A friend of this website sent us the following, and we couldn’t HELP but share it with you! Thanks CD, for sending this to us. Whoever the original author is, summed up a few of the differences between liberals and conservatives better than most . . . enjoy:

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, they don’t buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, then no one should have one.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, they don’t eat meat. If a liberal is vegetarian, they want to ban all meat products for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a conservative is homosexual, they quietly enjoy their life. If a liberal is homosexual, they loudly demand legislated respect.

If a black or Hispanic American is conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

If a conservative is down-and-out, they think about how to better their situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of them.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, they switch channels. Liberals demand that host’s they don’t like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal wants all churches to be silenced.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that his neighbor pay for his.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Friday, March 20, 2009
Dear Mr. President
Dear President Obama,

I couldn’t stay awake last night to watch your TV appearance on Leno, even though I wanted to. I am exhausted to the point of illness for the following reasons:

~ I have spent 38 hours this week showing houses in an economy where I am fully aware that my efforts may never turn into a paycheck.
~ I spent 8 days before that learning to appreciate my country more while I was serving in a 3rd world country to help build a concrete block church so that Haitian refugees can worship God, and playing with kids who do not have toys.
~ I am 11 days from taking my own 2-year-old son with Down syndrome to a hospital to have open-heart surgery to repair a defect that is common among children born with Ds. This surgical repair will make it possible for Shawn not only to live, but to be competitive and active without overworking his heart and becoming easily fatigued.

Mr. President, it is sad that you likened your bowling game to something beneath yourself, such as a “less-than-perfect” individual with physical and/or mental needs trying to be competitive in a sport. The saddest part is that you and others who make such minimalizing comments against some of our world’s most incredible and precious people, influences others to think they can do the same, and that it is without pain to the people who are affected. The person with physical and/or mental challenges competing in the S.O. has such drive, determination, hope, joy, spirit, respect, courage, and love. The man with Down syndrome who bowls 3 perfect games in a row, has overcome far more to perfect that ability than any pro competitor earning a gross salary. The Special Olympics track competitor who comes in last has more respect and grace toward his/her winning competitor than anyone competing in the super-human games. The young people training and competing in the Special Olympics are not secretly enhancing their performance by using steriods to cross the finish line, or celebrating with marajuana after signing millions of dollars of endorcement deals. And finally….they don’t care. They just want to belong. They want to have fun. They want to be loved, praised, accepted, celebrated, honored, and respected. You know what Barack, their goals are no different than yours, but their hearts are in the right place….even if a surgical repair is required to keep it beating.

Mr. President, my son did not hear what you said. He is 2 years old and he was asleep. But I heard what you said. I watched it back today online. I know you didn’t mean to stick your foot in your mouth and you didn’t mean to criticize an entire sect of our population. I know that you didn’t mean to knock your popularity ratings down a notch and that you didn’t desire to offend a single person. I know that you didn’t use the word “retarded” and I know that all you really meant to do was to be humble about the fact that your bowling game has room for improvement. Your intention was to show humility and maybe even bring a light-heartedness to your message where the challenges you face as President, and the challenges we are facing today as over-spent, over-extended Americans, could use a little light-heartedness. But you should have known better than to ever make light of a person with special needs. You offended every mother, father, brother, sister, special education teacher, cousin, neighbor, friend, church member, and every other advocate for people with special needs.

I am a mother of 3 incredible boys. But my youngest son with Down syndrome, Shawn…HE will need me FOREVER and I cannot guarantee that I will be here as long as he is here. He may never have the opportunity to earn a living with a respectable salary. He will never be Michael Phelps or Carl Lewis or President of the United States. He may never be televised and celebrated. But his leaking heart is FULL of love and acceptance. His eyes see no discrepancies in a single other human being on this planet. His lips will speak simple and tender truth, because he may never have the capacity to manipulate or lie. His little legs will run the race that is set out for him, even though you might always be able to run faster. And as his mommy, I will run beside him, or behind him, or I will even carry him across the finish line because his joy and the joy of my other children, is my number one priority for their lives, along with teaching them to absolutely love the God that created them, in His perfect image.

You have already apologized. But you did more than offend. You have shown me that you may not be as sensitive as I thought you were. You may be not as intelligent as I thought you were. And you may not be as trustworthy as I thought you were. You didn’t just make a regretable remark, you revealed something about your true character. Good luck with that in 2012.

