A friend at an atheist blog had a post about a test you could take and it would rank you on a percentage bases, as to How you represent yourself, actually stacks up to what you believe, based on how you answer a survey type quiz. It ranked you in each of maybe 15 categories, with a percentage for each category.  From atheist  to conservative Christian, with agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu, mysticism, catholic, liberal Christian, etc… all in the middle. While it wasn’t scientific it did show that even atheist share some of the same views as Christians. It was called the belief-o-matic and I’m not linking to it because It’s not the point of this post. My Atheist friend has a new post now and it’ rather different and it ranks a person as an Atheist based on how many statements, they think describes them. That got me to thinking that I should come up with a quiz or a test or survey, whatever to call it doesn’t mater, but the purpose of it would be to determine if you fit some sort of standard description, of what a Christian is. Of course there are as many descriptions as there are denominations, and this would be solely for the purpose of self examination, because as Christians we believe that there is one judge of  all, that as a matter of fact, is God himself. An ulterior motive would be to have a standard,  so that when our Atheist friends, make comments like, “two Christians beat a one year old to death with a claw hammer trying to get a devil out of her”, or “woman said God told her to do it”,  we will have a resource to use to refute the genuineness of their CLAIM.  I have said several times when responding that these aren’t real Christians that are doing these things and then having to explain what it means to be a Christian. They always point out that they said they are Christians.  Well the Atheist friend that posted the list of things, that supposedly told how good an Atheist a person was,  based on how that person responded to the questions, made me start thinking and I could only come to the conclusion that not everyone who claims to be an Atheist is one. Why would you need a test to see if you are. So as a perfect illustration,not everyone who claims to be anything , is in fact that thing, I thought about recent stories of men who posed as doctors or lawyers, and weren’t. There are those who claim to be Rich people; you name it, so why not be able to say you are a Christian and not be. So I shall make an attempt at The Christian Test. This is not the final authority, and is not scientific. Also it would only be thought useful by someone who is a Cristian. So to begin with if you don’t like the test that may speak volumes as well.  I shall deal with the subject a little bit latter but if you feel the urge at this point to say Judge not lest you be Judged, go directly to question three. So have fun with it and at the same time give the test carefull reflection.

                             The Christian Test

1.Do you believe in God and believe that Jesus is his virgin born son?

2. Do you believe that The Bible is God’s infaliable  and inerrant word?

3.Have you ever, with your knowledge, been saved?

If you have answered no to any of the questions above there is no need to continue.

4. Have you read the Bible or are you in the process of doing so?

5.Do you treat everyone the way you want to be treated?

6. Do you think that being pro abortion is a position that is not pleasing to God?

7. Do you think that all people have to be saved because of sin in their life?

If you didn’t answer yes to the four questions above you should probably go back to question three

8.Do you hate anyone? 

 9.Is it ok to hate anyone?

10. Is God going to overlook habitual sin in your life?

11. Is murdering a person worst than just hating that person?

12 Is it ok to look at another person spouse with lustful thoughts as long as you don’t take action on those thoughts?

If you have answered yes to the five questions above, you should go back to question three.

The next section of the test is for personal Reflection only and while there are no answers that are more correct, there are answers that someone looking at you could use to determine if your faith is real to you.

1.If it became a crime in this country tomorrow to be a Christian and you were arrested based on someone naming your name to the authorities, would there be enough evidence to convict you of the crime of being a Christian?

2.Have you ever shared how you were saved with anyone?

3. Do you ask a blessing over your food at least once per day?

4.Have you ever led someone to accept Jesus as their savior and be saved?

5.Have you ever told someone how to be save?

6. Do you know what the Roman Road is?

7. Can you name chapter and verse of at least one of the verses in the Roman Road or some other verses that you would show someone you where trying to talk to about Jesus?

8. Can you paraphrase what John 3:16 says?

9.Does it matter to you if someone dies without knowing Jesus?

10.Does Jesus know your name?

This is not an exhaustive list but if you said I don’t know ,or I don’t care to any of these ten questions you  probably  need to get with it or at least take a look at the situations and see if there are some changes you should make, because although it is a walk , there are some aspects of the Christian life that are automatic. If you had the urge to say judge not , you should go back to the first three questions. My point is not to judge but rather to look for fruit. For there is one that will judge us all. and that is God. But if you are not acting like a Christian Don’t use the excuse when you do something really bad that God told you to do it. First and foremost you impugn the wonderful name of Jesus when you do so. Second you make it harder for us to have an impact on a world of skeptics.

