News Alert:

WASHINGTON, DC -- Matt Daniels, president and founder of the Alliance for Marriage, praised Idaho's House and Senate today for approving a proposed state constitutional amendment to protect marriage as a man and woman.

The state Marriage Amendment will appear on the ballot this November.

"Today's approval of a referendum on marriage in Idaho is another step down a historic road of taking the future of marriage under our laws to the American people. It is a prelude to the real battle," said Matt Daniels. "But only AFM's federal Marriage Protection Amendment can protect marriage from the continuous onslaught of activist lawsuits designed to destroy marriage as a man and woman."

"The constitutional problem created by almost a decade of activist lawsuits to destroy our marriage laws demands a constitutional fix," Daniels added. "This historic national debate will come down to a race between AFM's Marriage Protection Amendment and the American courts."

In April 2005, a federal judge struck down Nebraska's state Marriage Amendment, which was passed with the landslide support of almost three quarters of the citizens of Nebraska.

The Alliance for Marriage is the leading organization fighting for the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) in the public policy arena. In 2004, AFM drafted the MPA, won President Bush's endorsement, successfully spearheaded votes in both Houses of Congress, and made marriage the determining issue of the 2004 presidential election.

Questions

Should Christians be expected to share the gospel ALL the time? At their job to customers? to their bosses? to their fellow workers? When should they not share the Good News?
Should Christians be expected to only think about what is needed for their job and what is needed to be more like Christ? Can we have fun with out being actively constructive? Could we have fun while being merely pasively constuctive?

Christian Creativity

1.Christians are creative because God is.
a.We see His creativity in creation.
b.We are made in God's image.
c.Therefore, we are creative.
2.Christians are creative because God calls us to be.
a.The psalmist says to, “sing a new song.”
3.Christians are creative to glorify God.
a.Our chief end (or main purpose) is to glorify God.
4.Christians are creative within the scope of God's law.

File Sharing

File sharing or the use of the same file by more than one person would I suppose be technically legal if only one person is using the file per license owned and if the file is only being stored on the property of one person. However, because those are big ifs and using that probably would cause unnecessary legal wrangling. I would tend to believe that files ought to only be held by those who also hold the license, and I believe that is what the law says and what the contracts that the user generally agrees to (when the software is installed) usually says.
File sharing is then the same as stealing and, as the Bible says, ought to be punished by restitution. The down-loaders ought to pay the price that it would have cost to buy the files out right plus a percentage and court costs. This percentage is 20% in the Bible but that is just a guide line and the actual percentage could be higher if needed but the entire punishment should not total more than 200% plus court fees. The court fees would obviously go to the court, while the rest of the money would go to the author of the files.
If companies want to do more to stop illegal file sharing than they ought to 1) lower prices and 2) set up a file buying system on line where there is either a free trial before a person must commit to buying the files or the buyer should submit to having special installation software and to allow for a virtual “return of purchase” just as is available with any other product in America.

God's Law

The reformed view on the use of God's law has traditionally been that it has three uses or purposes; 1) “to be a mirror reflecting to us both the perfect righteousness of God and our own sinfulness and shortcomings.” Thus leading us to Christ. 2) “the 'civil use,' to restrain evil.” 3) “to guide the regenerate into the good works” prepared for them by God. The Law is, as the Westminster Standards say, the whole Word of God but primarily summarized in the Ten Commandments. Jesus summarized the law in two places, in Mt. 7:12 He gives what is commonly called the Golden Rule during the Sermon on the Mount, and in Mt 22:34-40 near the end of His ministry He has this exchange with the teachers of the law:

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (ESV)

This illustrates the fact that the law is in two parts; one concerning man's relationship to God and the other concerning man's relationship to man. The latter is what the civil law and government is to enforce and the former is enforced by the church and gives some principles for civil law and government.

Why Science

Christians study science because they wish to know more about God's universe. Because we believe that we have a rational and orderly God and that he created the Universe with a reflection of His orderly and rational nature. We are able to study the world to observe and discover the natural laws and the working of the Universe. We do believe however that God may and does break the observable laws of nature and that is when miracles and the supernatural happen, and that those are not to be put out of the realm of possibility but merely out of the realm of science.

Government Introduction

There are types of Government: Individual Government (Ethics and Morality), Church (Ecclesiastical) Government, and Civil Government, all three are addressed in the Bible.
Civil Government is given two foundational principles in the Bible: 1) The Law is higher than the government, and righteous persons ought to the positions of authority.
Government is comprised of three actions legislation, administration, and judicature. The first is deciding what actions ought to be done. The second is doing those actions. The third is deciding which actions were right.
In civil government these three branches of the government work like this:
The legislation decides how the government ought to be run internally, how it ought to act toward other nations, how it ought to act toward its own citizens, and towards foreigners, and how its citizens ought to act toward each other. All of these of course only with in the sphere that God has allowed.
The administrative branch sees to it that those policies and laws are carried out and that those who are suspected of breaking the law are brought to trial.
The judicial branch makes sure that the law does not contradict itself and judges between a suspected law breaker and his accusers.

History (defined):

“is an account of facts, pertaining to men and nations, having a cause and effect relationship, producing a chronology, and admitting the observations of the writer.” (Steve Dawson adapted from Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
I might add that Christians believe God in His Sovereignty guides and controls all of History to His own glory and for the good of those who do or will love Him. Biblical or Christian history from the fall looked and pointed to the first coming of Christ, all of history since that time points back to that coming especially the resurrection and at the same time it yearns for the second coming and that time when all creation will be renewed.

Of the Holy Scripture:

“...Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments... All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life...The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.” (Westminster Confession of Faith ch I pts. 1–2)
I believe in the inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures in their original manuscripts, that the text has been for the majority been transmitted faithfully in its original languages (Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament) and that as far as any translation holds true to the contextual meaning of the original it too is infallible. Any quotation must be used in a matter keeping with the context both textually and historically.

A glance at the Reformed understanding of God:

This is what the Westminster Shorter Catachism has to say about the being of God:
“Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
Q. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”
I would be glad to elaborate if anyone has questions.