Archive for December, 2010

Old Insight for a New Year

Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 3:48 pm  
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December 31, 2010

It’s the last day of 2010. Where did the last decade go? I still remember New Year’s Eve 1999 and all the excitement about the new millennium. The new millennium looks a lot like the old millennium if you take out advances in technology.

Men and women are still sinners and because of that condition we quarrel, we lust and covet. We invent ways of doing evil, as Paul put it. And we still put our faith, trust in hope in people and politicians, in things and money that have no power to satisfy our deepest longing and greatest need.

Only God can do that in Jesus Christ. It has always been so, though there are more doubters than acceptors. Still, as those Christmas cards say, “Wise men still seek him.”

It is the end of the year. These daily commentaries are supported by your financial gifts. If you enjoy and benefit from them, please send a year-end contribution to our work in Washington, which also includes outreach to my media colleagues here.

Thank you and may you have a safe, prosperous and blessed new year, secure in the knowledge that nothing is out of God’s sight, power or control.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

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“One Day at a Time” – HomeWord – Dec. 31, 2010

Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 2:41 pm  
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One Day at a Time  This devotional was written by Jim Liebelt Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. —Matthew 6:34

It has been said that there are two days that people worry most about but should actually worry least about: Yesterday and Tomorrow. We worry about yesterday – the mistakes we’ve made and what we would like to do over or differently. Yet, there is nothing we can do to change yesterday. Our worries are wasted. We also worry about tomorrow – the problems it may bring and the challenges we may face. Yet, we cannot control tomorrow. It is out of our grasp. So again, our worries are wasted.

When we do not waste our worries on yesterday or tomorrow, it frees us to live in the present – today. Today, we are able to make decisions about our life. Today, we can set our course, set off in a direction or alter our course, if necessary. Sure, we will still make our share of mistakes. And, we will still have worries. Each day brings enough to be concerned about. Still, seldom are life’s concerns unbearable today. Our worries become unbearable when we add the wasted worries of yesterday and tomorrow.

Jesus instructs us to live one day at a time. He knew that so much of what we worry about is out of our control. He wanted us to understand that God gives us today. And, as we live our lives seeking Him, we are in a safe place. Jesus promises that our heavenly Father will provide us with everything we need.

When I’m tempted to worry about any of life’s concerns, I find that it helps to remind myself of the many times I’ve given in to worry – and how things never came to pass as I had feared – which is actually the vast majority of the time!

So, today as we wrap up 2010 and head courageously into 2011, make it one of your resolutions to live your days – just one day at a time! And, when you find yourself tempted to worry, remind yourself of Jesus’ words, “Your heavenly Father knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” (Matthew 6:32-33, NLT.)

GOING DEEPER:

What do you find yourself worrying about more, yesterday or tomorrow? How can Jesus’ words about living a life of seeking God and living one day at a time, help you live a fuller, more joyous life in 2010?

FURTHER READING: 
Psalm 118:24; Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6 

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Supporters say truly comprehensive sex-ed gets results

Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 2:01 pm  
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NEW YORK, December 30 (C-FAM) –

By Samantha Singson and Amanda Pawloski

Nothing gets the debate burning hotter at the UN than one over sex education for children.

Last Fall conservative UN delegations angrily protested a report claiming for children a new right to “comprehensive sexuality education.”

At another meeting last year, when the Holy See promoted abstinence-based programs, liberal delegations met the proposal with sneers and laughter.

While some at the UN sneer, an innovative abstinence-based education program is seeing results. Dr. Hanna Klaus, a medical missionary nun and veteran OB/GYN, developed the Teen STAR program that educates adolescents about their fertility with natural family planning techniques.

The program’s name, Teen STAR (Sexuality Teaching in the context of Adult Responsibility) expresses the mission of the program. According to Klaus, Teen STAR gives young people “concrete ways of responding to the corresponding emotional changes and pressures,” while empowering them through a better understanding of their own biological fertility patterns.

