Religion

Defraud Not

“Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well” (Proverbs 5:15).

Guys, if the girl isn’t your wife, keep your hands off.

Gals, if the fellow isn’t your husband, keep your hands off. (And his as well!)

Kissing, holding, handling, hugging, fondling, cuddling — even that, if between non-spouses, violates the above verse. In my opinion.

Even if I indulge in it “only” in my mind, I have sinned. Jesus said so.

As the world’s standards of morality continue their downward trend, I purpose to be faithful to my God and to my wife.

As the church herself becomes increasingly lax in far too many instances, I purpose to keep up my guard.

It’s tough.

Death Wishes

I saw two headlines and thought of my post title.

Israel to attack Iran unless enrichment stops

“If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective,” Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable,” said the former army chief who has also been defense minister.

It was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from a member of Olmert’s government, which, like the Bush administration, has preferred to hint at force as a last resort should U.N. Security Council sanctions be deemed a dead end.

Iran has defied Western pressure to abandon its uranium enrichment projects, which it says are for peaceful electricity generation rather than bomb-building. The leadership in Tehran has also threatened to retaliate against Israel — believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal — and U.S. targets in the Gulf for any attack on Iran.

Mofaz also said in the interview that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, “would disappear before Israel does.”

Somebody needs to teach that Mofaz fellow to be direct and unvarnished in his approach. 😉

For instance, he could just up and say, “Ole Mahmoud’s got a death wish.”

Disclaimer: I’m not making light of a volatile situation.

Accused 9-11 mastermind welcomes death penalty

The accused al Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks stood in a U.S. military court on Thursday, sang a chant of praise to Allah and said he would welcome the death penalty.

“This is what I wish, to be martyred,” Pakistani captive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the highest-ranking al Qaeda operative in U.S. custody, told the Guantanamo war crimes court.

He and four accused co-conspirators appeared in court at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba for the first time on charges that could result in their execution.

As the judge questioned him about whether he was satisfied with the U.S. military lawyer appointed to defend him, Mohammed stood and began to sing in Arabic, cheerfully pausing to translate his own words into English.

“My shield is Allah most high,” he said, adding that his religion forbade him from accepting a lawyer from the United States and that he wanted to act as his own attorney.

He criticized the United States for fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, waging what he called “a crusader war,” and enacting “evil laws” including those authorizing same-sex marriages.

Is that truly his wish?

(When I read comments like that in such a context, I wonder how the individual making them ended up being taken alive.)

Then I focused on a third headline…and wondered if it might fit here as well.

Obama meets Clinton in private

Likely U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama met privately with former rival Hillary Clinton on Thursday as the party sought to unite for the general election campaign after a long nomination battle.

Many folks seem to think putting Hillary on the ticket would constitute a death wish on Barack’s part. Some think so in a political sense; others, in a literal sense. 😯

But never mind Obama and Clinton. Guys, if you choose the wrong gal, you could be entertaining a death wish. I say that because I remember A Tragic Lament I read in Proverbs 5 this morning.

Updates on Previous Posts

Flushing the Mission

Toilet troubles on the International Space Station (ISS) could force Russian cosmonauts to return to Earth early, a Russian official told Interfax news agency Tuesday.

“It’s true, we have a problem with the flushing system. This is a serious matter,” warned Vladimir Solovyov, chief ground control official for the Russian section of the ISS. “In such circumstances there’s even the possibility of an emergency departure from the station.”

The main ISS toilet broke down last week, forcing the crew, two Russians and one American, to use back-up facilities.

The US shuttle Discovery delivered spare parts Monday, as well as an extra seven astronauts. Repairs are scheduled on Thursday and Friday, Solovyov said, Interfax reported.

Just so the facilities don’t back up. 🙄

And I would expect faster service from the plumbers if the parts arrived on Monday! 😯

Especially if the number of tenants went from three to ten.

But maybe the plumbers are out and about on other service calls.

I suppose, though, that the same folks who delivered the parts also brought along a PortaPotty their own facilities to share with the ISS crew.

Polygamist sect clarifies marriage policy

“The church is clarifying its policy on marriage,” said Willie Jessop, a spokesman for the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He told reporters the church would advise FLDS families “neither request nor consent” to the marriage of underage girls, though he stopped short of saying the church ever violated the law.

“In the FLDS church, all marriages are consensual. The church insists on appropriate consent,” he said.

The change in policy comes after a Texas judge issued an order Monday allowing parents of hundreds of children seized from the sect to begin picking up their kids.

[…]

The logistics of retrieving the remaining children may not be so simple, though, since some parents have children at different facilities across the state.

Under the judge’s order, the Department of Family and Protective Services will still have the right to visit and interview the children.

These unannounced visits could entail medical, psychological and psychiatric examinations, and the parents must not intervene.

Also under the order, the parents must attend and complete parenting classes. The families must remain in the state of Texas and notify the department within 48 hours of any trips more than 100 miles from their homes.

FLDS Mother and child reunited

Is Faith Worth It?

New Christians Face Ultimatum

A Christian family in Jharkhand, India, is facing an ultimatum from the people of their village. On May 25, Boykin Raj and his family were told to either leave Christ or leave their village.

Boykin and his family, which includes his parents and sister, are part of a church where Gospel for Asia missionary Kijor Bune ministers. They are the only Christians in their community and just recently chose to follow Jesus. But things have not been easy for them since their decision.

“Since the time they came to faith, they have been threatened constantly by their relatives as well as the villagers,” GFA’s field correspondent wrote.

When the villagers gathered together on May 25 to decide what to do with the Christians, Boykin and his family chose to trust the Lord, whatever the outcome.

“Boykin and his family resolutely told them that they would not leave their Christian faith,” the correspondent wrote, “and they were ready to pay any price.”

They ask for prayer for the family, as the police have refused to protect them in this “religious matter.”

Polygamists Have Rights, Too?

Breaking news (I guess):

Court: Texas had no right to take polygamists’ kids

A state appellate court has ruled that child welfare officials had no right to seize more than 400 children living at a polygamist sect’s ranch.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the grounds for removing the children were “legally and factually insufficient” under Texas law. They did not immediately order the return of the children.

Child welfare officials removed the children on the grounds that the sect pushed underage girls into marriage and sex and trained boys to become future perpetrators.

The appellate court ruled the chaotic hearing held last month did not demonstrate the children were in any immediate danger, the only measure of taking children from their homes without court proceedings.

Then why did they “not immediately order the return of the children”?

I smell a lawsuit in the making.

Above all, love God!