There is a simple answer to the question raised in the headline of this article. Trump hasn’t made the case for his healthcare reforms for the same reason that I don’t teach nuclear engineering. We both lack the basic knowledge required to do the job.
Or perhaps, unlike the last diva president we had, Trump isn’t seeking a “legacy” piece of legislation with his name on it. Also, why should he be out there shilling for Ryan and congressional R;s steaming pile of replacement, which is about as popular as they are. I wouldn’t want my name on it either.
“Journalists reacted in horror Sunday morning after President Trump tweeted a fake video that showed him body-slamming “fraud news” CNN in a fake wrestling match.
While many of the president’s supporters online reacted to the video with humor, the consensus among journalists seemed to be that Trump was inciting violence against the media.”
————————–
“In the run-up to the Iraq war, a Bush White House official explained to me that 9/11 had changed the way we read national security intelligence. There was a relaxed way to read intelligence, he said, and there was an alarmed way to read intelligence. September 11 proved that we had to read intelligence — say, on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction — in an alarmed way to avoid another disaster. Therefore, we had to invade Iraq.
I thought of that conversation amid the reaction to President Trump’s latest tweet, showing him taking down CNN in a World Wrestling Entertainment video. There is a relaxed way to read the tweet, and there is an alarmed way to read the tweet. The media-politico complex is choosing the alarmed way, with a vengeance.”
——————-
“The alarmed way to read the tweet is that the president is inciting violence against journalists. That is the way that most journalists chose to see it. “The president of the United States is encouraging violence against journalists,” tweeted Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg Sunday morning, reflecting what dozens of other establishment journalists were saying. CNN’s statement in reaction to the president, plus that of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said much the same thing.
It’s just an impression, but one could note that some journalists seemed more alarmed by the president’s tweets than by other recent examples of violent political expression — Kathy Griffin holding what appeared to be Trump’s bloody, severed head, or the Trump-as-Caesar assassination, for example. That is probably because many journalists are simply more worried about the prospect of right-wing violence than they are about the prospect of left-wing violence. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a favored source among some reporters, did not built up a nine-figure endowment by warning about violence from the Left.
Even with a real act of politically-motivated violence — the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, which turned out to be a left-wing attack — some found it less terrifying than the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords, which in a weird way was not politically motivated at all. Yes, all media outlets covered the Scalise shooting wall-to-wall on the first day, and on the second. But on the third? As Commentary editor John Podhoretz noted recently, “The news media focused on the Giffords shooting with little else in the mix for a week. Three days post-baseball field and they’re moving on.”
—————————–
And half of America has moved on too. We’re so over the press and their biased antics.
Thanks for 7:27 Ricky. I had been wondering about that.
i.e. Who has the money. I thought SS was behind and part of the problem.
It will be when the Boomers retire, as many are doing now.
And the government pensions. I paid lots into that, but already got it back.
@7:42 Yesterday was ‘All American Day’ at our church. Governor Reverend Mike Huckabee spoke for 45 minutes or so. I thought His portion of the service was interesting and edifying. Before he spoke, we also spent quite a bit of time honoring members and veterans of the 5 branches of the military and some civil servants in our church. Almost the entire city counsel was present, as well as our state representative in DC.
We had no pyrotechnics, but there were red white and blue streamers that were shot out of some device all over part of the congregation–this was all before the speaker. The music was all patriotic, including This Land is Your Land. I have said before that I am sometimes uncomfortable with some of the services at our church. We do not really adhere to the church calendar other than Christmas and Easter and I miss that.
Listening to Gov. Rev. Huckabee, I was filled with both thankfulness and a sense of loss. I am thankful that he is still being heard, and that truth and hope still have an active voice in our country, both in the church and in secular venues. But I also had a sad sense of loss as I realized that we rejected that voice as our president years ago.
We don’t “do” national patriotism at our church or within our denomination — no flags or other symbols, no special speakers connected to politics. I only witnessed one patriotic church service and it was, ironically, a a Friends (Quaker) church I belonged to many years ago (the first year I was a member there after transferring in from a ‘silent-meeting’ Quaker congregation). There must have been others who were uncomfortable as it was never repeated. 🙂
When I attended the Congregational Church in Connecticut, we did not have the military hoopla inside the church. However, we were located on the village green and so we were both figuratively and literally at the center of any and all community celebrations. We would walk out the church door to the fire trucks and floats and school bands a few feet away, and the celebration would begin. There would be much speechifying and presentation of awards. It would end with a parade that went about a mile and a half down the road to the pre-Revolutionary War cemetery.
Most of the churches in the South don’t have that community connection. And the Baptist and Pentecostal churches I have attended here don’t have the liturgy and the festivals and celebrations of the Church calendar either. I miss that connection with the historical Church which is a source of many blessings that have been passed down generationally.
