The qualifications neeed to be a pastor

* Sound doctrine
* The ability to teach
* A godly character

And that's all.

Anything more and you're denying Sola Scriptura.

cf. 1 Timothy 3.1-7 and Titus 1.5-9

Hymn pretty much finished

This is a hymn I wrote last year and finished tonight. It can be sung to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy":

God has brought us to this nation

George Bush goes up in my estimation

I might think Bush is the worst president ever and worthy of spending life in jail, but there was something innocently charming about him having a "net session" with some Pakistani Cricketers (including Inzamam-Ul-Haq). A whole bunch of pics can be found here, but this is my fave:

Important Christian Statistics (America)

George Barna's research organisation has discovered the following.

1. "Born Again Christians" number between 35-40% of the American Population

In Barna Research Group studies, born again Christians are not defined on the basis of characterizing themselves as "born again" but based upon their answers to two questions. The first is "have you ever made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today?" If the respondent says "yes," then they are asked a follow-up question about life after death. One of the seven perspectives a respondent may choose is "when I die, I will go to Heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior." Individuals who answer "yes" to the first question and select this statement as their belief about their own salvation are then categorized as "born again."

2. "Evangelicals" number around 7% of the American population

Barna surveys do not ask people to define themselves as “evangelical” but instead categorize people as such based on their beliefs. In this approach, evangelicals a subset of born again Christians. In addition to meeting the born again criteria (described below) evangelicals also meet seven other conditions. Those include saying their faith is very important in their life today; contending that they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; stating that Satan exists; maintaining that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not by being good or doing good deeds; asserting that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; saying that the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches; and describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. In this framework, being classified as “evangelical” is not dependent upon any kind of church or denominational affiliation or involvement.

Three other things of note:

1. The national percentage of "Born Again" Christians has not changed much in 10 years.
2. The national percentage of "Evangelicals" has been steady at 7% for 10 years.
3. The amount of "No Religion" stated on the Census form (an indication of secularism) has risen dramatically from 8.4% in 1990 to 15.0% in 2000.

LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING...

Under Saddam, if you agreed to forgo your basic right to freedom of expression and thought, you were physically more or less OK... But now, no. Here, you have a primitive, chaotic situation where anybody can do anything they want to anyone.

- John Pace, former director of the human rights office at the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq

See more

Bush lied etc.

The Big Left Wing news is:

Video Evidence clearly shows George Bush and Michael Chertoff (head of Homeland Security) being briefed about the possible effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. This occurred one day before the hurricance hit.

And then Bush came out a few days later and said "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees". As they now say by using full stops to emphasize the point: It. Was. A. Lie.

And Evangelicals were convinced this guy was "born again"? How can the sexual sin of the previous president be worse than everything this guy has done?

Come on... how much more evidence does Congress need to Impeach the guy???

If the GOP don't support Impeachment soon, they'll suffer a very painful, long term erosion in their influence.

Big crash coming. BIG crash. And the Evangelicals are going to get it BAD.

The Fascist Regime...

As a Republican (that is, an Australian who wishes to have an Australian head of state instead of the Queen... as opposed to being a member of the American Republican Party) it may seem strange but I actually think that singing God Save The Queen during the opening of the Commonwealth Games is enitrely appropriate. Advance Australia Fair may be our national anthem, but the games will be opened by the Queen, our head of state.

After all, when we had that referendum back in 2000, the majority of Australians voted for the Queen. In their wisdom, the Australian people felt that having the Queen as our head of state was far more preferable to having a Republic - even the proposed one that was imperfect and could have been changed at a later date with another referendum.

No, the majority of Australians voted for the Queen of England to be our Queen and head of state. As someone who voted for a Republic, I must nevertheless acquiese to the rest of the country's wishes and therefore state that God Save The Queen must be sung at the Commonwealth Games.

Thinking Points 3

• Just when is it right to state that there is a Civil War in Iraq? Democrat Senator John Murtha thinks so, but all the reports you see in the media are about how "Iraq is on the edge of Civil War". I can just imagine 6 months from now a report that says "One thousand Iraqis are dying every day now as a direct result of the violence that has put Iraq on the brink of civil war". Fox News, God bless them, now wonders whether the "Civil war" is just a media construct.
• Another example, if one is needed, of an American worker who is enslaved to her job, but lives in poverty. Thanks to Atrios for this one.
  
