I am back. And I am highly surly. Thinking about Chris’s link to the British press has ruined my day.
Bart: Wonderful children. Now, seriously. Whose are they?
DGC: Having children at a hospital? Hmmmm. Here in Ky our women have the children while working in the fields. Much less stress on the man.
Eric: Brother, at the end of the day it is saved by grace, chosen in grace, sanctified by grace and preserved by grace, while persevering in the power of the Spirit given by grace. If there was ever a lack of balance, it was in ignoring perseverance to the point of sounding as if grace did nothing more in a person than make them righteous and safe in heaven. It also makes us faithful, and persevering, and sends us forward after the prize. My word to you would be, if texts are disturbing my theology, then guess what needs to change?
RonC: Way down the blog, you said that the elect are saved, so OSAS. You said more, but that sentence could perpetuate the idea that election is salvation, which it is not. Election is unto salvation, but election without justification, sanctification, perseverance, etc is not salvation in its fullenss.
To all in the OSAS debate: nice discussion. I think its over, and we differ graciously. (or begrudgingly, take your pick.)

Chris: Welcome back. The British Press…...The European Press in general….. how could you? Listen to this about Bush’s reaction to the election/removal/return of the Castro coddling Hugh Chavez: “No conclusive evidence has yet emerged to suggest that the US supported the botched overthrow. But it is clear that it knew it was going to happen and did nothing to stop it. Throughout the ordeal America, which has roamed the globe since September 11 declaring its determination to protect “democracy and civilisation” at the barrel of a gun, lost its tongue.”

Let me make this short: I don’t care how Chavez got in office. It’s not the job of our President to gurantee the rights of Venezuela to elect a leader who hops in bed with Castro and the oil interests of supporters of terrorists and the rest of our enemies. Its the job of our President to watch out for our interests. If liberals want a leader who gurantees world prosperity while screwing us, the U.N. is a good place to start. The reason I feel this way Chris, is the rest of the world is not wanting to be nice to us- if you haven’t noticed please check recent news accounts from NYC. We are successful because we have the most freedom, the stongest economy, the most human rights and the power to defend ourselves. In this fallen world, that’s the way the game is played. The European press would like NOTHING MORE THAN FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPON TO KILL MY FAMILY and millions of other Americans so that we will learn our lesson and collapse. Nothing we do will be right in the eyes of these amoral scum. Not defending ourselves, not defending someone else, not acting in our interests, not seeking justice, NOTHING. We gave hundreds of thousands of American lives so the Europeans can right this sort of thing in English rather than in German, and they adopt this sneering, condescending tone? They write in quotes of our desire to further “democracy and civilisation?” How much American blood guranteed theirs? When the Muslims overtake Europe and European women enter the dark ages enjoyed by so many Arab cultures, the European press can send us a note. But don’t expect another Omaha beach. If they don’t see the point of our country, then they can manage the party without us.

My article was clear: it’s a fallen world. All nations are flawed and sinful. But on the scale of common sense values, this is the greatest nation in the history of the world, and anyone who doubts it should takes their wives and children to Saudi Arabia or China or Mexico or Russia or France and then come back and give us a report. And please take Alec Baldwin along for company. I will teach my children it is right to love America for its goodness, and right to pray for America for its problems. In our flawed concern for “democracy and civilisation” we have much to be proud of. I will teach my kids that terrorists and the nations who support them are bad, and that will include freely elected chums of communist dictators whose prisons and cemetaries are full of his opponents, and freely elected coddlers of OPEC who want to bring this nation to its knees.

If I had more copies of British newspapers, I could spend a lot less on bathroom tissue.