We’ve been considering other options. There is a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod a few miles away. But that would undoubtedly scandalize my father who was raised and whose life has been fully immersed in the Church of God, so much so that it’s practically the family business. Of course, when I was younger, attending the Baptist church would have had the same effect. But the times, they be a’changin’, so who knows. :–)
But what I find most amusing,and laughable, is the response from the press. And it’s exactly the response everyone knew would come of it,even Trump.
I would think Dems would be more amused, given it was another Republican (Vince McMahon, the hubby of his Small Business head) he clothes lined.
The only reason the press is even covering it is because if they weren’t, they might actually have to cover real news, like Trump’s immigration and recent Supreme Court successes. We can’t have that, so this is what they fixate on.
I find the whole thing rather amusing from a number of standpoints, and rather telling as well.
And I’m sure Trump does too. He trolls the media constantly, and they keep taking the bait. He lives rent free in the White House, and the heads of half the country and most media outlets. It’s a genius game plan really. Trump is smart enough to know that whatever he does, the media will bash him. Like all R’s, no matter what they do short of a full embrace of the liberal agenda, it won’t make them happy. Accepting that fact and not caring about what the media says or does must be quite liberating.
Question for anyone: If a person isn’t already a member of a church–so that he or she is basically starting a church search with a blank slate–how should one go about determining what church he or she should attend?
Solar, we were in that situation twice when we moved to new cities. The first time we didn’t know many Christians in the area, and the ones we knew went to the same church. We spent a year there, but decided it was too big for us and too hard to make friends.
Next we went to the Yellow Pages looking at Baptist churches, since that was most of our background. We found one pretty close to us. It was small, and people were friendly enough on Sunday, but we didn’t seem to fit in well. The final straw was the pastor’s Mother’s Day sermon, ostensibly about what a great gift wives and mothers are, but going to great pains to make sure everyone understood their (very limited) proper God-ordained roles. My wife was steaming when we left and we never went back. Nobody called to find out what happened to us.
We finally landed in the right place after my wife pulled out the alumni directory from the seminary where she had earned her MA and found a church nearby pastored by a graduate of that seminary. That seminary connection told us that the pastor probably had good theology and values. We were from mostly Baptist backgrounds and it was a Presbyterian church, so it was a bit different, but it was a good church. I enjoyed lunch with the pastor once or twice and got a chance to ask him about things that were strange to me such as infant baptism. We got involved in some music and outreach programs, but were only there for a year because of our next move.
The next time was easier because we knew people who invited us to their churches, both of which were fine, and we settled into one of them within a month (and are still there 22 years later).
Our primary considerations were theological – God the creator, Christ his Son our savior from sin, died, risen, and coming again, the work of the Spirit, and the authority of Scripture. Next a high level of ministry beyond the church walls, an emphasis on and opportunities for lay participation in ministry and small groups, and a sense of welcome to newcomers. Beyond that it gets more into matters of taste, like size of the church, musical style, and so forth.
And just so you know, this is going to continue. Trump enjoys it too much to stop, the press is making money off of it, half the country wants an adversarial, activist press, the other half wants the press called out for their shenanigans. So folks might as well get used to it.
“Left-leaning MSNBC pulled big numbers as the only network in open opposition to the president, even before the spat between Trump and “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Brzezinski engulfed Washington.
According to Nielsen’s second quarter ratings, MSNBC’s total viewers are up 73 percent year-over-year, with prime-time viewership up 86 percent, easily making it the fastest growing cable news outlet.”
=========
“But CNN has still grown 25 percent in total viewers and 10 percent in prime time year-over-year. The network’s deep well of contributors and political pundits ensures that the Trump show is always rolling.
It’s a stark departure from the pre-Trump era, when sagging ratings provoked a move away from breaking news and political programming. As recently as 2014, CNN was airing “Dirty Jobs,” “America’s Most Wanted” or “Our America with Lisa Ling” in the prime-time 9 p.m. hour.
Some media watchers are growing alarmed by the increasingly antagonistic approach some in the press are taking. But most expect it will continue as long as the feuding with Trump attracts new viewers.
“The news world is reaping some short-term benefits from the running battle with Trump, but this is really a short-sighted and ultimately losing strategy,” said Jeffrey McCall, a media critic and professor at DePauw University. “Sure, it’s sensational and somewhat entertaining, but it makes the media look small and petty. Media credibility is quite low and most news consumers aren’t going to sympathize with the news industry, even when Trump makes boorish attacks.”
“There’s no doubt that President Trump is the most abused president in modern history – more so than George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon, all of whom caught their share of flak. That’s the judgment of Fox News’s Brit Hume, who sees today’s partisanship as “the most intensely hostile political atmosphere” in memory – in his case, a memory stretching back almost 50 years. Hume believes that the treatment of President Trump is “the most biased coverage” he’s ever seen.”