Sincerely,

Melissa Irwin
Mother of Future Special Olympic Competitor
Nashville, TN

hello blog readers, i’m mabel-i’m married,
pregnant, eternally hungry and living abroad for the time being
because my husband francis works for the us state department.   we’re
stationed in uganda, a country known for only a few things- coffee,
mountain gorillas, and a pretty good hollywood movie about it’s former
dictator.  over the next 10 years or so we’ll be living abroad in a
number of countries, all of which will hopefully have reliable
electricity, potable water, and a minimal disease load.  we’re
currently 0-for-1.

i work part time for the embassy health clinic to stay busy but i’m
trained as a veterinarian.  at some point i may start an at-home
veterinary business but since i’m also 5 months pregnant the thought
of tackling a newborn, a new culture, and a new business at the same
time doesn’t sound smart.  at any rate, we live a life full of risky
malarial adventures here on the equator.  it was more exotic when the
prospect of an overseas move was just a prospect but we’re still
enjoying it.  i’d traveled abroad quite a bit prior to the big move so
i secretly thought i was rather well prepared but i’ve since learned
that traveling abroad and living abroad aren’t the same thing.  i
think i might have been better equipped to rebuild the engine on a
model t ford than i was to live in africa but here i am, surviving.
maybe that’s a stretch… but not much of one.

assuming i don’t contract yellow fever before the next time i sit down
to write, i’ll be putting out a thought or two on our experiences here
on the blog if you’re interested.  if not, then feel free to skip my
entry and spend time basking in the safety of your cozy american
living room or going on a biscuit binge at the cracker barrel because
that’s what i’d be doing right now if i could.

if you don’t like it let me know and i’ll maybe put something else
out. i’m not known for my skills in grammar so i have mistakes.

i was an agriculture major, you know.  no english required.

watch for my ‘bio’ coming soon to jtiu.

Well I’m back and chompin at the bit to get back at the grind! There are so many things to address, I’m not sure where to start, but I will figure it out as I go along . . . bear with me.

My first thoughts were that I would write about the fabulous trip the family and I had to our favorite spot on the planet—Montana (or “Monturner” to reference an earlier post of mine where I all but bash that scoundrel Ted Turner . . .). Then I thought no, I’ll write about the problems our National Forests face out west against the dreaded pine beetle. Something we HAVEN’T seen covered in the news by the way. I thought it was sad to see our Southern Pines suffering from an infestation, but wait a couple years until the epidemic pictures of our dying Ponderosa Pines hit the drive by media format. It will break your heart. I’m certain the ‘left’ will make it an upcoming mantra of sorts. It’s all about a hot cause for them it seems. And of course by then it will almost be too late. . . Anyway, then I thought I’d write something of the people I talked to about the election while we were out west. They put a very interesting down home perspective on things that actually reminded me of what a fabulous country we DO live in. . .

Then I realized that those topics can wait. Something better came along, as it were . . . I had the good fortune  of coming home to the news that what I had been hoping  and praying  for was actually reality. There’s a new face  on the JTIU block who makes me look about as interesting as paint drying (would that I were even that  interesting) . . . I am thrilled to say that tomorrow morning you will get your first weekly installment from “mabel” . . . So that’s my topic (really an introduction, rather) . . . mabel. Wait until you get a load of mabel.

Please be nice to her (I know you will, it’s really just a figure of speech, you know). Even though she lives a world away, she could take me with both hands tied behind her back & I don’t want to test her. . . I just want her wit, charm, character and integrity to warm your hearts the way it does everyone else who reads her musings . . . This is quite a feather in the JTIU cap. I must say it’s purely selfish that we’ve invited her to join us here. You know, “A house is known by the company it keeps”, and I pray that JTIU is always written and read by quality upright living Christians the likes of “mabel”. We already love her here. I’m confident you will too.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

The Guest Author of the following article is Bob Dukes. Bob is the President of Worldwide Discipleship Association, a 35 year old Atlanta based ministry seeking to develop mature believers through hands on teaching of the discipleship methods Christ used to train his disciples. The ministry is focused on the local church as well as the college campus. Bob is a graduate of Columbia University and has written extensively and spoken across the globe on numerous aspects of the Christian life of which discipleship is a core component. He and Crash/Uncle Bud have been friends for over 30 years.

