For by grace am I saved, through faith...

I love Ephesians 2:8-10. Because it shows me how I am saved from my own sin. I have been hearing from "Brother Camping" as he is called on Family Radio, that the rapture is to occur on the 21st of May in 2011. (This is the same man that said that the world would possibly end in 1994). Apparently his theory is based on a couple of verses in the Bible, one that says that unto the Lord 1000 years is but a day. And the other about the fact that after 7 days the flood waters covered the earth, speaking about Noah's flood. He states that 7000 years after the flood is 2011. In my opinion that is just weak. If that key was in the Bible this whole time why has it not been interpreted that way in the past? Why now, and why only YOU Mr. Camping? I'm not saying that this isn't when we will be caught up in the clouds, however I am saying that this particular day has about as much chances as any other day in the future. I still believe that no one knows the day or the hour of the end of days, and that God will reveal his knowledge of such to NO ONE until the day comes. If the end of the world is really going to happen in 2 years, more so called "true believers" would have been alerted to these passages and there apparently "Obvious" correlation.

Brother Camping also subscribes to many notions that are not mainstream Christian traditions or theologies, such as his belief that all those who were "intended" to be saved were done so the moment that Jesus died on the cross, and that no one can be saved by faith. Well, Mr Camping, I urge you to explore the book of Ephesians again. For by grace am I saved, THROUGH FAITH, not by works, lest any man should boast.

DH out. 

I am a servant of God, not His equal by any means...

Why do most of the churches I visit these days seem to inexorably incorporate the praise song "I am a friend of God" into their Sunday worship as if it were the core of their beliefs? For me, and my house, this song embodies everything that is wrong with the way most Christians approach their faith in Christ.
The song, while catchy and often uplifting to many, has a text which can be interpreted to be fundamentally counter to the spirit of scripture. While it is based on a few key verses in scripture, the spirit of what the repetitive chorus “I am a friend of God” seems to denote a certain arrogance and implied equality with God that makes me shudder each time I hear it.

Friend
This word has many meanings and contexts. In our culture today, when someone is your friend, that person is someone you consider yourself to be equal to. Someone you can confide in, and who confides in you. They are someone whom you lend your tools to or borrow money from. They are someone with whom you see eye to eye. I can’t say that God sees me this way because it would in my mind be heresy.

Other meanings of the word friend include someone who is not my enemy, someone who is friendly to me, and someone who is my ally. These latter meanings are ones that I could get behind in terms of calling God my friend. But I am not an equal to Him by any means. I am indebted to Him for my life. I am forever His humble servant. I am His adopted child.

Me-worship
Repeating the mantra over and over again feels to me like we are trying to force this concept into our consciousness and make ourselves feel better for it. It’s something I like to call me-worship. While it can mimic the deep down warm and fuzzy feeling of true worship, the self-centered nature of it detracts our authentic worship from the one who deserves it. This is not the only song that does this. Any song that has one to many ‘me’s’ ‘I’s’ or ‘my’s’ that you can think of would fall under the category of me-worship.

Authentic worship
I wrote a paper on this once. I subscribe to the ideas put forth by one Harold Best in his book Unceasing Worship. Authentic Worship is unceasing. We worship 24-7-365. But it is what we focus our worship on that makes our worship true or not. Our worship can be focused on God, His son Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Or our worship could be focused on the Bears game, the cute girl in the second pew, or our self. It is what we focus our lives on that makes worship true.

The reason this song bothers me is because our culture has begun to look at God as the “great sugar-daddy in the sky.” He is someone to whom we can make requests to but not much else. We do not serve Him like we ought; instead we serve our own selfish desires, all the while whining when we don’t get our way. How dare we?

DH out

Bush, Obama: Equal but different?

Yesterday the Chicago Sun Times featured an article by Steve Huntley about the parallels between the Bush and Obama administrations. Among them were the premature declarations of victory, Bush in Iraq, Obama regarding the economy and unemployment. In addition, both administrations alienated the opposite party, Bush with the war in Iraq and Obama with his health care bill. (Biparti-what?) Obviously both administrations differ with one another on just about everything, which is why the term “mirror” was used instead of “carbon copy.” Still, the parallels are uncanny.


It almost seems like both parties as a whole are simply too jaded and begrudged to ever see eye to eye on anything. The political rift is just too great to bridge. One wonders if sometimes we fight against one another so fiercely just for the sake of being in strong opposition against the other side. Like a five year old boy does to prove he’s not like his big sister.

One thing is certain for me: Obama better get on the bipartisan band wagon and work to fix the economy and job markets if he is going to see another four years in his comfy new home. Otherwise he might find himself evicted by the American people with or without health care!

