Thought Quotient

Check out this excellent commentary from Chuck Colson and Breakpoint:

The Power of Paradox - Stalking the Good Life

One of the great truths I’ve discovered, one I discuss at length in THE GOOD LIFE, is that life is filled with paradoxes. Things are not the way we think they’re going to be. For example, I’ve learned the greatest lessons in my life through suffering and defeats. And that’s the pattern of the cross, isn’t it? The great paradox: Adversity can produce the greatest blessings.

What discouraged me most about prison was not separation from my family, though that was tough. It wasn’t even associating with the people in prison, because I grew to love them. It wasn’t the fact that I was uncertain about when I’d be released, and it wasn’t the conditions, such as they were. As a Marine I had lived in dormitories and foxholes — I could handle prison.

No, the most excruciating pain was the realization that all of my dreams had been shattered. I felt I would never be able to do anything significant with my life again. I had gone into politics because I wanted to make a difference in the world. Now I was a disgraced convict, a Watergate felon in a prison cell. My dreams were over.

But, of course, there’s the paradox. God used prison to prepare me for the greatest experience and blessing possible. This ministry over the last thirty years has been infinitely rewarding, much more so than my career in politics. I’ve had what I believed is the greatest opportunity of a good life, and that is, you see, to help others. I’m seventy-three and looking back on my life, what means the most to me aren’t the things I was able to do for myself or accomplish, but the way in which God used me to touch the lives of others.

During this summer of remakes and reruns, there is a new movie version of the classic family friendly show The Dukes of Hazzard. I grew up watching the Dukes of Hazzard. Granted, it wasn’t the most theologically deep show on TV - but it was always fun and never offended. The Dukes of Hazzard was a sleeper hit for CBS. Since reappearing on CMT, the music channel has enjoyed some of the best ratings ever.

So, you’d think Warner Brothers would stick true to the formula? Why fix something that isn’t broke? Think again.

Ben Jones, the actor that played ‘Cooter’ on the Dukes of Hazzard, is calling for a boycott of the film on his website www.cootersplace.com. How does Jones, a former US Senator, classify the treatment of the show?

“Basically, they trashed our show,” said Jones, who now lives in the mountains of Washington, Va. “It’s one thing to do whatever movie they want to do, but to take a classic family show and do that is like taking “I Love Lucy” and making her a crackhead or something.” — USATODAY.com

According to the USATODAY.com article, the script of the movie contained profanity, “constant sexual innuendo and some very clear sexual situations.” Sounds like the complete opposite of the original. Sounds like another movie I’m going to skip this summer.

Check out this AP story:

Actor Fox Urges Congress on Stem Cell Bill

Within it, is this statment:

Stem cell research on human embryos holds the most promise in the search for cures for a list of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and some types of cancer.

That is not true. From the fact that they don’t expound upon a statement so far-reaching tells me that they only wish it were true, instead of having the evidence for it. Note how they tempt us by listing what diseases this could cure - not just treat. Who is not in favor of finding a cure for those? And if embryonic stem cell research is morally wrong, would it then suddenly be ok if it was found to treat or cure these diseases?

We’ve been following the trend of misrepresenting embryonic stell cell research for some time, check out the archives for more…

Previous commentaries on this issue

Have you heard of this guy? Steve Vaught? Steve who? Steve Vaught, a 400 pound man, is walking across America. I applaud him for this. In a society that looks for excuses, scapegoats, and anything to shun responsibility for their actions, this man is doing something about an issue affecting him — his weight.

Here’s some quotes from the Washington Post article:

This spring, as he neared his 40th birthday, Vaught had an epiphany: If he didn’t lose the weight, he would die before 50. But dieting would not work, he decided, and neither would normal exercise. He knew he was the kind of guy who could rationalize his way out of one three-mile walk after another. “My weakness,” he said, “is the easy way out.” So Vaught made it hard. On April 10, he left his home in San Diego — and his wife and two children — and started walking, alone, to New York.

There’s something about this nation’s geography that inspires this kind of journey — to hike the Appalachian Trail, to kayak the entire Mississippi River, or just to drive from Maine to Key West, and maybe make sense of things along the way. Which is how it has gone for Vaught, on the road mulling issues far beyond weight or willpower.

Fifteen years ago, he was the fun guy. A slew of girlfriends, a bunch of friends, a witty streak so hot he would gladly take the stage at a comedy club open-mike night. Then one evening in October 1990, driving too fast against the setting sun, he struck and killed an elderly couple crossing the street. The accident sent him to jail for 10 days, ruined him financially and dulled him emotionally. When he started to put on the weight, he just didn’t care. He remembers little about the next three years.

After the birth of their first child, he grudgingly went to therapy, just so April would know she had done everything she could in case he killed himself. Medication snapped him out of his depression. But life didn’t get any easier. A few businesses failed, and they went deep in debt on a house. And the weight, he realized, was bringing him down.

“It has nothing to do with weight anymore,” he says. “It’s about getting back to the person I was.”

Check out his personal website at www.thefatmanwalking.com .

We recently got to visit with Chris Rice, Darlene Zschech, and Derek Webb. Among the topics that were discussed:

Chris Rice:

• faith, struggling with doubt
• Christian music and the culture

Derek Webb:

• the Christian life
• the reality of sin and our need for Jesus

Darlene Zschech:

• God’s faithfulness

Go on over to Music Quotient for the full transcript.

Four London Blasts Kill 40, Injure 300

President Bush, said: “We shall prevail and they shall not.”
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Blair said, “Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world.”
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A group calling itself “The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe” posted a claim of responsibility, saying the blasts were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the blasts that ripped through his city were “mass murder” carried out by terrorists bent on “indiscriminate … slaughter.”
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Pope Benedict XVI deplored the “terrorist attacks,” calling them “barbaric acts against humanity,” and said he was praying for the victim’s families.

For me, it’s another chilling reminder of the reality of evil. It’s also a reminder of how important truth is. Do we worship the true God or a man made one? The people that do these things are sincere and believe with all their heart that they will go to heaven, for the Koran teaches that muslims can only be sure of forgiveness if they die as a martyr - in an act of Jihad. More than anything, they need to know the truth of the forgiveness that Jesus offers.