I received the following from a class member. It is a breakdown of bills currently facing the congress. Some will directly affect you as a christian.  Links are included so you can follow up on the claims. Don’t just accept my word as if this were a forwarded spam email. Be informed and aware. Christianity is being attacked.

Here are several of the issues which I drew attention to. ALL of these issues have been introduced in the last 2 weeks of the current Democrat-led congress:

1. Last week, the Senate passed a bill imposing stricter limits on lobbyists. While much of that bill was well-written and supported by conservatives, Section 220 threatened to place significant restrictions on grassroots groups, limiting their ability to tell people like us what is going on in Congress. If they had an audience of more than 500 people and encouraged people to contact their elected representatives, they would have to file significant paperwork with Congress.  Failure to do so could have resulted in fines in the tens of thousands of dollars and significant jail time. Can you imagine Jim Dobson (or even your own pastor) going to jail because they spoke out against something our elected representatives were doing? Thankfully (due in no small part to the huge response from citizens after being alerted by the grass-roots groups they hoped to effectively silence), the Bennett Amendment was passed which eliminated Section 220 from the Senate bill. (By the way, Kit Bond voted FOR the Bennett Amendment; Claire McCaskill voted AGAINST the amendment.) HOWEVER, the same issue will come up very soon in the House, and voters need to be ready to “encourage” the House members to NOT silence the groups we choose to hear from!

2. Bills are being introduced to support embryonic stem-cell funding, an issue that was much in the news here in Missouri during the last election. This is a complex issue which boils down to simple principles and facts:  (a) using embryonic stem cells KILLS the embryo – which is what each of us started out as. Holding a pro-life view is incongruous with destroying embryos for research; (b) there are ZERO positive results from embryonic stem cells research, while there are numerous positive results form adult stem cell and cord-blood stem cell research! http://nocloning.com

3. Still coming up is the proposed reinstatement of the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” which is designed to stifle conservative and Christian talk radio.  IF this bill passes, it would mean that for every 30 minutes that Jim Dobson or Richard Land spoke on ANY issue deemed “political,” Bott Radio Network would be FORCED to provide (at no cost) equal time for the “opposing “ side to share it’s views. The same rules would be applied to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and any other conservative talk show hosts out there. (It would also apply to liberal talk show hosts, but there aren’t very many liberal talk shows on radio. They haven’t mustered the level of listenership required to be commercially competitive.)

4. The 4^th scary issue that’s come up is the proposal from Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas to resurrect hate crimes legislation that could criminalize anyone who defends and promotes traditional marriage (because that is seen as offensive to homosexuals.) This is modeled on legislation that has already passed in Pennsylvania, which makes it a crime to speak publicly of what the Bible says about the act of homosexuality. The ACLJ has reported on two grandmothers in Pennsylvania who were arrested for passing out tracts explaining what the Bible says about homosexuality. These women have already spent 10 days in jail and are facing PRISON time and substantial fines. This was NOT an “in-your-face” rude attack on homosexuals like Rev. Fred Phelps from Wichita and his group do – these were simply believers trying to lovingly witness to sinners.

If you step back for a moment and look at what is happening, it is clear that liberals in Congress are attacking values that Biblical Christians hold dear. I know that we all have families to care for and jobs to go to, and we don’t have extra time to monitor Congress. (That’s what we elect our representatives to do, right?) However, with the change of power in Congress, it is obvious in the first few weeks of Congress that there are people who are out to change this country – and these changes will significantly affect issues of life, Christian liberty, and the family.

Your voice DOES make a difference – that’s what turned the tide in favor of the Bennett Amendment! Please check them out. These groups are Biblically based Christian conservative groups whom I am comfortable recommending. If you know of other resources you would recommend, I’d love to hear from you!

Here are more links to check out:

Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission – Southern Baptist Convention

Mission:  To awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation.

http://erlc.com/

Family Research Council

The Family Research Council (FRC) champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society. FRC shapes public debate and formulates public policy that values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family. Believing that God is the author of life, liberty, and the family, FRC promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society.

Sign up for the Washington Update by clicking on the “subscribe” button

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?c=HOME

Focus on the Family Action

a non-profit Christian ministry who follows God by supporting, encouraging and strengthening families worldwide.  Provides easy links to contact your own senators and congressmen (or figure out who they are if you don’t know!)

http://www.citizenlink.org/

American Family Association (AFA)

Sign up for the AFA Action Alert

http://www.afa.net/

American Center for Law & Justice

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. Through our work in the courts and the legislative arena, the ACLJ is dedicated to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.  In addition to providing its legal services at no cost to our clients, the ACLJ focuses on the issues that matter most to you – national security, protecting America’s families, and protecting human life. 

http://aclj.org/

High-Impact Leadership Coalition

The High Impact Leadership Coalition exists to protect the moral compass of America and be an agent of healing to our nation by educating and empowering churches, community and political leaders. They place special emphasis on bringing the black church and the white church together to work towards the cause of Christ as a unified body.

http://hilc.net/

Liberty Counsel

http://www.lc.org/libertyalert/lasubscribe.html

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

For those of you who homeschool, this is a great resource keeping you abreast of what’s happening in the congress regarding homeschool issues.

http://www.hslda.org/elert/default.asp

I encourage you to be watchful. As the saying goes, ““The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

In His Grace

 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  Proverbs 22:6

Ledger-Enquirer | 10/21/2006 | ‘Ticket or Teddy’ program nabs motorists

Police in Columbus GA set up a surprise child restraint/seat belt check. For those with children properly restrained, they received a teddy bear for each child and no ticket to the driver. Approximately 1/2 of the drivers were not fully buckled.

Our children are so precious. Keep them safe Keep them buckled.  You are precious too and are needed to raise these children. Buckle up yourself while you are at it.  

I apologize if you have been having problems accessing the Bear Witness website. There are server issues. We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. We may have to move to another server host. Thank you for continuing to check the Bear Witness website.

I don’t know about you, but I am really frustrated at all the junk mail and offers for home loans, car loans, consolidation and credit card offers. Many are even making the envelope look authentic so you have to open it!! The Federal Trade Commission has a way you can opt-out of receiving these for 5 years or permanently (and if you don’t receive enough of this stuff you can opt-in).

Check out the website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.htm and sign up now.

Now if I could opt-out of all those “you will be blessed by God if you forward this to everyone in your contact list” emails.

According to a NY Times report The British Medical Journal has discovered something which may have escaped the attention of the less well-informed reader: that long pointy knives are sharp and can be stuck into people thereby causing them damage or even provoking a death-related incident. (can you say “duh”)

Never fear. Doctors Emma Hern, Will Glazebrook and Mike Beckett of the West Middlesex University Hospital in London have a solution: Oblige long pointy knife manufacturers to make the knives less pointy by rounding off the tips.

They are concerned that “the rate of violent crime in Britain rose nearly 18 per cent from 2003 to 2004, and that in the first two weeks of 2005, 15 killings and 16 nonfatal attacks involved stabbings”.

Dr Hern says: “We came up with the idea and tossed it into the pot to get people talking about crime reduction. Whether it’s a sensible solution to this problem or not, I’m not sure.”

Perhaps we should also get rid of baseball bats, bricks, wood and even cars. Hey, I watch CSI, even a shape pencil can injure someone. Do we now start setting a limit on the lead tip? What ever happened to “BE CAREFUL!!!