Christianity and Culture: Abortion: We Weary God With Our Words

"You have wearied the Lord with your words, Yet you say, 'How have we wearied Him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,' or, Where is the God of justice?' - Malachi 2:17 In Malachi's postexilic complacent culture, Israel had reached a point where the doing of evil was called good and where God was charged with injustice for suggesting a matter to be evil. So goes the abortion debate in America. The New York Times purports to pursue the acceptance of abortion by downplaying absolute standards for what is good or what is evil. Read the report and see if God's indictment of a complacent Israel does not sound like a complacent American Christianity as well. What is even more problematic from my vantage point is the number of Christians who, for the sake of so-called compassion, engage in immorality, impregnante themselves, and pursue a course of sin, while bringing along Christian supporters who affirm their activity as good. Sin is not so heinous when God's obligation to forgive becomes a mantra to salve the conscience. Read the referenced New York Times report for a multitude of examples.

From Our Lord's Day Worship

This morning, our congregation will join in a corporate exaltation of God singing this rich song of praise: Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Nor wanting nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thy justice like mountains high soaring above Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love. To all life Thou givest, to both great and small; In all life Thou livest, the true life of all; We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, And wither and perish - but naught changeth Thee. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight; All praise we would render: O help us to see 'Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee. To listen click HERE.

Mom & Dad in Town

The Capranica has been dormant for a few days. I have a few posts in the oven but will have to wait to post them. Why? Mom and Dad are here! Actually, I've been doing well to post what I have on Fide-O due to my being with my parents over the past few days. Mom and Dad, Karen and Larry Capranica, are visiting all the way from the great nation of Texas. Dad is a pastor just outside of Amarillo. We are celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary at a beautiful hotel on the beach in La Jolla, CA. I was able to get an internet connection this morning, so I thought I would make a post. I hope to have some pics to post from our time at the March Airfield Museum, La Jolla and other less interesting spots.

Birds of a Feather

The Weekly Standard posted this article about the rise of Neo-Nazi's supporting, advocating, promoting and joining the radical Islamic movement's hatred toward Jews and all those who support Israel, i.e., America. Not only is the article an interesting read in general, but it also points to the hatred of the Jews that exists in what many in our country would call legitimate muslims, i.e., the Americanized, non-violent adherents to Islam.

Good Move

This morning, the President announced that he would replace the former Chief Justice with his recent nomineee for Associate Justice, John Roberts. The President avoids the inevitable nasty fight that would have ensued with an additional nomination to Roberts so quickly. O'Connor will remain on the bench until her replacement is found, giving Bush time to quell the political stink the new media is creating over the situation in New Orleans. Speaking of the stink, I recommend reading three articles from Denny Burk's blog: Mayor of New Orleans Had Responsibility to Evacuate Mayor of New Orleans Blames the Louisiana Governor Disappointed with Russert, et al. These are good summaries and commentary on the recent diatribe by the leftward leaning media. For interesting commnts from a theological standpoint, see Al Mohler's discussion of Tony Campolo's rejection of God's omnipotence.

We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Chief Justice William Rehnquist has died at age 80. He said he would serve until his health did not permit him to any longer. That he did indeed. The confirmation of John Roberts will pale in comparrison with the struggle that will ensue for President Bush to appoint not only another justice to the high bench, but the most influential justice. The cultural battle is about to heat up to a fever pitch.

Hurricane Immorality Slams the Left Coast Again

Despite 61% of the state voting to define marriage as between a man and a woman only, the California Senate has just voted to allow homosexuals marry. Not domestic partnerships (the politicians way out), but marriage. This is the first legislative body in the U.S. to accept homosexual marriage. The moral devastation of our state grows increasingly worse. However, I'd rather serve Christ here than anywhere else is the country. We do not have a cultural Christianity like the South. Everyone is saved in Texas (at least they think they are). Here in sunny CA, Christianity is not publicly popular. It is not expected that a young person be baptized and join a church early on in life. So, one more moral hurricane has hit us here on the left coast. Pray for the continued spread of the gospel. Our political processes are proving to do nothing to stem the rising flood waters of immorality here in the heartland of liberal living.

More on New Oreleans Seminary

Baptist Press released a report yesterday about the impact Katrina has had on New Orleans Baptis Theological Seminary. According to the report, classes will not resume at the campus for at least a year. The picutres of the campus are sobering. Al Mohler notes the BP report and links to a satelite photo of New Oreleans that you can zoom in and view the recent flooding.

It's Frivolous Friday and Another Villa Update

We have a date, ladies and gentlemen. Monday, October 3, the new Villa will arrive and be dropped off to its permanent location. Speaking of the new Villa, before we discuss our progress, let's discuss what the incoming dwelling is like. It is made by Palm Harbor Homes in Tuscon, Arizona. It's official name, before we renamed it The Capranica Villa, is the "El Presidente." Oooohhhh. What a name. Here's a link to the specs. We first saw a model of the home here through a local dealer and we have since taken the tour of the factory and visited numerous other dealers to see various models of the home. Because of county law we had to have the house shrunk about a foot and a half, making it just under 2900 square feet. The entry opens up to the living room with two neat little niches greeting you. To the right of the entry is the doorway to the master bedroom which spans the entire right side of the house. It includes a spacious retreat, bathroom and bedroom sized closet. The living room is complete with fireplace (gas and woodburning). At the back of the living room and to the left is what we will use as a breakfast nook. To the left of the entry is the opening for the dining room. Between the dining and the nook is the spacious kitchen with walk-in pantry. Left of the Kitchen, nook and dining is the lengthy family room which leads to three other bedrooms and a utility room. One of the bedrooms has its own bathroom inside of it. One of the three bedrooms will be my home office. Kelly will use the retreat for her office. We are having the home placed about three feet into the ground on a permanent foundation, making the house level with the ground (no stilts here). The entry and dining will be rosewood flooring and the kitchen, baths and nook will be a porcelin tile. So - here's a glance at the new place. We have chosen and purchased the paint for each of the rooms and have a few items of furniture purchased and on hold for now until the new home is ready to move in.

Report on New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

This Baptist Press report describes the effects of Katrina at one of the Southern Baptist Convention's six seminaries. See also Al Mohler's post today about NOBTS.

The Changing Facts of Evolutionary Theory

This report cannot be good news for the feminist movement. I'm sure they had high hopes that the male population would begin to die off sooner rather than later.

The Differences Are Staggering

While the referenced report suggest that the DNA makeup between Chimpanzees and humans is 96 to 98 percent identical, the differences number in the millions. From the report: Still, the number of genetic differences between a human and a chimp is about 10 times more than between any two humans, the federal genome institute says. It's the differences — some 40 million — that attract the attention of scientists. So, we have found that chimps and humans share a large number of similar DNA traits. Impressive? Similar does not demand origin. Shouldn't we expect living beings to possess a number of similar traits? Still waiting for the evidence of a living creature becoming another living creature.