Klaus denounces sexual education programs that do nothing but preach a negative view of sexuality. “Neither the provision of contraception nor the exhortation to preserve chastity serves adolescents’ need to integrate their now-present biological capacity to procreate into their operational self-concepts,” she believes.

Klaus’s program is designed to do more than educate adolescents to avoid pregnancy and STDs. Teen STAR asserts that during their year long program over 90 percent of female and male virgins remain abstinent, while 40-50% of previously sexually active females and 30-50% of previously sexually active males discontinued sexual activity. Teen STAR also boasts a rigorous scientific methodology.

Rather than offering a synthesized curriculum, the Teen STAR program addresses males and females specifically. Teenage boys are taught respect for their always present fertility, while teenage girls are educated on their cyclical fertility patterns that effect their overall emotional, psychological, and even spiritual well-being. The result is a program that integrates various disciplines to help adolescents’ self-understanding and resist social pressure beyond sex….

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Low-Tax States Are Big Census Winners

Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 12:54 pm  
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December 27, 2010

Figures from this year’s census are starting to come out. One set of statistics is particularly interesting. Guess which states lost population and what characterized all of them? The states from which people moved were New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana and Iowa. What do they all have in common? As Dick Morris has noted: high taxes.

Texas, which has the second lowest taxes in the country, gained four congressional seats, which means a large influx in new residents. Florida picked up two seats. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington state each gained one seat. All of these states have low, or no state income tax.

People are fed-up with government that never has enough of their money. They’re tired of being told by politicians that if they succeed after years of hard work they have to handover the fruits of their success to government which will redistribute it to people who didn’t earn it. We can’t all escape federal taxes, but we can escape high state taxes and from the census figures that is precisely what more people are doing. Now about the spending!

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

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Now Don’t Just Sit There!

Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 12:04 pm  
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Chuck Swindoll’s Daily Devotional: Now Don’t Just Sit There! Chuck Swindoll’s Daily DevotionalReceive a daily devotional message written by Charles Swindoll that brings God’s Word to life.Left

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December 31, 2010Now Don't Just Sit There!

by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 108

An old year has completed its course. A new year is smiling at us with twelve months of the unknown. An entire ocean of possibilities, including both sun-drenched days and a few storms with howling winds and giant waves, stretch out across the uncharted waters. If we let ourselves, we could become so afraid of the potential dangers, so safety conscious, we would miss the adventure.

That's one option, of course—becoming a beach-dwelling couch potato, someone who looks toward the horizon, entertains a few thoughts that start with "Someday . . ." or "In a year or two I'm gonna . . ." but then leans back and just keeps looking. What if Christopher Columbus had been content to build sandcastles along the shores of Spain?

Now, admittedly, some go a little nuts when they decide a change is needed. Larry Walters did. The thirty-three-year-old truck driver had been sitting around doing zilch week in, week out, until boredom got the best of him. That was back in the summer of '82. He decided enough was enough; what he needed was an adventure. So, on July 2 of that year he rigged forty-two helium-filled weather balloons to a Sears lawn chair in San Pedro, California, and lifted off. Armed with a pellet gun to shoot out a few balloons should he fly too high, Walters was shocked to reach 16,000 feet rather rapidly. He wasn't the only one. Surprised pilots reported seeing "some guy in a lawn chair floating in the sky" to perplexed air-traffic controllers.

Finally, Walters had enough sense to start shooting a few balloons, which allowed him to land safely in Long Beach some forty-five minutes later. When asked why he did such a weird thing, Walters usually gave the same answer: "It was something I had to do . . . I couldn't just sit there."

Between doing nothing and trying something that ridiculous, there's a wide expanse worth probing. Think of the dozens of things God is going to teach us and the many ways we are going to see Him work in the coming year!

But I should warn you, you will have to change . . . and that won't come easily. Mark Twain was correct when he said, "The only one who likes change is a wet baby."

Breaking out of old, tired routines is one of the secrets for staying young and energetic.

 

 

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

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