The AP Really Ought to Go to Sunday School

Photo of Ken Shepherd.

When I was a kid there was a song we sang in Sunday School called, "Everybody Ought to Go to Sunday School." If I could find something to rhyme with "Associated Press reporters," I could probably write a new verse.

Reporting yet another story involving Gov. Sarah Palin's former church, the AP continued its attempts to paint Palin as a closet Pentecostal, as well as to hint that Pentecostals are wacky, far afield from the mainstream of Christian theology.

Anchorage-based AP reporter Garance Burke devoted a September 25 article to a newly surfaced YouTube video purportedly showing Palin being prayed over by a Kenyan preacher who asked God to protect Palin from all manner of evil, including witchcraft.

Burke went on to characterize the Pentecostal church Palin used to attend as simultaneously "conservative" in biblical teaching and yet outside orthodox Christian belief:

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Pentecostals are conservative in their reading of the Bible. Unlike most other Christians — including most evangelicals — Pentecostals believe in "baptism in the Holy Spirit." That can manifest itself through speaking in tongues, modern-day prophesy and faith healing, which includes the laying on of hands.

While not all Christians believe in the continuation of spiritual gifts such as prophesy or speaking in tongues, all Christians believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit -- all four gospel accounts describe Jesus as the one who baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit -- it's just a question of how that baptism is defined.

Burke need only check Amazon.com for a book giving five different perspectives -- including Pentecostal, Catholic, and Reformed/Presbyterian traditions -- on what baptism in the Holy Spirit entails and how it applies to Christians today.

To be sure there are secondary issues of theology on which Pentecostals and non-Pentecostal Christians disagree, but the Associated Press seems unable or unwilling to distinguish those matters from the common ground of orthodox Christian belief that Pentecostals share with other Bible-believing Christians.

—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters


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You need a verse?

You can rhyme Associated Press Reporters with Barack Obama Supporters. When you think about it, it is the same thing.

or,,,, "DNC

or,,,, "DNC Supporters".

___________________________________ 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

Ken...

"If I could find something to rhyme with 'Associated Press reporters',..." 

How about ...

Associate Press Reporters,
Nothing more that News Distorters!

If conservatives are RIGHT, then liberals must be WRONG.

Re: Ken...

Or how about--

"Associated Press reporters

Are always deviant rewarders;

Also spin and noise recorders

When from Demos they take orders."

Ken, I think all the previous suggestions and these should get you started on that additional verse!

"liberals are radical in

"liberals are radical in their reading of a "science book." Unlike most other people — including most democrats — liberals unquestionably believe in "the theory of evolution." That can manifest itself as apes turning into people, modern-day "published research professors" and herbal healing, which includes the laying on of public "education..."

Journalism is the opium of the liberals

i will first admit i am not

i will first admit i am not religious although i spent all my education in a catholic school ,which i know is looked down on by many evangelicals,but whenever  witchcraft is invoked,to me,all cedability is lost...

So not being religious are

So not being religious are your Biblical scholar credentials?  In Kenya where the pastor is from witchcraft is very common practice and has to do with worship of Satan.  So naturally he is into protection against Satan and people invoking Satans name in wichcraft.

One thing that you must undersatnd being teh biblical scholar is that Jesus unstood and most evangelical Christians unstand there is a world beyond this one where an ages old battle envelops and it is as Jesus says "principality of powers".  Good against evil with angels doin gteh fighting.

There are fighting for our salvation of damnation depending on the sides taken.  Even in the Bible there are references to wichcraft and witches.  So do some reading and try to remember some of your old Catholic school lessons, if you stayed awake or believed any of it.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

exactly where in my post did

exactly where in my post did i claim to be a biblical scholar???..i am not...ask me if i am an expert in being a sucess,i am..enough that i am retiring in 30 days...at a youg age..and it all was tied in to an excellent education i received in catholic school..so i obviously paid attention..but all the same,the only time witches were around were on halloween..along with black cats and jack-o lanterns...are they also instruments of the devil?

You are really ignorant

You are really ignorant "exactly where in my post did i claim to be a biblical scholar" as this statement in your original "but whenever  witchcraft is invoked,to me,all cedability is lost" says you understand teh Bible.  As I pointed out teh Bible itself references witchcraft and supernatural powers.  You mention being brought up in Catholic school for what purpose if not to say yes I know the Bible which you apparently are totally ignorant of.

Nest time you post maybe you will have some topic you know of insrtaed of being teh ignorant being your post indicates.  Of course you probably dont believe in teh Bible or what it says, your loss.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

well i certainly would not

well i certainly would not want to do anything you do not approve of,..and by the way,the is spelled the,not teh....so i guess i am not so ignorant ..maybe you should have gone to catholic school

»→ patmac

"...the is spelled the,not teh...."

You missed a space after the comma between "the" and "not"

Maybe you should have gone to Catholic school.  You also forgot to capitalize Catholic.

Are we grammarians, or exchangers of thought?

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Joe Biden 6/12/87

i did go to catholic

i did go to catholic school...my use of lower case letters comes from reading to much e.e.cummings when i was younger...bad habit..

People who live in glass houses...

Should not throw stones. 

witchcraft is invoked,to me,all cedability is lost... 

If you devolve to nit-picking spelling, typing, and/or grammar here, you lose by default.

Very bad form.

David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive

 

»→ cedability?

I thought he was referring to a subject's ability to be ceded, a term that means "surrendered".

