Budman

Now that site was weird! No worries though...God is still in charge. warm regards -bud

Judge Says Calif. Can't Ban Gay Marriage By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, saying the state could no longer justify limiting marriage to a man and a woman. In the eagerly awaited opinion likely to be appealed to the state's highest court, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said that withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians is unconstitutional. "It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners," Kramer wrote. The judge wrote that the state's historical definition of marriage, by itself, cannot justify the denial of equal protection for gays and lesbians. "The state's protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional," Kramer wrote. Kramer ruled in lawsuits brought by the city of San Francisco and a dozen same-sex couples last March. The suits were brought after the California Supreme Court halted a four-week marriage spree that Mayor Gavin Newsom had initiated in February 2004 when he directed city officials to issue marriage licenses to gays and lesbians in defiance of state law. The plaintiffs said withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians trespasses on the civil rights all citizens are guaranteed under the California Constitution. Two legal groups representing religious conservatives joined with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in defending the existing laws and had vowed to appeal if Kramer did not rule in their favor. Lockyer's office has said it expects the matter eventually will have to be settled by the California Supreme Court. A pair of bills pending before the California Legislature would put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the November ballot. If California voters approve such an amendment, as those in 13 other states did last year, that would put the issue out of the control of lawmakers and the courts. ***************************************** Ahhhhh, California........land of the wackos...... warm regards -bud

NASB all the way, baby! warm regards -bud

In context, John the Baptist had sent messengers to Jesus to clarify that He was truly the promised Messiah (Luke 7:18-20). Jesus replied by pointing out that His miraculous deeds were signs that pointed to the reality that He indeed was the promised Messiah (verses 21,22). He was not the political-deliverer Messiah expected by the general populace. Hence Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me" - that is, "Blessed is the man who recognizes me as the promised Messiah and does not fall away from believing in me simply because I do not fulfill his personal preconceived expectations of what the Messiah would do. Blessed is the man who maintains faith in me as the Messiah even though I am not quite what he expected in terms of being a political deliverer." warm regards -bud

Dear 2.BLESSED, Please take some time to read these booklets from the links provided. They may help you find your answers. warm regards -bud PS: You may order free copies of these if you wish to own them. LINK LINK #2

A quote from an opinion piece from the link rollinTHUNDER provided: "A rejection of the internationalism implicit in European integration and a return to nationalism would be a disaster for Europe and the wider world. If the political class does not address the legitimate concerns of the sceptical public about the EU then nationalism could be the result." This was very, very telling. We are getting very close to the one world government. Soon, it will simply be the U.S. vs the EU. How long will the U.S. be able, economically, to hold out against the growing EU before being forced to concede and join? Only God knows. warm regards -bud

Death toll is now at 7. Story HERE warm regards -bud

Gunman Kills Four, Himself at Wis. Hotel BROOKFIELD, Wis. - A gunman opened fire Saturday at a church service being held at a hotel, killing four people and sending several others to hospitals, authorities said. The gunman then apparently shot and killed himself, said Daniel Tushaus, chief of the Brookfield Police Department. "There is nobody else being sought at this time as a suspect," he said. Seven to eight people, ranging from their early teens to their 60s, were taken to hospitals in serious condition, he said. The shooting was reported to police shortly before 1 p.m. Tushaus said it occurred during a regularly scheduled church service at the hotel. Brookfield is a western suburb of Milwaukee. warm regards -bud

Very true. The definition of PVS (persistent vegetative state) in Florida Statue 765.101: "Persistent vegetative state means a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is: (a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of ANY kind. (b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment." Terri's behavior does not meet the medical or statutory definition of persistent vegetative state. Terri responds to stimuli, tries to communicate verbally, follows limited commands, laughs or cries in interaction with loved ones, physically distances herself from irritating or painful stimulation and watches loved ones as they move around her. None of these behaviors are simple reflexes and are, instead, voluntary and cognitive. Though Terri has limitations, she does interact purposefully with her environment. Dr. Victor Gambone testified that he visits Terri 3 times a year. His visits last for approximately 10 minutes. He also testified, after viewing the court videotapes at Terri

