The Joshua Moran Blog

Josh shares about ministry, business, current events, politics from a biblical point of view.

Archive for November, 2009

Government Says Breast Cancer Exams For Over 50 Only

Nov 16

Posted by Joshua Moran in In The News, Politics | No Comments

My mom passed away in 2002 from what was originally breast cancer and spread to her lymph nodes and lungs. She was only 42 years old at her passing, and the cancer was found in stage three to four in 1994 when she was only 34 years old. The reason for my post tonight is based solely on a fox news article I read a few moments ago, and my jaw was dropped.

Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It's a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position.

The article goes on to say that the new guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose stance influences coverage of screening tests by Medicare and many insurance companies. Now that sounds like another one of the panels that we will be hearing more about due to the possibility of Obamacare passing through. I am fearful of any government in full control of healthcare, deciding when you are just too old to care for, and what services are really worth the bottom line.

What is ironic is that the American Cancer Society stands against the opinion. I further read about study done in Russia and China (read about it) where the study found out only ambigious findings to somehow support their opinion that women who do self breast exams are more anxious and so it must be more harmful.

Personally, I believe this is a move by the federal govenrment to make budget cuts in Medicare (which I am not against overall) and the setup for the new ObamaCare where panels will make decisions that most doctors would stand to disagree with while making fsical decisions in light of health emergencies. Are you comfortable with the governement telling you to not check your own body for changes? What will be next?

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Net of Fish

Nov 13

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, My Sermons | No Comments

Tonight I am discussing the Parable of the Net of Fish, and once again the focus is put back on both eternal punishment and eternal life. As we know the world will be judged one day, and God will separate the good from the bad.

This parable is important because Jesus is emphasizing that within the church or movement of the gospel (the net), there are bad fish and good fish together. The scripture where Jesus clearly says that there will be those who did things in His name will be told to get away from Him. How can this be? Can someone who has grown up in church, attended every event the church had, raised a family in the church still not go to heaven in the end. The answer is an unfortunate yes.

The churches job is to separate themselves from the world in character, but reach the world in deed. We are not to make any final judgments, but we are to have discernment about what is truly godly and what is truly ungodly. The problem many of us church goers have is calling something that is not godly, evil. Now we could take that to an extreme, but we should make it a priority to think things through spiritually.

For example we may look at a slice of pizza and we know it is not the best food for our bodies, and is spiritually neutral for someone like myself. Is it right to label pizza one or the other?  Now let's say you are in church and your favorite praise song is playing, the congregation is asked to sit for a duration, but you decide to stand and worship with your hands raised high anyway. Is this godly or evil? The pizza issue is a spiritually neutral issue, yet the praise issue is a matter of rebellion.

We must be full of the Holy Spirit and His wisdom to live life for Christ. His grace is truly sufficient, but may we always be aware of good and evil.

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An Act of Terror at Fort Hood… Uh Uh Uh Uh

Nov 10

Posted by Joshua Moran in In The News, Politics | No Comments

Fort Hood Shooting - HassanNidal Hassan, not worthy of being called by any rank, was awake yesterday! Now I find it imperative to label his acts on Fort Hood as terrorism. Of course President Obama tells the nation to be cautious before jumping to conclusions about Hassan, Chris Matthews then tells the nation that "it's not illegal to contact Al Qaeda is it?". All this while Anwar al-Awlaki, praising Hassan's shooting spree on Fort Hood, is calling Hassan a hero (see the article).

When Robert Gibbs was asked if he would, by definition, call Hassan's act as terrorism, Gibb's backed off and studdered his way into political correctness by saying that he is not law enforcement and that is a question for the FBI. Do we honor the victim's of this terrorist by telling them to call it a tragedy, not look at Hassan as a terrorist, and grieve together. While we should be grieved and pray for the victims and their families during this time, we should as a nation be angry! We should be angry enough to classify this criminal what he really is… a terrorist! Some may say what's the big deal, he will still get justice, who cares if we classify him as a terrorist. The important thing to remember is that this world and our current government is not willing to call evil what it is… evil.

I am reminded of a season (I believe the 2nd Season) of 24 where the president was under the control of unnamed benefactors who would not allow him to act like a good president should. I believe it was former Governor Palin who says plainly "there is a time for politics and a time for leadership", and this is one of those times. Perhaps we should adhere to the Washington Post's partial take on Hassan, where he is described as one who lives in the porrest conditions, the worst of cars to drive, and trying to make it on an Army salary (see the article). Perhaps we should just say Hassan snapped like President Obama said in a recent interview, and expect, that due to deployment stress, others may do the same thing and kill 13 soldiers, regardless of religious beliefs.

