The Coop Report

Awake Thou Wintry Earth - Fling Off Thy Sadness!

2012-01-30T10:11:00.000-06:00

I am shocked. I am writing this on January 30^th and it is going to be sunny and 55 degrees today. And tomorrow it is supposed to hit 60. Can you believe it? It feels and looks like spring outside. Birds are singing, the sun is shining, and it makes you want to get outside into the beauty of God’s creation.

Recently, on Sunday night church service, we talked about God’s beauty. We discussed how everything God does is beautiful. That is why when He created everything, He looked at His creation and said, “It is good.” He knew it reflected His own beauty and therefore was good.

The sad thing is that our sin marred the beautiful creation of God. It messed it up. And we live in what is often an ugly world. But you know what God does? If we give Him our ugly, He is happy to take it from us and make it beautiful. Singer/Songwriter Randall Goodgame says it well in a new song he wrote for his latest kids’ album. “God makes messy things beautiful, if you put it in His hands. God makes messy things beautiful, like only He can.”

Every year God takes the ugliness of winter and turns it into spring. All those dead leaves, all the barren land, all the gloominess of winter gets turned into the beauty of spring. You probably have some gloominess of winter in your life. All of us get hit by ugly things. But the real question is: Have you put it in His hands? He will take your winter ugly and give you springtime beauty. Trust Him, He always comes through.

I love how CS Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe captures this truth. The evil White Witch had ruled Narnia under a continuous winter for generations. It was "always winter and never Christmas". But when Aslan, the Christ figure arrives, winter begins to immediately recede to make room for the beauty of spring. The evil Queen of Narnia loses her grip as each snowflake melts and each flower buds. And when we give our winter to Jesus, He brings springtime beauty as Satan loses his grip on his ugly winter.

Let us stand on the promises of Isaiah 61:1-3

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

I know we are entering February, which is usually the gloomiest month of they year, but springtime is coming. Praise God, springtime is coming!

"Awake thou wintry earth -

Fling off thy sadness!

Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth

Your ancient gladness!"

- Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

Joseph and Adoption

2011-11-29T10:54:00.000-06:00

My little Abigail and I recently got into a discussion about the role of Joseph in the life of Jesus. We were talking about how Joseph isn’t really Jesus’ dad, because God the Father is. And then Abigail helped me realize something that I already knew, but hadn’t really thought about: Joseph was Jesus’ adoptive father. Joseph adopted Jesus and made Him his son. But then we moved on to talking about princesses or what some kid said on the playground.

Only a few days later I was sitting in a doctor’s office (waiting and waiting) and reading a book called Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. The book looks at how God adopted us and how we are supposed to take a helpful role in various ways with seeing orphans get adopted. Wouldn’t you know it, but toward the end of my waiting time I reached a chapter that talked about Joseph as the adopted father of Jesus. Moore pointed out how most people forget about Joseph in the Christmas story. He is portrayed as just doing his job of taking Mary and Jesus where they need to go, almost like an usher. He is merely a bit player in the greatest story ever told. But Moore showed how Joseph was so much more.

Joseph adopted Jesus as his own son. And like all other adoptions, that means I was 100% wrong when I said, “Joseph isn’t really Jesus’ dad”. In my desire to highlight that Jesus was not born from man’s seed, but conceived in Mary’s womb by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, I completely downplayed or even misrepresented the truth about Joseph. Joseph was indeed really the father of Jesus. Joseph wasn’t like a step-dad who comes into the picture when a kid is older and never gets accepted as the true father. Joseph adopts Jesus as his own. Jesus becomes his son with full privileges and responsibilities. Joseph doesn’t raise Jesus like his own – Jesus had indeed become Joseph's own.

Mary was not wrong in Luke 2 when she called Joseph the “father” of young Jesus. And later in that chapter it tells us that Jesus, like all good boys, stayed in subjection to both his parents. In fact, that is why it is completely appropriate that the lineage of Jesus is traced in the gospels trough Joseph and not Mary. People are usually bothered by that, because they want to argue that Jesus must be a descendent of David through blood – as if adoption makes someone less a son. But Jesus was very much the Son of David, not in spite of but because of being adopted into that family.

Adopted children are fully children of their adopted parents. They aren’t somehow less than. That is true of adopted kids today and our adopted Savior when He was a child. And that is important to remember this Christmas, because we are adopted children of God. We are not like His children, we are His children.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6

This Christmas, when you look at a manger scene remember you are looking at an adopted child. Then look at Joseph and remember that he became Jesus’ father. And let that stir you to reflect on how you are also a blessed adopted child. You are adopted by our great Father, the Lord of the heavens and earth. We’re not like His children, we are His children.

