Doug Blankenship: as God made me Rotating Header Image

February, 2010:

Dallas Tea Party challenges Olbermann

Feb 26th, 2010
by admin.
No comments yet

I wonder if MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann will accept the offer to attend the Dallas, TX Tea Party meeting tomorrow?   Since Olbermann made such an outrageous claim (shocking, I know), I’m sure he’ll want to back it up with actual objective journalism.   Last year, I went to a Tea Party meeting in Columbia, SC.   I will attend others.   I am a typical freedom-loving Tea Party supporter.   I saw a very diverse collection of people: old, young, white, black, men, women.   Media elites such as Olbermann have a disturbing habit of trying to marginalize Tea Party meeting attenders by placing radical labels on them (i.e. “racist”).   Check out the video and judge for yourself.

Post to Twitter

Motorcycle awareness test

Feb 26th, 2010
by admin.
No comments yet

Since March will be upon us soon, I am anticipating more motorcycles will be on the road.   Therefore, it seems like a good time to remind people of their awareness skills (or lack thereof).   Actually, this test applies to more than just motorcycle awareness.   Check out this video and let me know what you think.

Post to Twitter

Can you try on God in the same way you try on a shirt?

Feb 5th, 2010
by admin.
No comments yet

In the video below, Ray Comfort from the Way of the Master has a conversation with eighteen-year-old Josh.  Josh makes a few statements which show the general misunderstanding that today’s young people have about Christianity and truth.  Notice a few key misunderstandings Josh mentions:

1. One can “try God”

Josh seems to think you can try a religion in the same way you try on a new outfit.  I’m sure he took it a little more seriously than that, but here’s the point: he “came to Jesus” for a therapeutic reason, not to be rescued from the depths of his sin.   Josh said he accepted Christ and was baptized shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.   But then he fell away because he didn’t “feel anything.”   Matthew 10:22 reads: “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”   This is Jesus speaking.   Jesus NEVER suggested to anyone to “give Him a try.”   Instead, He firmly stated that there is only one cure for what ails mankind (sin), and that is repentance and forgiveness through an exclusive relationship with Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate.   Either Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, once and for all, or He is not.   This not a subjective (relative) truth, it’s objective.  (Fodder for another post)

2. The way to be accepted by God is to “be as good as you can be”

When Ray pressed Josh on what it means to “be as good as you can be” and how do you know if you are, Josh did not have an answer.   This is a common misconception about Christianity, again rooted in relativism.  Jesus never called people to be “as good as they can be” so that He will accept them in the end.   Jesus told people to do good works while on this earth, but as a result of our relationship with Him, not as a way to earn favor with God.   The author of Hebrews wrote that ” by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14, NIV)   Perfection is for heaven; striving for holiness is an evidence of faith in trust in Jesus, not a work performed in hopes of earning a pass through the Pearly Gates.

3. I can come to God on my own terms

No, you can’t.   This is another common misconception.  When asked by Ray when he will finally repent of his sins and trust in Jesus, Josh said “when I’m hurting the most.”   I completely understand that people reach out to God in their most desperate time of need.  The Prodigal Son did so.   I did as well.   Those desperate times have a way of opening our spiritual eyes and ears to that we can see and hear from God and respond to Him.   Revelation 3:20 states, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (NIV)   None of us asked God to knock on the door of our heart.  Each person has rejected Him (Rom. 3:23).  Therefore it’s only on His terms that we can return to Him.   God is the instigator; without His willingness to rescue sinful people from certain death, we would have no hope.    But we can have fellowship with God again (i.e. eat with Him) when we set our sinful ways aside and trust in God’s ways, which have been clearly revealed in His Word-Jesus and the Bible.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N4dObgIhNQ]

Post to Twitter

Top Ten Things I Learned After 1,000 Tweets

Feb 3rd, 2010
by admin.
No comments yet

Since I am also the author of the blog Top Ten Tweets Of…, I thought I would reflect back on my year of tweeting on Twitter and give you the Top Ten Things I Learned After 1,000 Tweets:

