Good. The US, as technologically advanced as it is, should be seeking out alternative fuels like Europe. More wind, more solar, hydrogen-based vehicles. What needs to happen is companies should be forbidden to lobby congress. Nancy pelosi, despite being a Democrat, has promised to kill all govt-sponsored subsidies to the oil business. Now, to top that off, they need to pass a law to prevent price gouging as a result. Even the Democrats can do some good.

To God Alone be the Glory +++

blackeyedpeas,

Understood. Depending on where you live, you can get DSL for as little as $14.95 a month. Yahoo/SBC offers this. Verizon has a $14.95 a month DSL deal as well. Depending on how far you live from the ILC/CO would determine your signal strength. Hughesnet may be an option for you as well. Yet another provider is Clearwire, which uses a modem that picks up the signal from cell phone towers.

Trust me, unless you live in the outback someplace, you have an option. Dial-up is at least 10-15 dollars a month, so if you can get DSL, go for it. Now, for those prices you'll get 384 down, but it will seem like lightning.

Well, what can I say? I'm not surprised in the least. What else could one expect from an uber-liberal denomination like PCUSA? They've been spouting this kind of tripe for some time now. She's not the first.

Let's see... Female pastors, homosexual-friendly worship experience (anathema), false doctrine (anathema), liberal pop-psychology messages to please the congregants (anathema). PCUSA members might as well be Mormons since half of their pastors spew this kind of cult-friendly drivel.

I used to live in a neighborhood which had a PCUSA pastor. A she. She and I did not see eye to eye. Once she found out I was XXXXXXX, she wouldn't get into theological discussions with me since I'd shoot her arguments to ribbons using nothing but the scriptures. Trying to use Galatians 3:28 to justify female pastors. Yeah, whatever. Go back to a real seminary.

She needs to be declared anathema, de-frocked, and put on every prayer chain on the planet...

Saint Paul says of those who were preaching a different gospel or perverting the gospel: "Let them be accursed," meaning anathama, damned, everlastingly cut off from the presence of God. --Galatians 1:6
How can you recognize a false gospel or a heresy? Paul again warns against those who are "enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction and whose god is their belly " or their own appetites --Philippians 3:17-19
False prophets will preach about Christ, but be an enemy of the cross. The cross of Christ means the death of self. You abandon control of your life to God. A prosperity gospel message that panders to the sensual desire for riches is the opposite of the message of the cross.

Jeremiah 23 warns against false prophets that will preach pleasing messages that people will like to hear.
 
"Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." --James 3:11-12
 
"He said to them, You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." --Luke 16:15
 
Saint Paul calls for us to "Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." --1 Thessalonians 5:21-2 The Christian message should be able to withstand any scrutiny. Believers are called to "try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world." --1 John 4:1
 
"Give me XXXXXXXXX or give me death!"

I use Opera as well. It's almost the perfect piece of software. I started using Opera in 2000 and have loved it every since. There are still some sites that Opera falls aprt with, but it's the site's coding, not Opera, since Opera is the only browser out there that conforms specifically to the W3C standards for WWW and TCP/IP protocols.

I also used Firefox since it was Phoenix, but this year quit using it since it's become fairly bloated and flaky.

Others seem to be having problems with IE7, but. praise God, I have been error free with it using XP Home, XP Firewall, Live Care, and a Linksys Router. I really like it --  alot. I'm using Opera now, but for banking, etc, most sites will still reject Opera.

Opera is now free and still has that beautifully small footprint at under 6 MB installed. There honestly isn't a better browser out there.

Some parents who know quite a bit about computers set up a browser just for their kids, and they do things in reverse. All of the Internet is blocked except for the sites that the parent specifically sets up in a menu and firewall. This would be as close to 100% as you could get if there was no instant messenger set up and email was monitored.

This is known as a "white list" and is the preferred method for keeping kids safe. I'll be doing this myself when mine is old enough to surf.

If you have DSL or a cable modem and a router, which you should have, either Linksys or D-Link, this can be done rather than making the computer do it. Less RAM wasted, less CPU cycles wasted. Basically, the router acts as a proxy server and forbids all access except what is programmed in. Computer-based whitelists and HOST files can be beat very easily by savvy teens by using a proxy server on the Internet to bypass the host file. Very simple, and you'll never know. There are websites which will also strip out keystrokes made, so keystrokes are not logged while on those sites. All done using the magic of javascript and plug-ins.

Linksys router or D-Link router hooked up to the cable modem stops this cold. No getting around a hardware proxy server that actually sits between the computer and the modem.

When in doubt, whitelist. It's easier to allow new sites every week than to block them.

There is NO WAY Joel's ministry is even remotely on target.

Jesus told people to take up their cross and follow Him, not search out earthly riches or teach that God espouses such nonsense.

In my opinion, any pastor or elder that calls themselves a Christian has no business wearing thousand-dollar suits, expensive watches, and living in, let alone owning, multiple million-dollar homes. This is the prosperity gospel pure ans simple. It's evil, and anyone that adheres to it is walking down the path to trouble.

Joel teaches that "other gospel" that Saint Paul warned us about. He should be declared anathema and put on every prayer chain on the planet until he wakes up from his dream, sells his riches, gives them to the poor, and takes up the cross of Christ wearing everyday man clothes, gets himself into an orthodox seminary (if he still wants to be a pastor), and focus on spreading the One True Gospel as instituted by Jesus Christ Himself.

Harsh words, yes, but required, and per Saint Paul, perfectly biblical.

