New website

I have a new website,all future blogs will be at : www.gideonswell.com. There is a subscribe link on the page.

Thanks,

Gideon

It's About Time!!

According to a news article at:http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0741602120080707, some liberals are calling for expanded energy exploration. Well Hallelujah!! This should have happened right after the oil crises of the 70's. We here in the U.S. have more complacency than any other nation. We think we are invincible and that no other nation can take us down. Well think again! We are coming very close to being on our knees because of the current oil crisis. This should have never happened. If the U.S. had seen the writing on the wall in the 70's and had started energy exploration then the current situation could have been totally avoided. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be opened to oil exploration and drilling if any oil is found. The Alaskan pipeline should be used for transporting oil to "the lower 48" for refinement and the U.S. government needs to get off it's fat duff and start doing research into alternative energy sources since the oil will not last forever. Why can't the elected officials that are supposed to have our best interests at hand see any of this? We are currently at the mercy of multiple countries which by themselves aren't anywhere close to the size of the U.S. and before the oil crisis had a much worse economy. While were at it let's bring manufacturing back the U.S. too. If we don't we are going to lose more jobs to other countries and we will be in for a serious depression not just a recession.
We need people in government who look at these situations from the common man's point of view, not from a politician's. If the elected officials lose sight of what the common man needs then they should be voted out of office. It is the common man, the laborer, that keeps this country running. These are the people they should be looking to please. They should please us by keeping our jobs here in our country where they belong and by keeping necessities such as oil at affordable levels so we don't have to mortgage our homes to fill our gas tanks. I don't think anyone has actually had to do that yet but the way things are going it could certainly happen.

Seeker Friendly Churches

How many people know what I mean by a "seeker friendly church?" Is it wrong to use the things of man to bring people into a church, then preach the gospel and give an altar call? I have heard of some unusual ways of getting people to hear the Word such as a paint ball ministry and playing hard rock music to attract the people that enjoy that type of music. How do we know when the methods used to attract new people into our church have crossed God's line? I think that when we use methods that cause people to come to church for something other than God we have crossed that line. Matt 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (KJV) If we bring people into a church through a paint ball ministry or because we offered them gas cards, as one church recently did, have we caused them to seek something other than God and His righteousness? We as Christians who know Jesus Christ and presumably the Bible are supposed to be using Christian methods to bring people into our churches. Jesus never offered people anything other than food, healing and the Word. We need to have the power of God in our churches, that is what will bring in the new people. John 12:32 says, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." (KJV) Jesus will draw all men unto Him but only when the power of God is at work in the church. The power of God is very weak in most churches today. Those churches are not seeking God first they are seeking ways to bring more people into their specific church and even if their motives are pure their methods are not. We need to allow God to bring the people into the church(es). We need to use the methods Jesus used to make Himself noticed by the people. Even TV ministries can be used in the wrong way to draw people to the church. I am not saying they are wrong, only that they can be used in the wrong way.
Jesus is the only one that can bring people into the body of Christ. He does it in His own way and in His own time. We need to honor Him and allow Him to work through us while we do our work following the example He set. We cannot allow ourselves to use methods that bring people to a church for any other purpose than Christ Himself. Jesus fed the poor, healed the sick and the lame. He unstopped the ears of the deaf and opened the eyes of the blind. If we work in this way Jesus will honor our efforts and the power of God will be in the church. When people outside the church hear and then see with their own eyes that people are being healed then they will come to the body and want to be part of it for God, not only for what they can get from the church.

Defenseless America

Barack Obama has made a video which you can see at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs. This video leaves me with a lot of questions. Obama says that as president he will end the war in Iraq. How will he do that? Will he just tell our troops not to fight unless fired upon first and then simply pull them out leaving Iraq essentially defenseless? Will he stop all offensives currently being done? He says he will cut ten's of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. What does he consider as wasteful spending? In his next sentence he says he will cut investments in "unproven missile defense systems." These defense systems may be unproven in his opinion but is he making an uninformed decision or is he actually talking to the developers and looking to see if these systems have any value? Is he talking to military leaders to get their opinions? Is this the "wasteful spending" he is talking about? He will "slow development of future combat systems." We need to be at the forefront of combat system development. We cannot afford to allow our efforts to be slowed. He will institute an "independent defense priorities board." Who will this board answer to and what power will they have over the defense of the U.S.? He will "set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons." Really? How will he do that? It's been tried before and hasn't worked what will he do differently? He will not "develop new nuclear weapons." If you can't diplomatically get the other nuclear countries to disarm their nuclear weapons then we had better keep developing new weapons here in the U.S.. He will "seek a global ban on development of fissile material." Once again, good luck. He will "work with Russia to take our ICBM's off trigger alert." Okay that might be possible if Russia has someone in office that's willing to listen to his proposal. Putin the former president of Russia wouldn't have considered that and I believe the current president is a former KGB official like Putin was. I don't think it will work but in this case I don't think it would hurt to try. He will "achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals." That sounds like a dangerous goal. To succeed at this he must talk all other nuclear countries into doing the same thing and prevent rogue organizations like Al Qada from getting their hands on nuclear material.
These concepts are extremely idealogical and lofty. I wonder if Mr. Obama is willing to trust other countries enough to do these things without watching to see the reactions of our enemies, or perhaps he thinks we don't have any. Everyone loves America...right Mr. Obama? What world does he live in? Apparently their is no Al Qada where he lives. Perhaps no threats at all.
Mr. Obama wake up and see the light. This world is full of people that want to destroy this country and your going to let them do just that. We need to have a strong military not one that has had their hands tied by their Commander in Chief. If you do become president I hope for the sake of this country you do not go ahead with those goals. If you do we will be in serious trouble.

