Those Who Can, Do...

There's an old saying that "Those who can, do, those who can't, teach." This is actually a true statement, but I have heard it grossly misapplied to teachers! I know that sounds odd, but let me explain.

This is not talking about school teachers, it is talking about professionals. Doctors who can cut it practicing medicine do so, those who can't cut it in practice teach in Medical schools. Likewise nurses who can't cut it in Hospitals either go to nursing homes, or teach other nurses. This applies not only to the medical profession, but across the board. Journalists who can't write teach other journalists, Lawyers who fail at practicing law teach in law schools, politicians who can do virtually nothing often end up teaching. The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. So, the only way this applies to school teachers is, those who can teach do, and those who can't either get cushy Union contracts so they can't be fired, or they teach other teachers.

Good teachers in our schools are not there because they can't do something else, they are there because they love kids, and know how important it is to help kids learn.

There are exceptions to the "...those who can't, teach" rule though. Sometimes, after a lifetime of doing whatever it is that a person has chosen to do, they decide to spend the remaining years of their working life trying to pass on their knowledge to others, or maybe for something to do, part time, in their retirement years.

In any event, the statement holds true, just not for the reasons that some people think.

The Battle For The Beginning

I just finished reading and excellent book, "The Battle For The Beginning: Creation, Evolution, and the Bible" by John MacArthur.

There is a generally accepted idea that people who believe in the Biblical account of Creation are ignoring science, or that perhaps the Bible is true, but we have misunderstood it. In this book, John MacArthur takes you step by step through the first three Chapters of Genesis to show us exactly what the Bible says, and why we have not misunderstood it. He also takes you through some of the science (although this is not an in depth scientific study) to show that it is not Christians who have ignored what science is trying to tell us.

More importantly, perhaps, MacArthur guides us through why it is that people would cling to such notions as evolution, in the face of overwhelming evidence that Creation is actually the truth.

I won't get into all of these reasons here today, since MacArthur does such a great job of bearing it all out in the pages of this book. This is a book I highly recommend, and, at present, it costs only $11.00 at www.gty.org and I think you'll find it to be money well spent.

For any Christian who has held fast to their belief in Scriptural Creationism, but is constantly buffeted by the never ending storm of criticism from the world at large, I think this book will be a huge blessing. For those who don't know, or believe in Evolution but are wanting to look at the other side of the debate, this book will be, at the very least, a great place to start.

On Unions

In a recent post I laid a lot of blame on the Union for the troubles facing the auto makers. Shortly after that post, I heard a discussion on the radio where one guy said that he didn't blame the Unions for the damage that they had done to the Companies, because, after all, their job was to get whatever they could get for the Union members, but he said it in a sinister kind of way, making it sound like hurting the company was a part of that.

The fact is pretty simple. Yes, the Unions primary responsibility is to make things better for Union workers, but as such, they have a vested interest in the health and success of the Companies they bargain with, because, if they put Companies out of business, or force them into laying people off, what good have they done for the members?

Before anyone gets upset with me, I'm not anti-union. In fact, I think that the purpose for which Unions were originally formed was very good. The problem is with what most Unions have become. That is, organizations obsessed with their own power, with little regard for what is good for their members, or the Companies they work for, which is related to what is good for the members. Also, they spend tons of money trying to elect people to public office who will take actions to increase their power. This is not good for anyone.

Happy Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and gets to spend some time with family, giving thanks to God for all the things that we have to be thankful for.

Fat People On Planes

A couple of years ago some airlines decided that they would charge fat people for two seats, even if they did not require two seats. Of course, this was ridiculous, to ask that people over a certain weight, who could fit into a single seat, would be required to pay for a seat that they wouldn't be using, and then the airline would still go ahead and sell that second seat to another person, so the person forced to pay extra for it couldn't even have the use of it. Wrong on so many levels.

Now, in Canada, a Court has ruled something equally ridiculous on the other extreme. Now airlines in Canada must allow fat people to fly on a single ticket, paying for only one seat, even if they require two. Obviously the airline cannot sell that second seat because it's already occupied. This means that ultimately the money will be paid by everyone in the form of higher ticket prices for everyone. Once again, wrong on so many level.

How's this for a solution, everyone pays for the seats that they actually need to use. That way, everyone pays for what they use, and only what they use.

Where did the common sense go?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Gregory Koukl

Which president made a proclamation to make this an official holiday?