Well, at least this isn't the UK where people got enough petitions/votes to get Jedi Knight as an on-the-books religion. Thousands claimed they were Jedi Knights for their religion. Sad.

What's wrong with female pastors?

It's politically correct to desire women pastors, but it's biblically incorrect, and that is what matters. Read Genesis 1-2, 1 Timothy 2, and Titus 1 on the subject. Read up on the doctrine of Federal Headship, which is found everywhere from Genesis onwards.

What I've said is not popular, especially in XXXXXXXXXX, but it's biblically true, correct, and that is what matters.

For Christians, voting can be very difficult.

I only see candidates from a couple of issues: abortion/stem cell research, etc., and taxes

I cannot vote for a person who supports abortion or stem cell research. In my opinion, and I'm in agreement with the pope on this, to do so is "cooperating with evil". I could not have that hanging over my head when I die. I don't want God asking me why I voted for someone who is a baby killer by proxy, or voted for someone who wants to play God with stem cells and embryos for cloning, etc. A sin of omission is just as bad as a sin of commission.

Yeah, Most of us will behead before we see it, sigh.

I seriously doubt we'll be beheaded...LOL

What IS scary, however, is the political correctness the US is sliding into to please people.

Judge Robert Bork put it perfectly in his book, entitled "Slouching towards Gomorrah". I highly recommend the book.

(modified to remove link)

We are allowing people of differing, false religions to dictate US policy. We are pandering to the muslims, and even worse, electing them to public office. Non-Christians, and even some so-called Christians are removing all mentions of the One True God from our schools, removing crucifixes and crosses from our churches, teaching theoligical, feel-good pop-psycholgy vomit to parishoners, and generally telling people that all they need is to feel good about themselves.

I for one don't hold to the eschatological fears some do, because it's largely bunk -- misinterpreted by armchair theologians who didn't even attend seminary. All you have to do is watch TV to see these people leading people down the primrose path to self-indulgence, telling people that God loves them so much He wants them to be rich and well off, that all you have to do to be successful is worship God. This is one of our problems internally within the cmp of Christianity. Pastors are preaching XXXXXX, there is no XXXXXXXXXX -- it's been replaced by modern music written by people who have not a clue what proper theology is.

Why do some so-called Christian leaders feel the need to try and make Christianity more attractive to the laity? If they are, in fact, proclaiming the truth "which was once delivered to the saints" --Jude 1:3 by the perfectly righteous sovereign God, how would it be possible to make the truth more attractive? Obviously, one cannot improve on divine perfection. The lack of dedication to true biblical righteousness is a major factor in the ongoing disintegration of American society.

Waste of money, pure and simple. We don't need to go to the moon. take the money and give it to the education system, make healthcare free for all, do anything but waste it on trivial garbage like space exploration.

I have been forever opposed to swearing on the Bible. I disagree with it for any number of reasons.

What bothers me more than the koran here is that a muslim was elected. That should bother anyone in here far more.

Before you get started and tell I'm bigoted, I'm not. I just don't want to see our country be dismantled in terms of what Christians are allowed to do, say, etc, while at the same time, pushing the agendas of false gods.

I've often thought about what I would do if this country ever devolved into something really bad. Probably leave.

Thank God the largest immigrant population is XXXXX. They are XXXXXX, and will help keep the country largely Christian. Too many muslims means more people have the possibilty of becoming elected muslim officials, and this cannot be allowed to happen. muslims are inherently dangerous to Christians, they hate our faith and wish to diminish it.

Number of kids:  1   

Favorite colors: sky blue   
   
Favorite foods/snacks:  New York-style pizza, cheese only

Favorite verse:  Anything by Saint Paul or Saint John 
 
Ministry you are involved in: Trying to be a spiritually clean example for my child   

Man from Bible you most relate to/why: Saint Paul, because he shows just how God works through sinful men for good       

Praise God for: My healthy child

Hello,

I absolutely hated this aspect of school -- wanting to be popular, wanting girls to like me, etc.

What you have to realize, and what's been mentioned already to you, is that there is nothing you can do. You cannot force someone to like you, and nor should you try. God's will may very well be that you two never hook up. Guys are really susceptible to what's called infatuation or puppy love. I was smitten with any number of girls in my youth and I never hooked up with any of them.

I've learned long ago that the best girls are the Chrisitans. CAVEAT: Please don't try and look for only the pretty girls that are Christians. My best female friends were Christians, so-so in the looks department, but had the right focus on God, and their inner spiritual beauty far outweighed any physical attributes, and consequently, I far more attacted to them. Unfortunately, the world dictates people associate only with the "pretty ones". This is false, evil, and only serves to drive you nuts. You then place physical, fleeting attributes over what matters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX once said "Better to be governed by a smart Turk than a stupid Christian." The same applies here. Better to have plain-jane Christian girl that is Christ-centered and cross-focused than a hottie that may be a Christian but could be absorbed by her own beauty and lets it dictate her actions.

Beauty is a double-edged sword. There are two kinds of beautiful girls: Those that are beautiful and know it (avoid them), and those that are beautiful and have no clue they are. It's easy to distinguish the two. Girls that are truly Christian have no desire to please the world.

Hello,

Agreed. I sometimes forget that not everyone is in IT. Honest mistake. I'd be more than willing to help anyone with an IT issue in here. I can even probably help people save money by pointing them to alternative software such as freeware/open source stuff that can run on Windows.

I have a problem with smoking. Still do. I try and avoid it, but I'm not going to go to stores that don't sell smokes just to avoid the temptation. It's up to me to put on the spiritual armor of Christ everyday and try and shun those things that are not God-pleasing things.