• Garrison Keillor, the guy who does Prairie Home Companion (a favourite radio show my dad has loved for years), is calling for Bush to be Impeached. Who's next? Martha Stewart? Oprah? What about Super Hubert?
• Ex-tropical cyclone Emma has sped down the west coast of Australia and is in the process of meeting a polar low to Australia's south. I'm looking forward to what sort of strange weather this will cause.
• John Kerry has actually written some more on his DailyKos Diary. If the guy is going to win over annoyed lefties, regular contributions are necessary.
• Bill O'Reilly - the American Right Winger, not the Australian Leg Spinner - is suffering from low ratings. Reminds me of Hamartia and Hubris.
• Tom Tomorrow drew this cartoon just prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prescient!
• The Heretic, an Iraq war veteran, has just written a piece about how the war has affected him as a human being. Man am I glad I never went to war.
• The WaPo is now saying that the Republican Party is in serious trouble because of the storm of bad news about Iraq, Katrina, the Port deal, Abramoff and so on. Another Cassandra moment for me as I pointed this out in December.
• Duke Cunningham, the Republican from California, is going down big time. Why are there so many American Born-again Christian Republican Politicians^TM getting done in for corruption? Obviously they didn't know about Hansie Cronje. I mean, I remember hearing about Charles Colson (he of Watergate and Land Letter infame) whose downfall and imprisonment led him to Christ, but what's Randy Cunningham going to do when he ends up in prison? Embrace atheism?
• Some Indians are not happy with President Bush.
• Despite giving up full-time blogging and letting certain riff-raff in to run the Pryromaniacs blog (hint - Roman general), Phil Johnson has written a great piece eviscerating American evangelicalism. I've personaly contacted Phil for advice in the past and he has always been respectful and knowledgeable.
• James Spurgeon has a great post about how personal responsibility before God is important - even if you've been badly hurt by other Christians or Christian organisations. Good to read - especially for someone like me!
• Michael Spencer's latest article certainly tickles my ears - it's basically a criticism of Ken Hamm and his Answers in Genesis ministry. As I have stated in my FAQ, although I believe in a 6-day creation I do not support the "Young Earth Creationist" theory. Moreover, I concur with Michael that Hamm's ministry seems to be taking evangelicals in the wrong direction. I have to say at this point that in 1992 I studied at Bible College with Ken's brother, Rob Hamm. Sadly, Rob died of some weird illness a few years ago, but I do remember him telling me that preaching through the book of Romans led him to a much deeper understanding of the Gospel, which was nice.
• Michael Spencer, posting at the BHT, has given a rather disturbing link to a news article about Jerry Falwell and other evangelicals now believe that Jews can enter heaven without Christ. The article was published in the Jerusalem Post. If true, it's an amazing admission, since Falwell is essentially denying the gospel for the sake of politics and pre-mil eschatology. Fortunately, my best pal Al Mohler has posted on the subject where he includes a formal statement from Falwell denying this heresy and re-stating his orthodox belief of salvation by Christ alone. Who would have thought Al Mohler could come in handy?
• Elizaphanian gives an interesting link to a discussion about a New York Times article that states that Peak Oil is "almost certainly correct".
• Wasserman's latest is funny.
• Robert J. Samuelson at the WaPo makes some accurate points about the future of the American economy - specifically a reduction in consumer spending.
• Mark Galante has been accused of murdering his pregnant wife. At the time I remember saying to myself - I wonder if he did it?
• Jessica Alba is angry. After her performance in Fantastic Four, I would be too.
• Wikipedia hits the million mark! I remember feeling giddy when the 200k mark got broken. The millonth article is here.
  
• NSW is the richest (real) state in Australia. Yet every so often a bunch of whingers complain that NSW subsidises other states in Australia because of its higher tax revenue. The fact that some of these complaints come from members of the Labor party speaks volumes about why I don't vote for them any more. I'm happy that NSW (the state I live in) can make the lives of other Australians better off.
• Psycho Path?
• Buy Australian wine. I've even seen A$5 bottles - good to keep in storage for 5-6 years.
• Classic Onion here, here, here and here.
• Happy Birthday Concorde.
• Believe it or not, when this reverses itself, so will this. Carnage carnage carnage but no one will listen.
  
