Hillary presidential positioning

Yes, she will run and yes, she is trying to redo her image to make herself more palatable to Christians:

Peggy Noonan reports in  Wall Street's Opinion Journal (2/24/2005):

Hillary. Forget her prepared speeches, put aside her moderate statements on Iraq and abortion. This is how you know she's running for president in 2008. Ten days ago a reporter interviewed her in the halls of the Senate (another kind of cloister) and asked if she planned to run for president. She did not say, "I'm too busy serving the people of New York to think about the future." She did not say, "Oh, I already have a heckuva lot on my plate." She said, "I have more than I can say grace over right now."

I have more than I can say grace over right now. What a wonderfully premeditated ad lib for the Age of Red State Dominance. I suggested a few weeks ago that Mrs. Clinton was about to get very, very religious. But her words came across as pious and smarmy, like Tammy Faye with a law degree. Maybe she still thinks in stereotypes; maybe she thinks that's what little Christian ladies talk like while they stay home baking cookies. Whatever, it was almost as good as her saying, "I'm running, is this not obvious to even the slowest of you?"

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:15-16

"You cannot expect the world to understand doctrinal differences especially in our day when the existence of true truth and absolutes are considered unthinkable even as concepts". - Francis A Schaeffer (The Mark of a Christian)

To be an art critic, leave brains at door... A survey of 500 arts experts, conducted in November by the sponsor of Britain's prestigious Turner Prize, named as the most influential work of modern art (beating out two works by Picasso) Marcel Duchamp's 1917 "Fountain," which is merely a white porcelain urinal. (Duchamp was a central figure in the movement to present ordinary objects as art.) Allege art In November at the Tate Britain gallery, sculptor Antony Gormley presented "Bed," a pile of 8,000 slices of bread arranged to resemble a large mattress but from which Gormley had first eaten an amount out of it that represented the volume of his body. Apparently Gormley did not devour the bread so much as chew it and then remove it and form different-shaped pieces, which he then dried out, chemically preserved, and displayed. The Tate Britain was so thrilled with the installation that it became the centerpiece in a room devoted to Gormley's lifetime body of work. Try This While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction. I told you so .....And there's nothing you can do about it!

Prayer Request: Margi and Larry, who have significant issues of health, and for their family during this trial. (long term) Tim and Debby, as Tim continues to struggle with his recovery, and for their family during this time of crisis. (long term) Danny, a young man who recently made Eagle scout has stage one melanoma. Please keep him in prayer while he undergoes medical treatment (chemo/radiation). Also, please keep his family in prayer! (long term) For my Mom who is suffering from a long cold and other conditions. Tax season (she is a tax-preparer) takes a lot out of her! Praise! - I made the Kenya team. I will be going to Kenya this June with 10 other people for a short-term missionary trip. More information to come!

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:14-21

Even when they try, Time Magazine still doesn't "get it"... BreakPoint with Charles Colson Getting It Judging by its profile of people like Rick Warren, Roberta and Howard Ahmanson, and Chuck Colson, for Time, "influence" is simply synonymous with "power." The chief criterion for Time for inclusion on the list seems to be whether politicians will take your phone call. Even people like Rick Warren and Billy Graham aren't cited, as they should be, for their impact on people's lives. Instead, their ministries become means to a political end, as Time sees it. Thus, in Time's view, Warren makes the list because fifteen senators "from both parties sought his advice." Likewise, while Graham's general reluctance in political matters was noted, Time also pointed out that Graham has "had the ear of presidents for five decades." read the article Comment: Maybe we expect too much from Time Magazine. After all, the article that Time wrote is titled "25 most influential evangelicals in America." Readers with (or familiar) with the Christian Worldview would certainly focus on the word in the title "evangelical" and what that means. Time and its non-believing readers would focus on the "influential" which is for the most part equated with the ability to get something done usually by political means and if there is a focus on "evangelical", than either the meaning is negative, or it is not fully understood by the reader. If we are looking for a "breakthrough" in understanding between Christian and Secular, with a cessation in hostilities between our two camps, then looking at the secular media to do it for us will fail every time. Christ in Matthew 10:21-23 and Mathew 10:34-36 promises not a cessation of hostilities, but an increase. We need to be the influential in our culture by contrasting our love for God and each other with the world's love for self and love for power.

From my EMAIL: Newspapers The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country, and who like seeing the news twisted to be suitable for badmouthing the government. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn't have to leave LA to do it. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country, and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country .... or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they strenuously oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy as long as they are Democrats. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

Prayer Request: Margi and Larry, who have significant issues of health, and for their family during this trial. (long term) Tim and Debby, as Tim continues to struggle with his recovery, and for their family during this time of crisis. (long term) Praise: Sister-in-law Kathy - NO breast cancer FOUND Danny, a young man who recently made Eagle scout has stage one melanoma. Please keep him in prayer while he undergoes medical treatment (chemo/radiation). Also, please keep his family in prayer! (long term) Travel Mercies for my family as they take a mini-vacation and head to Florida.

