Gay Activists Expose Secret Rightwing Cabal (Or Not)

It read like a chapter out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, instead this time, the evil protagonists were not Jews (for the most part) but rather rightwing anti-gay zealots whose secret Facebook group was infiltrated by undercover moles who then spread the word to gay activists who then trumpeted the news across the airways and throughout cyberspace. In reality, the sensationalistic reports were totally false and what was true is hardly sensational.

The Facebook group in question is called Truth4Time, and contrary to gay blog posts and articles, it was not disbanded this week – not for a split second – nor are there any plans to disband it. (As one of the group’s administrators, I have firsthand knowledge of this.) The group is private (at present, and by design, with less than 100 members) and it was formed last year by a young man who wanted “to counter the comments made by the homosexualists that are made on articles published and posted by . . . pro-family warriors” including “Peter LaBarbera, Dr. Michael Brown, Linda Harvey, Matt Barber, etc.”

Some of us in the pro-family camp had noticed that when we posted articles on Christian websites, our articles were immediately bombarded by hostile gay commenters, and so it seemed like a great idea to have a Facebook group that could respond fairly and honestly to these comments while pooling relevant documents that summarized important research and news. We also became aware of gay activists who were trolling various pro-family Facebook pages, reporting them as hate-sites and trying to shut them down, and we wanted to expose this.

So, why all the fuss? And how did this relatively benign group merit a headline like this in the Huffington Post: “Truth4Time, Secret Religious Right Facebook Group, Included NOM Co-Founder, Fox News Pundit And More”? (To the credit of the editor in the Huffpost Gay Voices section, he responded to me immediately when I raised concerns about the factual content of the article, he was courteous and helpful from first to last, and he posted my corrections within the text of the article itself.)

What about the “big names” involved in this nefarious, clandestine group, including Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and Fox News contributor Dr. Keith Ablow? The simple truth is that one of the administrators added their names so they could have access to the group, but they were never present on the Facebook site and, to the best of my knowledge, never knew the group existed or had any idea their names had been added. So much for the smoking gun!

One online comment mocking Truth4Time asked if this was the best we could do with all the money we had. (After all, NOM and Fox have deep pockets!) What money? Not a dime has been invested in the Facebook page nor is there any money available to invest. This is simply a small group of people (some public figures but most not) wanting to combat gay cyber-bullying in an organized, truthful, and respectful way. A more relevant question would be, Why is a small, unfunded, grassroots, Facebook group perceived to be such a threat? And what is the big secret that gay activists have uncovered?

Signorile reported that his gay informant had learned of “a plan, whether it will come to fruition or not, to bombard physicians and school boards with negative and distorted information about the gay community.”

Actually, there was never a plan to “bombard” anyone with anything. Rather, one member posted a comment asking for help in getting information to doctors about the health-risks associated with homosexual activity, as documented by the CDC. (In response to this point, which was posted as a correction at the end of the HuffPost article, the aforementioned gay informant noted that “the CDC has said that racism, poverty, and homophobia play a big role.” But of course! There are no special health risks associated with men having sex with men. How could we miss that?)

The real irony here is that gay activist organizations with tens of millions of dollars in their combined budgets (think HRC and the NGLTF and Lamda Legal and GLAAD and GLSEN, among many others, not to mention their mega-rich straight allies) are doing their best to lobby Congress, influence political races, win court cases, indoctrinate our kids, and flood the media with their message, while in times past, gay activists have used the web to thwart prominent personalities like Dr. Laura (remember the Stop Dr. Laura campaign?). Now, a little Facebook group bands together (quite informally at that) to combat gay cyber-bullying, and suddenly, there’s outrage and shock and disgust. How dare we!

But I’ve divulged enough secrets. I need to get back to the Protocols to learn what our next evil plot will be. And be forewarned. We are everywhere.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University and has served as a professor at a number of seminaries. He hosts the nationally syndicated, daily talk radio show, the Line of Fire, and his latest book is The Real Kosher Jesus.

http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2012/04/25/gay_activists_expose_secret_rightwing_cabal_or_not/page/full/

I Take the Secret Service Scandal Personally

Washington — When you have a young woman screaming in a hallway about some sort of grievance she has with you, you have a problem. Even a Secret Service agent, surrounded by his buddies, has a problem. I know about this sort of thing from my work in the archives pursuant to my researches as a presidential historian.

 

One thinks back to the late 1940s of Elizabeth Bentley, an American spying for the Soviet Union. She raised an intolerable ruckus outside a hotel room with one, possibly two, Soviet intelligence operatives — both male. Her involvement with one had been romantic, but the cad let her down. Possibly, he did not pay for her turkey sandwich. Possibly, he left other bills cooling on the table. At any rate, there was hell to pay. She had a set of lungs on her like a bull moose and a face to boot. When she let out a yell, it was deafening. Of course, the Russians were terrified. Shortly thereafter, she renounced Communism, and they were glad to get back to Stalin’s Russia.