Hassan did not simply go postal, and some his closest friends and colleagues saw the signs clear as day. We live in a world where crosses, ten commandments, and bibles are being removed from public places, and laws about calling homosexuality sin from the pulpit illegal are being passed. We also live in the same world that is willing to cower to extremism in Islam and not call terrorism what it is. I know this… the White House is making a public push to remove the word terrorism from the country's vocabulary, seen first in the change of the "War on Terror", and now this.

What is really hypocritical is President Obama's ability to jump to conclusions on the Harvard shooting in May 2009. He said that first, anyone would be angry over this, and secondly that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly. Now the President is able to make these conclusions on the Harvard incident, but clearly is avoiding making conclusions on this act of terrorism at Fort Hood.I believe that President Obama is fearful of the backlash this may have on the Muslim community here in the US, and I believe a vigilante backlash would be wrong. I do believe that scrutiny of Muslim soldiers is called for, and I can assume most Muslims in our military are true patriots and serve their country honorably, but scrutiny is still necessary.

Two final thoughts… President Obama will probably not sign the warrant for Hassan's death penalty should that come to play, and how soon we forget that President Bush made a promise that terrorism on US soil would not happen on his watch and he kept his word. President Obama is in office less than a year now, and not only did this happen (not really his fault of course), but he cannot even lead this by calling it terrorism. Perhaps we should get a junior high choir to write another song for the praises of President Obama to help us forget this ever happened!

I usually do not come out this strong on political issues, but this is ridiculous!

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Egg nog latte’s are now out an…

Nov 7

Posted by Joshua Moran in Business | No Comments

Egg nog latte’s are now out and cranberry bliss bars on the 17th… At least in hachie

Parable of the Mustard Seed

Nov 3

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, My Sermons | No Comments

This week spoke about the Parable of the Mustard Seed. I am so encouraged to know that faith does not start with me. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Too many times we hear on the television or conferences that faith is something we conjure up.

The kingdom of God is expanding! First in the individual and then in the overall Body of Christ. This week we will learn about faith most of all, and that the seed of faith belongs to God alone. We do not have to manufacture the mustard seed of faith but it is rather a gift from our Father.

When we take the faith He started in us, and offer it completely to God He is faithful to make our faith grow. We will jump from the parable to another time when Jesus used the mustard seed as a small lesson in Matthew 17:19-21. 

I. The Kingdom of Heaven in each of us starts small, and grows big!

  • The Jews never understood the beginning of God’s kingdom this way so this illustration would have been shocking to it’s listeners
  • Many comparisons could be made in this fashion
  • Jesus, born in a manger, died on the cross, raised to heaven, coming back as King
  • The Israelites, before Exodus 1, were small in number and eventually grew into a nation
  • The nation of Israel today, born in 1948, is a tiny speck in the middle of hostile nations, will be the center of future worldwide events including the tribulation, the temple, the second coming of Christ, the new heavens and new earth.
  • You decide as a child to put your trust in Jesus in CM one Sunday, you walk with God and are being taught, as a teenager you are on fire for God and shine the light of Jesus, as an adult you go into ministry and see thousands repent, then you die only to be with Jesus, people still read your books and hear your sermons.
  • The mustard seed regarding the individual is God's planting of faith when you first believed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow God to nurture that seed and watch out… growth beyond comprehension!
  • The mustard seed in the overall Body of Christ are the people God chose, the nurturing happens by way of God, and the tree represents the growth of not just one but also the growth of many.
  • The birds resting in the trees, represent the wisdom, character, and security exemplified by a true believer of Christ. Many will come to you because they see the character of Jesus in you.

II. Your faith is only as large as your obedience to God.

  • Read Matthew 17:19-21
  • As believers, we should see our doubts as faith that is not submitted to God yet.
  • When doubt first creeps in, we should submit it to prayer and if necessary fast.
  • Doubt itself is not sin but it becomes sin when we attribute the doubt to the character of God.
  • We sin when we transform the doubt to unbelief!

III.     Nothing is impossible for God!

  • Abraham’s Sacrifice | Joseph’s Imprisonment | Gideon’s Courage | Elijah’s Boldness | Stephen’s Sermon | Paul’s Steadfastness | The demoniac's Father's Unbelief

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