Here is what happen on this day in history.

After releasing polling information that reinforces the need for practical and productive dialogue about reducing abortion, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has launched a program to get churches on the front line in fighting the issue. But one conservative writer is skeptical about the approach.

 

OneNewsNow.com columnist Marcia Segelstein thinks the objective of lowering the abortion rate is admirable, but she notes that how to go about it is the big question. The NAE wants to create dialogue, which she says sounds right -- but if the discussion points to contraception and how to use it, the columnist feels that is the wrong approach.

"That's been tried in the public schools, and it has failed," she reports. "In my opinion, the approach should be going back to simply teaching biblical morality, and I think until we get back to that, nothing is really going to change."

(Billy's Thoughts>>> If the main goal is to stop abortions from taking place this is a good idea but if those who are pro life will have to accept things that encourage abortions the NAE better watch out. If you like you can read more Right idea + wrong approach = bad idea.)

According to The Associated Press, the current White House  plans to spend nearly $6 million in  US  tax dollars to restore 63 historic and cultural sites around the world, including mosques and minarets in 55 countries. The projects include $76,000 for a 16th century mosque in communist China, $67,000 for a mosque in Pakistan, and numerous others.
 
"If anything like that was happening under a Republican or a conservative administration or government, the ACLU would be going nuts [and] all the major newspapers would be writing front page stories about it," he observes.
 
"This is unacceptable," he continues. "The United States taxpayer should not have their hard-earned money going to build mosques and minarets in China, in Pakistan, and other places around the world. It's unconstitutional, and it needs to stop immediately".

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is an “inestimable gift for the Church and the world”, said Pope Benedict XVI Thursday in a message to the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Blessed’s birth.

Born in Albania August 26, 1910, for over 45 years Mother Teresa ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.

The message, written personally by the Pope, was read out during Mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Calcutta, Lucas Sirkar in the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, the same house where on October 7 1950 she founded her order dedicated to the care of the sick, the destitute and the dying.

(Billy's Thoughts>>> Mother Teresa was a great lady who made an impact that all life is a gift from God. I post this as a non Catholic who is an Evangelical Follower of Jesus. If you care to read more of the above click on the following link, World Celebrates Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.)

First, let me confess that we can't possibly know for sure whether someone is a Christian, in the sense that we can't read another person's soul. We can sometimes get a pretty good idea based on someone's statements, professions and actions, but ultimately, Christianity is about an individual's beliefs and his faith and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

With that disclaimer and the further admission that I'm no expert on Islam, let me share with you some factors that I believe merit our consideration on the question of whether he is Muslim, Christian or neither.

In some ways, Obama exhibits a worldview that more closely resembles a secularist than it does either a Muslim or a Christian, especially in his views on social issues. Also, he seems to place a great deal of confidence in himself and in government to bring about transformational change. How many God-fearing people have you known who would say "we (meaning I) are the ones we've been waiting for" or "generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal"? The staggering conceit of these statements cannot be overstated.

I have neither heard a believing Christian openly mock Scripture as Obama did during the campaign nor heard one mock those who cling to their guns and Bibles.

Though Obama would have us believe that he sat through 20 years of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons without hearing a word, it's hard for us to overlook the fact that Wright took the Lord's name in vain in his church and that the church subscribes to black liberation theology, which seems more race-centered than Christ-centered. We also shake our heads in discovering that this church, through its publications, has championed the causes of certain terrorist organizations.

In office, Obama has rarely attended church and has routinely snubbed Christianity and Christian symbols while consistently espousing values inconsistent with the biblical ethic.

(Billy's Thoughts>>> The above is part of a column written by David Limbaugh. I agree with David we can never know for sure if a soul is a true follower of Jesus but  at times Obama doesn't  seem to be proud of the Christian faith. We can check at the fruit of another soul and the fruit of Obama is questionable. If you care to read the whole column by David Limbaugh So Is He a Christian?)

My friend Andrew Malcolm gleefully needles the White House by pointing out that the results of a massive Gallup survey of 275,000 Americans shows that Muslims give Barack Obama the highest job approval rating, but that’s actually been the case all along.  That number has dropped eight points since Obama took office, however, and that trend is seen in every faith demographic in the survey — even among atheists.  In every other category, Obama has dropped by double digits since the first six months of his presidency:

The president of the Christian-conservative Family Research Council thinks Republicans should focus on more than the economy if they win control of Congress this November.