Another example is more recent, and in this the Secret Service was almost without doubt innocent. Miss Monica Lewinsky was left to cool her heels in a White House gatehouse while her truelove dallied with another vamp. She caught on and fumed. She looked menacingly at the furniture. The Secret Service is trained for dangerous operations, but this was close to the limit. Luckily, she was admitted to the White House before she did real damage, but then all hell broke loose for poor Bill. It is a mistake to toy with an irascible woman, even an irascible woman of easy virtue.

I do not know the details of the imbroglio involving the Secret Service agent who attempted to stiff the Colombian cutie on her bill in steamy Cartagena. We shall have to await Hollywood’s treatment of it, but he acted very unwisely. We do know that as many as ten other Secret Service agents, along with members of the military, were playing animal house with him. They apparently planned to party when they landed in Colombia. One agent even took a girl back to the hotel where the president was to stay a few days later. This suggests that the event was not isolated. Apparently, a whole culture of laxness has descended upon the once proud Secret Service. I cannot imagine such goings on during the Reagan years, when I was familiar with the President’s bodyguards. They were conscientious to the utmost, and, as they proved, brave. I had them and something like 240 other guards and White House personnel in and around my home when the president came to dinner in 1988. They were the best.

What has happened, and when did it start? Did it begin with Bill Clinton? I rather think so. One of the Arkansas state troopers with whom I became familiar suggested as much. He was a well-educated man and at one time a friend of Bill’s. He told me, “Clinton’s treating his Secret Service detail the way he treated his Arkansas trooper detail.” My friend was referring to Clinton’s propensity for giving his bodyguards the “residuals,” the women that he had tired of or that did not measure up.

I have known Secret Service agents as far back as the Nixon years. They were always first rate and straight as an arrow. They were devoted to their principle. I remember when Spiro Agnew had to leave the vice presidency, his Secret Service detail on their off-hours moved his effects from his office. I doubt such loyalty is practiced today. A source for The American Spectator tells the indefatigable Jeffrey Lord that owing to Liberal bugaboos such as affirmative action for minorities and women, “the bar was lowered significantly. Now that affects ALL hires of the Service regardless of race.” As a consequence, when combined with “the societal attitudes of the latest generations and their general lack of education, commitment and reality,” the result is a “dumbed down” agency. And our source goes on to say Cartagena was “only the tip of the iceberg.”

Can the Secret Service recover? Some are calling this scandal the worst in its history. Actually, the Secret Service was born of scandal. Thomas Craughwell tells us in his book, “Stealing Lincoln’s Body,” that the agency was set up in 1865 to combat counterfeiting. Half the paper money in the Midwest was counterfeit. The Secret Service was successful in part because it hired as agents wayward counterfeiters. Such agents were great at putting the cuffs on active counterfeiters, but somehow the counterfeiters’ booty kept disappearing. The answer was to bring in incorruptible new leaders such as Chicago’s Chief of Police Elmer Washburn, who brought with him his own kind of incorruptible agents, for instance, the agent who broke the plot by counterfeiters to steal President Abraham Lincoln‘s body in 1876, Captain P. D. Tyrrell.

In a new biography of Lincoln’s son Robert, “Giant in the Shadows,” Jason Emerson demonstrates how under Washburn the Service arose from corruption and became a police force of the first rank. Tyrrell, my great-great-grandfather, though from remote Chicago, became “one of the service’s most outstanding operatives and later in his career would be considered one of the most distinguished law-enforcement officers in the country.” You will understand why I, for one, am hoping for an Elmer Washburn to appear.

Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator and co-author of Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House. TOWNHALL DAILY: Be the first to read Emmett Tyrrell’s column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com daily lineup delivered each morning to your inbox.

http://townhall.com/columnists/emmetttyrrell/2012/04/26/i_take_the_secret_service_scandal_personally/page/full/

Friends in High Places

 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

Most of us would like to be known by someone important—to have friends in high places. So being invited to the White House to meet President George W. Bush was a pretty exciting moment for me. As I waited for my turn to greet him, my mind raced to think of what I would say.

Since no one had clued me in to the protocol and with no one there to introduce me, I thought it would be right to introduce myself and tell him what I did for a living. So, I decided my opening line would be something like, “Mr. President, my name is Joe Stowell and I serve as the President of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.” I must admit, secretly I was hoping that his eyes would light up and he’d say, “Oh yes, Moody Bible Institute. I’ve heard about that place” and that we just might have the small spark of commonality—the feeling of a fledgling friendship.