Children named "Unwanted" Get a New Name and a New Purpose

2011-10-26T12:06:00.002-05:00

In Satara, India last Saturday almost 300 girls got brand new names. There was a ceremony with official certificates showing their brand new names. The girls, from quite young to teenagers, put on their nicest dresses and wore pretty barrettes in their hair. They were given their new name document and beautiful flowers from Satara officials.

Why would so many girls all at once want to have a big ceremony and certificates with completely different names than what they grew up with? Well, because they all shared the same name beforehand, and none of them wanted to keep it. They were all named 'Unwanted' in the Hindi language.

In many parts of India families want boys and not girls. Boys can add wealth to the family where girls often require a large dowry to marry them off and can cause a family to go into debt. Hindu boys are seen as light bearers for their families. Girls are often thought to have little to no value. This has led to a high abortion rate of girls, and many of the girls who do make it to birth are literally given the name 'Unwanted'.

Imagine living your life with the name Unwanted. How heartbreaking. Just think of growing up with no doubt that your family never desired your birth or life. Your value is not positive but seen as only a large debt. Well, you know what, we were once all nobodies. We had no special name and no special family. All the value we had was a sin debt we could not pay. The Bible says we were lost, broken, hard-hearted, and as good as dead. But Christ came in and changed all that. He came and paid our debt that we could not afford. He took our death on the cross. He adopted us, made us His own, gave us a new name, and brought us into His wonderful family!

On Sunday mornings we have been going through Galatians and have learned this beautiful message:

God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ""Abba", Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:4-7

We were once slaves and now we are sons! We are full heirs. We have a new Father, a new name, and a new family. Peter also proclaims this good news:

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

As people with a new name and a new life we are given the new task of 'declaring the praises of Him who called' us 'out of darkness into His wonderful light.' We, no matter male or female, become light bearers of our new family. Isn't that awesome? We get to go help others learn they are not unwanted either. They can have a new name, a new Father, a new family, and a new purpose! That is why we proclaim the gospel. That is why we reach out to people. That is why we are building a new and larger facility. That is why we are here. We are lightbearers of our great and awesome Father God and our Savior Jesus Christ who proclaims to the unwanted, 'I want you. Come unto me.'

New Blogging Job

2011-09-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

I now freelance write for Pajamas Media.
My latest blog is here.
And for future lists of all my blogs go to http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/author/paulcooper/.

Ron Paul's Biggest Problem Continues to Be His Followers

2011-08-29T22:49:00.002-05:00

Many have said it before me. One of Ron Paul's biggest obstacles for pushing past the 10-15% national polling he gets is the fact that a big chunk of his 10-15% loyalists are bullies. There are many media folks who have commented on how they have been ill treated by pro-Paul crowds. And as someone who has written against some of Ron Paul's views I've had my own fair share of run ins with these zealots.

I must admit before I share with you my latest attack by a pro-Pauler, I do have great friends who are avid Ron Paul supporters. And they are good people who don't say vicious things to people. Passion is okay. Passion funneled into schoolyard name calling is downright damaging to the guy you say you support.

Today I found a comment on my Twitter that was a few days old, and it sparked a downright silly (but fun) back and forth conversation:

TruthSquadTV :

@PaulMCooper just read your #RonPaul #Sharia. The Caliphate had its chance Ottomans. Globalist bankers will never permit sharia. wakeup.

TruthSquadTV :

@PaulMCooper the fact that you have a fave #wwe wrestling writer is a big problem.

So this New York blogger is a big Ron Paul fan and had a problem with an article I wrote months ago. Now the article is not a personal attack on Ron Paul but merely argues my problems with Ron Paul's views on Sharia. Feel free to read the article here. TruthSquad's initial comments were a simple rejection of my article and why he thinks I should reject it. No problem with that kind of a debate. But the Paul apologist couldn't stop there. He had to come up with some strange and silly comment about somehow liking professional wrestling or enjoying the writings of a guy who followed wrestling means I have some unknown problem. (By the way, that writer he mentioned was a journalist who wrote for the Baltimore Sun).

Well, I didn't quite get TruthSquad's connection to wrestling and my views on Ron Paul, so I just had to ask, and an interesting back and forth began:

Paul Cooper

@TruthSquadTV Not sure what WWE has to do with my views on Ron Paul. His fans would be taken more seriously if they didn't say such things.
Truth Squad.TV

@PaulMCooper was in response to your Kevin Eck tweet. You're a wrestling fan, disqualifies you from being taken seriously on any topic.

