The Gray Matters: June 2009

InformedFaith.com | Subscribe or change your address here By Dr. James C. Denison
President, The Center for Informed Faith, Dallas, Texas
June 25, 2009
Topic: sexual morality
Satan is a great economist

It's the stuff of soap operas and late-night monologues. As you have probably seen in the news, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford went missing from the capitol for six days. Two days ago, his office claimed that the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Today's Wall Street Journal tells us what really happened: Mr. Sanford went to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. Now his political future is uncertain at best.

Here’s a prediction: sexual sin will be in the news again tomorrow. And next week. And the week after. According to a recent anonymous survey, 53% of Americans say they would have an affair if given the chance. 92% of sexually active people say they have had ten or more partners in their lives.

What does God think of our sexual ethics? Colossians 3:5: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 adds: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus articulated the purest standard to be found in all of literature: "I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).

Why is sexual immorality wrong? First, it destroys the family. Dr. Frank Pittman, an internationally renowned expert on sexuality and marriage, reported in The New York Times that in 37 years of practice as a therapist, he has encountered only two cases of first marriages ending in divorce where adultery was not involved. Of those who break up their marriages to marry someone else, 80% are sorry later. Only 10% actually marry the person with whom they had an affair, and 70% of those who do later get another divorce.

Second, sexual impurity destroys our witness. The only credibility for a Christian is his or her character. If that is ruined, our witness and ministry are ruined. And Satan knows this, for he is a great economist. If he can persuade us to sin sexually, even one time, he knows that our witness and ministry will be ruined, perhaps forever. Do you suppose it's a coincidence that the great failures among prominent ministers in recent years have been sexual in nature?

What do we do to affair-proof our marriages and souls? Let's continue our conversation tomorrow.

Copyright © 2009, Center for Informed Faith. All rights reserved.

Read previous essays.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

"Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow."
Swedish proverb

"Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened." Billy Graham

"Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. You're able to benefit from the unique viewpoints of others, without being crippled by your own judgment." Ralph Marston

Monday, June 15, 2009

Internet for All Americans

Support the infrastructure funding for rural and inter-city Internet.

http://InternetforEveryone.org

Daily Devotional by Max Lucado, June 15th

Daily Devotional by Max Lucado

“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”

June 15

Who Is the Servant?

The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.

Luke 19:10 (NCV)

Martha is worried about something good. She's having Jesus over for dinner. She's literally serving God. Her aim was to please Jesus. But she made a common, yet dangerous mistake. As she began to work for him, her work became more important than her Lord. What began as a way to serve Jesus, slowly and subtly became a way to serve self....She has forgotten that the meal is to honor Jesus, not Martha....

It's easy to forget who is the servant and who is to be served.

From: He Still Moves Stones

Copyright (Word Publishing. , 1993)
Max Lucado

Calvin & Hobbes, Week of Jun 15th

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/06/15/

To view strips after Monday, use 'Next day.'

Sunday, June 14, 2009

More Kate Pictures

New pictures and commentary added several times a week - below at fobart.net. This week - swimming, rocking chair, and check-up.

--  Kate: http://www.fobart.net/fobartfam/       http://picasaweb.google.com/paulw.gray/KateEarly

Today's Quote

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics. Out of the collapse of a prosperity whose builders boasted their practicality has come the conviction that in the long run, economic morality pays." Franklin Roosevelt, in his second inaugural address, 1937

Saturday, June 13, 2009

What Makes Us Happy?

1 "It is social aptitude, not intellectual brilliance or social class, that leads to successful aging." 2 "Relationships matter more than anything else." (1-George Valliant, 2-Joshua Wolf Shenk)

"Some surprises: cholesterol levels at age 50 have nothing to do with health in old aga; regular physical exercise in college predicted late-life mental health." Joshua Wolf Shenk

From "The Atlantic," June 2009.

