Youth Group: A 50-Cent Parable

This and That

It's been too long since I freshened things up in here...and too long since I updated you. So here we go! Be sure to check out Alexander, where you can really get into the devotionals by famous and not-so-famous Christian authors. I love them all, but let me recommend my Delayed Gratification post. Those of you in Alcoholics Anonymous or any type of recovery...or maybe even considering trying to kick an addiction should check it out!


The Scrooge Report is still rocking! Here's some highly recommended reading:
• The First Educated Opposition to Obama
• Mount Vernon Hosts ‘Expelled’ II
• Voting Out Alex

I will be having a health related blog soon. Meanwhile, you may want to check out MonaVie. It's something I've been drinking lately and its helped my health a lot. If you are not consistent with your premium fruits intake I highly recommend MonaVie.

MonaVie is a really good tasting and healthy mix of 19 energizing fruits -- including the Brazilian açai berry, one of nature's top superfoods.

The makers of MonaVie developed this product with the philosophy of Balance-Variety-Moderation. You'll get a nourishing beverage that delivers the essential phytonutrients and antioxidants your body needs to stay healthy. Go to mymonavie.com/alexander ...and stay tuned for my health blog!

Sincerely,
Alexander

Bloggers Unite: Algeria and Christian Persecution

You still have a chance to visit the great work of bloggers in an effort called Bloggers Unite for Human Rights.

Here is my contribution:

Algeria: Carry a Bible, Go to Jail

While many of the cultural battles centered on religion in the U.S. involve legal positioning on church and state issues, very real physical persecution of faith exists in many other parts of the world.

A few websites monitor and report on these atrocities, many of which go with little mention or unreported in the mainstream media. Two sites whose mission includes reporting on religious persecution are Compass Direct News and Persecution Blog

Here’s a recent example of persecution. This from Compass Direct News:

ALGIERS, Algeria, May 9 – An Algerian Christian detained five days for carrying a Bible and personal Bible study books was handed a 300-euro (US$460) fine and a one-year suspended prison sentence last week, an Algerian church leader said.

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Bloggers For Chad Farnan - Looking Through 'Jesus Glasses'

When you put on your Jesus glasses, you can’t see the truth. - James Corbett, Teacher

Much like Rosa Parks, Chad Farnan sat in the back of the bus too many times. Only with Farnan, it’s not about a bus, such as the ones during Parks’ era in which blacks were told they could only sit in the back seats.

For Farnan, he sits in a high school history class where he is told by his teacher for more days than he cared to tolerate that Christians and Christians like himself were ignorant. Farnan doesn’t want to sit in a classroom anymore where he is required to listen to Christian bashing…so he and his parents are suing the Capistrano Valley Unified School District.

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Freethought Society Mocks Christmas Tree Tradition

A Tree of Knowledge

Atheists in Philadelphia have apparently chosen Christmas time to start their own tradition of putting up a cut pine tree…only instead of Christmas decorations, the tree is adorned with book covers.

The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia's ‘A Tree of Knowledge’ is displayed at the Chester County Courthouse beside three traditional holiday displays.

Ah yes, “A Tree of Knowledge”…nothing brightens an atheist’s “holiday” time more than a tree decorated with copies of covers of books, including “Why I Am Not A Christian,” “Why I Am Not a Muslim” and “Judaism Beyond God.”

Oh, yes, there’s a cover of the Koran and Bible, too! What a gloriously all-inclusive holiday this is!

Despite a large portion of Americans giving reverance to the Christmas tree and it’s relation to a holy day in the Christian calendar, none have called for the members of the Freethought Society to be whipped, jailed, or even executed.

The Tree of Knowledge stands next to three other religious displays and as the group’s president Margaret Downey said, is “welcoming to agnostics, atheists, humanists, skeptics, rationalists of all kinds.”

This from The Philadelphia Inquirer:

As there was last year, there is also a Chamber of Commerce tree - 32 feet high - meant to attract shoppers, as well as a Christian creche and a Jewish menorah.

When told of the Freethought display, Colin Hanna, a former county commissioner whose organization - Pennsylvania Pastors Network - is sponsoring the creche, said, “Their intention is to use the courthouse to make a political statement?

“That seems to me a pretty fundamental perversion of the purpose of holiday displays . . .”