(1)Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. (2)Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. (3)And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. (4)The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (5)For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. (6)For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  2 Corinthians 4:1-6

$$$$ OPPORTUNITY ! Are you interested in making $$$$ fast? Here's an incredibly simple way to do it and there is nothing to buy, no investment to make, no money to lose! TRY it now! Follow this simple procedure:    1. Open a new text or word document    2. Hold down the shift key.    3. Hit the '4' key four times really fast. From my Email: Brian Livingston from WindowsSecrets.com has a informative article on Spyware Anti-adware misses most malware Now that 80% of home PCs in the U.S. are infected with adware and spyware, according to one study, it turns out that nearly every anti-adware application on the market catches less than half of the bad stuff. read article

Einstein, it turns out is a real birdbrain An 80-year-old Iraqi, Rashid Majid is quoted: "We have freedom now, we have human rights, we have democracy. We will invite the insurgents to take part in our system. If they do, we will welcome them. If they don't, we will kill them." Attack Mode: Group Wants IRS to Investigate Focus On The Family FBI examines pastor’s sermons on abortion & homosexuality United Ne'er-do-wells (UN) NBC Reporter Was on U.N. Lobby Payroll The incredibly irrelevant United Nations

Prayer Request: Please pray for Margi and Larry, who have significant issues of health, and for their family during this trial. (long term) Tim and Debby, as Tim continues to struggle with his recovery, and for their family during this time of crisis. (long term) Danny, a young man who recently made Eagle scout has stage one melanoma. Please keep him in prayer while he undergoes medical treatment (chemo/radiation). Also, please keep his family in prayer! (long term) A missionary family whom had to make a very painful decision. Most of us are familiar or have knowledge of a missionary or two. They are in great need of our prayers. They are in situations that are unique from our own experience and need strength and ministerings that prayers, when lifting these missionaries before God, can provide.

"I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols" Isaiah 2:8

Christianity Today On The Record 'There Can Be No End to Jihad' Many Muslim scholars think that all Israelis, as "colonial dispossessors," but not all Americans or Russians, fit this category. What is the position of Islamic law? Is it halal (permitted by shari'ah law) to behead Western hostages in Iraq? Women and children [i.e. boys under 15] or Muslims are not legitimate targets-nor are any noncombatants [clergy, disabled, insane, elderly, etc.]. Not even Israeli children or women, unless they serve in the military, which most do, or live in properties taken from dispossessed Palestinians (Muslim or Christian), which virtually all do. However, if children are killed, the fault lies with the adult occupiers who brought them into a battlefield situation. There are two kinds of Jews in Palestine: firstly, the indigenous Palestinian Jews who always lived there with Muslims and Christians, with whom there is no problem unless they support the occupiers, and secondly, the illegitimate European colonists from Poland, Russia, etc., who are legitimate targets in jihad, because they dispossessed Muslims and covenanted [protected, indigenous] Christians. Regarding beheading, it is halal to behead Muslim criminals! It is halal to kill hostages in a war zone. Regarding what can be done to secure their release, either they or their families could embrace Islam. Or, based on the principle in Islamic jurisprudence that what benefits Islam and the Ummah [global Muslim community] is best-such as when Salah ad-Din [Saladin] after the-recapture of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] said he would only restore the True Cross to the Crusaders if it benefited the Muslims-the relatives of hostages could offer to continually denounce the Crusades, the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement that divided the Middle East between the French and British, the 1917 Balfour Declaration that handed Palestine to the Zionists, U.N. Resolution 181 that established the Zionist entity, and also American government support for what the Zionist regime does to the Palestinians, as well as condemn the situations at Guantanamo Bay, Umm Qasr, Bagran, and Abu Ghraib prisons. The mujahedeen then might consider that the benefits of releasing the hostages outweigh those in killing them. What happened in Spain demonstrated this: when the government announced withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the mujahedeen responded positively. Muslims appreciate the antiwar marches in the West. Bin Laden called on European peoples to condemn their governments. there's more...

They got Elmo too?

4 Ways to Reach Out to Muslims From Christianity Today Article There are more than 1 billion Muslims in the world, and more than 5 million in the U.S., making Islam one of the fastest-growing religions in America-quickly emerging as the second-largest religion behind Christianity. Here's what you can do to make an impact. Pray for them. The only way a Muslim will ever come to Christ is if the Holy Spirit works in her heart to draw her to the truth. Pray specifically that: Muslims would be open to reading the Bible and would believe the Bible is the preserved, authentic Word of God; they'll believe Jesus was crucified for their sins and resurrected from the dead; God will remove any misconceptions they have about Christianity; God will give them courage to surrender to Christ. Know your faith. It isn't as important to a Muslim what you know about Islam as it is important for you to know about your own faith. Steep yourself in God's Word so you can address any questions a Muslim may have about what the Bible and Christianity teach. Remove any misconceptions about Muslims. Not all Muslims are extremists, such as the Taliban. Not all of them hate Americans or Jews. Basically, they want the same good things from life we want. Many Christians assume all Muslims know Islam and the Qur'an very well. The fact is, however, most Muslims are Muslim in name only; they know little of their faith. Befriend them. The best way to reach out to a Muslim is to show her Christ's love. Sharing the gospel isn't enough to reach a Muslim. She has on spiritual blinders (2 Corinthians 4:4) that require time, prayer, and the outpouring of Christ's love working through you. But the results of your persistence will be worth it (Galatians 6:9).

Prayer Request: Margi and Larry, who have significant issues of health, and for their family during this trial. (long term) Tim and Debby, as Tim continues to struggle with his recovery, and for their family during this time of crisis. (long term) Danny, a young man who recently made Eagle scout has stage one melanoma. Please keep him in prayer while he undergoes medical treatment (chemo/radiation). Also, please keep his family in prayer! (long term)