As if there was one…

The problem with the current state of the job market and housing crises (Yes, Plural.) is that employers and landlords are somehow empowered by it. “If you don’t like it I can find twenty other people who will!” they think smugly to themselves. Unfortunately for them, once the tangled ball of yarn that is this economic crisis is unraveled, and once jobs become more plentiful and people become more confident in buying houses again, their infinitesimal kingdoms will crumble as we the People will once again have the power of choice.

I will give you one example. The apartment complex that I live in provides our heat which is included in the rent. Recently they issued a memo stating the following: “Now that the winter heating season has started, anyone found with a window open will be fined $50 per occurrence. There will be no exceptions. If you are too warm, call Bob Smith at ***-***-****. ”
(That is actually his name, not a generic representational alias to protect the innocent.) (It is also crucial information that the good Mr. Smith is about as available for chit chat as the Pope, and intercedes for your benefit as often as the federal government does for your income tax returns.)

It is important to note that we live on the 3rd and top floor of said apartment building. Heat rises. So when someone on the 1st floor uses their oven, we get all of that heat. When someone on the 2nd floor uses the stove, we get all of that heat as well. You get the idea. All night my wife and I swelter in temperatures upwards of 80°f. We have turned down our thermostat and it is still 80°f. Turning on our A/C fan is the only thing that provides some relief, save opening a window, which all of a sudden is against the rules! If my wife and I had a choice, we would prefer to pay for our heat and have some semblance of control over the temperature in our own apartment.

It goes without saying that $50 for an instance of an open window is highway robbery when taken into account that heat is included in the rent, which in and of itself is quite substantial. If my wife and I had opened our window once a week to let out the smoke of a burnt hot dog or to get a little fresh air on a warmer day, our rent would increase by $200 a month. And that’s just for one occurrence a week.

Employers also seem to throw caution to the wind when it comes to their employees. We endure insult upon injury and still manage to do our jobs with a smile on our face. We can’t quit before we find another job, (which won’t happen) and we are too scared to complain because we fear we could be replaced faster than it would take our boss to say the words “you’re fired.” And most of us would be correct in those fears.

Join me in praying for a quick resolution to this so-called “recession” and for justice to be served upon those who take advantage of the world’s misfortune.

Millennium Park: Suburbanites have rights, too!

Recently, a Chicago Alderman by the name of Eugene Schulter stated his preferential proposal to keep residents of the suburbs of Chicago out of the best seating at Millennium Park. His proposal gives Chicago residents 15 minutes to find seating before everyone else.


For those of you who are unaware, Millennium Park has an amphitheater with a grass lawn for seating. 15 minutes is more than enough time for Chicagoans to completely fill the park and not allow people from the Suburbs anywhere near the action. (see the photo below)

Mr. Schulter’s reasoning is that he has received numerous complaints from city residents that they can never get good seating due to the overwhelming suburbanite crowds near the front.

First of all, to those who have complained, I understand that you are used to walking/bussing/cab-riding for 15 minutes to wherever you need to go in the downtown area. I also understand that your tax dollars have gone to help build this park. But the seating at Millennium Park is first come first served! If you want good seats, show up early and quit your whining! We suburban people had to drive over an hour, spend upwards of $20 for parking and hike two miles to the park from the garage while schlepping all of our gear and keeping our kids in tow. Just because we allowed enough time to do all of that AND get good seats does not give you the right to witch and moan about how you can’t hardly see the stage. TOUGH BEANS! Why don’t you go to Symphony Center and spend your big bucks on some box seats. That will make you feel better I’m sure.

To Mr. Schulter: I understand that receiving complaints from your beloved city folk is hard. I get complained at all the time by people I work with every day. Just because we suburban people didn’t pay your property taxes does not give you the right to impose preferential treatment against us! We travel into the city for work all the time! We eat at your restaurants and pay for parking and buy goods from your stores and stay in your hotels and pay your sales tax on all of it! We are guests in your house and deserve equal rights! How do you know that Chicago citizens were not mixed in with those suburban people in the front anyway? How do you know that those who complained weren’t just group of miffed off late-comer city dwellers, hot under the collar and letting off steam? You don’t; because no one knows for sure.

If Chicago citizens ever get preferential treatment in Millennium Park, I will personally boycott the park and picket the mayor’s office until it is amended. First come first served is just that. We don’t regulate who gets beer first at Wrigley or the Cell; we don’t give preferential treatment to people parking at Soldier Field. We should NEVER give preferential treatment to anyone based on where they live! Period!

