Dangers of the Left 3

Women Sign 'We Had Abortions' Petition

It's interesting how the examples of women happy about their decision to have an abortion in this article all come down to selfishness because it would have come at an inconvenient time or the child would have had a poor quality of life.

My New Home

Ok, I'm actually in the same house and haven't moved my web site, but I am moving the forums from my personal site over here since it's more suited for this sort of environment. I'll be bringing over a few each day so that hopefully I'll have it all caught up within a week. Much like my favorite talk show host, Glenn Beck, these posts will jump from topic to topic with seemingly no sense of direction. And also like Glenn, they will come my own passionate beliefs that have become stronger and more clear as the years go by. Thanks for stopping in!

Oh, and as for me my name is Jonathan Howe & I live in the Atlanta area and have been in Georgia my whole life. I currently work for Federated Departments Stores and attend North Point Community Church. I also play the piano and enjoy spending time with friends and playing board and card games.

Dangers of the Left 2

B-grade Gipper

This is one of those moments of honesty from the Hollywood types, who are well-known for their left-leaning tendencies. But here the champions of tolerance and compassion and understanding and "can't we all just get along" are seen cheering at the images of a hero on the right being shot down on film...

Dangers of the Left

Screw abstinance party

NARAL hosts 'Screw Abstinence Party'

I just heard about this earlier on Glenn Beck. Evidently some pro-choice-friendly people did think they went a bit far here, but they seemed to think it was more of a foolish choice politically than really disagree with what they were trying to accomplish. This is simply a case of a leftist group actually being open & honest about what they believe instead of couching it in flowery terms that sound nice until actually put into practice. They want to protect the cute and furry animals and are more outraged if one of them is harmed or killed more than if the same happens to humans (or at least unborn humans). However, if you're a captured terrorist, then they suddenly become the biggest human rights activists. And they are similarly for religious freedom, as long as it's anything but Christianity. Moral absolutes are too intolerent and closed-minded to those on the left who are so open-minded to nearly any and all ideas no matter how twisted or perverse because no one idea is better than any other if it works for you. At least one group is being honest for a change...

My Beliefs & Feelings

Well, I figure it's about time to start this thing going, so here's some stuff to start it off. I'm sure I'll come back to edit this from time to time.

My Beliefs

I believe that Jesus Christ was the one & only Son of God and that 2000 years ago he walked on the earth, was crucified and 3 days later resurrected so that we could be made right with God. I have accepted Him as my Savior and know that He has forgiven me of my sins and that one day I will be with Him in heaven. I believe that God loves us unconditionally and desires to have a personal relationship with us, and that we can build this relationship through spending time with Him daily in Scripture reading and prayer. I believe that He has called each of us to be examples of His love in the world and that He has given each of us a purpose to fulfill while on the earth. I believe His Will for our lives can be discerned through our time with Him, our reading of Scripture, the opportunities He provides for us and some of the desires that lie within us that can be tested to be Scriptural and not just "what we want to do". While I don't think discovering God's Will is an exact science and that there is only a very small target we are shooting for and missing it will cause great struggle in our lives, I also don't believe we can simply go about our lives making choices and just figuring God will sort things out for us. He gives us the free will to make decisions, but this should not be used to be irresponsible.

I believe that families and children are one of the most important callings that we have on this earth (unless you are truly called to singleness) and that they are a high trust we have been given once we commit to creating them. I believe that marriage is a sacred institution ordained by God and that much consideration, time & prayer should be given to it before a couple decides to go through with it. I do believe that each person should be wholly devoted to the other person and that their main focus should be keeping God as the center and the happiness of the other over their own. Obviously you can't just be a doormat, but if both people practice this principle then both will never feel that they are unloved or unimportant to the other, and they will want to do whatever they can to make the other person happy. You should also make it a priority to keep a regular "date night" for just the two of you as well as at least a weekly "checkup chat" to make sure nothing is going wrong and doesn't get addressed before it becomes a real problem.

