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Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation. The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here. Off the Cuff - Part 3 IS THE BIBLE A HUMAN BOOK OR INSPIRED BY GOD? Peter Stoner – former chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College (CA), then chairman of the Science Division, Westmont College – in his classic Science Speaks [Moody Press © 1963] noted that there are more than 300 prophecies made in the Old Testament about the first coming of Christ, each one fulfilled as prophesied. What is the mathematical probability of just eight of these prophecies coming true in one man – not all of the 300+ predictions – but just eight? You may not be hopeless, but you are certainly very close. Wake up and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ immediately, claiming Him as Lord and Savior before it is forever too late. [Let me add the Foreword to Science Speaks: “The manuscript for Science Speaks has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a proper and convincing way.” And it was signed: “American Scientific Affiliation, H. Harold Hartzler, Ph.D., Secretary-Treasurer, WHAT’S NASA’S PURPOSE? Obama personally selected Charles Boldin to become the new administrator at NASA. Since taking charge he has canceled, with Obama’s approval and under his direction, our Constellation space program. If you understand Obama’s instructions, when he told Boldin he wanted him to head the program, you may understand that action better. Here is what Boldin himself said were the orders Obama gave him: "When I became the NASA administrator – or before I became the NASA administrator – he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering." First, inspiring children would be good, but with our main space program canceled, what’s to inspire? Second, expanding international relationships would be the job of the State Department, not NASA. And third, that leaves reaching out to Muslim nations and making them feel good. In fact, he said Obama told him it was the “foremost” thing he wanted. Excuse me! What has that got to do with While Fox News reported this first to Americans, it might help your understanding to realize Boldin revealed it first to the GLOBAL COOLING IS HERE! Dr. Don Easterbrook, Emeritus Professor at Western Washington University, a prominent geologist, presented a paper last May to the 4th International Conference on Climate Change in Chicago. Noting that the earth has historically shifted between warming/cooling (examples he gave: cooling, 1880-1915 and 1945-1977; warming, 1915-1945 and 1977-1998), he said the warming period is over and a new cooling period begun. (In an editorial in 1975, we pooh-poohed the global cooling hysteria of the time, promising the cycle would return to global warming; it did!) At the same time Easterbrook warns: “That global warming is over, at least for a few decades, might seem to be a relief. However, the bad news is that global cooling is even more harmful to humans than global warming and a cause for even greater concern.” It seems the number of fatalities double during extreme cold over extreme heat spells. Too, cold spells are more detrimental to food production. It will also increase per capita energy demands. No dummy, Easterbrook has written eight books and articles in 150 scientific journals. To add to the problem, he says world population will increase by fifty percent in the next four decades, reaching nine billion by 2050. He wrote, “This is already happening in the Midwestern U.S., China, India, and other places in the world. Hardest hit will be third world countries where millions are already near starvation levels.” According to NewsMax.com, his conclusions include: “Numerous, abrupt, short-lived warming and cooling episodes, much more intense than recent warming/cooling, occurred during the last Ice Age, none of which could have been caused by changes in atmospheric CO2. “Climate changes “Climate changes in the geologic record show a regular pattern of alternate warming and cooling with a 25-30-year period for the past 500 years . . . “Expect global cooling for the next 2-3 decades that will be far more damaging than global warming would have been.” This sure would mess up Obama’s planned Cap & Tax if the report got out, wouldn’t it? THE SODOMIZING OF AMERICA This once beautiful land based on biblical/Christian principles is going down the tubes with lightning rapidity. Speakers at public events are barred from praying “In Jesus’ Name,” but perverts can do almost anything – or so it seems. For example, the perverts had a parade in An immoral judge in Massachusetts (no surprise there) ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. Federal Judge Joseph Tauro ruled in two separate cases, basing his decisions on such matters as it prevented Sodomites from the benefits of married people in filing tax returns. (Single people are denied the same benefits, but His Honor might not know that!) What President Obama and Attorney General Holder will do – both have taken an oath to defend and uphold the laws of the land, of which DOM is one – remains to be seen. Perhaps they’ll assign the poorest lawyer in their fold to defend it. One shouldn’t be hard to find if Holder’s selections are anything like Obama’s judicial appointments. NBC’s “Today Show,” which offers a fancy wedding on television to the winner of its “Modern Day Wedding Contest,” opened the contest to Sodomites this year for the first time. And it added extra time to the application deadline to give the perverts time to enroll. Elsewhere in this issue we reported that one of the largest mainline Protestant denominations voted at its annual meeting to accept perverts as “leaders” in its churches. It narrowly failed, by one percentage point, to openly support same-sex marriages. (As the Chicago Cubs would say, “Wait till next year!”) Sodomite marriages are now absolutely legal in All of which proves the only way traditional marriage can be preserved in this country is an amendment to the United States Constitution. SUFFERING FOR JESUS! There is this guy named Joel Osteen who with his wife Victoria pastors a church in Houston known as Lakewood Church. It is supposed to be the largest church in America and, as far as I know, it really is. As a preacher, Joel is something else. As far as I can learn, he has never met a sinner he felt he needed to tell to repent in order to obtain salvation. At least, he has never told one the truth “repentance is necessary”; he admits he doesn’t preach it. While he doesn’t preach on taking up one’s cross and “suffering for Jesus,” what he does tell folks is, “God’s will for you is to live in prosperity instead of poverty.” I am not sure how that works for his members, but for Parson & Mrs. Osteen it seems to work right well, thank you. While he may not preach repentance or warn of Hell (he stays away from the negatives, just preaching positives – folks have enough bad news in life, he reasons), Joel has no trouble passing the hat and taking up a collection. In fact, he must do right well by himself in this area. Why do we say so? Well, the other day he moved from the Tanglewood area (not exactly a slum district) into the Tall Timbers section of River Oaks, known locally as “the poshist of posh rich neighborhoods.” Joel and Victoria had the movers transfer their worldly possessions into a $10,500,000 pad with 17,000-square-feet of living space on nearly two acres. It comes with six bedrooms, six bathrooms, three elevators and five wood-burning fireplaces, plus a one-bedroom guest house – you know, in case in-laws drop in – and a pool house. That $10.5 million figure is how the Harris County Appraisal District valued it. (I saw a picture of it; I’m not sure I could afford to even walk past it!) Their former Tanglewood eyesore (for a couple of their status, that is) was only valued at a mere $2.9 million. Incidentally, the Osteens are keeping that place, too (perhaps for a rainy day), although they are willing to sell an unencumbered half-acre section for $1.1 million, if anyone is interested. I’m not. In fact, most godly preachers I know couldn’t afford to buy a mere quarter of an acre of it – even if Donald Trump financed it for them at .0009 percent interest. But in case you are interested, Martha Turner Properties is handling the listing. (It might even turn out to be a bargain. When it went on the market a year ago the Osteens were asking $1.4 million; in December it was reduced to $1.299 million and now you can have it for $1.1 million.) The bad news for the Osteens is that the poor couple will be stuck for about $260,000 in property taxes on the new home this year. Instead of seeking a homestead exemption, the couple put the property in trust. I would be interested to know how many suffering, starving orphans the Osteens personally support, wouldn’t you? SHOULD WE GIVE ILLEGALS A ‘PATH’ TO CITIZENSHIP? We have long admired Dr. Richard Land, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). We have quoted him, commended him, and praised him on these pages. But we must take umbrage with his call for a path to citizenship for lawbreakers who are in our land illegally. Crime should never be rewarded, which is what his recommendation would be doing. What would you do for a gang of young thugs who were robbing and stealing from local businesses? Give them a scholarship to the Harvard School of Banking? Hardly. By the same token, the lawlessness that comes with claiming and obtaining privileges coming from someone else’s tax burden should not be rewarded by moving them to the head of the line in citizenship, passing honest people who have been waiting for years − or even honoring them at the end of the line. Sorry, Dr. Land. You are right on a lot of things but you are dead wrong on this one. His position was publicized in a full-page ad in Roll Call. Land said sending illegals home would result in our economy grinding to a halt by losing 12 to 17 million workers. Quite the contrary, it would provide jobs for 12 to 17 million workers who have been pleading for work and cannot find it. While he was not the only Christian leader to sign the letter, his bothered me the most. Later Land testified at a House of Representatives subcommittee and, after saying we must first secure our borders (agreed) he said, "What’s immoral is to not enforce the nation’s laws for over two decades and then to say, ‘Oh, now we’re going to enforce the law, and we’re going to enforce the law retroactively.’" He illustrated his point, "You know, it would be like the government sent out a letter to every driver in America that said, ‘By the way, for the last 24 years, we’ve been conducting surveillance by satellite on the interstates, and up until now we haven’t had the ability to ticket you for all of the times you’ve exceeded the speed limit. But we do now. And so now we’re going to send you a ticket for every time you exceeded the speed limit retroactively over the last 24 years.’ I don’t think most Americans would think that’s fair, and I don’t think most Americans would accept it." Since what illegals are doing is breaking the law we think it could better be illustrated like the government sending out letters to bank robbers: “By the way, for the last 24 years, we’ve been conducting surveillance by satellite at banks, and up until now we haven’t had the ability to arrest you for all of the times you’ve robbed banks. But we do now. And so now we’re going to bring you to trial for every bank you’ve robbed over the last 24 years.” We think that would be fair and most Americans who live according to our laws would accept it. Congressman Zoe Lofgren, subcommittee chair, asked Land if he spoke for Southern Baptists and he admitted "no one speaks for all Southern Baptists," but added he thought it was clear he spoke for the majority. Maybe. Perhaps not. Do we need reform on how we treat bank robbers? Why do we need immigration reform? We just need our laws to be upheld about both. AH, SOUTH CAROLINA I’m glad I don’t live in South Carolina – or at least have to vote there. You are familiar with the Alvin Greene joke, whereby the Democrats ‘selected’ a jobless, homeless, broke felon to be its candidate this fall for the Senate. The Republicans already had James DeMint as its candidate. Now the Democrats have reentered the contest by selecting one of their own to run as an Independent. They picked Linda Ketner. Who is she? Well, she ran and lost in the 2008 Congressional race, but that is ancient history. On the other hand, it was true then and is also true now, she is a Sodomite (lesbian, of course). Not only so, she ‘hates’ Christians because they biblically oppose her wicked, perverted lifestyle. In light of the competition, maybe Do you see why I’d really hate to be voting in “THE COURT” REJECTS RIGHTS OF STUDENTS The Hastings College of the Law is part of the University of California. A student group, the Christian Legal Society, sought normal funding/recognition on a par with other groups. It was denied on the basis of its statement of faith which says "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle" is inconsistent with its faith. The group sued and it went all the way to our Supreme Court where the Latino, lady, feeling members denied its constitutional rights. Former ACLU leader Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion in the 5-4 decision, denying the Christian group’s rights were violated. She claimed CLS was seeking “preferential exemption” and that the “First Amendment rights of association, free speech, and free exercise” of the students “were not violated by the college's decision.” That was too much for Justice Samuel Alito and he wrote a burning dissent for the maligned students, calling the court's majority opinion "a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country." He rightly insisted, "Our proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express 'the thought that we hate.'" If that is true, and it is, he went on, "Today's decision rests on a very different principle: no freedom of expression that offends prevailing standards of political correctness in our country's institutions of higher learning … Brushing aside inconvenient precedent, the Court arms public educational institutions with a handy weapon for suppressing the speech of unpopular groups – groups to which, as Hastings candidly puts it, these institutions 'do not wish to ... lend their name[s].'” And he added the claim, “I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that today's decision is a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country." Question: if it had been a Muslim group limiting members to the Islam faith, would the court have voted the same? You know it wouldn’t! GIVE UP YOUR FAITH OR GET OUT OF SCHOOL! Jennifer Keeton was pursuing a master’s degree in counseling at Augusta State (GA). She was informed that in order to continue in the program she must change her beliefs. In short, she was informed “her Christian beliefs were unethical and incompatible with the prevailing views of the counseling profession.” In fact, to continue she must undergo “diversity sensitivity training” to straighten out her views on sodomy. She was told she must undergo a reeducation plan, complete remedial reading, and write papers to describe their impact on her sincerely held religious beliefs. Otherwise, she will be booted from