  1. According to MrTweet.com, I average 3.6 tweets per day. Apparently that’s above average.   I think it’s just about right.  I’ve settled into the idea that 5-10 per day is a good number, unless something really big is going on and the buzz-level is high.
  2. Mr. Tweet’s stats also show my @ replies are only two percent. That’s pretty low.  I consider “being engaging” a good trait for a twitter-er, so I need to work on my engagement level.
  3. 59% of my tweets contain links. That’s way above average.  While I do use twitter to promote my blogs, I try to promote other people’s good works more than my own.   I want to add value to the cyber conversation and I like to spread links to good articles as I come across them.  I used Google Reader to follow a number of good sites and often tweet a link to the best I’ve read that day.
  4. I have about 2,600 followers and I follow a little over 2,800 others. Basically, I’m at the Twitter-defined limit of how many I can follow (10% more than are following you).   I’ve read the “strategies” about getting thousands of followers.   My thought has been to let my “following” grow organically as people find value in my tweets, rather than forcing the issue with some contrived daily process.
  5. I like Twitter.  Plain and simple. I spend more time on it than Facebook or other social media.  I like the 140 character limit.  You can be serious, funny, whimsical, or urgent all within 140 characters.  It spreads immediately, too.  If I want to take more time and say more, I have blogs for that.
  6. I like TweetDeck as my desk top application. Since I have multiple twitter accounts (@db10doug, @TruthInSight, @TopTenTweetsOf), I can organize them all on one page.  I can also keep up with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Myspace (remember those guys?) using TweetDeck.   I’ve tried other applications, but so far TweetDeck is my favorite.
  7. My best estimate is that I’ve tweeted 10,000 words so far. That’s an average of ten words per tweet.   That’s a few chapters of a book!   Maybe I do have it within me to write a book.   If I could only focus…
  8. Most of the people I know prefer Facebook to Twitter. In fact, I have very few friends or acquaintances that tweet.  I’m ok with that.  But I don’t quite understand their objections at times.  @MichaelHyatt has a great post on his blog about these objections, which I encourage all Twitter skeptics to read.
  9. Twitter and smart phones go great together. I’m a Blackberry guy (don’t hate!).  I use TwitterBerry for my Twitter application.  I have tried others, like UberTwitter.  I just like the simple functionality of TwitterBerry the best.
  10. Lastly, Twitter is not a game, a distraction, or a way to avoid boredom.  It is a tool. A tool to stay connected, spread valuable news and information, and express oneself in a variety of ways.   Twitter is interactive and international.   I like it and I think Twitter is here to stay.    Until something better comes along, that is.  Right, Myspace?

I’d love to know your thoughts about Twitter or whether you have anything to add about one of my points.

Post to Twitter

What it means to think Christianly

Feb 2nd, 2010
by admin.
No comments yet

Photo courtesy of Aidan O'Sullivan's flickr photostream

I recently updated the tag line under the Truth-In-Sight blog title.    The reason was to make sure the purpose of this blog is plain and clear to its current and future readers.   In using the phrase “think Christianly,” I thought I should take a moment to explain that further.

Yourdictionary.com gives this definition of the word “Christian:”

  1. of Jesus Christ or his teachings
  2. of or professing the religion based on these teachings
  3. having the qualities demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ, as love, kindness, humility, etc.
  4. of or representing Christians or Christianity

For all you grammar freaks out there, “think” is the verb in the phrase and “Christianly” is the adverb.  The definition above relates to using the word “Christian” as an adjective, which describes a noun.   In our case, the definitions are the same but describe a verb, which is to “think.”

Since all people (who are not in a brain-dead state) think, those who profess to follow Jesus Christ as born-again believers have an extra responsibility.   That is to train their minds to think Christianly, “having the qualities demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ, as love, kindness, humility, etc.”   This does not come naturally; we must work at it.

1 Cor. 14:20 states, “Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.” (NIV)   Just as our minds grow with knowledge as we age in years, so does our spiritual minds grow in faith and maturity the longer we walk with the Lord.   We take in His truths, meditate on them, and practice them in our lives.   In an ideal world, all Christians would be actively pursuing such a process.   However, we all at times tend to get weighed down with the cares of the world and with how busy life seems to get.   This is when the world begins to influence Christians much more than Christians are influencing the world.

I hope to use this blog as a positive and informative resource for Christians and truth-seekers.   Please engage myself and each other with your helpful comments.   I welcome you to join the discussion.

Post to Twitter

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes