The Dawn Treader

"It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting ``business as usual,'' finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it." ~ Dave Barry

"Sometimes God seems to be killing us when he's actually saving us. Here he was turning Abraham into a great man - but on the outside, it looked like he was being cruel." ~ Tim Keller, , p.20.

I've never viewed God's testing of Abraham with Isaac as an act of deliverance for Abraham before. I processed that Bible story as something God used to build Abraham's faith and to foreshadow the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Tim Keller offers an additional compelling thought. Isaac, as the only son and heir of Abraham, was the object of adoration and was becoming the center of Abraham's life. When our world centers on something other than God, then we are worshiping a counterfeit god. The Biblical word is idolatry.  Idols enslave and destroy us.  The disturbing story of God's testing of Abraham is truly an act of grace. It is an act of deliverance. Obviously, Isaac was delivered.  God provided the ram in his place.  But Abraham was delivered as well. Abraham was saved from an idolatrous love that would have derailed and destroyed him.  Through the furnace of testing, God purified and saved Abraham.  What looked like cruelty was in fact, redemption.

"GTE* is fast becoming what Peter Berger calls a ‘plausibility structure’. It is a set of beliefs considered so basic, and with so much support from authoritative figures and institutions, that it is becoming impossible for individuals to publicly question them. A plausibility structure is a ‘given’ supported by enormous social pressure. The writings of the new atheists here are important to observe because their attitudes are more powerful than their arguments. The disdain and refusal to show any respect to opponents is not actually an effort to refute them logically, but to ostracize them socially and turn their own views into a plausibility structure." ~ Tim Keller

*GTE stands for Grand Theory of Everything, which is the attempt to use biological evolution to explain every aspect of human nature.

"This email is circulating on the internet.  Curious to hear your reaction."  ~ Mr. D

 How many zeros in a billion?

The next time you hear a politician use theword 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending

YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age..

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans .. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans .

Interesting number...what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans  (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or.... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington , D. C  HELLO! Are all your calculators broken??

Building Permit Tax     CDL License Tax     Cigarette Tax     Corporate Income Tax     Dog License Tax     Federal Income Tax (Fed)     Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)     Fishing License Tax     Food License Tax     Fuel Permit Tax     Gasoline Tax     Hunting License Tax     Inheritance Tax     Inventory Tax     IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)     IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)     Liquor Tax     Luxury Tax     Marriage License Tax     Medicare Tax     Property Tax     Real Estate Tax     Service charge taxes     Social Security Tax     Road Usage Tax (Truckers)     Sales Taxes     Recreational Vehicle Tax     School Tax

(pause, to catch my breath)

State Income Tax      State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)     Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax     Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax     Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax      Telephone State and Local Tax     Telephone Usage Charge Tax     Utility Tax     Vehicle License Registration T ax     Vehicle Sales Tax     Watercraft Registration Tax     Well Permit Tax     Workers Compensation Tax

(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt...We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?  Can you spell 'politicians!'

For those looking for a short break from Tiger Woods, there is a good article on Tim Keller, a PCA pastor, in New York magazine of all places.