 

Tony Perkins admits that reviving the economy is important, but he points out that it is only part of a bigger fix for the United States. (Focus on morality key to GOP success )

"If the Republicans make the economy their sole focus, they're not going to fare much better. They'll do better because they're not going to spend like they do [in Washington] now, but you've got to address the moral component of right and wrong in both the social context of our society, as well as the economic context," he contends. "The two go hand-in-hand."

Billy's Thoughts>>> Perkins is right but none of us should be shocked that Republicans don't focus on the culture issues after all we lived in a nation that has forgotten God.  Also there are somethings that us who follow a faith not of this world can do we can keep sharing Christ as the only answer to our sin problem. We can put our kids in good Christian schools where they will be taught the word and will of God while be training not to yield to the culture of this world. )

A pro-family activist who is working to expose the truth about homosexuality says a number of high-profile conservative icons are off base when it comes to the radical homosexual agenda.

 

Peter LaBarbera, founder and president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH), notes that one of the conservatives in question is Glenn Beck, who recently told Bill O'Reilly that he does not care about the homosexual "marriage" issue as long as it does not affect him.

"I believe that Thomas Jefferson said, 'If it neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket, what difference is it to me,'" Beck quoted.

"I think it's appalling that Glenn Beck says that homosexual so-called 'marriage' does not rise to a national issue," LaBarbera laments. "Of course it's going to affect freedom [and] it's going to affect children. And for Glenn Beck, a national conservative leader, to be seemingly ignorant of the threat of the homosexual agenda is just astonishing."

The pro-family activist is also calling conservative commentator Ann Coulter to task for agreeing to speak at the "Homocon 2010" conference, which is sponsored by the group known as GOProud.

"GOProud supports domestic partnerships [and]...homosexual so-called 'marriage.

(Billy's Thoughts>>> If you care to read more of the above story click here.)

 

The leader of the "progressive Christian" Sojourners movement has accepted funding from leftist atheist billionaire George Soros.

 

Mark Tooley, president of The Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD), tells OneNewsNow the information about Jim Wallis receiving the funds surfaced recently in a report from WORLD Magazine.

"This was significant in that Jim Wallis in recent years has adamantly insisted he did not belong to either side of the political spectrum, but essentially was a centrist who was transcending left and right and was simply a purely Christian activist," Tooley notes. But in fact, he continues, with the Wallis-Soros connection now confirmed, "Wallis...stands exposed as what he always was: a man of the political left." (Wallis-Soros ties surfacing )

(Billy's Thoughts>>> The facts are in no longer can Jim Wallis claim to be a centrist but has now joined forces with the radical left. This is sad and too bad. Those of us who are followers of Jesus no matter what our politics is should never be committed  to anything but God and his word.  Those on the right and left have forgotten that too often. )

I wanted to remind all of you who are faithful readers of my blog that since I work in education and with school starting I may have to do some of my blogging at night. Today I was able to do all my blogging in the morning but that will not always be case.

Blue and white colors are flying today to honor what would have been the 100th birthday of Mother Teresa, but an iconic building in New York City is not involved in the celebration.

 

Some protestors feel the occasion calls for the Empire State Building to light up its top floors in the blue color of Mother Teresa's religious order, the Sisters of Charity. But opposition from the building's owner has sparked controversy associated with this year's event.
 
"We're going to get thousands into the street in front of the Empire State Building to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the Empire State Building, who decided to deny Mother Teresa the honor of having her colors of blue and white shine for the Empire State Building," explains Jeff Field of the Catholic League.

(Billy's Thoughts>>> If you care to read more of the above story go here.)

 A Las Vegas man injured while performing submersion baptisms in the name of the dead has sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for medical expenses.

 

The civil suit filed Wednesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court claims Daniel Dastrup suffered severe back injuries after performing about 200 baptisms at the LDS temple in Raleigh, NC, on August 25, 2007. Dastrup now lives in Las Vegas.

The then 25-year-old claims some of the young men and women weighed up to 250 pounds.

(Billy's Thoughts>>> It is sad whenever a person of faith takes their own church to court to fix something bad that has happened but could God be using what happen here to show us that we should not  do baptisms in the name of the dead. If you like you can read more on this issue Mormons sued over baptism-related injury.)