|
O the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:33
Contents
· Conclusion of Regular and Special Legislative Sessions
2010
· 40 Days for Life
· When Does Life Begin (HR227)? Creation Science events
· ID-notes
· Speech & Debate Tournament (Apr 15-17)
· Wings Prison Ministry
· Celtic Cross
· In the News
Conclusion of Regular and
Special Legislative Sessions
NM wrapped up a special
legislative session with the codification of a balanced budget. Tradeoffs between spending and
taxes are critical in this economy. Jim White (State Rep, Dist 20) said another
special session is likely if the expected tax base does not
materialize. Tax increases
included the reimposition of a local food tax.
This special session cost
taxpayers an additional $204,800. While dallying around with
homosexual marriage during the 30-day regular session (specifically for
ECONOMIC issues), legislators ran out of time for priorities – the
budget. The regular
session cost over
$20,000,000 to fund 11 organizations. The “feed bill” as they call it (the first bill on
the docket) declares an “emergency” so everyone gets paid. “EMERGENCY.--It is necessary
for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect
immediately.” Did you get
your money’s worth?
HB44 was passed into
law. Mandatory “health ed”
is mandatory "comprehensive" condom-based “sex ed.” No “opting out” of a mandatory
requirement. You can
usually know a bill by its supporters. In this case, NMTPC
is a strong advocate of “safe” sex (as early and as often as kids want
it). Since NMTPC is
focused on reducing pregnancy, their primary solution is abortion and
condoms. Marriage is
irrelevant to animals in heat.
Runs contrary to the third pillar of “Character Counts”
– responsibility and self control – kill the baby, get STDs, and
experience psychological damage from casual sex without
commitment. This is what
public education does for children!
· HB44 Health Ed Required for Graduation
Several morally/ethically
reprehensible bills were defeated during the regular session
(and did not reappear during the special session) through the actions
of TVACNM, the Catholic Coalition, and concerned citizens.
· SB183 Homosexual Marriage
· SB146 Change Marriage Forms (Homosexual)
· HJM33 Study Homosexual Marriage
· HB123 Same Day Voter Registration (no photo ID required)
· SB161 Same Day Voter Registration (no photo ID required)
· HB166 Biomedical [Embryonic Stem Cell] Research
Several morally positive bills were
also tabled before even being considered:
· HB121 Traditional Marriage
· HJR8 Traditional Marriage Constitutional Amend
· SJR1 Traditional Marriage Constitutional Amend
Please support
TVACNM – keeping the conservative NM Christian informed
Potential for TVACNM is limited
only by your support – CAP
 
From Feb 17 - Apr 2, Albuquerque
is one of more than 155 cities in America, four Canadian provinces and
three Australian states that are conducting simultaneous 40 Days for
Life campaigns. The 40
Days for Life campaign is an effort to bring people of faith together
in prayer to end the loss of pre-born human life and to pray for the
healing of those affected by abortion. It is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:
· 40 days of prayer and fasting
· 40 days of peaceful vigil
· 40 days of public witness
We are praying that, with God's
help, this groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of
abortion in Albuquerque -- and throughout America. www.40daysforlife.com/albuquerque
You can help make a life-saving
impact by signing up
for at least one one-hour block of time to join our local vigil at:
Planned Parenthood
719 San Mateo Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, NM
Any time daily from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m.
The annual Prayer Breakfast, Mar
10 at Kirtland AFB, featured Dr. Wayne Barber, pastor of Hoffmantown
Church, as keynote speaker.
Billed as an “interfaith program,” typically prohibit the name
of Jesus as prayers are closed generically. However, Pastor Barber ignored this rule, joyfully
proclaiming the importance of faith in Jesus. He featured the struggles of Paul with such verses
as Php 1:21 - For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. His analogy using his suit
jacket portrayed prayer as Christ within us. Leaders of the event emphasized the importance of
both the military spiritual community and the spiritual community
outside the fence. At the
National Prayer Breakfast in DC, leaders from every state, as well as
military leaders from every branch of service, and the legislative,
judicial, and executive branches join together to affirm the spiritual
values upon which our nation was founded. An annual Prayer Breakfast has been held at Kirtland
AFB since the mid-1980s.
When Does Life Begin (HR227)?
One must ask the question “What is human
life” to answer the question “When does human life begin?” Let’s start with any life. During a Q&A session at a UNM
lecture in Jan, Doug Axe, director of the Biologic Institute,
said that scientists are becoming so desperate for viable origin of
life theories that “alternate universe” theories are now on the table. With all of our science,
technology, processing power, and vast collection of knowledge,
scientists have not been able to synthesize even the simplest form of
life, nonetheless observe it rise from an “inorganic soup.” Several books, magazines,
TV programs, and movies have
recently been promoting the idea of alternate universes as if to make
them scientifically believable.
The probability of life arising spontaneously from inorganic
materials is so small that it could not have rationally occurred in our
universe. But if there are
trillions of universes where life did not occur, perhaps, just MAYBE,
ours was one where it did.