Downey said her display, which she is calling “A Tree of Knowledge,” is decorated with covers of works such as the Bible.

“The reason we advocate reading the Bible,” she said in an interview, “is because so many people become atheists upon completing the entire reading of it.”

What a loving group this is! What a “thoughtful” group, too! Never mind that many more become SAVED after reading the Bible, deciding to accept Jesus Christ!

I have no problem with the Tree of Knowledge going up whatever time of year. I think it’s a great time to ask atheists what they are so really angry about. Why do they have to mock Christmas and Christians (apparently really dumb because they don’t read enough books)?

I’ll tell you what, Freethought Society. You go ahead and put “free thought” above all else and we’ll see where your best thinking gets you.

As for me, I’ll be happy to recognize that I’m really not that smart, but for the grace of God.

I’m happy to recognize something else as well:

I’m living in a country where no one is calling for your heads, even for such obvious mockery.

- Alexander, TheScroogeReport.com

_______________

The limited first editions of TheScroogeReport t-shirts, hats, large coffee mugs, and more are now available to order through CafePress!

Hanging Out Among Them on Halloween

California fires, terror, and Little Bo Peep
What will I be doing this evening? Going out among them! Them, you know the ones…them. The ones that…oh, my gosh…celebrate Halloween.

As I cruise town on the way to my church’s Harvest Festival to man the Jungle Jump bounce house as a volunteer, I will probably see a few revelers. Even at the community outreach event, which is expected to draw about 10,000 people, I’ll have a chance to gawk at the costumed.

Will I think that the guy who made himself look like he is carrying his own bloody, severed arm is ingenious? Probably not. Or that the kid dressed as a skeleton is oh, so, cute? Well, maybe, but I’ll still wonder what’s the fascination with dressing “spooky.”

There’s been a few open forums about Halloween in the blogosphere, including at TheScroogeReport. I’ve learned a lot. But it hasn’t been so much through the blogs that I’ve pondered, but on memories, including those of last week in California...

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Online Dating: New Site Asks For a Statement of Faith

In the spiritual realm of things, being equally yoked is huge! And no, it’s not about egg yokes, it’s about equating the yoke used in harnessing the power of two farming animals together in plowing or towing, to hitching up with someone “yoked”, as yourself, to Jesus.

Although you may find your future mate on a less stringent web site…the clearer and sooner it becomes known that the person you are interested in is walking with Jesus or not, the better! At least that’s my 2 bits!

Read about Cache Connections and its founders approach to courting Christian singles.

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Strobel: From Atheist to Christian

To purchase the DVD go to The Case for Christ DVD.

Alexander: Photo, URLs, and Go Visit

You can find me at TheScroogeReport and World's Most Dangerous Blog.

Also, be sure to visit BookOpinion and MyConsumerGuide.com.

Leona Helmsley Earns This Week’s Top Scrooge Posthumously

"But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?

This Week’s Top Scrooge - August 31, 2007

By ALEXANDER
TheScroogeReport.com '

How many church sermons will include the story of Leona Helmsley and her dog, Trouble, this Sunday?

In case you missed it, Trouble...her pet...inherited $12 million. And for good measure, Trouble’s "fortunes" won’t be over even after her life ends. “I direct that when my dog, Trouble, dies, her remains shall be buried next to my remains in the Helmsley mausoleum,” she ordered. And she left another $3 million to ensure that final resting place is well maintained, including money for a yearly wash or steam-cleaning.

Twelve million dollars. That's two more million dollars than two of her grandchildren are getting combined ($5 million each) and $12 million more than her other two grandchildren are getting...because they are getting zippo as in nada, nothing, and zilch.

I don't make this stuff up, folks. Read the online story at CityNews.ca if you want.

If this is not a modern day parable to be told to congregations everywhere on Sunday, then I don't know what is.

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Evangelist Moves Prayer Show After Muslim Group Pressures TV Station

Internet and television evangelist Bill Keller takes “Live Prayer” to competing station; his remarks on Islam prompt switch.

By ALEXANDER
TheScroogeReport.com

Evangelist Bill Keller will move his late-night, live call-in prayer and faith program to another Tampa Bay area station after claims that his show was pulled off the air because of pressure from a Muslim group.

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Housing Crisis? What Crisis?