“The American media, including social media, is overwhelmingly anti-Trump. The heart of the matter is that the left does not wish to make America great again. Leftists wish to see America diminished. They do not favor “America First,” “more and better jobs for American workers,” “lower taxes for individuals and businesses,” “repealing and replacing Obamacare,” “greater national security,” “immigration security,” and other Trump initiatives. They favor fewer good jobs, higher taxes, less military spending, open borders, and bowing to the world outside the U.S.
The media are guilt-ridden over our national history, as they see it, of racism and class oppression. They despise the middle class, and they live in a politically correct nightmare of benefiting from any sort of privilege or unfair advantage. On the contrary, they are intent on conferring unfair advantages to minorities and the socially oppressed, especially when this diminishes the opportunities of the white middle class.
Trump stands in the way of this agenda of relinquishment and repudiation. Once the American people, with Trump’s help, turn their back on the politics of white guilt and income inequality, the progressive movement will deflate like a punctured balloon. That’s why they are in a panic to stop him.”
“Without race, class, and gender, and the guilt that for many attaches reflexively to each of these categories, the American left has no basis for existence. The same goes for the mainstream media, much of which, as Brit Hume put it, has abandoned the idea that they should be “neutral” in presenting the news. Hume is correct in suggesting that the media are now largely incapable of fair reporting.”
Thanks Linda. We bought the Book of Concord a few weeks ago to learn more of the theology, and I don’t know yet how it will end up, but I’m looking forward to visiting the LCMS soon. :–)
SolarPancake, How blank is the slate are you talking about. People come to Christ within a context, and in my experience, it’s rarely just through reading the scripture alone. The Holy Spirit draws us, awakens our spirit to Truth, and gives guidance— often through other people. That is a process. A close family member came to Christ from another religion, and in addition to prayer and reading and study, it would be impossible to overstate the importance of other Christians in the life of faith and choice of church affiliation.
I have moved a lot. Over the years, I’ve visited Catholic churches, Baptist, Assemblies of God, Church of God, non-denominational churches, Congregational, even Mormon, but I have rarely walked into a church that someone did not invite me to attend—it has happened, but not often unless I’m relocating.
The search for a church is a search for community as well as a search for Truth. In places where He is worshiped, community is not usually too far behind. But I have to be willing and able to commune with His people there, as well as with Him. And I have to admit that sometimes and at some places, I have not wanted to commune with others the way I should in a home church. If you’re a square peg in a round hole, or the prevailing cultural or political nuance is much different than your own, it can be more difficult. But sometimes that’s just life, and it’s still His Church. When all is said and done, I know that I can worship Him anywhere–with or without my favorite hymns….or fireworks. :–)
Kevin B, yowza that’s a great reply. I’m delighted you are being well-fed at your current church, and that you have been for 22 years! I’m not looking for a church, myself. I was prompted to ask that question based on some of the practices I saw described by another poster in this thread. I was curious how one might go about evaluating the suitability (i.e., how appropriate) some of those 4th of July Lord’s Day practices are.
Debra, I’m very interested in reading your post more closely. I’m hoping to do so when I have a bit more time. Thanks for your response.
That political stuff in the church is nuts. It would be our last Sunday to attend. Having a sermon more or less “about” Father’s or Mother’s Day is bad enough (and we’re glad we don’t have to endure that any more), but at least you can find a biblical passage that speaks to the responsibility or the honor of parenthood. But nation worship in God’s house? That really is blasphemy, and I cannot imagine having a visitor from another country on such a day.
If we were looking for a church today . . . well, we would find the church’s website if they have one, listen to sermons, visit, talk to the pastor, etc. Some theological questions would be necessary, and it would be essential that the church has proper biblical authority. (If the pastor is a one-man show with no elders and no accountability, run.) Seeing any by-laws or the like would be useful.
Kevin ” My wife was steaming when we left” — good for her. 🙂
I tend to agree about any of the patriotic, national themes in church, it is out of place and would make me think of idolatry. We frequently include prayers for our nation and leaders on Sundays in corporate worship — and prayers for any scenarios where there’s been (or could be) a loss of life either in combat or natural disasters. But otherwise the 4th (along with Mother’s and Father’s Day) is a Sunday like any other Sunday for the most part.
Our pastor will deliver specific Easter and Christmas sermons, however. with the idea that there are a good number of the unchurched among us on those weekends.
The big networks may be giving Trump a hard time now, but they sure helped him get the nomination. Rush, Fox and the voters also get some of the blame, but this chart is stunning.
Dear media, you made Donald J. Trump, president of the United States.
I’ve reached the conclusion that the entitled party and the snowflake party is no longer on the left side of the aisle but has moved to the right side. On the right we can find a state governor enjoying a beach closed to the public because of his action or inaction. On the right we can find a congressman seriously suggesting a $30,000 housing allowance not long after he reprimanded the poor for poor choices and priorities.
Meanwhile Trump seems to need a safe space. Upset the press hasn’t fallen into line, he has gone on a twitter insult rant worthy of a middle school child and by the end of the week saw fit to include a meme first created by a neo-nazi reddit user. His supporters including the Huckabees and Hume seem to think this is an appropriate response to criticism. After all, how should a president act when constantly criticized?? Perhaps like an adult?? However, for the right criticism is now anti-American, as they conflate party polices and nation.
