Communist America

Apparently, now the government can tell stores what they have to stock. That's right, Illinois and now Massachusetts are requiring Walmart carry the morning-after pill. It is illegal to not carry it. This sort of high-handedness on the part of the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy and the Illinois government should infuriate everyone. Why? Because telling a store that they have to carry a good is one of the most intrusive things I have ever heard of a government doing. And for the people who started the lawsuit? Apparently all pretense of "pro-choice" is out the window. We aren't allowed to have a choice anymore. In their eyes, it's pro-abortion OR ELSE. Either that or they are too lazy to go get their morning-after pill at CVS or another pharmacy, it has to be at Wal-Mart. They want to be free to make their choices without us being free to make ours. This childishness smacks of the attitude some adopt as teenagers when they try to pressure their peers to make the same bad decisions they are making so they won't have to feel so guilty about making them themselves. I doubt it will happen, but I hope Walmart (and every single person interested in freedom) fights back.

My Funny Valentine...

I cannot believe how lucky I am and I just can't contain it, so I'm going to tell all of you:-) My Valentine (yes, Jeremiah!) is amazing. Now to be perfectly honest he is NOT a fan of Valentine's Day. So when he asked me how I wanted to spend our Valentine's Day together I almost fell out of my chair. We still haven't really celebrated it because we had church last night, but Friday we're going out to the Ethiopian restaurant I've been wanting to try! (maybe Cold Stone Creamery for dessert?);-) Since we had plans for Friday, I did not expect anything yesterday. However, my darling Valentine proved me more naive to how much he loves me yet again. I am on the phone with a constituent when Jeremiah walks in: tall, dark, handsome, and carrying a miniature rose plant. It was the perfect Valentine's Day gift. In my humble opinion, better than a dozen roses, because it will last longer. (Hopefully. I'm not too great with the plants sometimes):-) I was smiling the rest of the day. And you might think it would end there. But no...I am walking to my car and notice that written right next to where my car is parked is "I heart Alex" awwwwwwwwww. Apparently I missed more of his sidewalk art on the way to my car. This morning I found the other 2. One at the entrance to my parking lot and one at the entrance to my building. I am so glad it didn't rain or snow yesterday! I feel like a princess who's been given a 'grand gesture' of romance by her love. He is such an amazing man. I feel so cherished. And our 6 month anniversary is only 8 days away...

The Law and Judgement

The purpose of law
The Sermon on the Mount as a kind of 'new law', like the
old law, has two divine purposes ... First, it shows the
non-Christian that he cannot please God by himself (because
he cannot obey the law) and so directs him to Christ to be
justified. Secondly, it shows the Christian who has been
to Christ for justification how to live so as to please
God. More simply, as both the Reformers and the Puritans
used to summarize it, the law sends us to Christ to be
justified, and Christ sends us back to the law to be
sanctified...

Paul's attitude to the law
From Romans 7 we may summarize three possible attitudes to
the law, the first two of which Paul rejects, and the third
of which he commends. We might call them 'legalism',
'antinomianism' and 'law-fulfilling freedom'. *Legalists*
are 'under the law' and in bondage to it. They imagine
that their relationship to God depends on their obedience
to the law, and they are seeking to be both justified and
sanctified by it. But they are crushed by the law's
inability to save them. *Antimonians* (or libertines) go
to the opposite extreme. Blaming the law for their
problems, they reject it altogether, and claim to be rid of
all obligation to its demands. They have turned liberty
into licence. *Law-fulfilling free people* preserve the
balance. They rejoice both in their freedom from the law
for justification and sanctification, and in their freedom
to fulfil it. They delight in the law as the revelation of
God's will (verse 22), but recognize that the power to
fulfil it in not in the law but in the Spirit. Thus
legalists fear the law and are in bondage to it.
Antimonians hate the law and repudiate it. Law-abiding
free people love the law and fulfil it.

--From "The Message of Romans" (The Bible Speaks Today
series: Leicester: IVP, 1994), p. 191.

----------------------------------------------------
--Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", p. 185, by
permission of InterVarsity Press.

My Memoirs as a Political Stalker, Part 2

I always open the mail at work, and today was no different. However, today there was a piece of mail addressed to me. This is a strange occurance, and I'm looking at the 9 x 12 envelope wondering what it is when a flash of realization hits me as I look at the signature on the corner. "Mike Pence" ! Without opening it, I rush over to my co-worker and show him. His response? "You really ARE a stalker now, Xana." Now, my boss mentioned to me that he gave Congressman Mike Pence's friends HIS card, but since my name was spelled correctly (this NEVER happens!) I suspect he wrote my name down or something. (I wonder what he SAID?!?!?!?)

Continuing with this morning's excitement, I opened up the envelope to find a large, signed photograph of Mike Pence with the following inscription, "To Xana Ender - Thanks for the kind words! Best, Mike Pence"

I feel all fluttery now.

Memoirs as a Political Stalker

That's right. Me. A political stalker. To make a short story long: It all starts out so innocently...

My friend Esther is one of the biggest political animals I know in that she loves politics, knows all about politics, has great insight into politics. I work in politics, but she breathes it. Her blog Future Legislator of America discusses national politics etc etc. She is the person who first told me about Congressman Mike Pence. Apparently, she found a couple of guys in Indiana (Pence is an Indiana Congressman) that have formed a movement to Draft Mike Pence into running for President in 2008. I rather doubt Mr. Pence himself even knows of these people, but the reasons they support him are, in my humble opinion, pretty good. I read an article or two about him and thought he sounded honorable and for small government (yay!) and in a conversation with my boss, asked him if he'd ever heard of him. He hadn't, so I gave him an article to read and it may have just ended there if this week hadn't happened *da-DUM da-DUM spooky music starts*

My boss was headed to WA D.C. for a conference and I jokingly said, "Hey, say hi for me to Mike Pence if you see him." Yes, he had remembered that Mike Pence was the guy I showed him an article about. So, he calls in today and I start joking again, "Say hi to Mike Pence for me?" and my boss, with laughter in his voice, states, "Well, no. But I did meet some friends of his that he invited to the conference. I gave them my card and told them that you're a big fan of his."
hee hee. I am now a political stalker. Now I actually have to familarize myself with him and his history and political philosophy and views so, if he on the off-chance calls my boss and I answer the phone, I don't sound like a blubbering idiot.

If interested here are some articles, from very conservative sources, forwarded to Esther by Congressman Mike Pence's other fans.

American Union Conservative Foundation
NewsMax