DH out

On Abortion

This topic, while poingiant and timely, is literally brimming with controversy. Many have their strong opinions about it, as do I. Yet I feel I must speak to this topic. "Why?" You may ask. "This is too much too soon!" I say that what I feel must be said. If you disagree, please tell me so and include why. But for the next few paragraphs, I will outline my views in full. (end disclaimer)

Abortion, by any means, is counter to the moral grounds outlined in scripture. To premeditate and voluntarily kill any form of innocent human life, be it a man, a child, an infant, an embryo, or a fertilized egg, is against God's moral law. Much like snuffing a candle, to abort a human fetus is to remove the essence of life from a living innocent human being, one that otherwise might have lived and grown. Simply put, abortion is an abomination against God akin to that of murder.

That having been said, do I think abortion should be made illegal in the United States? No. To do so would only influence pro-choice activists to form underground clinics that are not held liable for malpractice or malfeasance, which would give rise to an increase of botched abortions and a slew of unethical practices. In addition, the passage of legislation to outright ban abortion could lead many women to feel they have no way out, causing them to attempt to perform self-induced aborting practices on their unborn children, or to commit infanticide or suicide.

Am I glad that the new health care system that passed will not provide funds for abortions? Yes. And I hope that it stays that way. Women should not feel that there is no consequence for their actions. An accidental pregnancy is still a pregnancy. Life is life.

Instead I hope that any new bill would promote funding for infant and newborn adoption for couples unable to have children. So many people in this world want to have children but do not have the biological ability to become impregnated. A program that allows them to have a child from birth gives hope to the hopeless. Programs like the ones in the videos below would be ideal for women who cannot raise their own child. I know that many early abortions are done to save face. But with the consideration that saving face is not worth killing a life that would bring so much joy to any given family, I think that many women would re-consider this option. Or at the very least they SHOULD re-consider it.




(The videos below are for reference purposes and are in no way owned by David H. or "In My Opinion")

The House passes the bill

As the democratic party celebrates their victory, I hear health care providers and retail employers mourning. The very air around me is thick with the controversy of this passed bill. I am reminded of the scene from Star Wars where queen Amidala is quoted as saying "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause."

While the bait of this bill seems to reflect a heart that is in the right place, I fear that the switch will be far more devastating to the American lower and middle classes, causing an increase in the cost of health care and insurance premiums.

Hopefully this will play out to benefit all Americans without any negative side effects, like high premiums, poor average health care, and the death of many of our liberties as human beings.

All I know is that a lot of people are not happy about this. Most of my family is calling it the "stupid health bill" and has rolled their eyes when mentioning its passing in the house.

DH out

Music IS important!

According to Discover magazine, studies have shown music to have therapudic properties. Not only does it improve our mood, but it can contribute to neurological development in infants and children and promote health in adults. This is why it is important to keep music programs going in our schools. Music helps balance out the academic subjects of mathematics, social studies, literature, and language studies. As a musician I cannot stress the importance I place on furthuring our children's education through music and other art forms such as sculpture, canvas, and theater. They help our children find forms of expression beyond writing an essay for school. Without these outlets, children become complacent, depressed, and sometimes violent.

It pains me to see school programs being cancelled due to economic strains on academia. In a perfect world children could explore their interests unhindered by monetary values.

Let's let our kids be kids for a while, shal we? Why is it that we assign so much homework to a 1st grader? Younger children do just as much learning through play with their peers as they do through the classroom and homework. In my opinion we should by all means be educating our children, but we should also alow them time to be themselves.

DH out

Jobs, anyone?

Why is it so difficult to find work in our country? Nowadays it seems as though everyone is REQUIRING more than 2 years of applicable professional expirience ON TOP OF a bachelors or MASTERS degree in order to acquire an ENTRY LEVEL position! This just seems insane to me! How can anyone be expected to have 2 years of expirience for an entry level position? If you have more than two years of expirience you should be elegible for management training, not a bottom-of-the-totem-pole-a-temp-could-do-what-you're-doing job. And if you don't have that Bachelors... whoa boy you better watch out! You'll be flipping burgers or schlepping coffee or working mall security for the rest of your life, never making over 30,000 a year!

Yeah and our economy is supposed to be getting better according to the current administration, but most people are laying off their employees, let alone even hiring right now. It grinds my gears to see the government bail out the banks and car companies when Joe the accountant got laid off before Christmas and will strougle to feed his family let alone buy economy-stimulating consumer products for his loved ones. The "American Dream" has become our nightmare. American children starving to death and honest hardworking citizens who can't provide for their families. This is no way to live. If we want our economy to improve we have to start providing our citizens with REAL jobs! Not retail, not hourly wage jobs but jobs with salaries and pensions and bonuses and 401k's and major medical insurance. America needs income far more than it needs another bank to suck the interest off our hard earned hourly wages.