Blogger block

I am having a case of blogger block. I am unable to come with anything today to write about so I thought I would write about that. It is extremely frustrating to realize that there is nothing going on in your life or in the news that seems worthy of mention, not that my life is usually all that exciting but today there is just nothing that gets those creative juices flowing so I am writing about not having anything to write about. I hope this comes off as a light hearted approach to the problem. See you next week.

A Special Day

28 year old Lisa Stevens was married today in Bremerton Washington. She is a patient in the Intensive Care Unit at Harrison Medical Center and has terminal cancer. Doctors say she has only days to live. As if her medical problems aren't enough the power went out at the County Auditor's office however officials stayed until at least 10pm to get the marriage license paperwork completed. The hospital decorated the ICU and gave the bride a special quilt, flowers and sparkling grape juice to celebrate their nuptials. Kudos to the county employees who worked what must have been difficult overtime without power to make this happen, also to the staff at Harrison Medical Center for their part in the celebration. The brides father paid a visit to the County Auditor's office to say thanks. I pray that the Lord will miraculously heal Lisa and that she and her husband may spend many happy years together. I found this here:http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/06/07/pkg.dying.wish.cnn

An Inconvenient Truth? Not Really

Who hasn’t heard about global warming and the catastrophic effects that are supposed to bring about the end of civilization as we know it? I certainly have and I started wondering about the other side of the argument. Al Gore made his video, “An Inconvenient Truth” very well known and the media was a huge help in that effort. Why haven’t we heard anything in the news about dissenting opinions? I think the media doesn’t want to listen to or broadcast anything that goes against the politically correct grain. Well there are some dissenting opinions out there and I intend to bring some of them to light. Fred Singer of the University of Virginia, an atmospheric physicist who has worked on satellite weather studies for several government agencies says : “ Changes in global temperature and sea levels reflect natural fluctuations that have occurred throughout history and are not caused by pollution. Scientists ignore data, he said, as he presented temperature study results that showed natural fluctuations over several centuries.(From : http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2001/10/19/news/Physicist.Argues.Against.Global.Warming.Theory-129029.shtml) Following are “8 Arguments Against Global Warming” 1. Most scientists do not believe human activities threaten to disrupt the Earth’s climate. 2. Our most reliable sources of temperature data show no global warming trend. 3. Global climate computer models are too crude to predict future climate changes. 4. The IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change)did not prove that human activities are causing global warming. 5. A modest amount of global warming, should it occur, would be beneficial to the natural world and to human civilization. 6. Efforts to quickly reduce human greenhouse gas emissions would be costly and would not stop Earth’s climate from changing. 7. Efforts by state governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are even more expensive and threaten to bust state budgets. 8. The best strategy to pursue is no regrets” (From : http://www.aproundtable.org/tps30info/globalwarmup.html
Am I saying we shouldn’t be concerned about climate changes? No, we should however put the evidence in the proper perspective. Many of the theories supporting global warming are, when examined more closely, just not very plausible. CO2 is the most talked about greenhouse gas and people have actually talked about ways to eliminate it from the atmosphere. Eliminating CO2, even if we had the technology to do it, would endanger the entire world. CO2 is a natural and necessary part of our everyday lives. Without CO2 most plant life would die very quickly. Plants need food, sunlight and CO2 in order to survive. Would you like to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere? Plant more trees!! Trees consume more CO2 per individual than most other forms of plant life. They also give off oxygen as a byproduct.
Hydrogen fuel cells have been promoted as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. That may be true in theory and in fact in terms of cost and reducing the amount of exhaust compounds in the air. The unfortunate fact is that water vapor is the leading greenhouse gas. Clouds hold in heat and prevent radiational cooling, they are also the most important variable in the greenhouse effect. Hydrogen powered vehicles give off water vapor as their only byproduct. Imagine having millions of them on the road putting out thousands of gallons of water vapor every day. Now if that wouldn’t cause global warming nothing would.
It seems to me that the proponents of global warming are participating in fear mongering and if they actually believe what they are saying then they are alarmists. The reasons for anyone wanting to promote fear are open to debate. Perhaps it is motivated by a need for control of something…the economy? The country?
There are too many arguments against global warming to make it a certainty. The instruments used to measure the indicators of global warming give conflicting results. To quote Fred Singer again : “During the last 20 years, a period in which many have suggested evidence of warming from the greenhouse effect, various methods of measurement have provided conflicting data, Singer said. Sensors that measure surface and ocean temperature have recorded temperature increases, while satellite and balloon weather equipment have showed no warming. We need to concentrate on finding more efficient energy sources that don’t harm the atmosphere, nuclear energy for electricity is one of the best we currently have. Finding an alternative source of energy for transportation should be a priority if only to make driving your own car affordable again. As far as the long term effects of global warming are concerned we need to take a wait and see approach as it’s too early to tell what will happen.