When I watch and/or read of Trump and friends, I’m specifically reminded on a middle school boy who quits any game or project when he’s losing or when others don’t follow his instructions. I’m on holiday so I really should minimize my exposure to Trump and friends as it reminds me of work well before September. Perhaps I should just wax nostalgic for the days when the press debated whether wearing a tan suit was presidential…
Speaking of the decline of American discourse and intelligence, Ricky should google Bill Maher New Rules June 30. About two minutes into the episode, he goes on a rant wondering how the summer silly/stupid season became a year long feature of American culture.
For Trump and friends to complain about excessive media attention is rather amusing. He’s good for ratings therefore they keep playing him. When his ratings go down, they will cancel his programming and move on. Its the free market in action — I would think the Republicans would understand and appreciate this. They are after all the party of the free market.
… Christie’s beach outing was captured from the sky by a photographer for a New Jersey newspaper. The photo of Christie and his brood on an otherwise deserted state beach was juxtaposed with photos of overcrowded non-state beaches that were available to the public. Naturally, the story created a sensation. …
… As Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who advised Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, put it:
[Christie’s] rise to national prominence was that he had this reputation as a fighter, and that when he was fighting, he was on the side of the Everyman and the New Jersey taxpayer against the status quo. I think the danger of the photos is that it undermines that. …
… Trump may not be sufficiently tone-deaf to pull some of the stunts that helped cause Christie’s popularity to tank. But those who defend, across-the-board, Trump’s defiance of presidential norms, on the theory that it doesn’t seem to have hurt him yet, should entertain the possibility that he is beginning to lose political capital in something like the way Christie did.
____________________________
And technically, he’s correct. He’s at the Governor’s Mansion at the park, which is off limits to all but the Gov. and his family, no tourists allowed. It belongs to whoever is Gov.
“Since New Jersey acquired the 2,694-acre estate of Henry Phipps, Jr. in 1953 for $2.75 million to form the park, the state has maintained a special residence (39.8865°N 74.0819°W) exclusively for the New Jersey Governor (in addition to the governor mansion at Drumthwacket).[3] The residence was built by Phipps in the 1920s.[4]
The house (which is now accessible via a paved road) is about 200 feet from the beach. It has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with a small room for the security detail. It is the only house close to the ocean. Two other houses in the park are on Barnegat Bay (one for the superintendent of the park and a governor’s guest house).[5]”
I see absolutely nothing wrong with a church singing patriotic songs in church or asking God to bless their country. I also do not see why any foreign visitor should find it offensive. We are specifically told to pray for those in government. Every country should want God to bless their country. They should also want God to help change what needs to be changed. I see nothing blasphemous about it. Nor do I have a problem with our country’s flag in a church. I would not be offended if I went to another country and also saw their flag in the church. To me it is just an acknowledgement that this is the country we live in.
The holiday can be a perfect time to acknowledge the wonderful gifts God has bestowed on our country and repenting for the things we are doing wrong as a nation. We need to be cognizant that their are political differences and not get carried away, There are some obvious ways, though, to mention those things that are wrong in God’s eyes and harming us as a nation.
Wandering Views 
There is a simple answer to the question raised in the headline of this article. Trump hasn’t made the case for his healthcare reforms for the same reason that I don’t teach nuclear engineering. We both lack the basic knowledge required to do the job.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-largely-sidesteps-the-bully-pulpit-in-pushing-health-care-bill/2017/07/02/4139245a-5c3a-11e7-a9f6-7c3296387341_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_bullypulpit-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.d5ff6f486795
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A brief little article about who owns the securities that make up the national debt:
https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124
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I ran across this article by Matt Chandler’s former roommate:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/on-being-matt-chandlers-roommate
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Rod Dreher had a problem with this:
https://www.worldnewspolitics.com/2017/07/02/church-choir-sings-make-america-great-song/
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Here is what happened the week before:
https://thewayofimprovement.com/2017/06/26/what-was-being-worshiped-yesterday-at-first-baptist-church-in-dallas/
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Ricky,
Or perhaps, unlike the last diva president we had, Trump isn’t seeking a “legacy” piece of legislation with his name on it. Also, why should he be out there shilling for Ryan and congressional R;s steaming pile of replacement, which is about as popular as they are. I wouldn’t want my name on it either.
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Anon is AJ.
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The drama queens are at it again.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/02/media-horrified-after-trump-tweets-video-body-slamming-cnn/
“Journalists reacted in horror Sunday morning after President Trump tweeted a fake video that showed him body-slamming “fraud news” CNN in a fake wrestling match.
While many of the president’s supporters online reacted to the video with humor, the consensus among journalists seemed to be that Trump was inciting violence against the media.”