the Counselor Education Program at We agree with the school 100% on one thing: biblical teachings are “incompatible with the prevailing views of the counseling profession.” The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is taking her case. Meanwhile, up in Michigan, where Julea Ward was booted from its graduate program for her Christian belief that sodomy is wrong, U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh tossed out her suit for readmission. So much for fairness. We challenge the school, Eastern Michigan University, to boot an Islam student for standing by his or her belief in what the Koran says! Read paragraph two of this editorial again. The charges/reasoning in Jennifer’s case is the same as Julea’s (do you suppose they don’t like lady students whose given name starts with “J”?) The sad thing is that our country today is being run by two major factors: liberal judges who rule from the bench and the Sodomite agenda, not the Constitution. Something like a student with crazy unorthodox ideas, the establishment wants Julea (and others) to undergo a form of brainwashing to make everybody end up believing as it wants. You know, “cookie cutter!” Judge Steeh said “the dismissal was entirely due to plaintiff’s refusal to change her behavior, not her beliefs.” Of course, just like the government told pro-life pharmacists if they refused to fill abortion prescriptions they could expect to be terminated. It has become a world of rule or ruin! According to the Ann Arbor Sunday paper, Steeh admitted transcripts of the meeting between the educators and Ward contained “unfriendly and arrogant remarks” by the former. They frequently interrupted her when she was speaking, asked if “her brand of Christianity” was superior to that of others, quizzed her about abortion views, wondered if she would counsel others not in her religion, and otherwise made donkeys of themselves. The fact that the school was trying to force her to “violate my religious beliefs and conscience” meant nothing to them. But then, I don’t suppose it would to those who have none of their own. Unfortunately, this “precedent” may affect the ruling in the Keeton case since it is now established. Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for ADF, said Christians attending public institutions should be warned. “Public universities are imposing the ideological stances of private groups on their students,” he said. “If you don’t comply, you will be kicked out. It’s scary stuff and it’s not a difficult thing to see what’s coming down the pike.” IF YOU CAN’T DO IT RIGHT We have noted heretofore the Obama method – when he can’t steamroll his agenda via his partners in crime in Congress, it being too radical for even them – he governs in two ways to bypass the proper legitimate way: one, through presidential directives; two, by recess appointments. A sample of the latter was when he named a slime ball who advised a young boy to have sex with an adult male, then boasted of it. Another was his naming Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), almost certain to fail an investigation by senators, including Democrats. Recess appointments are supposed to be limited to “emergencies,” but this emergency was only that Obama couldn’t get him confirmed the regular way, through normal channels. Berwick is a follower of the socialism Obama loves, saying, “Any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional.” The CMS covers approximately 98 million people and handles something like $800 billion in taxpayer-funded health care expenditure. What a chance for him to “redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer,” especially with his stated aim to limit care for certain parties. Here is how Berwick sees health care rationing: “(1) global budget caps on total health care spending for designated populations, (2) measurement of and fixed accountability for the health status and health needs of designated populations, (3) improved standardized measures of care and per capita costs across sites and through time that are transparent, (4) changes in payment such that the financial gains from reduction of per capita costs are shared among those who pay for care and those who can and should invest in further improvements, and (5) changes in professional education accreditation to ensure that clinicians are capable of changing and improving their processes of care. With some risk, we note that the simplest way to establish many of these environmental conditions is a single-payer system, hiring integrators with prospective, global budgets to take care of the health needs of a defined population, without permission to exclude any member of the population.” His first job will be to slash $500 billion from Medicare/Medicaid costs. Watch it, seniors! As Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention put it, "Dr. Berwick's appointment should be headlined: 'Medical rationing is here.' He is the No. 1 advocate for rationing care to the elderly and to the terminally ill as cost-saving measures. Life just got more dangerous for every American over 65." |
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