Democrats cave on SCHIP

Wow! They're caving on everything! At least they had the common sense to extend the program so that their desire to expand the program to cover adults won't effect the children or the price of cigars (I feel for the poor pastors who would have to go to the General Assembly without their cigar breaks and smoking parties or pay exorbitant prices to smoke).

The Democrats’ yearlong fight to boost federal spending on children’s health insurance ended with a whimper Tuesday.

After coming up short in their efforts to enact a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) — enduring two presidential vetoes along the way — congressional Democrats signed off on Republican demands to extend the program until 2009.

Rather than expiring just before the presidential and congressional elections next year, SCHIP will keep running through March 2009 under the plan originally conceived by House Republicans and hashed out by the Senate Finance Committee and Senate leaders late Monday.

The GOP stood fast against the Democratic bill, which received veto-proof margins in the Senate but came up about a dozen votes shy in the House, despite attracting some GOP support. In doing so, it also stood fast against a multifaceted public relations campaign waged by the Democrats, allied liberal organizations and practically every industry in the healthcare sector. That strategy appears to have paid off, with Democrats abandoning, for now, their plans to ramp up SCHIP.

The GOP claimed victory. “It’s certainly another example of the Democrats caving to the Republican position at the eleventh hour,” said a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Not only did the GOP prevent the Democrats from expanding the program, the minority party prevented the majority party from using an SCHIP vote and veto next fall as a wedge issue just before Election Day.

(via)

Presbyterian churches (USA) voting to leave

More splintering in the PCUSA:

The Episcopal Church isn't the only mainline Protestant group shaken by open conflict between theological liberals and conservatives.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is facing similar trials, with traditionalist congregations planning to bolt and a conservative denomination preparing to take them in.

About 30 of the almost 11,000 Presbyterian congregations have voted to leave the national church since the denomination's national assembly session in 2006, according to the Layman, a conservative Presbyterian publication that has been tracking the breakaways. Denominational leaders say they could lose an additional 20 congregations as a result of the latest rupture.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a conservative group separate from the Presbyterian Church (USA), has voted to accept any of the departing congregations. Presbyterian conservatives are meanwhile organizing themselves through groups such as the Presbyterian Global Fellowship and the New Wineskins Association of Churches.

[...]

Like other mainline Protestant groups, Presbyterians have been debating for decades how they should interpret scripture on salvation, truth, sexuality and other issues.

But tensions erupted after a June 2006 meeting, when delegates granted new leeway in some cases for congregations and regional presbyteries to sidestep a church requirement that clergy and lay officers limit sex to man-woman marriage.

Delegates at the national assembly also voted to let church officials propose experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the divine Trinity -- "Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Among the possibilities: "Mother, Child and Womb" or "Rock, Redeemer, Friend."

(via)

I guess they determined that they couldn't stop the spread of apostasy so they had to separate and if enough of them leave, they might be able to keep their property.

Is Thompson's move to the Presbyterian church a political ploy?

It turns out Reagan was a Presbyterian! Whoa! Now, who will be the first to write an article about how Thompson has joined the Presbyterian church to further his association with Reagan?

(via)

Related Post:
Is Thompson now a Presbyterian???

D. James Kennedy went home to be with the Lord

I was sad to see that Dr. Kennedy has died. I was hoping that he would eventually recover from his attack and enjoy his retirement.

Kennedy died at his home in Fort Lauderdale from complications of a heart attack he suffered on Dec. 28, according to Kristin Cole, a spokeswoman for Kennedy's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. He had not been seen publicly since the heart attack, and his retirement was announced Aug. 26.

His family and friends and the congregation of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church are in our prayers.

Tags: D. James Kennedy

Dr. D. James Kennedy retires

I feel very sad for my brothers and sisters at Coral Ridge that they will have to start the search to replace their pastor. D. James Kennedy has left some really big shoes to fill:

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., today announced the retirement of Dr. D. James Kennedy, senior pastor, assuring the congregation and
international broadcast audience that the church and related ministries
will continue moving forward in the direction set by this visionary leader
after founding the church more than 48 years ago in 1959.

[...]

Dr. Kennedy, 76, preached his last sermon from the pulpit of Coral
Ridge Presbyterian Church on Christmas Eve 2006. He suffered a cardiac
arrest four days later and has since been unable to return to the pulpit. A
tribute worship service honoring the extensive ministry of Dr. Kennedy will
be held in the main sanctuary of the church at 11:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday,
Sept. 23.

[...]

The announcement of Dr. Kennedy's retirement begins a process by the
church of choosing a successor to fill the pulpit and office of senior
minister. This procedure is well-defined in the constitution of the
Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the denomination to which Coral Ridge
belongs. The officers of the church will assess the church's needs and
supervise the election, by the congregation, of a pulpit search committee
comprised of a cross section of members. This committee will evaluate,
interview and listen to numerous candidates before making its
recommendation to the congregation for a vote.

As outlined in PCA bylaws, the congregation will have the final voice
in determining the new senior minister to succeed Dr. Kennedy. The entire
process of succession is expected to take between one and two years.
Currently CRPC continues under the governance of the elders, elected by the
congregation and serving as a session. Rev. Ronald L. Siegenthaler,
executive minister of the church, will implement the policies of the
governing body as he supervises the day-to-day events of the various
ministry departments.

The Taliban has kidnapped 18 South Korean Christians

Please join me in praying for these Christians. Pray that they will be released unharmed and that they can share Christ with their captors:

Taliban militants threatened Friday to kill at least 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians, including 15 women, within 24 hours unless the Asian nation withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan.

In the largest abduction of foreigners since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, several dozen fighters kidnapped the South Koreans at gunpoint from a bus in Ghazni province on Thursday, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai, the provincial police chief.

"They have got until tomorrow (Saturday) at noon to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, or otherwise we will kill the 18 Koreans," Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told The Associated Press on a satellite telephone from an undisclosed location. "Right now they are safe and sound."

Outmatched by foreign troops, the Taliban often resort to kidnapping civilians caught traveling on treacherous roads, particularly in the country's south, where the insurgency is raging. The tactic hurts President Hamid Karzai's government by discouraging foreigners involved in reconstruction projects from venturing into remote areas where their help is most needed.

The abductions came a day after two Germans and five of Afghan colleagues working on a dam project were kidnapped in central Wardak province.

Ahmadi said the Taliban were also holding the two Germans, and threatened to kill them if Germany did not withdraw its 3,000 troops from a NATO-led force by noon Saturday — the same deadline as he gave South Korea.

[...]

An official at the Presbyterian church confirmed 20 of its members were in Afghanistan for volunteer work. The group left South Korea on July 13 and was to return on July 23, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media.

(via)

What will Presbyterian Pastors do?

When I first read that the Democrats were raising the cigar tax from 50 cents to $10 I thought of the poor tobacco farmer who is going to be hit hard by the increased tax. I forgot all about the Presbyterian pastors who like to smoke their stogies at smoking parties when they are away at the General Assembly. What are they to do? How can a pastor afford an extra $10 per cigar. Kim Riddlebarger laments:

Can you just imagine the impact this would have on the Reformed tradition? We are already cranky enough as it is. What would we do after those long synod and classis meetings? This would set back friendships and fraternal relations for generations!

Maybe the Democrats believe they are making the rich pay their fair share of taxes but they are really impacting the little guy. Isn't that the way it always happens?

Tags: cigar tax