————————–
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-reflections-on-the-presidents-tweet/article/2627664
“In the run-up to the Iraq war, a Bush White House official explained to me that 9/11 had changed the way we read national security intelligence. There was a relaxed way to read intelligence, he said, and there was an alarmed way to read intelligence. September 11 proved that we had to read intelligence — say, on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction — in an alarmed way to avoid another disaster. Therefore, we had to invade Iraq.
I thought of that conversation amid the reaction to President Trump’s latest tweet, showing him taking down CNN in a World Wrestling Entertainment video. There is a relaxed way to read the tweet, and there is an alarmed way to read the tweet. The media-politico complex is choosing the alarmed way, with a vengeance.”
——————-
“The alarmed way to read the tweet is that the president is inciting violence against journalists. That is the way that most journalists chose to see it. “The president of the United States is encouraging violence against journalists,” tweeted Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg Sunday morning, reflecting what dozens of other establishment journalists were saying. CNN’s statement in reaction to the president, plus that of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said much the same thing.
It’s just an impression, but one could note that some journalists seemed more alarmed by the president’s tweets than by other recent examples of violent political expression — Kathy Griffin holding what appeared to be Trump’s bloody, severed head, or the Trump-as-Caesar assassination, for example. That is probably because many journalists are simply more worried about the prospect of right-wing violence than they are about the prospect of left-wing violence. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a favored source among some reporters, did not built up a nine-figure endowment by warning about violence from the Left.
Even with a real act of politically-motivated violence — the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, which turned out to be a left-wing attack — some found it less terrifying than the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords, which in a weird way was not politically motivated at all. Yes, all media outlets covered the Scalise shooting wall-to-wall on the first day, and on the second. But on the third? As Commentary editor John Podhoretz noted recently, “The news media focused on the Giffords shooting with little else in the mix for a week. Three days post-baseball field and they’re moving on.”
—————————–
And half of America has moved on too. We’re so over the press and their biased antics.
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AJ, Your man is shilling. He is just doing it in a very incompetent and uneven manner, since he has no idea what he is talking about.
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Some folks are a little self-conscious about their ignorance.
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Thanks for 7:27 Ricky. I had been wondering about that.
i.e. Who has the money. I thought SS was behind and part of the problem.
It will be when the Boomers retire, as many are doing now.
And the government pensions. I paid lots into that, but already got it back.
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I’m glad, Chas. You have been rightly warning about the looming budget crisis for a long time.
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@7:42 Yesterday was ‘All American Day’ at our church. Governor Reverend Mike Huckabee spoke for 45 minutes or so. I thought His portion of the service was interesting and edifying. Before he spoke, we also spent quite a bit of time honoring members and veterans of the 5 branches of the military and some civil servants in our church. Almost the entire city counsel was present, as well as our state representative in DC.
We had no pyrotechnics, but there were red white and blue streamers that were shot out of some device all over part of the congregation–this was all before the speaker. The music was all patriotic, including This Land is Your Land. I have said before that I am sometimes uncomfortable with some of the services at our church. We do not really adhere to the church calendar other than Christmas and Easter and I miss that.
Listening to Gov. Rev. Huckabee, I was filled with both thankfulness and a sense of loss. I am thankful that he is still being heard, and that truth and hope still have an active voice in our country, both in the church and in secular venues. But I also had a sad sense of loss as I realized that we rejected that voice as our president years ago.
http://abbashouse.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=292652
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Mike Huckabee’s portion of the service starts at around 55:00.
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Sorry, this link should work.
http://abbashouse.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=294824&programId=259764
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We don’t “do” national patriotism at our church or within our denomination — no flags or other symbols, no special speakers connected to politics. I only witnessed one patriotic church service and it was, ironically, a a Friends (Quaker) church I belonged to many years ago (the first year I was a member there after transferring in from a ‘silent-meeting’ Quaker congregation). There must have been others who were uncomfortable as it was never repeated. 🙂
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But i do (did) like Hukabee (and nice musical intro, love the fife and drums — maybe just not at Sunday morning church 🙂 , but that’s me).
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From what little I saw of the Trump wrestling spot, it was eye-roll worthy. Not at all amusing from a number of standpoints.
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When I attended the Congregational Church in Connecticut, we did not have the military hoopla inside the church. However, we were located on the village green and so we were both figuratively and literally at the center of any and all community celebrations. We would walk out the church door to the fire trucks and floats and school bands a few feet away, and the celebration would begin. There would be much speechifying and presentation of awards. It would end with a parade that went about a mile and a half down the road to the pre-Revolutionary War cemetery.
Most of the churches in the South don’t have that community connection. And the Baptist and Pentecostal churches I have attended here don’t have the liturgy and the festivals and celebrations of the Church calendar either. I miss that connection with the historical Church which is a source of many blessings that have been passed down generationally.
