"I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, "You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself." My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will." Charles Haddon Spurgeon

CIGARETTE SMOKING

Pride Surveys reports cigarette smoking is increasing among students ages 11 to 18. The 2009 Survey found that 30-day prevalence of cigarette smoking by students in grades 6-12 rose from 19.4% in 2008 to 19.8% in 2009. This group is composed of kids 13-18 years of age. In broad terms, this means 20% of teen agers are smoking at some rate.

Adults are smoking at about the same rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports cigarette smoking increased slightly for the first time in 15 years among adults. According to the CDC, the percentage of adults who were current cigarette smokers rose from 19.8% in 2007 to 20.6% in 2008 (National Health Interview Survey).

In a country under siege with health care costs, this statistic does not bode well. Cigarette smokers face numerous smoking related diseases. Those who start when they are 13 are almost certain to develop some of these diseases. In addition, those who suffer these diseases often cannot work and go on welfare. Smoking is not a vice whose effect is limited to the participant, the smoker. The rest of us pay dearly for the habit, in money, in time caring for family members with these diseases, and the effects of cigarette smoke on the non-smoker's health, including allergies and cancers caused by second hand smoke.

MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO YOU

I received this email today:

You are a proud winner of £ 850,000.00.Please acknowledge the receipt of this mail with the details below to Mr Brian Adams Tell, EMAIL:
yingshi77@w.cn
Full Names..
Contact Address..
Age/Sex..
Occupation..
Home Tel/Cell Number..
Country..

However, I have decided I have enough and in the spirit of Christmas, I will let anyone who reads this blog claim the prize.

Tell Brian Adams hi for me and may all your dreams come true. Except of course the one where you are being chased by zombies who want to eat you alive and you wake up right before they do in a cold sweat (you not the zombies, zombies don't sweat and neither does chuch norris) and your realize the zombie looks like your first grade teacher of whom you were deathly afraid and now you afraid to go back to sleep but of course this never happens to me.

Faxing As An Example of Time Travel

Since I have been trying to get attorneys to send me their lien reduction requests by email rather than fax, I appreciate this Dilbert cartoon.

I am trying to reduce our paper use and waste. In addition, it is more time efficient to do all the work on an account at the computer and not go to the fax machine.

What I have learned is that only half the attorneys I deal with know how to scan and document and send it by email. The other half is afraid to use email rather than paper.

Attorneys don't like change, unless it is in their income.

MYSTERIOUS LIGHTS OVER NORWAY

You can see pictures here. I wish it had happened here; it must have been beautiful. The cause is yet to be determined, but a failed missle launch by the Russians is postulated.

I have a call in to Tim LaHaye to see if he is still here. If not, I know what it was.

In a 2008 Pew survey, 47% of evangelicals revealed their belief that other religions can lead to eternal life. It was 57% in 2002.

Jesus claimed exclusive access to eternal life. In John 14:6, he said "no one comes to the Father except through me". (NIV) That is perfectly clear with no room for debate. Did Jesus believe other relgions could lead to eternal life? No.

The famous verse of John 3:16 actually contains this same truth. God loved the world in this way: he sent his one and only son so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. God provided one way for salvation. He has one son who is that way. If you believe in him, you have eternal life. Verse 18 states it in the negative: whoever does not believe does not have eternal life but is condemned.

Since Jesus' claims, as set forth in the Bible, clearly are exclusive, what does this say about the 47% of evangelicals who believe otherwise?

Either they do not believe the Bible contains the words of Jesus, in which case they have othing to believe. Or, they do not believe Jesus told the truth, in which case he is not God's son and cannot be their savior. Or, and I think this one is the answer, 47% of evangelicals are not believers, are not Christians.

And this explains a lot of the problems in Evangelicalism.

Oh, here's an idea. The Salahis should host an event and feature Tiger Woods. They could swap stories. And think of the press they would draw!

They could call it the Liars Ball. They could invite all the famous liars and cheats of the last few years. After dinner, each one could come to the microphone and say their most famous lines. Tiger could say "take your name off your phone". Bill Clinton could say "I did not have sex with that woman". The audience would yell back "which woman?"

They could invite Eliot Spitzer. He might not be able to get his wife to accompany him, but you could invite Ashley Dupree as her substitute, a role she was familiar with.

They could invite all the people in the Obama administration who did not pay their taxes.

That might take all the available room, but if not, you could invite the global warming scientists that trashed data and hid information contrary to their position. Or you could just invite Al Gore, who made a big profit on it.

But, I guess Bernie Madoff will have to appear by phone call. He is otherwise occupied.