I think that the government could solve this problem by creating a tax-dollar funded employment program that takes the unemployed and helps them find decent jobs with competitive pay. It will turn the unemployment-check takers into taxpayers! It's a brilliant idea! They could offer temporary tax breaks for companies who cease layoffs and start hiring immediately. And the taxpayer dollars that all of the new taxpayers pay would cover the overhead! This is a win-win solution for everyone.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

DH out

My first post

In my first post I would like to state some opinions that have been on my mind of late. They are as follows:

Politics.
So what's the deal with this Obama guy, anyway? He promises change, to the point of sounding Utopian-esque, and has thus far not done anything to affect a positive change for the average American. And yet his popularity and clout amongst his constituents remain unharmed, nay even undaunted by his apparent lack of progress. I read one article that stated that insurance companies project that the Obama health bill will not relieve costs, but actually increase the average health insurance premiums for families and individuals by $1500-$4000 a year! Is that change I can believe in? In my opinion, it is not. If real change is going to be brought about it will need to be in a way that does not increase the cost of living for people with incomes of less than $200,000 a year. In spite of his apparent lack of ability to do so, school children are taught to sing his praises! He even won a nobel peace prize! What did he do to deserve that? Say some inspiring words into a microphone? Make astounding promises without any actual resources to back them? Have his picture taken while he looks nobly into the sky as if looking into a brighter tomorrow? Sheesh, anyone can do that! It seems like the word "Premature" is the adjective du jour for this administration. Hopefully, Obama will live up to his promises and America will be better for it. Time will tell. But is it OK if I don't hold my breath?

Cost of living:
So. Rent is up, mortgage payments are up, the cost of food is up, sales taxes are up, property taxes are up, energy costs are up, and starting salaries are down. Does this make sense to ANYONE?! It used to be that a couple just starting out could find good honest jobs with decent pay and live comfortably enough to save up so that after a year or so they could start having children. But these days, my wife and I are worried about having a child. Is it because of the crime rate or doubts about our marriage or fears about what a baby will do to the relationship? No. It's money. Pure and simple. Health care, food, clothes, diapers... I read that it costs over $150,000 to raise a child to college age. That's not including tuition, people. That's money that a couple made of a barrista at starbucks and a security officer at a shipping company can't afford. We are looking for better work but apparently none exists in the Chicago area. And it's not like we aren't educated. I am just 6 credit hours (and about $16,000) shy of a bachelors degree, and my wife has a Masters! And even SHE is having trouble finding something better than STARBUCKS!

Jobs and the Economy
Companies need to stop outsourcing jobs and resources and start rebuilding our economy from the inside out. This means not only offering salaries that are updated with the cost of living, but offering affordable, reliable products to the American people! Stop overpricing useless crap! It's not helping anyone but YOU Mr. Big Salary CEO. In my opinion, international free trade should be capped and Americans should deal in-house until we can rebuild our infrastructure. Outsourcing jobs to pay workers pennies on the dollar should be illegal. You should either be made to pay American wages for work overseas or not allowed to outsource jobs to foreign countries period. We have the resources and the man power to accomplish anything! But we are creating such a vacuum due to inflation and outsourcing that an economic implosion is imminent.

Gun control:
Let me be perfectly clear how I stand on this issue: I believe that we need legislature that will allow law-abiding citizens the right to own, carry, and use firearms while regulating who gets them and when and for what purpose they can be used. I believe in Carry and concealment of firearms by tax paying, law respecting, peace preserving citizens. Any legislature that outright bans conceal and carry practices only strips law abiding citizens of their weapons while doing virtually nothing to those who have no regard for the law. A murderer and a rapist will both carry their hand cannons regardless of what legislature is passed by John C Mayor. However, the girl who was raped, or the man who was killed could have had the means to defend themselves had the law been on their side. In this case, the perpetrators got away with what they did because the man and the girl were defenseless, because they obey the law, which states that they can't carry guns. Statistics prove that when conceal and carry laws allow citizens to carry guns, crime rates plummit. The reason for this is that criminals become aware that normal everyday people could be carrying guns too, and this notion prevents them from taking the risk of being shot. It's simple logic. Why normal people with the power to make laws in places like Chicago (who's laws don't even allow retired police officers with perfect records to carry their weapons with them) wouldn't realize this and change the laws in place to allow its citizens to protect themselves from bad guys is beyond me. It baffles the mind to the point of lunacy. My father in-law, a retired police officer of the will county sheriff's office, should be allowed to carry his service revolver with him in the seedy places of Chicago for the protection of himself, his loved ones, and even the people around him. But the law of the land states that he could be arrested and imprisoned for doing so. What is wrong with this picture?

DH out