We’ve been considering other options. There is a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod a few miles away. But that would undoubtedly scandalize my father who was raised and whose life has been fully immersed in the Church of God, so much so that it’s practically the family business. Of course, when I was younger, attending the Baptist church would have had the same effect. But the times, they be a’changin’, so who knows. :–)
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Donna,
I guess humor is in the eye of the beholder.
But what I find most amusing,and laughable, is the response from the press. And it’s exactly the response everyone knew would come of it,even Trump.
I would think Dems would be more amused, given it was another Republican (Vince McMahon, the hubby of his Small Business head) he clothes lined.
The only reason the press is even covering it is because if they weren’t, they might actually have to cover real news, like Trump’s immigration and recent Supreme Court successes. We can’t have that, so this is what they fixate on.
I find the whole thing rather amusing from a number of standpoints, and rather telling as well.
And I’m sure Trump does too. He trolls the media constantly, and they keep taking the bait. He lives rent free in the White House, and the heads of half the country and most media outlets. It’s a genius game plan really. Trump is smart enough to know that whatever he does, the media will bash him. Like all R’s, no matter what they do short of a full embrace of the liberal agenda, it won’t make them happy. Accepting that fact and not caring about what the media says or does must be quite liberating.
And fun to watch. 🙂
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Question for anyone: If a person isn’t already a member of a church–so that he or she is basically starting a church search with a blank slate–how should one go about determining what church he or she should attend?
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Debra – by all means, please try the LCMS church. I think you will be blessed there.
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Solar, we were in that situation twice when we moved to new cities. The first time we didn’t know many Christians in the area, and the ones we knew went to the same church. We spent a year there, but decided it was too big for us and too hard to make friends.
Next we went to the Yellow Pages looking at Baptist churches, since that was most of our background. We found one pretty close to us. It was small, and people were friendly enough on Sunday, but we didn’t seem to fit in well. The final straw was the pastor’s Mother’s Day sermon, ostensibly about what a great gift wives and mothers are, but going to great pains to make sure everyone understood their (very limited) proper God-ordained roles. My wife was steaming when we left and we never went back. Nobody called to find out what happened to us.
We finally landed in the right place after my wife pulled out the alumni directory from the seminary where she had earned her MA and found a church nearby pastored by a graduate of that seminary. That seminary connection told us that the pastor probably had good theology and values. We were from mostly Baptist backgrounds and it was a Presbyterian church, so it was a bit different, but it was a good church. I enjoyed lunch with the pastor once or twice and got a chance to ask him about things that were strange to me such as infant baptism. We got involved in some music and outreach programs, but were only there for a year because of our next move.
The next time was easier because we knew people who invited us to their churches, both of which were fine, and we settled into one of them within a month (and are still there 22 years later).
Our primary considerations were theological – God the creator, Christ his Son our savior from sin, died, risen, and coming again, the work of the Spirit, and the authority of Scripture. Next a high level of ministry beyond the church walls, an emphasis on and opportunities for lay participation in ministry and small groups, and a sense of welcome to newcomers. Beyond that it gets more into matters of taste, like size of the church, musical style, and so forth.
Are you in that situation now?
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And just so you know, this is going to continue. Trump enjoys it too much to stop, the press is making money off of it, half the country wants an adversarial, activist press, the other half wants the press called out for their shenanigans. So folks might as well get used to it.
Welcome to the new norm.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/340318-media-reaps-dividends-from-trump-attacks?rnd=1499075211
“Left-leaning MSNBC pulled big numbers as the only network in open opposition to the president, even before the spat between Trump and “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Brzezinski engulfed Washington.
According to Nielsen’s second quarter ratings, MSNBC’s total viewers are up 73 percent year-over-year, with prime-time viewership up 86 percent, easily making it the fastest growing cable news outlet.”
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“But CNN has still grown 25 percent in total viewers and 10 percent in prime time year-over-year. The network’s deep well of contributors and political pundits ensures that the Trump show is always rolling.
It’s a stark departure from the pre-Trump era, when sagging ratings provoked a move away from breaking news and political programming. As recently as 2014, CNN was airing “Dirty Jobs,” “America’s Most Wanted” or “Our America with Lisa Ling” in the prime-time 9 p.m. hour.
Some media watchers are growing alarmed by the increasingly antagonistic approach some in the press are taking. But most expect it will continue as long as the feuding with Trump attracts new viewers.
“The news world is reaping some short-term benefits from the running battle with Trump, but this is really a short-sighted and ultimately losing strategy,” said Jeffrey McCall, a media critic and professor at DePauw University. “Sure, it’s sensational and somewhat entertaining, but it makes the media look small and petty. Media credibility is quite low and most news consumers aren’t going to sympathize with the news industry, even when Trump makes boorish attacks.”
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http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/07/the_most_abused_president_in_history.html
“There’s no doubt that President Trump is the most abused president in modern history – more so than George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon, all of whom caught their share of flak. That’s the judgment of Fox News’s Brit Hume, who sees today’s partisanship as “the most intensely hostile political atmosphere” in memory – in his case, a memory stretching back almost 50 years. Hume believes that the treatment of President Trump is “the most biased coverage” he’s ever seen.”