I ran across this link,  while researching a comment on another blog. It’s drawings, depicting the steps of a partial birth abortion. I have often contended that if the public was shown the live images of a partial birth abortion there would be such an outrage demanding it be stopped immediately, that the legislators and judges would have no choice but to end it. You can name the topic, weather it’s the Eskimos clubbing baby harp seals or the Japanese whalers harpooning a magnificent blue whale. They always show us images in full color repeatedly to sway public opinion. I wasn’t prepared for what I would see next. As I scrolled down the above link I came across (before you click this link I want you to know it’s disturbing and graphic)this one. I wasn’t prepared to see a D&E abortion, and again it’s only drawings, but these are like what you would see in a medical text book. Do not click on the link above with out knowing it is horrifying. These simple images ran once on the evening news, would bring about a public outcry for this to end.  It’s not a conservative or liberal debate. It’s not a religious debate, though that’s the tool that the mass media has used to frame it. That allows them the oldest play in the play book. Divide and conquer.  This is purely a human debate. I could go on to name other issues that they control, simply by showing the side they want. From global warming to greenhouse gasses, and the use of carbon based fuels, all carefully framed to make us think that impending doom awaits. I would like you to consider this one though in conclusion. Why is it ok to show the pictures from Abugrab,  whaling and baby seals being clubed to death, but it’s not ok to show a little unborn baby being ripped apart in the place designed to be the safest place on earth, or being delivered partially from that place while still alive and be stabbed at the base of the skull and have it’s brains sucked out,  just so it’s not called murder. To explain if they didn’t stop the delivery to kill the baby before it is totally delivered, it would be a live baby that they would have to kill or allow to die if it wasn’t viable. WHY? WHY? Why don’t they show you the procedures? Because they know how it would affect you to see little humans being treated so. They know that you could see for yourself that these are not just shapeless blobs of tissue that don’t look like anything, but rather little babes though not fully developed have little fingers and feet. Little eyes that shine and lips that would scream if you could but hear. But they aren’t going to show you this, because it would disturb you. It would disturb you to the point that you would demand that this Barbarism stop. But instead they chose to show a manatee that’s been struck by a boat or some pit bulls that were mistreated and killed because they lost(Vic). But an infant who’s only crime was that his/her parents didn’t intend for him/her to happen, they , the mass media, will not show them being ripped apart in their mother’s womb, because they are aware of the power they have to influence the public opinion and perception, so they have conspired to do the opposite. To present the other side instead and sway enough that it remains just, he said she said. That sad. When will we wake up and see. Click here to see the partial birth abortion. Click here to see the D&E abortion

Is that a profound thought or what? For hundreds of years entrepreneurs across this great nation have hatched  ideas for a businesses, Some of them good ideas like Henry Ford’s “t” model and Bill Gates PC. Some not so good like, well we never heard of them. The point is that even today  people still move here from other country’s and start businesses, and with a lot of hard work and time the succeed. By the same token businesses start everyday that seem to have a good plan and plenty of hard work are poured in to them but for some reason they just don’t capture a big enough market or the location is just to out of the way, and they fail. But then there’s the big three auto makers. For years they rose or fell based on their product. Somewhere down the line we started down the path of the Government meddling where they had no business. In 1973 I remember the term Gas guzzler being used by the news media, and I thought yea those cars ought to get better mileage than that. I went on to vote for Jimmy Cater in 1976. Little did I know that that would prove to be a huge mistake. The clean air act and then the clean water act, and the feds reached right in and cut a small piece of the soul out of the auto makers. Cafe standards and safety standards were just the beginning. For the first time the Government gave subsides  the the big three to help them implement the mandates that clean air and water put on them. By 1980 Ford had let it’s quality slip to the point they couldn’t sell vehicles. Then they had a better Idea. The damage had been done though. The American car buyer was in love with the imports. The auto workers Union, who had had their part in the lack of competitiveness for the big three, had crippled them and when the big three tried to get them to scale back some of the benefits they had won for themselves, the feds came in with binding arbitration and threatened to take away the subsidies, the begining of the end. For a while the American car buyers demand fuel economy but we slipped back in to the high performance mood , with easing fuel prices, but all the while the cost of building car grew. Not because of raw materials or cost of tooling but the cost of paying the benefits and pensions of retires given them by the Union. The liberals at all levels of government began to dismantle the oil companies ability to drill for oil here. I remember thinking how strange it was that our oil companies became Global companies. Then in the summer of 2008 when everybody was trying to out horsepower everyone else, Bam no oil. Why didn’t they build cars that were more fuel efficient. Why did they waste all those years. The answer is simple. They had to sell in massive volume to be able to keep up with the cost of there union benefits to past and present employees. So do we let them fail? If we don’t they can not succeed.

I have looked around for the last week or so to see what small time liberal bloggers are saying and it’s a blank. They aren’t blogging. I wouldn’t imply they are on drugs or alcohol, however that would explain their mind numb suport for Obama, But they are just gone. I know it’s too early for them to be disalutioned, maybe they are just like the drive by media and are now laying low until they get a sence of what Obama really believes, since they didn’t ask during the election. That would be don’t ask don’t tell, I guess. Kinda like a dog catching a squirel only to find that they bite and don’t let go easily.  I really hope that Obama rises to the office and makes us proud. I love this country and have the greatest of respect for the office of the presidentcy. I fear that if he does the things he promised we won’t recognize our country in four years. Elections mean something and our side lost. I am kinda glad we did in hind sight because I want to be for something or someone not just against someone. My hope and prayer is that there is enough left to salvage after four years. We have to start over from scratch and rebuild the conservative movement and we will. In the mean time all of us have got to stop spueing hate and where we disagree , simply agree to disagree.

