't a spiritual retreat from the physical realm; it is a renewal that unites and restores both realms." Our salvation brings hope for redemption to every aspect of the physical creation and created order.

From the first century Christians on, the Cultural Mandate given by God to his stewards in Genesis was accepted to mean that everything on earth is under God's sovereignty, under our stewardship, and therefore "our business." As false teachings crept in over the last century, the church moved into a sacred-versus-secular separation that opened the door wide for many kinds of evil to triumph.

In "The Late, Great Evangelical Church," by C. Vaughn Doner, nationally renowned theologian, and biblical scholar Dr. Jay Grimstead, the authors state, "The studied creedlessnes of American Protestantism … its ignorance of the teaching of Scripture, its preoccupation with millennialism, its anti-sacramental and anti-ecclesiastical bias are all indicators of an essentially Gnostic worldview."
Does it really matter as long as we "preach Jesus crucified and rose again"?
Thankfully, there are many pastors and theologians who would say there is much more to Christianity than just preaching the salvation message, doing Bible studies and waiting for the rapture. Among them was legendary evangelist of the first Great Awakening, Charles G. Finney, who wrote in "The Decay of Conscience" in 1873:

"Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation."

The birth and growth of myriad Christ-based social betterment ministries like Prison Fellowship, Samaritan's Purse and thousands of others in recent decades is certainly positive and have produced a veritable explosion of street-level work to serve great needs in His name. Most evangelical pastors now accept the premise that we should take care of the hurting and needy among both church and community – although we could do it much better.

How are we doing if we really accept, dissect and apply Rev. Finney's statement, and measure our nation today in the categories of:

-Immorality prevailing in the land;
-Decay of conscience – reprobate minds;
-Lack of public moral discretion – moral relativism;
-A degenerate (worldly) church;
-Decreasing interest in biblical Christianity by the churched and unchurched;
-Satan dominating halls of legislation; and
-Corrupt politics threatening the foundations of government.

We are sick, and the pulpits are largely at fault. It is certainly not because we lack great pulpiteers, personalities and promoters. What, then, is the root problem? Or, like the old commercial of a national fast food franchise, "Where's the beef?"

Pastors must get back to putting the call to make disciples and teach the people "all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20) ahead of church as usual. Preach the unvarnished Word of God rather than telling stories salted with a few Scriptures. Will it empty some pews? Undoubtedly. Will it make you more popular and a pop icon? Most likely not. Will it restore the power of God to the church and bring healing to our land? It always has.

We are at a point where thousands of pastors across America must take the challenge, honestly assess whether we are accepting the full mandate in every area shown above and providing the "offensive" leadership that the church so desperately needs. The cost of not doing so can already be measured in broken lives and a weak nation.

Our God demands more and our people deserve better, so bring it on!

Students lie, cheat, steal, but say they're good

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer – Sun Nov 30, 4:27 pm ET

NEW YORK –
In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards.

Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than previous generations, but several agreed that intensified pressures are prompting many students to cut corners.
"The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have (to cheat). The temptation is greater."

The Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide, both public and private. All students in the selected schools were given the survey in class; their anonymity was assured.

Michael Josephson, the institute's founder and president, said he was most dismayed by the findings about theft. The survey found that 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls — 30 percent overall — acknowledged stealing from a store within the past year. One-fifth said they stole something from a friend; 23 percent said they stole something from a parent or other relative.

"What is the social cost of that — not to mention the implication for the next generation of mortgage brokers?" Josephson remarked in an interview. "In a society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say 'Why shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.'"

Other findings from the survey:
_Cheating in school is rampant and getting worse. Sixty-four percent of students cheated on a test in the past year and 38 percent did so two or more times, up from 60 percent and 35 percent in a 2006 survey.
_Thirty-six percent said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment, up from 33 percent in 2004.
_Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money — 49 percent of the boys and 36 percent of the girls.

Despite such responses, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that
"when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know."

Nijmie Dzurinko, executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union, said the findings were not at all reflective of the inner-city students she works with as an advocate for better curriculum and school funding.

"A lot of people like to blame society's problems on young people, without recognizing that young people aren't making the decisions about what's happening in society," said Dzurinko, 32. "They're very easy to scapegoat."
Peter Anderson, principal of Andover High School in Andover, Mass., said he and his colleagues had detected very little cheating on tests or Internet-based plagiarism. He has, however, noticed an uptick in students sharing homework in unauthorized ways.

"This generation is leading incredibly busy lives — involved in athletics, clubs, so many with part-time jobs, and — for seniors — an incredibly demanding and anxiety-producing college search," he offered as an explanation.

Riddle, who for four decades was a high school teacher and principal in northern Virginia, agreed that more pressure could lead to more cheating, yet spoke in defense of today's students.

"I would take these students over other generations," he said. "I found them to be more responsive, more rewarding to work with, more appreciative of support that adults give them.

"We have to create situations where it's easy for kids to do the right things," he added. "We need to create classrooms where learning takes on more importance than having the right answer."

On Long Island, an alliance of school superintendents and college presidents recently embarked on a campaign to draw attention to academic integrity problems and to crack down on plagiarism and cheating.
Roberta Gerold, superintendent of the Middle Country School District and a leader of the campaign, said parents and school officials need to be more diligent — for example, emphasizing to students the distinctions between original and borrowed work.

"You can reinforce the character trait of integrity," she said. "We overload kids these days, and they look for ways to survive. ... It's a flaw in our system that whatever we are doing as educators allows this to continue."
Josephson contended that most Americans are too blase about ethical shortcomings among young people and in society at large.

"Adults are not taking this very seriously," he said. "The schools are not doing even the most moderate thing. ... They don't want to know. There's a pervasive apathy."

Josephson also addressed the argument that today's youth are no less honest than their predecessors.

"In the end, the question is not whether things are worse, but whether they are bad enough to mobilize concern and concerted action," he said.

"What we need to learn from these survey results is that our moral infrastructure is unsound and in serious need of repair. This is not a time to lament and whine but to take thoughtful, positive actions."
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On the Net:
Institute: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_us/storytext/students_dishonesty/30075623/SIG=1106tfnpo;_ylt=AqyvGFRC8MKj3BJBrIl_7cPLLJ94/*http://josephsoninstitute.org/