Suddenly, it was my turn. I walked up, shook his hand, and said my opening line. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Well, there you go, Joe!”

That was it. It was over! I had wanted to say that I was praying for him but there wasn’t even time for my last line. Admittedly, the encounter was a little less than I had expected.

Reflecting on that brief and awkward moment, I have often thought that while you might get brushed off by the President of the United States, God—the Almighty One, the Creator of the glorious universe—actually wants to be your friend! Jesus welcomed us to this privileged level of relationship when He said to His disciples on the night before He died, “I no longer call you servants . . . I have called you friends.”

As His friends, we are welcomed to enjoy open communication with Him and to be privy to insider information. “Everything,” Jesus says, “that I have learned from the Father I have made known to you.” It would be thrilling enough to be servants of God, participating in His work, but Jesus adds an entirely new dimension by saying that as friends He will tell us everything we need to know about God’s will and His ways for our lives.

And, as you probably know, friendship is not just about open communication. It’s about sharing things in common. So we shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus would say in verse 14, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” When we obey Him we move our lives onto common ground with Him. We love what He loves and hate what He hates. We forgive because he forgives, and we show mercy to the undeserving because He is a God of mercy. The more I share in common with Him the better the friendship! Obedience is the way that I bring my life into commonality with Him.

What a stunning thing it is that Jesus says to us: “Let’s be friends”!  And like good friends, He wants to talk with you and to share things in common.  You might be brushed off by people you wish would be your friends, but that’s okay if you know that God calls you His friend!

OUR JOURNEY…

• One of the things Jesus did to let you know that He desires friendship with you is to die for you—to give you the assurance of sins forgiven and the promise of life eternal. Have you accepted that gift of friendship? If not, why deny God the relationship that He so deeply desires with you?
• Friends communicate by talking and listening to each other. Do you spend more time talking to earth-side friends than you do listening to God talk to you through His Word and the indwelling Spirit?
• If there were a commonality scale that measured how much you shared in common with God, how would you rate? What things in your life tend to distance you from God? How would obedience to Him in those areas spark a new sense of intimacy and friendship?
• http://trinityspeaks.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=post

The Supreme Climb

The Supreme Climb.

Our Rapid Response: Prayer

“In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says:  Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover’.” — 2 Kings 20:1

The Bible tells us that King Hezekiah was close to death. Isaiah the prophet came to visit but only brought terrible news — Hezekiah was going to die soon and he should get his affairs in order. Upon hearing this news, Hezekiah immediately cries out to God, beseeching God to remember his faithfulness and good deeds. Then Hezekiah “wept bitterly.”

How did God respond to the king’s anguished prayer? Remarkably, He gives Hezekiah 15 more years to live.

What right did Hezekiah have to pray to God after Isaiah prophesied that he would die, the rabbis question. The answer lies in a teaching about prophecy:  Any prophecy for good cannot be overturned, but a prophecy for evil can be overturned through prayer and repentance.

So what can we, living in a seemingly non-prophetic time, learn from this passage in Scripture? I believe we can take away a simple, but powerful message:  There is no point at which we can rightfully give up hope when we trust in the goodness of God.

Hezekiah was sick and heard from one of the greatest prophets of all time that he was soon to die. But he didn’t flinch. He didn’t even think. He just prayed, instinctively, from his heart.

The verse tells us that he prayed first before we learn the actual content of the prayer. I believe it was written this way to convey the sense of how natural and instinctual the prayer response was for the righteous Hezekiah.

Can we say the same? When we receive bad news, what is our first response? Do we get angry? Call our spouse or best friend? Try to come up with a solution on our own? Or do we, like Hezekiah, turn immediately to God in prayer?

To be honest, this is not a reaction or response that we are born with. It is something we need to train ourselves to do. And that doesn’t come easy to us, who have been taught to be independent and autonomous. To be sure, these are valuable and worthwhile traits. But we cannot forget that our greatest and best source of hope is the One who is always there — no matter the pain, no matter the sense of hopelessness.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/our-rapid-response-prayer

No devoted thing, shall be sold or redeemed. Lev 27:28

There is a great principle involved in these words. When once a person or possession had been solemnly dedicated to God, it was not permissible to withdraw from the obligations which had been assumed. Once given, the offering was regarded as God’s property, and might not be resumed by the offerer, or placed to any inferior use.

This regulation is specially applicable to our conception and practice of consecration. We are Christ‘s; by the gift of the Father, by the purchase of the blood of Christ, by the sealing of the Spirit; but a moment often comes in the life of the earnest believer when the Lord appears to claim a more earnest recognition of His rightful claim. Then thoughtfully and earnestly, spirit, soul, and body, are laid upon the altar, and we solemnly declare, “I am Thine, O Lord!”