Just Texas

This is a must read for all Texans, used-to-be Texans, adopted Texans or wanna-be Texans,

JUST TEXAS

Pep , Texas 79353
Smiley , Texas 78159
Paradise , Texas 76073
Rainbow , Texas 76077
Sweet Home , Texas 77987
Comfort , Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?
Sun City , Texas 78628
Sunrise , Texas 76661
Sunset, Texas 76270
Sundown, Texas 79372
Sunray , Texas 79086
Sunny Side , Texas 77423

Want something to eat?
Bacon , Texas 76301
Noodle , Texas 79536
Oatmeal , Texas 78605
Turkey , Texas 79261
Trout , Texas 75789
Sugar Land , Texas 77479
Salty, Texas 76567
Rice , Texas 75155
Pearland , Texas 77581
Orange , Texas 77630
And top it off with:
Sweetwater , Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!
Detroit , Texas 75436
Cleveland , Texas 75436
Colorado City , Texas 79512
Denver City , Texas 79323
Klondike , Texas 75448
Nevada , Texas 75173
Memphis , Texas 79245
Miami , Texas 79059
Boston , Texas 75570
Santa Fe , Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony , Texas 75861
Reno , Texas 75462
Pasadena , Texas 77506
Columbus , Texas 78934

Feel like traveling outside the country?
Athens , Texas 75751
Canadian, Texas 79014
China , Texas 77613
Egypt , Texas 77436
Ireland , Texas 76538
Italy , Texas 76538
Turkey , Texas 79261
London , Texas 76854
New London , Texas 75682
Paris , Texas 75460
Palestine , Texas 75801

No need to travel to Washington D.C.
Whitehouse , Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!
Earth , Texas 79031

We have a city named after our state
Texas City , Texas 77590

Exhausted?
Energy , Texas 76452

Cold?
Blanket , Texas 76432
Winters, Texas

Like to read about History?
Santa Anna , Texas
Goliad , Texas
Alamo , Texas
Gun Barrel City , Texas
Robert Lee , Texas

Need Office Supplies?
Staples, Texas 78670

Want to go into outer space?
Venus , Texas 76084
Mars , Texas 79062

You guessed it. It's on the state line.
Texline , Texas 79087

For the kids...
Kermit , Texas 79745
Elmo , Texas 75118
Nemo , Texas 76070
Tarzan , Texas 79783
Winnie , Texas 77665
Sylvester , Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas , to make you smile......
Frognot , Texas 75424
Bigfoot , Texas 78005
Hogeye , Texas 75423
Cactus , Texas 79013
Notrees , Texas 79759
Best, Texas 76932
Veribest , Texas 76886
Kickapoo , Texas 75763
Dime Box , Texas 77853
Old Dime Box , Texas 77853
Telephone , Texas 75488
Telegraph , Texas 76883
Whiteface , Texas 79379
Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore , Texas 75662

And our favorites...
Cut n Shoot, Texas
Gun Barrell City , Texas
Hoop And Holler, Texas
Ding Dong, Texas and, of course,
Muleshoe , Texas

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas ...

If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas ;

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Texas ;

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas ;

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas ;

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas ;

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas ;

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas ;

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph --you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;

If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;

If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas ..

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .
1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
2.. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles
3... El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas
4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.
5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. (Now destroyed by Hurricane Ike)
6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston .
7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America
8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
10. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .
11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ," but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island ..
13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43' in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979...
14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states.
15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper..
18. Texas has had six capital cities:
Washington -on- the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston ,Velasco, West Columbia and Austin ..
19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).
20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.
21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas ..
22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.).
23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .

Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie , Texas :
(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

Y'all git all that?

Monday, June 8, 2009

Calvin & Hobbes - Weeks of June 01st & 08th

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/06/01/

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/06/08/

To view strips after Monday, use 'Next day.'

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Bikini Body in 2 Weeks

Here's a helpful article to help you get in shape.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/gabbyguide/11596/bikini-body-in-2-weeks/

Stupid Quotes

I found these interesting quotes searching for sources on the Quotation Page website.
http://www.quotationspage.com/

"The will to be stupid is a very powerful force, but there are always alternatives."
Lois McMaster Bujold, "Brothers in Arms"

"Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed."
Don Wood

"Stupid is a boundless concept."
Anonymous

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Congress needs reform as much as credit card practices do

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/06/congress-needs-reform-as-much-as-credit-card-practices-do.html