Conservatives are not as dumb as we have been made out to be. John Mccain was just too contrived for most of us and the only reason he got any of us at all was his calculated chioce of Sarah Palin for Veep’ It’s no surprise to most of us that everything that Mccain did was poll and focus group driven. The one thing that the media did not expose about Mccain was that he’s been running for President since 1998. All the aisle crossing on campaign finance, immigration and education were all designed to reach moderates. He just ran out of time with his age catching up to him and the disaster in the banking industry was the final blow. He almost pulled it off. People are trying to blame his lost on Sarah to which I respond he only lost by 7% in five or so states. Can you Imagine it being that close if not for Sarah. Everything about Mccain is what is wrong with the republican Party. He clashed with real conservatives and tried to drag the party towards the middle and as hard as it is to say , it’s probably the best thing that Mccain Lost. We must start now to rebuild the grand old party. Good riddance! Good riddance!!!!

   This is a comment from another blog. I could not say it any better. Here’s to Matt.
I too am hoping and praying for the success of our new President, despite the fact that I did not vote for him.
The sad fact about our party is that we lost our soul somewhere along the way. The American public sent us packing because of it (and we deserved it). The good news and God’s blessing is that we now have some time in the woods to find it.
The thing that bothers me the most in all of this is the claimed moral superiority of the other side. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve been told that my objection to larger government, more taxes and wealth redistribution is somehow inhuman or uncaring. Every conservative I know cares about the poor, the disenfranchised, the sick, the needy, the elderly, etc. We want to help them all, which is of course why we give disproportionally more of our time and our treasure to charities than liberals. We have to find a way to turn this around.
I have some ideas and it starts with some thoughts around our beliefs…

We are the party of inclusion. We are the party of Lincoln. We are the party that believes any person can succeed in this country, regardless of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Moreover, we believe that once you have achieved success that you and your family should enjoy it without fear of seizure from the government. We believe that equal opportunity does not mean that everyone begins at the same starting line, but that we place no barriers to achievement of the finish line.

We believe that opportunity begins at home and that a child’s most important teachers are its parents. We therefore believe that strong families are the foundation for a strong America. Schools and social programs can never replace active and involved parents.

We believe in great schools and holding teachers accountable. We reject ideas like teacher tenure because they limit accountability for results. Failure to perform in the private sector results in firing. It should be no different in schools.

We are the party of compassion. We accept that the most challenging times are an invitation to accept God’s grace.

We must eliminate partisanship and instead appeal to our better angels, seeking constructive and just resolution of policy disagreements, no longer attacking with vitriol.

We care about people and know that a hand out is never as good as a hand up. We believe that nobody should ever be wiped out by a catastrophic illness. We believe that charitable enterprises are far more efficient at serving the needy than the government.

We are the party for the working person and the working person’s children. We believe in the power and ingenuity of the American worker and that the source of America’s strength is its families. We believe that college should be an affordable reality for any student with the desire and talent to attend. We recognize that college is not for everyone and that job/vocational training is important.

We are the party for smaller government, lower taxes and a more secure financial future.

We recognize that government intervention in the economy, except in times of crisis, generally produces a negative outcome. For example, the initiative to limit CEO pay by making salaries over $1 million non tax deductible resulted in an explosion of performance and equity oriented compensation that significantly increased the amount of pay received by senior executives. As another example, the government’s intervention in the mortgage market and forcing banks to provide loans to low-income borrowers resulted in the credit crisis of 2008.

We believe that a strong, financially stable, non-interventionist government is necessary for a strong economy.

We believe that businesses and individuals are far more efficient at allocating dollars and creating economic prosperity and seek no more tax revenue than is required to operate a government that does not overreach.

We believe that corporations create jobs and that taking money from corporations destroys jobs.

At the same time, we recognize the need to provide a safety net for society

We recognize the coming liability of social security and the need to address it with market-based options now.

We believe that abortion is the killing of another human being and cannot in good conscience support the right of choice. However, we recognize that many Americans do not agree with us on this issue. Therefore, instead of attempting to enforce our beliefs and will upon them through legislative and legal action, we should instead attempt to make it so attractive to carry a child to term and then give it to an adoptive family that abortion will fade away as a practice.

We are the party for jobs creation. We believe in business creation and formation. We believe that businesses should be regulated so that they do not excessively harm the environment or abuse workers, but that too high of a regulatory burden destroys jobs. We believe that corporations with more after-tax income will generally reinvest those dollars into value adding projects that will drive further employment expansion.

We are the party for energy independence. We believe in using all available options to meet today’s energy needs while investing in new technologies that will build an energy industry capable of meeting our needs in the future.

We believe that the best offense is a strong defense.

We are the party for innovation. We are the party for the future.

President Elect Barach Obama. We will be praying for God’s protection and blessings for you and your family.

 

 

 

 

Follow this link to the Team Hoyt.