Really? Being a fan of a certain form of sports entertainment really disqualifies someone from being taken seriously on any topic? That's quite a statement. I wonder what the millions, and I mean millions (shout out to The Rock), of wrestling fans would think of that statement. Last time I checked, men and women of all ages, races, and academic accomplishment like wrestling. Even well known folks have supported wrestling like Barack Obama, John McCain, Donald Trump, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Bob Barker, Steve Allen, Regis Philbin, Bob Uecker, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi, and even Pee Wee Herman. We're talking Pee Wee Herman folks. Surely that guy can be taken seriously on some topics (maybe that last ones not the best example).

Anyway, sometimes you have to demonstrate absurdity by being absurd. So I commented that I could make the same claim but change the words "wrestling fans" into "Ron Paul" fans. It would be just as ridiculous for me to claim that Ron Paul fans can't be taken seriously on other topics. But the guy just decided to dig deeper with his empty attack.

Truth Squad.TV

@PaulMCooper wrestling = fake mind numbing distraction. RP = prophetic economic voice. Hmmmm Ask God which one he prefers.

So now I'm supposed to spend my prayer time asking God if he prefers WWE or Ron Paul speeches more. Somehow I never faced such deep theological questions when I was in seminary. And of course, comparing entertainment programming to a politician is a bit silly. Wrestling, like all fictional entertainment, admits it is fake and trying to entertain you. Most politicians spend a lot of time and money to avoid you realizing they are fake and not entertaining.

Finally I had to end the silly debate with Mr. TruthSquadTV (which ironically enough, showed little interest in truth, was one guy and not a squad, and I'm not sure has much to do with TV since he's not into "fake mind numbing distraction").

Paul Cooper

@TruthSquadTV wrestling hate is quite interesting considering Jesse Ventura is one of the most loved by Paulites. Hypocrisy rears its head.

You see, the funny thing about the guy's argument is that Ron Paul fans are famously fans of Jesse Ventura. Ventura has been brought in to be a main speaker at Ron Paul events. Ron Paul loves Jesse and Jesse loves Ron Paul. Just a few months ago Jesse Ventura said he'd like to run on the ticket with Paul. And many Paulites have puts up websites and written blogs about how that is their dream ticket. Now why is that funny? Well what is Jesse Ventura famous for? I mean before he was a wacky 9-11 truther, what was he famous for? I mean before he somehow became the strange governor of Minnesota, what was he famous for? Years and years and years of pro wrestling my friends.

Jesse Ventura found his fame as Jesse "the Body" Ventura. He was first a wrestler and then a wrestling announcer - mostly for the WWE and for years. Now wait a minute, I thought liking WWE made you a fool? Hmm, so what would working for WWE make you?

Alas, good ol' Truthysquad guy didn't even know Ventura was a wrestler and told me how dumb I was for even bringing Ventura into the conversation since he wasn't a wrestler but an actor. Aww, you got to love it. Nothing feels better than showing someone how silly their attack is, and then instead of realizing it, they double down on their silly attack.

Listen Ron Paul fans, I am not a Paul hater. I would vote for him in the general election if he were running against a liberal Democrat like our President. However, I do have legitimate issues with some of his views. And you have the right to debate me on those issues. But please, stop the insanity on attacking the people that aren't voting for Paul. As I also wrote on Twitter today:

Paul Cooper

Why do so many Ron Paul fans personally attack non-supporters instead of trying to win them over with ideas?

Maybe I should ask the guy in the boa.

Christian Reaction to VP Biden Supporting Chinese Forced Abortion Policy

2011-08-23T16:20:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has had children knows it is impossible to explain the joy of seeing them come into the world. Instant and complete love filled my heart when I watched both my little girls being born. It gave me a glimpse of the love God has for us. Before I had done anything good or bad, He loved me.

God's greatest gift to us is life. He gives us life on this earth and then we find eternal life through His Son Jesus who called Himself the way, the truth, and the life. And therefore murder is a heinous sin. And abortion especially, the killing of innocent life, is the opposite of who Christ is. Mothers choosing abortion has been a hotly debated topic in this country, and it is a hard topic. But Scripture is clear that abortions are wrong. However, even the most pro-choice seem to agree that forced abortions are always wrong. Well, everyone but the second in command of our government.

Vice President Joe Biden in a recent trip to China made some shocking statements about China's one-child only policy. The Chinese government has a preference for males and so, at times, will force women to abort girls so that there will be more boys. And many women after having one baby will be forced to be sterilized, so they can't have more. And what is Biden's reaction to this policy?