The scientific method is “principles and
procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the
recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data
through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of
hypotheses (Merriam-Webster
Online).” So alternate
universes might be a fun, desperate appeal for any theory besides the
obvious (creation), but it is not science. Many scientists have adopted or reinvented Occam's
Razor, as in Leibniz's "identity of observables" and Isaac
Newton stated the rule: "We are to admit no more causes of natural
things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their
appearances." The
most useful statement of the principle for scientists is "when you
have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the
simpler one is the better." There is a great gulf dividing life and
non-life. Life has
information. Human life
has the most information and is very clearly defined by set of
instructions called DNA. A
complete set of human DNA appears in a fertilized human egg.
Our laws allow the killing of
plants and animals (with certain exceptions) but does not allow the
murder of humans (with the exception of war, self defense, and capital
punishment). Prior to the
Civil War, Blacks were considered property and not considered
human. After 1973, unborn
babies were considered property and not considered human. Yet we are beginning so see
laws protecting the unborn as if they were human (e.g., vehicular
homicide). HR227
takes the obvious step of defining human life.
(A) the right to life guaranteed
by the Constitution is vested in each human being, and is the paramount
and most fundamental right of a person; and
(B) the life of each human being
begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent,
irrespective of sex, health, function or disability, defect, stage of
biological development, or condition of dependency, at which time every
human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and
privileges of personhood;
(1) FERTILIZATION- The term
`fertilization' means the process of a human spermatozoan penetrating
the cell membrane of a human oocyte to create a human zygote, a
one-celled human embryo, which is a new unique human being.
(2) CLONING- The term `cloning'
means the process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, that combines
an enucleated egg and the nucleus of a somatic cell to make a human
embryo.
(3) HUMAN; HUMAN BEING- The
terms `human' and `human being' include each and every member of the
species homo sapiens at all stages of life, beginning with the earliest
stage of development, created by the process of fertilization, cloning,
or its functional equivalent.
The
multiverse concept is rapidly becoming
a
popular prerequisite for the theory of
evolution
that would otherwise be nonsense.
Creation Science Fellowship of
NM will meet at Faith Bible Church
(Central & Moon) on Tue, Mar 16, at 7pm. The featured speaker is Jim
Hovis, retired physicist, engineer, and educator who will present the
topic “Astronomy Science Issues that relate to Biblical Implications.”
The Alpha-Omega Institute
announces a meeting at Faith Bible Church (Central & Moon) Sat,
Mar 27, at 6:30pm.
Lanny and Marilyn Johnson are former evolutionists trained in
the sciences. Creation
teaching was instrumental in bringing them to a settled assurance that
all of God’s Word can be trusted.
In 1993, God led them to join Alpha Omega Institute and
establish the Children’s Ministry to fortify children with the truth of
the Bible and to help them avoid the pitfalls of evolution.
![[Bust of Epicurus]](./1003_files/image011.gif)
Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who lived in the
third Century BC. The object of his philosophy was to find a practical
guide to happiness. True pleasure rather than absolute truth was the
end at which he aimed. Experience rather than principle was his guide.
While such views may suggest
that he was laying the groundwork for a life of sensual excesses and
debauchery, in all fairness, Epicurus himself, was quite ascetic. In
fact he warns us against the excesses of Hedonism, Epicureanism’s
predecessor, and advises us to be content with the simple things. What
then is he up to?
Epicurus’ intentions went far
beyond pleasure as an end in itself. He sought something deeper…a
system of thought, an approach to life, a worldview that not only
exalts pleasure but also provides peace of mind and tranquility. This
state of being, Epicurus concluded, can only be achieved by finding a
remedy for the unsettling effects of a troubled conscience in this life
and fear of judgment in the next. What was needed was a philosophical
system that had no place for either moral law or divine judgment.
Epicurus framed his philosophy
around what is in effect, a self-evident truth. Any view of nature will
necessarily entail a view of morality. Any view of morality will
necessarily entail a view of nature. Epicurus dispenses with the
discomfort of guilt and judgment by embracing a view of nature that has
no place for God. With no place for God, neither can there be a place
for moral law or divine judgment. Welcome to Epicurean Materialism.
How then does one pursue such a
philosophy? How does one live and think if he is to succeed as an
Epicurean? Epicurus points the way. It is through “right thinking” and
“habits of mind” which view nature as a closed system functioning
independent of the influence of God. Further, he says, the study of the
natural sciences aided by the light of “right thinking” will reveal
that the natural world is in fact self-existing. Through this means one
can become a fulfilled Epicurean.
By the time of Christ, Epicurean
Materialism was well established in the Greco-Roman world. Its
principle competitor was Stoicism which believed that the natural order
was ordained by God, acknowledged a universal moral law given by God
(also called Natural Law) and held virtue as the highest good. Stoicism
naturally fit in well with Roman republican virtues and was in many
ways inherently compatible with Christianity.
It was these two philosophical
systems, Epicureanism and Stoicism, that Paul encountered at Athens on
Mars Hill as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of Acts.