“The American media, including social media, is overwhelmingly anti-Trump. The heart of the matter is that the left does not wish to make America great again. Leftists wish to see America diminished. They do not favor “America First,” “more and better jobs for American workers,” “lower taxes for individuals and businesses,” “repealing and replacing Obamacare,” “greater national security,” “immigration security,” and other Trump initiatives. They favor fewer good jobs, higher taxes, less military spending, open borders, and bowing to the world outside the U.S.
The media are guilt-ridden over our national history, as they see it, of racism and class oppression. They despise the middle class, and they live in a politically correct nightmare of benefiting from any sort of privilege or unfair advantage. On the contrary, they are intent on conferring unfair advantages to minorities and the socially oppressed, especially when this diminishes the opportunities of the white middle class.
Trump stands in the way of this agenda of relinquishment and repudiation. Once the American people, with Trump’s help, turn their back on the politics of white guilt and income inequality, the progressive movement will deflate like a punctured balloon. That’s why they are in a panic to stop him.”
“Without race, class, and gender, and the guilt that for many attaches reflexively to each of these categories, the American left has no basis for existence. The same goes for the mainstream media, much of which, as Brit Hume put it, has abandoned the idea that they should be “neutral” in presenting the news. Hume is correct in suggesting that the media are now largely incapable of fair reporting.”
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Thanks Linda. We bought the Book of Concord a few weeks ago to learn more of the theology, and I don’t know yet how it will end up, but I’m looking forward to visiting the LCMS soon. :–)
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SolarPancake, How blank is the slate are you talking about. People come to Christ within a context, and in my experience, it’s rarely just through reading the scripture alone. The Holy Spirit draws us, awakens our spirit to Truth, and gives guidance— often through other people. That is a process. A close family member came to Christ from another religion, and in addition to prayer and reading and study, it would be impossible to overstate the importance of other Christians in the life of faith and choice of church affiliation.
I have moved a lot. Over the years, I’ve visited Catholic churches, Baptist, Assemblies of God, Church of God, non-denominational churches, Congregational, even Mormon, but I have rarely walked into a church that someone did not invite me to attend—it has happened, but not often unless I’m relocating.
The search for a church is a search for community as well as a search for Truth. In places where He is worshiped, community is not usually too far behind. But I have to be willing and able to commune with His people there, as well as with Him. And I have to admit that sometimes and at some places, I have not wanted to commune with others the way I should in a home church. If you’re a square peg in a round hole, or the prevailing cultural or political nuance is much different than your own, it can be more difficult. But sometimes that’s just life, and it’s still His Church. When all is said and done, I know that I can worship Him anywhere–with or without my favorite hymns….or fireworks. :–)
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“Don’t take the easy way out – do the right thing.”
Bravo to Google for hosting Canadian Stephanie Gray and the pro-life perspective. Well worth an hour of your time… (Hat tip to Breakpoint.)
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Kevin B, yowza that’s a great reply. I’m delighted you are being well-fed at your current church, and that you have been for 22 years! I’m not looking for a church, myself. I was prompted to ask that question based on some of the practices I saw described by another poster in this thread. I was curious how one might go about evaluating the suitability (i.e., how appropriate) some of those 4th of July Lord’s Day practices are.
Debra, I’m very interested in reading your post more closely. I’m hoping to do so when I have a bit more time. Thanks for your response.
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I was prepared to impart some Baptist wisdom. But I figure it best to just say AMEN to Kevin’s comment. (12:43)
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That political stuff in the church is nuts. It would be our last Sunday to attend. Having a sermon more or less “about” Father’s or Mother’s Day is bad enough (and we’re glad we don’t have to endure that any more), but at least you can find a biblical passage that speaks to the responsibility or the honor of parenthood. But nation worship in God’s house? That really is blasphemy, and I cannot imagine having a visitor from another country on such a day.
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If we were looking for a church today . . . well, we would find the church’s website if they have one, listen to sermons, visit, talk to the pastor, etc. Some theological questions would be necessary, and it would be essential that the church has proper biblical authority. (If the pastor is a one-man show with no elders and no accountability, run.) Seeing any by-laws or the like would be useful.
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Kevin ” My wife was steaming when we left” — good for her. 🙂
I tend to agree about any of the patriotic, national themes in church, it is out of place and would make me think of idolatry. We frequently include prayers for our nation and leaders on Sundays in corporate worship — and prayers for any scenarios where there’s been (or could be) a loss of life either in combat or natural disasters. But otherwise the 4th (along with Mother’s and Father’s Day) is a Sunday like any other Sunday for the most part.
Our pastor will deliver specific Easter and Christmas sermons, however. with the idea that there are a good number of the unchurched among us on those weekends.
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We’re having fun thinking about making a video of us beating up sources and readers. 🙂
This could go on and on.