"Your policy has been one which I fully understand - I'm not second guessing - of one child per family." - Biden

Biden made that shocking statement in public after making a speech at Sichuan University in China last Sunday. For me, such words immediately disqualify him from being Vice President and he should step down. Without a doubt, if President Obama really values life as he claims, he should ask Biden to step down.

Let me give you a glimpse of what this policy (that Biden isn't "second guessing" and "fully understands") means with an actual example of how it works. Last year CNS News reported this first hand account of a woman in her 8 month of pregnancy:

Heavily pregnant Xiao Ai Ying was forced to undergo an abortion at a hospital in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen because she and her husband, Luo Yan Qua, already have their permitted one child — a 10-year-old daughter.

“There were many men surrounding my wife,” Luo told a reporter outside. “They held her arms behind her back, pushed her head against the wall, kicked her stomach, and I don’t know if they were trying to give her a miscarriage.”

Biden actually talked about this horrific Chinese policy like it is a good idea, especially if a country has economic problems and high population. In context, it is almost like he was saying this is something more countries should consider. What does Scripture say about something like a forced one-child policy?

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

We know that God sees children as a blessing. Having more than one is a blessing. And for a government to demand one child per family is plain evil. China is even worse because they actually kill children to enforce that policy. Yet our own Vice President supports this practice!

The Scriptures tell us to pray for our government leaders. I ask those of you are Christians to pray for either Biden's heart to be changed or his address.

Quality and Super Fun Kids music!

2011-08-22T09:41:00.002-05:00

My wife and I fell in love with Randall Goodgame's music 10 years ago. And 5 or 6 years ago we fell in love with the children's music he makes with Andrew Peterson. They have made 2 amazing kids albums called slugs and bugs that you can check out at slugsandbugs.com. And now they are starting a third album and here is a chance to partner with them in making it and get a lot of awesome rewards for doing it!

The Filthy Fan

2011-05-25T09:33:00.002-05:00

I’m one of those people who simply has to have a fan on me while I sleep. I get hot and the sound of the fan helps cover up other noises. I’ve had my current bedside fan for probably eight years. Through those years the fan has stayed by my side and stayed on, but it is by no means in the same shape it was when I first bought it.

When I brought that fan home from the store for the first time and turned it on I was impressed. The force of air was just what I was looking for. I hate fans that you can’t really feel, and this was a fan that blasted me with cool air. It had neat bells and whistles too. It oscillated. It could point many directions. It had over ten settings, and even came with a remote control. It was perfect.

Over the years those bells and whistles have slowly stopped ringing and working. The fan no longer oscillates. It only points in one direction. The remote no longer works, and one of its legs is broken. None of that bothered me, because the fan still blew strong for a while. But recently I noticed something. While the fan was still turning strong, I could no longer feel any air hitting me at night. What was the problem? I had allowed the fan to collect 8 years of dust, dirt, and grime on it. And all that dust and dirt was stopping any air from passing through the back, toward the front, and onto me. The fan, other than making noise, had really become useless.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to tackle the job of cleaning that fan. I know most people would just buy another one, but this fan had served me well, and I knew it could continue to do so if it could just get clean. So I spent about an hour one day taking that fan completely apart. It was a big task. And then each and every part I washed and cleaned till that fan was shining. Finally I put all the pieces back together again and hit the on button for the moment of truth. Whoosh! That fan blew as strong if not stronger than the day I first bought it. It still had a broken leg and wouldn’t oscillate, but it was clean and useful once again.

That fan makes me think of Christians. We get saved and are on fire as a new babe in Christ. We effectively serve the Kingdom. Of course we grow old and get broken here and there, but as long as we stay clean we can keep fulfilling our purpose. But we don’t stay clean do we? We let the filth and grime of sin get all over our lives. And sometimes, if we aren’t careful, we forget to let God clean us on a regular basis. So we end up doing nothing for the Kingdom but making noise.

What should you do if you feel like that filthy fan no longer fulfilling your purpose? Put yourselves in the hands of the Great Owner. Invite him to take you a part piece by piece and clean out every single little area of your life. Let him wash you through and through. Leave no corner or crevice of sin out of His reach. When He is done, and puts you back together, my how you will shine and work mightily for His Kingdom once again.

