Voice in the Wilderness

Listen up, fella's. VitW blogrollee, Lenwood, has a buff post about his best girl. It reminds me of some choice passages from Song of Solomon.

SoS 2:2
Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the maidens.

SoS 4:1-4
How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance ;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.

Read and be wise.

OneTrueGodBlog has some dynamite resources for spiritual conversations about "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by fellow GodBlogCon-ian Mark D. Roberts. He has some deep and challenging questions, but I particulary agree with the opening of his first post:

"If a person unfamiliar with Christianity, or familiar but uninterested, were to ask me about the Narnia film, I would not rush to talk theology. I've found that this approach generally pushes people away. They think to themselves, "Religious fanatic! Watch out!" and that's the end of a two-way dialogue. If I want a real conversation with someone, and not simply an impromptu sermon with an unwilling congregation, I've found that asking questions is almost always more effective than giving speeches. So, if someone were to ask "What was that all about?" I'd be inclined to say something like, "Now that was one heck of a movie. What did you think about it?" Where I'd go from here in the conversation would depend on what my partner said." (emphasis added)

Read the whole post.

Voting closes December 15 for the 2005 Weblog Awards. Chicago rules apply: vote early and often. I have recommendations for a few of the categories:

• Top 6571-8750 Blogs: The numbers here are a reference to the ecosystem rank of blogs, an approximate measure of "size" in cyberspace based on their their number of visitors and inbound links. I'm voting for conservative Austin blog Urban Grounds. He's just a few votes behind the leader. Vote today!
• Best Media/Journalist Blog: Michael Yon's dispatches from the front lines in Iraq set the standard for on-the-ground wartime reporting. Comparing his personal, often harrowing stories to the inside the green zone pap proffered my mainstream media outlets shows why the new media will soon be overtaking the old.
  
• Best Australia or New Zealand Blog: Tim Blair is hilarious and right on the money most of the time.
  
• Best Blog: Hugh Hewitt is one of my daily reads. This blog showed how Christian and political blogging could go together.
  
• Best Group Blog: RedState.org first showed me how blogs and bloggers can work collaboratively and spontaneously on a story. My endorsement has nothing to do with the fact that I post their often and receive a large amount of traffic from that site.
  
• Best Conservative Blog: LaShawn Barber's Corner is a great model for applying the biblical worldview to current events. Ms. Barber has also perservered through some of the foulest and most soul destroying statements left by commenters that have ever darkened and stained the pages of the blogosphere.
  

You may vote once every 24 hours in each poll. Polls close at 11:59 PM (US - Eastern) December 15, 2005.

Liberal Republican Foreshadows Likely Dem Strategy in 2006

A column penned by former Lt. Governor and liberal Republican Bill Ratliff in the Austin American Statesman this morning says we need more religion in Texas politics....in the form of liberal policy positions. Says Lt. Gov. Ratliff,

For instance, when considering how many poor children in Texas will be removed from the Children's Health Insurance Program in order to hold down costs to the state, they choose not to consider Christ's admonishment to "suffer the little children to come unto me."

So Jesus would have advocated for increased government social spending? I do not recall Him petitioning Pontius Pilot for that when He had the chance. Lt. Gov. Ratliff continues,

When considering how much to reduce funding for indigent health care, Medicaid for nursing homes, child abuse protective services or special education for handicapped children, there seems to be little recognition of Christ's teaching that, "in as much as you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me also."

Lt. Gov. Ratliff should read the text more closely. In the context of this statement (Matthew 24 and 25), Jesus was speaking to His disciples, not government officials. Furthermore, a few verses before, Jesus also said, ""The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "

In Matthew 12:48-50, Jesus identifies who He means by "brothers": "He replied to him, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' Pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother'." In other words, "brothers" means "other followers of Jesus."

Furthermore, liberal Christians are organizing to dress tired, liberal policies in robes of Christian righteousness. Given the "values gap" encountered by Democrats in the last election and the apathy or hostility by large parts of their base towards anything religious, I think we can expect to them square this circle using this type of messaging more in the months to come. Clear thinking and biblical insight will be required to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Of course, I believe that the truly needy should be helped, as directed by James 1:27 and other passages. Mission Possible Austin, to which I am a donor, and Texas Reach Out Ministries are great examples of Christians putting their faith in action to help the needy. However, the biblical worldview on government is very limited and unclear on government intervention for the poor. Mr. Ratliff cannot rightly use scripture to demand increased government social spending as the biblical commands to help the poor are to believers, not the government. To propose otherwise is putting old wine in new wineskins.