Western Christianity, once a bastion of spiritual strength, faces a growing crisis as we witness the breakdown of the structures that have historically fostered morality and civility. Our families have fragmented amid selfish individualism fueled by consumer-oriented appetites. Our schools have exchanged biblical values for secular humanistic philosophies and eastern mysticism. (It may be that radical, Islamic fundamentalism is just over the horizon.) Our government seems confused, even rudderless at times, wondering if there is a foundation of absolutes upon which to establish law and policy, or if shifting public opinion should shape public life. And if that isn’t enough, the media seems bent on pulling down what remains of a classic western worldview. Are we living, as Dickens observed in A Tale of Two Cities, in the “worst of times?” The nightly news seems to be evidence enough.

But underlying the crisis in society is a crisis of character.

Though it may seem that all of these problems emerged overnight, the crisis has actually been developing for some time and can be linked to a blind spot in Christianity. For many years, the church has failed to produce mature men and women of character in significant numbers. Alexis de Toqueville writing in 1821 on the cause of greatness in the American Republic observed: “America is great, because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” (Democracy in America) Many of our churches have abandoned a biblical worldview altogether, and others have neglected spiritual nurture for programs in which success is determined primarily by numbers, effectively sacrificing maturity for membership.

This has resulted in a ‘revolving-door syndrome’, where people move from church to church, disenchanted with their previous congregation(s), yet still yearning for a place where they can find authentic Christianity and a refuge for their soul. Unfortunately, some Christian leaders have neglected the nurture of God’s people altogether, using them instead to fund and build bigger platforms for a message (and the messenger!) that minimizes the importance of repentance, faith, and godly living, and focuses instead on “feel-good” platitudes.

This ‘gospel’ invites people to enjoy life (rather than be holy), where ‘accepting Christ’ is more about discovering what Jesus can do for me than about me embracing the Son’s fulfillment of God’s righteous requirements through His death. Not surprisingly, this discipline-free message has produced a rampant ‘ME-ism’. Consumerism has invaded the church: Now you can “have it your way” while confessing Jesus, (Someone who incidently prayed: “NOT My will, but Yours be done, Father.”). This focus on soft evangelism and non-costly discipleship leads to program-driven paradigms that produce hungry people, who are weak in character.

Ironically, we live in a culture that is filled with spiritual needs but growing increasingly hostile toward evangelical Christianity. Spiritualism is on the rise while Christianity in the West is progressively ceasing to be “salt and light” to the world, and is in danger of being “trampled underfoot by men”. (Matt. 5: 13-16) But despite the strong impulse to panic or become cynical, there is good news.

God is not unaware, or indifferent. He is Sovereign over the nations (Psalm 2) and Lord of His Church, and He will defend the honor of His Name and promises to renew His people. Throughout history, when it seemed as if the people of God were surely defeated, the troubles they faced often became the catalyst for renewal and victory. Sometimes it requires hardship and defeat to refocus our perspective. Romans 8: 28-29 affirms that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.”

Conformity to the likeness of Jesus is an interesting concept, and begs the question: What if more Christians began behaving more like… well, Jesus? What if more believers were conformed more to His likeness? What if there was more long-suffering, kindness, gentleness, patience, understanding, and genuine ‘others-serving’ love? What if those who followed Christ were… more mature? The impact would be astounding and profound, wouldn’t it? Families, churches, organizations, even nations could be transformed. And God would receive glory.

But the process of becoming Christlike is not simple, or easy. Jesus said it involved the arduous discipline of training disciples: “When a disciple is fully trained, he will become like His teacher.” (Lk. 6: 40) There are obstacles. The way is difficult, at times hard-to-understand, and it requires humility and faith. But the outcome is worth it, both for now and forever. But we must be honest. Current approaches for helping Christians grow to maturity don’t seem to be working adequately.

We need a new approach, a new perspective. Any new perspective requires a new way of thinking. This in itself is challenging enough, but inserting a Christlike maturation process into the church will probably involve a transformation of the entire evangelical sub-culture. We have gotten comfortable with defining success as (primarily) the size (multitude) of our congregations, rather than the size (magnitude) of our hearts. Substantive character transformation will involve changing our processes not simply changing our rhetoric.

Transformation of this type will require more than a better curriculum, it will require committed relationships, a biblio-centric worldview, accountability to do truth not simply confess truth, as well as wisdom and prayer. One-size-will-NOT-fit-all. Adaptability is required. We must be able to meet people where they are, and help them take the next step.

God is in charge, but He expects us to do our part. The growth process involves both mystery and method. He is building a people for His own pleasure who are able to rise above the world, take on the characteristics of God Himself, and live significant lives that impact all eternity. Let’s pray for revival, but let’s work toward establishing transformational discipleship that produces godly leadership. It will take time, but we can’t start any sooner than RIGHT NOW!