Increasing mortgage and loan problems will not effect mansions in heaven

Awakenings by Alexander

I heard Pastor Chuck Smith, of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, say on the radio today that when he dies, reports of his death will actually be a misnomer.

"They will say, 'Pastor Chuck Smith died today', but actually that is wrong. The more accurate reporting will be, 'Pastor Chuck Smith moved'," Smith said, during his morning message on Christian radio.

What Smith was referring to was that for those that have accepted the Lord, their soul, their conscious self, will have a new dwelling place after physical death. They will have a mansion in heaven.

I was thinking about the recent housing crisis, and yes, I call it a crisis despite whatever financial reports you read these days. I see all the foreclosures, the debt problems, and people moving out of homes they can't afford anymore, and I believe it either is a crisis or will become one. I think about that and realize that for those that know their mansion awaits them in heaven, coping with housing in today's world is no big whoop.

Sure, it stings, it hurts to have to struggle to pay mortgages and loans, but if you as a Christian take a deep breath, know that you have a relationship with Him and that He will be providing you a dwelling place...a most magnificent dwelling place...it's easier to cope.

However, it does take a proper outlook to put our earthly dwellings, which in this case means our bodies, in proper perspective, but it can be done. There are even some who look forward to "moving day". Can you imagine that!?

Many will continue to struggle with housing...the physical building kind and the existing mortgage crisis. Who knows how long the crunch will go on?

Meanwhile, with our focus on all things eternal, we can say "Crisis? What crisis?"

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. - Matthew 6:20

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. - II Corinthians 5:1

In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. - John 14:2

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Mother Teresa: Just Your Typical Saint or a Woman Crying to God?

This report by Time.com that reveals material from a new book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday), wants to paint Mother Teresa as a conflicted person…even stating that for her “the deity had disappeared.” They use her letters to confidants to illustrate their point. However, even the most Godly are “conflicted”…read just one example.
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Jesus Cartoon: A Headline You Will Not Be Seeing In Today’s News

Thousands of Christians Riot, Protest Cartoon of Jesus Smoking Cigarette

SARCASM ALERT: Make-up headline shows contrasting belief systems. The “cartoon” is actually an altered “Sacred Heart of Jesus” image.

By ALEXANDER
TheScroogeReport.com

Today’s story about an irreverent depiction of Jesus in a newspaper makes me wonder…if a tree branch snaps in the woods and no one heard it, did it really make a noise?

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CNN's 'God's Warriors' Series Online Reports: Albright Interview

Albright: Ignore religion 'at our own peril'

In order to effectively conduct foreign policy today, you have to understand the role of God and religion. ... My sense is that we don't fully understand, because one, it's pretty complicated, and two, everyone in the U.S. believes in a separation of church and state, so you think, "Well, if we don't believe in the convergence of church and state, then perhaps we shouldn't worry about the role of religion." I think we do that now at our own peril. Religion is instrumental in shaping ideas and policies. It's an essential part of everyday life in a whole host of countries. And obviously it plays a role in how these countries behave, so we need to know what the religious influence is.

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CNN: 'God's Warriors'

Just wanted to give you a heads up on some very good programming on CNN and CNN.com.

Here's a CNN Editor's Note: ...a series of reports CNN.com is featuring from an upcoming, six-hour television event, "God's Warriors," hosted by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

You can watch and read awesome stuff right now even though the series is Aug. 21-23.

Go to http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/

and for the first report headlined "Rejecting radical Islam -- one man's journey" go to http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/15/daveed.godswarriors/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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Wrong Turn: Pope Benedict XVI Detours Salvation Through Catholic Church

By approving a document saying non-Catholic Christian communities are either defective or not true churches, and the Roman Catholic Church provides the only true path to salvation, Pope Benedict leaves someone behind - Jesus!

This Week’s Top Scrooge - July 13, 2007

By ALEXANDER
TheScroogeReport.com

There are some weeks when picking a number one bonehead (This Week's Top Scrooge) is really tough.

This week isn't one of them. Pope Benedict XVI wins the dishoner hands down, no questions asked, slam dunk, done deal, finito.

The easy pick is made possible by this: Reports came out Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI approved a document late last month saying non-Catholic Christian communities are either defective or not true churches, and the Roman Catholic Church provides the only true path to salvation.

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