Lefties know a lot about surrendering. 

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Joe Biden 6/12/87

Oh...like Whoopi's "succeeded"?

Or was that Babs?

I have such a hard time keeping these leftist twits straight. 

David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive

 

»→ It was Whoopi

In her blog.  But now she's going into Slavery "again"

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. 

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Joe Biden 6/12/87

my bad..misspelled the

my bad..misspelled the word..by i am not a "leftie" which is obviously a word you use to describe anyone who does not agree with you...i am a goldwater conservative..i am not sure how old you are but if you are old enough to remember the great mr goldwater,then you know what my political beliefs are

Same as Hillary's I guess,

Same as Hillary's I guess, she also said she was one too.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

It is not my thoughts but my

It is not my thoughts but my grammer and most of all my poor typing skills to blame.  Yes I look at the keyboard and frequently msipell words as I just did.  I dont usually go back aND CORRECT MY MISTAKES BECAUSE IN BLOGGING TEH IDEA IS TO GET IT OUT QUICKLY. 

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

yes..i apologized for

yes..i apologized for correcting you spelling or grammar but the post did not go through..just a habit from the nuns when i was in school..i am only here to exchange ideas and have a good debate,so i was certainly out of line..hope you don t hold it against me..besides,i am sure if you go over some of my post,you will find some of mine..later

DanTheMan2...

...That wasn't a very nice response to him. So he doesn't believe in witches or doesn't know about them- that's no reason to over-react. Isn't this a Political/Current Events forum? I understand most Believers are conservative- but all Conservatives don't have to be Believers.

I'm sure you're NOT that way- but when you over-react like that it gives the Liberal people amunition for "Christians are crazy" thinking.

Be nice. If we're not gonna be nice, that's fine- but DON'T tell people you are a Christian 'cause that brings dishonor to Christ's name.

Witchcraft

"but whenever  witchcraft is invoked,to me,all cedability is lost..."

Maybe to you, but J.K. Rowling turned on the world and has become a millionaire giving it credibility with the Harry Potter series.

i am not sure everyone who

i am not sure everyone who reads harry potter believes in witchcraft..i personally do not read them because i do not find that mentally stimulating..someone made a fortune on pet rocks..but they were just rocks..there is a market for almost anything and all you have to do is package it just right

Witchcraft is alive and

Witchcraft is alive and well, whether one believes in it or not is irrelevant.

just ask a high schooler about wicca.

I have mixed feelings about Harry Potter.  As you say, not everyone believes in whitchcraft that reads those books, but the books definitely give the idea that witchcraft is OK to people.  And witchcraft is not ok.  I dont think people who call themselves witches today have any idea of who and what they are messing with. 

Forget Sunday School, they

Forget Sunday School, they should go back to elementary school first...

...to learn the meaning of 'used to', 'former' and 'previously'. Palin has not belonged to that church for six years, so what is this a story now?

Burke went on to

Burke went on to characterize the Pentecostal church Palin used to
attend as simultaneously "conservative" in biblical teaching and yet
outside orthodox Christian belief...

When liberalism is the "default" position, whether in politics or religion, the opposite side is "conservative."

Wonder...

I wonder what Burke's idea of "orthodox Christian belief" is?

There are some churches over in southwest Virginia who think handling copperheads and rattlesnakes during worship service is orthodox.  I guess Burke would disagree with them :). 

This Weird Specimen Called Christian

"Pentecostals are conservative in their reading of the Bible. Unlike most other Christians — including most evangelicals — Pentecostals believe in "baptism in the Holy Spirit."

I always think it's funny that they have to explain the beliefs of Pentecostals or Evangelicals as if we're some 21st Century discovery. 

They should google the 1904 Welsh Revival or Azusa Street Revival which goes back to 1906.  These meetings were explosions of things that were already happening around the world.

Christians are weird?

We are weird. Revivals are weird.

Folsom Street Fair ... that's mainstream. 

If conservatives are RIGHT, then liberals must be WRONG.

Obama Sunday School

"We've got more black men in prison than there are in college," he began. "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body.

America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. ... We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers ... We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi ... We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God." ... Rev Wright, Jan, 2006

JDW


DAILY WAVE

'Hey Chuck, Stand Up!'

I Think I Know What The Problem Is...

"...purportedly showing Palin being prayed over by a Kenyan preacher who
asked God to protect Palin from all manner of evil, including
witchcraft."

I think AP is just mad because they're beginning to realize why their non-stop smear tactics haven't been working.

 

Ken, You are correct. 

Ken,

You are correct.  It took me all of 5 seconds to find this in the Catechism via an online search:

Water. The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.

source:  http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/694.htm

I can just see the Sunday

I can just see the Sunday School they'd go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-kD0QdRJk

Southern Baptists too...

"Pentecostals believe in "baptism in the Holy Spirit." 

I am a southern Baptist minister.  I too believe in baptism of the Holy Spirit because it is taught in scripture.  However, talking in tongues is a gift, one among many.  I dont believe it alone comes with Holy Spirit baptism.

And this is where I differ with my Pentacostal brethren - I dont see talking in tongues as evidence of Holy Spirit Baptism nor as proof of salvation.  However, we do agree that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and that's the important part.

These media idiots need more than Sunday school.  They seriously need to sit down and talk to some theologically conservative scholars about Christian doctrine.  And Joel Osteen or Rick Warren are not the ones to talk to about this.  Try Dr Charles Stanley.