When once this is done, we must reckon that God has accepted us, and that we cannot repeat the gift. We may perpetually refer to it, and acknowledge its abiding obligation, and apply its principle to all those new departments and functions which are perpetually increasing on us; but we can no more repeat it, than could the Israelite give God the firstling lamb, since it was already His (Lev 27:26).

If we go back from the attitude we have once taken up, we must confess our relapse with tears and deep contrition, asking to be restored, waiting to be put back again into the old place by our merciful and compassionate High Priest. We cannot undo that past; but we may ask Him to restore us to the place we occupied before we went astray. Oh that we might never withdraw from the altar of entire consecration!

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/f-b-meyer-devotional.shtml

Is Your Heart Right in the Sight of God?

Is Your Heart Right in the Sight of God?.

True Religion

I recently saw an ad for a brand of clothing geared toward youth. It consists of blue jeans and all the accessories designed to go with them. There is nothing novel about that. What got my attention, however, was the name of this clothing line. It is called “True Religion.” That caused me to stop and think. Why was that name chosen? Am I missing some deeper significance? What is the connection between a brand of jeans and true religion? What do they mean by it? My musings left me with questions for which I had no answers.

I am thankful that the book of James is clear when describing true religion or true faith: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (1:27). That is refreshing. “True religion”—genuine faith—is an expression of how we relate to our God. One evidence of our new identity in Christ is the way we care for one another—reaching to the most frail and vulnerable among us, to those most in need of help.

True religion is not a garment to be taken on and off. It is a lofty challenge about how we live before a holy God and others.

True religion is to know The love that Christ imparts; True religion is to show His love to burdened hearts.—D. De Haan

You don’t advertise your religion by wearing a label— you do it by living a life.

http://odb.org/2012/04/26/true-religion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+odb%2Ffeed+%28Our+Daily+Bread%29

Is It Wrong to Be Proud? by Mark D. Roberts

Ezekiel 31:1-18

So now the LORD God proclaims:      Consider the fate of those who tower high!      When it allowed its branches to reach up among the clouds,      it became arrogant. (CEB)

Ezekiel 31:10

Early in my years as a pastor, I was leading a Bible study for several college students. We were studying one of many passages in Scripture that warns us against pride. To my surprise and chagrin, one of my students challenged me: “What’s wrong with pride,” he asked. “I was taught that it’s good to feel proud about your accomplishments. Pride motivates me to work hard in school and to be successful. Why is the Bible so down on pride?”

Perhaps you’ve wondered the same yourself. Is pride necessarily wrong? Does pride have to “go before a fall”? Should I confess when I feel pride in some accomplishment? Should I be on my knees when my children graduate? What’s so wrong with pride, anyway?

When the Bible warns us about pride, it’s not talking about the sense of delight that comes when you complete a project or see your children accomplish something wonderful. Indeed, if God stepped back and saw that his creation was very good, you and I have the freedom to enjoy similar feelings. Scripture focuses on the negative sense of pride, that which we often call arrogance.

In Ezekiel 31, for example, Assyria illustrates an inappropriate and destructive pride. Our translation says that when Assyria noted its own greatness, “it became arrogant.” Other English translations speak of Assyria’s “pride” (NIV, ESV). The New Living Translation uses “proud and arrogant” together. In fact, the original Hebrew of this verse could be literally rendered, “the heart [of Assyria] became lifted up in its height.” The Old Testament uses the image of the heart being raised up as a way of describing human pride that goes beyond the temporary enjoyment of one’s accomplishments. The lifting up of one’s heart means putting oneself in the place of God. It’s not just healthy pride, but unhealthy arrogance.

So, is it wrong to be proud? No, not always. It depends on what you mean by pride. But I would offer a word of warning. I have found that healthy, humble delight in my accomplishments can easily run over into unhealthy, arrogant over-valuing of myself. If you’re inclined to think too much of yourself, let the example of Assyria be a warning to you. Remember, all that you have is ultimately a gift from God. All your accomplishments come by way of his provision. So, yes, delight in what God has done through you, but don’t let your heart be lifted up to the place of God.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How do you understand the difference between acceptable and unacceptable pride? Do you ever struggle with arrogance? When? Why? What helps you to enjoy your accomplishments in a way that is not sinfully prideful?

PRAYER: Gracious God, help me to see all of life as a gift from you. When I pause, as you once paused, to enjoy that which I have done by your strength, may my pride become thanksgiving, my thanksgiving become worship. In all things, may I humble myself before you, so that you might exalt me in your way and your time. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/it-wrong-be-proud

Whoever Includes You · Max Lucado

Whoever Includes You · Max Lucado.