• Those Godless Liberal Pro-science Darwinist Atheists^TM are still trying to peddle their lies.
• A book to read before you die.
• British Blacks are doing better at school.
• Anniversary of the first Comintern, 1919.
• This day in 1963 saw the Beatles release their first album. I just bought it a month ago. I Saw Her Standing There is the best track, and probably the first Beatles song many people heard.
• Theodor Geisel was born, oh 'twas a happy morn.
• Mister Perestroika was born in 1931. Thank him, not Ron.
• In 1942, you Walk on the Wild Side.
• John Wesley finally accepted Predestination on this day back in 1791.
  

Trouble brewing - for a while

Australia's houshold savings ratio, as a percentage of income (courtesy of the ABS)

Thinking Points 2

I'll see if I can do these on a semi-regular basis. It'll help you to see what sort of things interest me.

• The New York Times is sueing the Pentagon. Why? They want more information about who was spied on and why, as per the Freedom of Information Act.
• A Texas-based political group of leftist persuasion has been investigating all the problems of Tom DeLay. One day the IRS comes in and audits them because they have been ordered to from "on high". Who ordered it? Sam Johnson, another Texas Republican representative. According to TPM, the evidence that the IRS audit was deliberate retribution is sizeable.
• Minnesota Republicans are apparently trying to infect computers with spyware. This is probably more a case of incompetence rather than malice in my opinion.
• According to the WaPo, the situation in Iraq has led to more deaths than previously thought.
• A CBS poll puts George Bush's approval rate at a mere 34% - the lowest it has ever been apparently. If it hits 33% then the chances are that Bush-lovers are outnumbered by 2 to 1 (depending upon the amount of "unsures" polled). The CBS poll seems weird because a Cook/RT Strategies poll that was done at the same time recorded a 40% approval rate.
• And what is it about polls below 40% and the "pony" motif? Alas for my ignorance!
• DailyKos asks where should the 2008 Democratic National Convention be held? Although Dallas would be a great place (being deep in enemy heartland), I think the only real choice would be New Orleans.
• John Aravosis at AMERICABlog is absolutely outraged that the Evangelical "American Family Association" is trying to get "Desperate Housewives" off the air. While he waxes lyrical about their anti-Semitic, anti-Homosexual agenda, I'm not exactly outraged. For a start, I don't watch "Desperate Housewives" and if I did I would probably be outraged by its predictable cookie-cutter plot and dialogue. I once visited a church where the preacher denounced "Charmed" from the pulpit as though it was causing demons to infest teenage minds. My assessment is: empty threat, hardly worth getting worried about.
• John Aravosis also reports that 72% of American soldiers in Iraq want out of Iraq within 12 months.
• US 4th quarter GDP was larger than reported, but still low at 1.6% p.a.. Thanks to Kash at Angry Bear for this one.
• Brian Van Reet has an infuriating story of an incident he experienced while serving in Iraq in 2004.
• For whatever reason, right-wing blogger John Hinderaker at Powerline is now arguing that Iraq's WMDs were secretly moved to Syria. Payson at Think Progress is right when he states that Hinderaker is merely peddling unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. I've done my own research into this issue, and, unless any new evidence comes to light, the facts just don't support a Syria-WMD link.
• Rat Poison at Sizzlers.
• Now I have to fear my cat!
• Computer viruses cost households and businesses dearly. Surely the costs associated with the switch to a more stable, safer and free operating system would be outweighed, over the long term, by continuing to use an OS that was just plain unsafe?
• This has been good to listen to while I type.
• Sydneyanglicans.net profiles another Christian athlete that we can be inspired by. Hopefully he won't go the way of Hansie.
• Golf in space - one way to raise valuable revenue.
• Latest PBF Cartoon is not funny. Unique, but it doesn't make me laugh.
• 52 years since Castle Bravo.
• 48 years since Gary Sobers made 365.
• Happy Birthday Shahid Afridi (26).
• Starbuck turns 61. Frack!
• That blond headed guy who played Tommy in the movie is 62.
• The first incarnation of The Master would have been 88 today.
• 12 years since Nirvana's last gig.
• 35 years since terrorists destory a toilet in the US Capitol Building
• Jim Morrison proves to his 1969 audience that it's not just Iggy who has a biggy.
• 53 years since Stalin began his inexorable descent into hell.
• 70 years since the Hoover Dam was built. This explains why all American cities do not require power plants and why there is no pollution.