Pastor's Blog

It has been rather stunning to see how the major news media have been fawning over Barack Obama. We have all known for a long time that the media has a very obvious bias for liberal candidates and causes. What’s surprising is not that they are Obama-mongers but that in their eagerness to see him elected they have thrown caution to the wind and given up all pretence to objectivity. This video highlights the problem. On his recent trip to Iraq, Obama was accompanied by all three network news anchors: Charles Gibson (ABC), Katie Couric (CBS), and Brian Williams (NBC). Know how many accompanied John McCain earlier this year? None. With the free media coverage he’s getting, one wonders why he needs to raise so much campaign money, an incredible $51.9 million… last month.

Just a reminder: we are only two weeks away from the primary (Tuesday, August 5th). Whoever wins the primary will be our state senator, since the winner of the primary will run unopposed in November. Andrew has been endorsed by Kansas for Life. He's a limited government, social and fiscal conservative. We can have confidence that he will represent us well in Topeka. For more information, check out his website .

Do you know what today is? It's the "Cost of Government Day." Americans on average work 197 days out of the year to pay the full cost of federal, state and local government spending and regulatory costs. This means the cost of government at all levels of American society consumes nearly 54 percent of national income. You can read more about it here .

My family and I recently watched several episodes of Masterpiece Theatre’s adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster . Wodehouse was reluctant to have his two most popular characters depicted on stage or in film, saying, “Jeeves knows his place, and it is between the covers of a book.” Nevertheless, director Simon Langton and actors Hugh Laurie (as Bertie Wooster) and Stephen Fry (as Jeeves) really do a fantastic job in putting these stories on film. If you are not familiar with Wodehouse and his Jeeves and Wooster stories you really are missing some very entertaining reading. The stories take place in pre-World War II England. Bumbling Bertie Wooster and his witless friends are always getting themselves into scrapes of one sort or another only to be rescued by Jeeves, Bertie’s valet (or his “gentleman’s personal gentleman”). The stories often revolve around Bertie’s (or his friends’) relationship with women, all very innocent and humorous. Frequently it’s a matter of Bertie f...

I've often found Dennis Prager's insights...well, insightful . Here's an example: http://dennisprager.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2008/06/24/why_are_so_many_women_depressed

Over the years one of my favorite family pastimes has been reading aloud to our children. We’ve read some really good books by some really good authors—some well known (e.g., Tolkien, Lewis), others…not so much. Last night we finished 100 Cupboards by the not so well known (yet) Nathan Wilson, which left us eagerly awaiting the release of book two in the trilogy Dandelion Fire , which I just learned has been delayed until February of 2009. 100 Cupboards is the story of 12 year old Henry York, whose parents were kidnapped while bicycling across South America. But that’s not where the action is. The action is in little Henry, Kansas. (Hey, whatyaknow, another great story takes place in Kansas! Think, Wizard of Oz and Little House on the Prairie , and don’t forget that Marianne on "Gilligan’s Island" was a Kansas farm girl!) Henry York is actually from Boston, but after his parents turn up missing, he’s shipped off to Kansas to live with his aunt and uncle. He’s given a bedr...

This is a follow up to my previous post on the controversy surrounding “The Louisiana Science Education Act.” As a Christian, the problem is not the fact that evolution is being taught to school children. That must be done. I realize that my saying this may be a bit of a surprise, especially to those of you who know me to be an unapologetic young earth six day creationist. Still, it’s true. I insist that evolution must be taught to school children. Because I think it’s true? No, but because it’s the reigning theory. We simply cannot ignore what the vast majority of the scientific community believes (not to mention a significant minority of the general population). That’s why during the next school year my students and I will read On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life . . . Yeah, that book—the one by Charles Darwin. It’s a vitally important read. It’s without question the most influential book written in ...

Earlier this week, the Louisiana State Senate voted 36-0 to approve a bill that passed the House by a vote of 94-3. The bill would allow science teachers to use supplemental materials, in addition to state-issued textbooks, on issues like evolution, global warming, and human cloning. The purpose of the supplemental materials, the bill explains, is to encourage “critical thinking skills, logical analysis and open and objective discussion of scientific theories being studied.” The bill is particularly aimed at giving teachers the assurance of academic freedom to actually teach that there is such a thing as a controversy over these subjects (especially evolution), instead of simply being intimidated into silence. Governor Bobby Jindal is expected to sign the bill. As you can imagine the secular fundamentalists are in a tizzy. The bill—titled “The Louisiana Science Education Act”—allows the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to act upon complaints and toss out any supplement...

It came out of nowhere. I never saw it. But believe me…I felt it. Smack! Splash! I’d been hit, and hit good with a water balloon right upside the head, launched by my son from at least 40 feet away . The reason I never saw it coming was because I had my back turned and was running away. I had just made my sortie into hostile territory, unloaded my supply of water balloons, taking out both James and Suzanna, and was making good my escape. I was just about ready to break out into a victory dance as I proudly carried the enemy flag back to our home base. And then it happened. James didn’t even know he got me. He said it was a desperation throw. He didn’t even aim. He just let it fly. But it found its mark—my left temple. The force of it snapped by head sideways. I was drenched. It was by far the best throw of the night. Nevertheless, Melinda, Elizabeth, and I, won the best of three capture the flag water balloon wars over James, Suzanna, and Hannah. What a way to celebrate Father’s Day!

This has been an especially good eating week. One of the blessings of having so many daughters is that they are being trained to be wives and mothers, which makes yours truly the beneficiary of their still developing—but already amazingly honed—culinary skills. This week Melinda had three of our girls each take a turn at preparing supper. On Tuesday Suzanna (15) made homemade pizza. On Wednesday Elizabeth (13) made spaghetti and garlic bread. And Thursday Hannah (11) made Mexican food…just the way I like it—with fried flour tortillas shells. All this was after Melinda made smothered steak and mashed potatoes on Monday night. As I said, it’s been an especially good eating week. The Chronicler says that Obed-edom’s eight sons were a blessing from God (1 Chron. 26:4-5). No doubt they were. But if Obed-edom could have eaten what I’ve eaten this week, he might envy me for my five daughters!