I believe that children are a gift from God and perhaps an even greater responsibility than the spouse because the work that is put into the children will almost always go beyond our own lifetimes. I believe children should not be coddled or over-protected, but rather appropriately disciplined with love (including spankings) and not shut out from everything in the world that might potentially harm them (within reason of course). The world of today isn't pretty, and they need to be prepared for that before they are forced to face it on their own. I think the greatest way for children to be raised is for the mother (or father in certain cases) to stay at home while the other parent is earning a living to support the family. You simply aren't giving your kids the best if you are leaving them with someone in day care who may or may not support the same values that you do. And you can't form very strong bonds to your children if you are only seeing them for an hour in the morning and a few hours in the evening after you pick them up. Additionally I believe you should be involved in their education (both at home and school) and be aware of what they are being taught. We can no longer assume that our schools share our values, so we much always be vigilant about what the latest "P.C." idea being bandied about it.

I believe that we are should be good stewards of the things that God has entrusted to us. Obviously this includes family & children as mentioned before. This also includes our finances, so we should always tithe first, then save and finally pay the bills. What's left over is up to the priorities of the person or family of how it should be managed. We also have to be responsible for the "stuff" we own and to take care of it, such as our house, yard, car, furniture, etc. We just have to be sure that we don't get to the point of being materialistic or amassing so much "stuff" that it starts to own us instead. If so, this would be a good time for a garage sale or donations. We also have to be responsible for our bodies by eating healthy & getting the proper amounts of rest & exercise to keep it in good shape.

I believe that outside our families, our close friends are the next most important "asset" we have on this earth. I enjoy having a smaller group of close friends than a large group of casual friends. I also believe good friends are the ones that will encourage you as well as call out issues they see rather than just thinking, "it's none of my business". And I believe as a good friend, I should be willing to do the same for others if I see something that's not right.

My Feelings

As stated before, I believe that I am saved and Jesus does live inside me. I strive daily to live my life in a way that would be pleasing to Him and to draw closer to Him through my times of Scripture reading and prayer. I still don't have a clear answer as to what my purpose in life is or what He is calling me to do, but I am willing to do whatever that calling is whenever I receive it. Until then I am trying to be patient and look for the opportunities to serve Him where I am now and see what doors he will open in the future. Through my recent struggles to find contentment, He has shown me that I wasn't as close to Him as I should have been and must depend upon Him for all my needs regardless of what happens in my life. So my constant prayers have been for strength & guidance, and that He show me what he wants me to be and what He wants me to know of Him. I have to also pray for patience to be content while I wait for all of that since it doesn't appear to be happening in a flash.

As for what is most important to me outside that is raising a family. It is something that I truly desire in my life, and I hope that God will one day bless me with that opportunity. This desire has been confirmed repeatedly over the past few months, even causing me to react emotionally more than I believe I ever have before in my life. I can't even type some of this stuff without tearing up a bit. During a sermon back home the pastor talked about mothers (on Mother's Day of course) and how precious and amazing they are. All I could think of was how grateful I was to my mom for the sacrifices she made, and how I wanted to help create another such loving environment with a family of my own. Through spending time at Dave & Kim's with baby Jonathan, I have seen how wonderful it is to hold a child and watch them as they grow & develop. It's truly amazing and something only God could have created. The most recent evidence I've seen of my feelings happened last week when I attended the Glenn Beck show in Nashville. He's a radio talk show host who is now a Christian and went through some struggles in his own life (admittedly mostly of his own doing), but now has come through it a much stronger person as a result. During the show he talked about memories of growing up and how special and precious those times were -- not the times we played a video game, but the times our dad showed us how to do ride a bike, or our mom held us when we'd been fallen off that bike. And he mentioned how today we don't pay attention to what's important -- our family and friends and spending time with them -- but have empty pursuits of money and material possessions and being too busy to slow down and think. Because of his alcoholism he lost nearly everything -- his job, marriage & friends. But thankfully he woke up one day and realized he was heading down the wrong road and now has a new wife, an adopted son & still spends time with his two daughters. He ended the show by showing pictures of each of them and said how much he loved each of them and that they are what are most important to him. I had already lost it by this time (as I have again now) and just knew that was what I wanted for my life as well (but without the alcoholism & divorce bits), and only wished I had come to this realization years earlier.
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- Jonathan Howe