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The big networks may be giving Trump a hard time now, but they sure helped him get the nomination. Rush, Fox and the voters also get some of the blame, but this chart is stunning.
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Trump was a strange and big story. So yeah, he had a lot of attention.
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There ya’ go Donna! 🙂
Now you’re getting it. Things aren’t so bad, you just need to learn to embrace the suck. 🙂
Have some fun with it! 🙂
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Brad Thor had the Tweet of the day.
https://twitter.com/bradthor/status/881954415787343872
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I’ve reached the conclusion that the entitled party and the snowflake party is no longer on the left side of the aisle but has moved to the right side. On the right we can find a state governor enjoying a beach closed to the public because of his action or inaction. On the right we can find a congressman seriously suggesting a $30,000 housing allowance not long after he reprimanded the poor for poor choices and priorities.
Meanwhile Trump seems to need a safe space. Upset the press hasn’t fallen into line, he has gone on a twitter insult rant worthy of a middle school child and by the end of the week saw fit to include a meme first created by a neo-nazi reddit user. His supporters including the Huckabees and Hume seem to think this is an appropriate response to criticism. After all, how should a president act when constantly criticized?? Perhaps like an adult?? However, for the right criticism is now anti-American, as they conflate party polices and nation.
When I watch and/or read of Trump and friends, I’m specifically reminded on a middle school boy who quits any game or project when he’s losing or when others don’t follow his instructions. I’m on holiday so I really should minimize my exposure to Trump and friends as it reminds me of work well before September. Perhaps I should just wax nostalgic for the days when the press debated whether wearing a tan suit was presidential…
Speaking of the decline of American discourse and intelligence, Ricky should google Bill Maher New Rules June 30. About two minutes into the episode, he goes on a rant wondering how the summer silly/stupid season became a year long feature of American culture.
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For Trump and friends to complain about excessive media attention is rather amusing. He’s good for ratings therefore they keep playing him. When his ratings go down, they will cancel his programming and move on. Its the free market in action — I would think the Republicans would understand and appreciate this. They are after all the party of the free market.
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Happy Birthday to the USA, and special thanks to our Founding Fathers for bequeathing to us the priceless gift of freedom!!!
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You were right, Tychicus, it was well worth the hour. Thanks.
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Christie, Trump, tone deaf?
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/07/chris-christies-day-at-the-beach.php
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… Christie’s beach outing was captured from the sky by a photographer for a New Jersey newspaper. The photo of Christie and his brood on an otherwise deserted state beach was juxtaposed with photos of overcrowded non-state beaches that were available to the public. Naturally, the story created a sensation. …
… As Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who advised Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, put it:
[Christie’s] rise to national prominence was that he had this reputation as a fighter, and that when he was fighting, he was on the side of the Everyman and the New Jersey taxpayer against the status quo. I think the danger of the photos is that it undermines that. …
… Trump may not be sufficiently tone-deaf to pull some of the stunts that helped cause Christie’s popularity to tank. But those who defend, across-the-board, Trump’s defiance of presidential norms, on the theory that it doesn’t seem to have hurt him yet, should entertain the possibility that he is beginning to lose political capital in something like the way Christie did.
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Then again, as a former reporter colleague commented on FB today: “In defense of Chris Christie, at least he was wearing a shirt.”
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Hubby had the TV news on a little while ago (we usually don’t watch TV news), & Christie was saying that he was on his own property.
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And technically, he’s correct. He’s at the Governor’s Mansion at the park, which is off limits to all but the Gov. and his family, no tourists allowed. It belongs to whoever is Gov.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Beach_State_Park#Governor.E2.80.99s_Ocean_House
“Since New Jersey acquired the 2,694-acre estate of Henry Phipps, Jr. in 1953 for $2.75 million to form the park, the state has maintained a special residence (39.8865°N 74.0819°W) exclusively for the New Jersey Governor (in addition to the governor mansion at Drumthwacket).[3] The residence was built by Phipps in the 1920s.[4]
The house (which is now accessible via a paved road) is about 200 feet from the beach. It has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with a small room for the security detail. It is the only house close to the ocean. Two other houses in the park are on Barnegat Bay (one for the superintendent of the park and a governor’s guest house).[5]”
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I see absolutely nothing wrong with a church singing patriotic songs in church or asking God to bless their country. I also do not see why any foreign visitor should find it offensive. We are specifically told to pray for those in government. Every country should want God to bless their country. They should also want God to help change what needs to be changed. I see nothing blasphemous about it. Nor do I have a problem with our country’s flag in a church. I would not be offended if I went to another country and also saw their flag in the church. To me it is just an acknowledgement that this is the country we live in.
The holiday can be a perfect time to acknowledge the wonderful gifts God has bestowed on our country and repenting for the things we are doing wrong as a nation. We need to be cognizant that their are political differences and not get carried away, There are some obvious ways, though, to mention those things that are wrong in God’s eyes and harming us as a nation.
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