I found this very interesting: In The Gods Who Walk Among Us authors Thomas Horn and Donald Jones uncovered evidence indicating that Egypt's deities were at the center of the Exodus plagues. Each plague illustrated God's graceful attempt to turn people away from idolatry, and to save the lost. THE NILE PLAGUE By turning the Nile River into blood, no less than nine separate deities were judged by the Hebrew God and found to be inferior and under His authority; the Nile River, Khnum, Sati, Hapi, Osiris, Hathor, Neith, Sobek, and Apepi. Through the first plague Yahweh confirmed that He alone is the supplier of every human need, and the true Judge of the after life and only Sovereign of destiny. THE FROGS PLAGUE The Hebrew Creator-God must have appeared powerful compared to the stench of the creator-frog goddess, Heka, as her infants lay rotting in massive filthy heaps, covering nearly every square inch of Pharoah's Egyptian empire. Through the plague of the frogs, the mystical power of Heka was reduced to nothing more than a greasy pavement crushed to death beneath the feet of the sorrowful Egyptians. THE LICE PLAGUE Moses understood that when every micro-particle of dust began crawling on the Egyptians, the priesthood was ceremonially unclean, and thus immobilized. The masturbation mysteries of Karnak could not be performed. The portable gods could not walk and talk. The seasons could not bring forth their blessings. While such reasoning may seem simplistic, imitative magic, as performed by the Egyptian priesthood, was central to the Egyptian way of life and was considered of the highest importance. THE FLIES PLAGUE Whereas flies were generally disliked by the Egyptians, they were nevertheless revered as the servants of Vatchit

Read story here: LINK Can't anyone or anything stop these ACLU bozos? warm regards -bud

Read story here: LINK This guy is a rotten, little worm. warm regards -bud

Praying for your protection, my friend. warm regards -bud

Oh man, Benny Hinn again? I hope this thread doesn't turn out like the last one on him. Everyone (including me) went a little cwaaazy. warm regards -bud

So, you're saying that by using the scientific method (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) it is not possible to come to any conclusions in favor of creation, because the creation scientists are biased to come to such conclusions? But, are not evolutionary scientists biased in favor of having evidence come to conclusions in favor of evolution? Good Examples warm regards -bud

Here are some: Creation Scientists in the Biological Sciences Creation Scientists in the Physical Sciences And here's another good page: Creation scientists and other biographies of interest warm regards -bud

U.N. influence on court's juvenile execution ban In 5-4 case, majority ruling based on global treaties, foreign opinions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: March 2, 2005 2:00 a.m. Eastern

Hiya SA, I found this article quite interesting. While not a scientist, I understood the basics very well. Could you look it over and give your opinion on these experiments? Thank-you in advance. New RATE data warm regards -bud