I thought it would be interesting to read Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of October 3, 1863, in light of the recent understanding of "separation of church and state." Thanksgiving has been celebrated since 1621, but it became a national holiday thanks to Abraham Lincoln. Thanksgiving isn’t just a time to give thanks, because we ought to be giving thanks on a regular basis. It is a time to give thanks corporately, as a community, as a nation. That was Abraham Lincoln’s contribution in 1863. I was trying to remember where this was exactly in the Civil War. In mid-1863 the tide of the war had just turned. Gettysburg was the turning point in early July--the 1st, 2nd , and 3rd of 1963--and on the 4th Vicksburg fell under Grant after a long five or six month siege there. It was a bad week for the South. So there was a big turning point in July and things started going the way of the Union. There was plenty to give thanks for, in a sense. Yet at the same time there was a bloody war continuing, and lives were still being lost. It would two more years of unimaginable carnage before the Civil War would end. In the midst of this difficult time, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday and he did so with these words. Listen closely, especially in light of the present atmosphere of so-called separation of church and state. Proclamation of Thanksgiving* Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863 The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth. By the President: Abraham Lincoln William H. Seward, Secretary of State And so we have done now for some 131 years. We have set aside the day. On that day all over this country the post offices are closed, banks are closed, people observe the national holiday. But are they observing the holiday that Abraham Lincoln instituted in 1863? No, not quite. Abraham Lincoln, in his official capacity as president, acknowledged that we owe everything to God. He called on us to humble ourselves in penitence for our disobedience, confess our sins with contrition, ask for God’s mercy and give Him praise for his love, for all of His care for us. This is not the Thanksgiving our country now officially observes, for it is de facto illegal for those under the color of governmental authority to take the initiative to honor God in this way. You can’t do it in public places We can’t do that anymore. We can’t do it in schools. We can’t do it on government property. We can’t even put a cross on a hill in San Diego because people are offended by that. Why? Because the government owns the air, I guess. Now, my point is not to try to get prayer back into schools. I actually don’t think we can turn back the clock on that one. Any prayer we succeeded in having included would have to be too general and "pluralistic" to be acceptable to the God Who demanded we have no false Gods before Him. My point is to show how far removed the present atmosphere of the so-called "separation of church and state" is from what was understood by our forefathers. The current practice is not the original notion of non-establishment that the Bill of Rights mandates, and Lincoln’s comments make this clear Notice how natural it was for someone like the president of our country--many would say the greatest president our country has ever seen (and probably the saddest)--in the midst of an agonizing trial of national proportions--the civil war--to call the nation to repentance, prayer, and thanksgiving to God. What a man. And what a change we have gone through since then to now. *Source: The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler. This is an edited transcript of a commentary from the radio show "Stand to Reason," with Gregory Koukl. It is made available to you at no charge through the faithful giving of those who support Stand to Reason. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only. ©1994 Gregory Koukl

This is a transcript of a commentary from the radio show "Stand to Reason," with Gregory Koukl. It is made available to you at no charge through the faithful giving of those who support Stand to Reason. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only. ©2003 Gregory Koukl

For more information, contact Stand to Reason at 1438 East 33rd St., Signal Hill, CA 90755
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The Great Lie Begins

It was on this date in 1859 that Charles Darwin published "The Origin of the Species" in which he set forth his ideas for the theory of evolution, in a vain attempt to explain where everything came from, without giving credit to God.

The remarkable thing is not that someone once thought of this and put it out there as a theory, but rather that so many fairly reasonable people have bought into the idea as though it were something that could actually have happened.

Over many years, it is Christians who have been accused of ignoring science when it comes to the Creation/Evolution debate, however, if you stop and think about it, this simply isn't true. The funny thing is that much of what is touted as proof of evolution can only be seen as such if you presuppose that evolution is true, and deliberately interpret the data to agree with what you already think.

Just to give a somewhat unrelated example, let me tell of a debate between a Christian and an Atheist. The Atheist asked the Christian if he believed in Creation, and that Jesus had indeed died on the Cross, and been raised from the dead, and some other miraculous events, and the Christian said yes, and the Atheist basically said, well, there you go, you must be wrong because those things can't happen. Of course, what he was doing was attempting to frame the debate in such a way as to say that natural scientific laws as we know them are all there is, and so, anything outside of that can't be real. The problem is that the debate was about whether or not there is anything Supernatural, so, assuming that the Supernatural doesn't exist doesn't prove that it does not.

This is the same thing that happens in the Creation/Evolution debate. Those who believe in Evolution look at all evidence as though Evolution is absolutely true, and therefore, anything that goes against this must be false, which does not allow them to even consider the possibility that they could be wrong.

There are many reasons why Evolution doesn't make any sense, but it's really not about science. I'm not going to get into all of that today, but I may at some point soon. For today, I just wanted to point out that the lie began 149 years ago today, and we are still fighting against it after all this time.