For the first four hundred years
after Christ, Christianity, as evidenced by the writings of the Church
Fathers, was Epicureanism’s natural enemy. By the time Rome fell during
the fifth century Epicureanism had succumbed to the power of the Christian
gospel and was effectively dead as a cultural and spiritual force. It
looked like it was all over for Epicurus.
For 1000 years Epicurus “slept.”
But suddenly, through the rediscovery of his writings by European
scholastics during the Renaissance, he was awakened. The world had
dramatically changed and those changes spelled new hope for Epicurus.
The mechanistic view of the cosmos which emerged from Newton’s
discoveries breathed new life into Epicurus’ materialistic philosophy.
This reincarnation of ancient Epicureanism was enlisted by
Enlightenment philosophers in their battle against Christianity and
with the development of Darwin’s theory of evolution Epicureanism was
fully upgraded to Epicureanism V2.0.
Epicureanism is “back” and its
mission is the destruction of Christianity, root and branch.
As we pointed out before, any
view of nature necessarily entails a view of morality. Today
Epicureanism’s view of nature is Scientific Materialism and the view of
morality that it necessarily entails is moral Darwinism. Epicureanism
V2.0 is deeply entrenched in all of our institutions and permeates our
culture.
We return to the guidance
Epicurus gives on how to be a good Epicurean and we find that it is
precisely that which underlies science education in our public schools.
The student must demonstrate “right thinking” and “habits of mind”
which may only consider material causes in providing scientific
explanations. Darwinian principles, not design, account for the history
and diversity of life. Such notions as creation and intelligent design
are non-scientific and have no place in the classroom.
Epicurus would be pleased to see
how well we prepare our students in public education for life as “good
little Epicureans”.
Joe Renick
Intelligent Design Network
New Mexico Division
Homeschool Speech & Debate Tournament
Apr 15-17 at Grace Church – 10 speech
events + debate
Registration will be at www.stoaca.org
For further information, email nlauser@rocketmail.com
 
If you are a Wings volunteer or
would like to be a Wings or Wings for L.I.F.E. volunteer, I’d like to
invite you to our Volunteer Training on Thursday, March
18, from 12:00 – 12:55. PLEASE RSVP as we plan to provide lunch and want to
have enough food for everyone.
The training will be at:
2527 Virginia, NE Suite A
2 blocks W. of Wyoming, ½ block
N. of Menaul
Wings Easter Party, Saturday – March
27, 2010
2:00 – 4:00 Set-up/Training 4:00 – 6:30 PM
Party
For the Whole Family! (Infants –
Preschoolers – Teenagers – Grandparents)
Come In Casual Clothes, Games -
Crafts - Singing - Dinner - FUN!
Dye Easter Eggs! Make Easter Baskets! Eat Pizza & Cookies!
Special Thanks to our Corporate
Sponsors: Guideposts Magazine & Zanios Foods
God’s House Church
2335 Wyoming Blvd NE
1 block N of Menaul – 332-2457
Ann Edenfield Sweet
Wings Ministry Executive
Director/Founder
2270 D Wyoming Blvd NE #130
Albuquerque, NM 87112
505-291-6412
505-554-6698 Cell
AnnEdenfield@WingsMinistry.org
www.WingsMinistry.org
Celtic Cross
St Patrick superimposed a sun, an Irish symbol, onto the
Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that
veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. Although there were a small
number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish
practiced a nature-based pagan religion. The Irish culture centered around a tradition of
oral legend and myth. Is
sun-worship compatible with the worship of the One and True God?
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and
keep my commandments. (Exo 20:3-6)
In the News
MS school prom off after
lesbian's date request. The
school wouldn’t put up with homosexual couples, but was afraid of the
ACLU, so they canceled the event.
Could this happen at a private school? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100311/ap_on_re_us/us_lesbian_prom_date
U.S. District Court Judge Roger
T. Benitez has ruled against a San Diego CA, school that required one
of its teachers to remove signs celebrating the role of God in American
history from his classroom walls.
A definite “win” for Christian Heritage.
The Ayn Rand Center (ARC) has
been appearing
in Tea Parties around the country. ARC materials were distributed recently in Albuquerque. ARC rejects the truth that our
Creator has endowed us with "unalienable rights." They believe our rights come
from our human nature.
Sounds like the human manifesto, an atheistic philosophy written
in 1933. Rand was a
Russian Jew, self-avowed atheist, who migrated to the U.S and spawned a
new philosophical system
called "objectivism." Humanists may have been a part of the Tea Party
movement from the beginning since their philosophy of individual
freedom and rights appear to be identical. There is a wealth of articles written by ARC's
officers which spout radical pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, anti-Church,
pro-evolution views. While
their philosophy sounds complementary with our Christian beliefs and
values with respect to human rights, BEWARE!
“Fetuses and embryos are not
actual human beings; they are potential human beings. They have no
rights until they exist apart from the mother, i.e., at birth.” http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5105
|
