Incrementalism

A couple of stories come to mind to illustrate incrementalism...

1. You've heard the story of the frog put in cold water and the temperature gradually rising until the frog actually boils. If you put the frog near the hot water, it will immediately jump away...much like the public did with the resent fiasco during the Super Bowl.

2. A friend used this illustration for ecological pollution, but it could be applied to pollution of the soul, as well. If you take a five gallon carboy of water and a dropper filled with red die, one drop of die will not be seen, but if the drops continue to be added, over time, the water will take on a pinkish tinge. The damage has been done.

So it is in our society where nothing shocks anymore, yet to the quest for a shock never ends. This results in a continual expansion of the "moral envelope" or the limit of what is morally acceptable.

Can we put the genie back in the bottle or is it too late? What do you think can be done or should be done to stem this tide?

Gay Marriages?

1 Corinthians 6:9-20

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
12 "Everything is permissible for me"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything.
13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"-but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."
17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

- - AND - -

Romans 1:20-32

20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
NIV

Proud Versus Humble

Proud, unbroken people
- have self-righteous, critical, fault-finding spirits
- look down on others
- are independent; have self-sufficient spirits
- maintain control; must have their way
- have to prove they are right
- desire to be served
- are driven to be recognized and appreciated
- are quick to blame others
- are concerned about what others think
- wants to be sure no one finds out about their sin
- have a hard time saying, "I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"

Humble, broken people
- are compassionate; have forgiving spirits; look for the best in others
- esteem all others before themselves
- have dependent spirits; recognize others' needs
- surrender control
- are willing to yield the right to be right
- are motivated to serve others
- are thrilled to be used at all; are eager for others to get the credit
- accept personal responsibility; can see where they are wrong
- knows that all that matters is what God knows
- are willing to be exposed; know once broken, there's nothing to lose
- are quick to admit fault and to seek forgiveness

By Warren Wiersbe

President Bush lied?

Re-evaluating Weapons of Mass Destruction
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the
capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver
them. That is our bottom line."
- President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose
is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
- President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters
a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue
state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against
us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
- Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has
ten times since 1983."
- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18,
1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent
with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions
(including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect
Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by
Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction
programs."
- Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom
Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons
of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries
in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons
inspection process."
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons
of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his
weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical
and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf
War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery
systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile
program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the
United States and our allies."
- Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,)
and others, December 5, 2001

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a
tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region.
He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is
building weapons of mass destruction and the means of
delivering them."
- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and
chemical weapons throughout his country."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven
impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue
for as long as Saddam is in power."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking
and developing weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998.
We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of
chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked
on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological
warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is
seeking nuclear weapons..."
- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States
the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because
I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction
in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working
aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have
nuclear weapons within the next five years .. We also should
remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has
made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11
years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that
he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and
any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence
reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his
chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery
capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid,
comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda
members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam
Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage
biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to
develop nuclear weapons."
- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence
that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a
developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons
of mass destruction."
- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a
brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ....
He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently
prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's
response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for
weapons of mass destruction. So the threat of Saddam Hussein
with weapons of mass destruction is real."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

SO NOW THE DEMOCRAT LEADERSHIP SAY PRESIDENT BUSH LIED, THAT
THERE NEVER WERE ANY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AND HE
TOOK US TO WAR FOR HIS OIL BUDDIES??? ANOTHER 'LIE DU JOUR'. THEIR
NOSES GET LONGER EVERY DAY.
PLEASE PASS ALONG.

SOCIAL SECURITY

(This has been around for a while, but it is worth keeping on top of the pile.)

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years.

Our Senators and Congresspersons do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it.

You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.

For all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die.

Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments.

For example, former Senator Byrd or Danforth or Congressman White or Gephardt and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars ), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries.

Younger Dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. NADA....ZILCH....

This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds;

"OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into, -every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)- we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement.

Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley' s benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made.

That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us ... then sit back and watch how fast they would fix it.

If enough people read this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.