Analysis: Atheism worldwide in decline By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor Gurat, France, Mar. 1 (UPI) -- There seems to be a growing consensus around the globe that godlessness is in trouble. "Atheism as a theoretical position is in decline worldwide," Munich theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg told United Press International Tuesday. His Oxford colleague Alister McGrath agrees. Atheism's "future seems increasingly to lie in the private beliefs of individuals rather than in the great public domain it once regarded as its habitat," he wrote in the U.S. magazine, Christianity Today. Two developments are plaguing atheism these days. One is that it appears to be losing its scientific underpinnings. The other is the historical experience of hundreds of millions of people worldwide that atheists are in no position to claim the moral high ground. Writes Turkish philosopher Harun Yahya, "Atheism, which people have tried to for hundreds of years as 'the ways of reason and science,' is proving to be mere irrationality and ignorance." As British philosopher Anthony Flew, once as hard-nosed a humanist as any, mused when turning his back on his former belief: It is, for example, impossible for evolution to account for the fact than one single cell can carry more data than all the volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica put together. Flew still does not accept the God of the Bible. But he has embraced the intelligent design concept of scholars such as William Dembski who only four years ago claimed to have been mobbed by pro-evolutionist colleagues at -- of all places -- Baylor University, a highly respected Southern Baptist institution in Waco, Tex. The stunning desertion of a former intellectual ambassador of secular humanism to the belief in some form of intelligence behind the design of the universe makes Yahya's prediction sound probable: "The time is fast approaching when many people who are living in ignorance with no knowledge of their Creator will be graced by faith in the impending post-atheist world." A few years ago, European scientists sniggered when studies in the United States -- for example, at Harvard and Duke universities -- showed a correlation between faith, prayer and recovery from illness. Now 1,200 studies at research centers around the world have come to similar conclusions, according to "Psychologie Heute," a German journal, citing, for example, the marked improvement of multiple sclerosis patients in Germany's Ruhr District do to "spiritual resources." Atheism's other Achilles heel are the acts on inhumanity and lunacy committed in its name. As McGrath relates in Christianity Today: "With time (atheism) turned out to have just as many frauds, psychopaths, and careerists as religion does. ... With Stalin and Madalyn Murray O'Hair, atheism seems to have ended up mimicking the vices of the Spanish Inquisition and the worst televangelists, respectively." John Updike's observation, "Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been is drastic uninterestingness as an intellectual position," appears to become common currency throughout much of the West. The Rev. Paul M. Zulehner, dean of Vienna University's divinity school and one of the world's most distinguished sociologists of religion, told UPI Tuesday: "True atheists in Europe have become an infinitesimally small group. There are not enough of them to be used for sociological research." The only exceptions to this rule, Zulehner said, are the former East Germany and the Czech Republic, where, as the saying goes, de-Christianization has been the only proven success of these regions' former communist rulers. Zulehner cautions, however, that in the rest of Europe re-Christianization is by no means occurring. "What we are observing instead is a re-paganization," he went on, and this worries Christian theologians such as Munich's Pannenberg and the Rev. Gerald McDermott, an Episcopal priest and professor of religion and philosophy at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. For although in every major European city except Paris spirituality is booming, according to Zulehner, this only proves the emergence of a diffuse belief system, Pannenberg said, but not the revitalization of traditional Christian religious faith. Observing a similar phenomenon in the United States, McDermott stated that the "rise of all sorts of paganism is creating a false spirituality that proves to be a more dangerous rival to the Christian faith than atheism." After all, a Satanist is also "spiritual." Pannenberg, a Lutheran, praised the Roman Catholic Church for handling this peril more wisely than many of his fellow Protestants. "The Catholics stick to the central message of Christianity without making any concessions in the ethical realm," he said, referring to issues such as same-sex "marriages" and abortion. In a similar vain, Zulehner, a Catholic, sees Christianity's greatest opportunity when its message addresses two seemingly irreconcilable quests of contemporary humanity - the quest for freedom and truth. "Christianity alone affirms that truth and God's dependability are inseparable properties to which freedom is linked." As for the "peril of spirituality," Zulehner sounded quite sanguine. He concluded from his research that in the long run the survival of worldviews should be expected to follow this lineup: "The great world religions are best placed," he said. As a distant second he sees the diffuse forms of spirituality. Atheism, he insisted, will come in at the tail end. warm regards -bud

I pray you find this helpful to the discussion: What does the Bible say about women in ministry? warm regards -bud

Do you know how huge the outcry would be if her husband just walked in and blew her away with a shotgun? Yet, pulling her feeding tube and letting her starve to death is more humane? It's exactly the same thing: MURDER. Terry's parents have offered that jerk the legal option of divorce and all of the money that he would have gotten had Terry died if he would just leave them alone to care for Terry, but he said no! Maybe Terry knows something about the jerk that he is afraid she will tell if she ever comes out of it. Remember, there was a news story just awhile back about a woman who came out of a 20 year coma. This guy will settle for nothing less than Terry in the grave. warm regards -bud

S.J., your story absolutely humbled me. How easy it is to get caught up in our busy lives and become frustrated by our petty problems. I threw a hissy fit the other day when my VCR went on the fritz! Oh, how angry I was! O woe was me, I couldn't watch my movie! Stupid, stupid, stupid. I felt sorry for myself over a film I couldn't see while there are people in my town who are homeless. God have mercy on me a sinner. warm regards -bud

I also wish to point out: The term "sleep" is never applied to the soul or the spirit, but only the body. The body "sleeps" and goes back to dust. The following verses refer to the state of the body's death as sleep: Acts 7:59-60 "And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!' And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord do not hold this sin against them!' And having said this, he fell asleep." (Would not it have been better for Steven to say; "Lord, I will see you when I wake up!" Instead of "Receive my spirit?") Acts 13:36 "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay." (Does the soul decay?) Remember, James 2:26 says: "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." warm regards -bud

Let's continue on with that scripture: "And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also." Note that these souls are conscious after death. They were martyred and after death are very much alive in Heaven. They have the ability to wear white robes. God Himself tells them that more of their brethren will join them after they are killed. warm regards -bud