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow… 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me… 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Psalm 51:7-13

The Real Birther Question

2011-04-27T11:03:00.003-05:00

The big news today (as I’m writing this article) was that President Obama finally felt he needed to release his birth certificate to prove he was born here. Why was that so important? Well American Presidents must be American born citizens to hold that office. Some people were vehement about seeing that document while most people just took the President at his word that he was born here.

While that was a big story today, I know of an even more important proof of birth that is needed. Do you know without a shadow of a doubt that you were born a citizen of Heaven? I’m not talking about physical birth, but spiritual birth into the Kingdom of God. Jesus said:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

In other words, to one day live in the Kingdom of God, you have to have been born there. Do you know that you know that you know you were born again? It is the most important thing to have settled in your life. You can have everything you want in life, but if you don’t have Jesus than you don’t really have anything.

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing people get saved at our church lately. There have been salvations in our AWANA, Youth meetings, and on Sunday mornings. God is moving in our church. But has He moved into your life?

I know for most of you I’m preaching to the choir. But I'm sure there are some of you who have never given your life over to the One who offers eternal life. Have you? Does Jesus sit in the throne of your heart? Have you believed that He died for you and was raised again? Have you repented of your sin and asked Him to be in charge of your life? Are you a sheep following the Good Shepherd in His Kingdom pasture?

I want to end with a passage I shared on Easter morning:
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts. Psalm 95:6-8

Eyes for an Early Spring

2011-02-23T14:02:00.002-06:00

This past month our 5 year old Abigail discovered a new holiday – Groundhog Day. I sat her on my lap and showed her Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog. We watched on YouTube as they pulled that weather predicting furball out of the tree to see if he saw his shadow. I explained to her that if he sees his shadow we have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, we have an early spring. She waited with baited breath.

Well most of you know that Phil did not see his shadow – we are getting an early spring! The crowd cheered, but Abigail did not join them. “Ahh man.” You heard her right. Amongst all this nasty ice and snow, my little girl wanted more winter.

Why would anyone want more of this nasty weather we have had? Well in the mind of a child winter is not hard driving, slipping on ice, and bitter cold. Winter is snow men, snow angels, sledding, and hot chocolate. It’s all about perspective. A five year old doesn’t see the world the way we do.

Sometimes we miss out on things when we can’t see others perspectives. I wonder how many of us consider how a visitor in our church sees how we do things there. Do they feel welcome and at home, or do they see things as confusing and closed? When we come to church do we think about that or do we think about how we want things?

And how about a perspective that is even more important than a visitor’s? How about God’s perspective? That’s the one that counts more than any other; in fact, it’s ultimately the only one that counts. We should look at our lives, our church, our thoughts, and those around us considering how our heavenly Father sees those things.

My challenge for the month of March is that every day you would wake up and ask God to give you His perspective that day.

As one popular song says, this should be our prayer:

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

I bet if you make this your daily prayer this month, not only will you spend the month blessing others, it just may end up being an early spring.

From Black Friday to Good Friday

2010-11-30T11:39:00.001-06:00

We said we’d probably never do it. But we finally decided to try it. Amy and I went out for Black Friday shopping this year.

Our only rule was that we weren’t going to go to Wal-Mart, because it is just too crazy there. But when we realized we rather stay up late then wake up early, Wal-Mart became about our only option.

We left Amy’s parents house about 130am in Terre Haute. As we drove down the streets on the north side of town everything seemed dark and dead. Amy warned me it would be crazy with long lines. I laughed it off and pointed out that no one was out this time of night.

The first wake-up call came when we passed Old Navy. The lot was packed like I’ve never seen. Then we looked over and saw insane amounts of people at Toys R Us. I was shocked. We passed Best Buy and there was a line a mile long. Even Kohl’s (which wouldn’t open for another hour and a half) had a long line forming. I was obviously wrong. Amy was right. Big surprise.

We decided we might as well venture into Wal-Mart to see what we found. It was people everywhere. And the line for registers stretched all the way back to the garden center. I have never seen anything like that. People waited in lines for an hour to get on lists for electronic gadgets. People ran into each other and grunted all for saving a few bucks. Many times I heard people say, “Why are we doing this?” I thought the same thing.

That day is called Black Friday because stores hope to go in the black in their profit margin after being in the red. But it makes me think of another dark Friday we call Good Friday, the day where Christ was crucified that we may have life eternal. That black Friday we were all given the greatest gift of all and that following Sunday He rose again! As we think of Jesus being born this month, don’t forget that his birth was only the beginning of a walk toward the cross, a walk he made for you and me.

“Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.” - George Mathhew Adams

I pray underneath all your travels, shopping, and events that you and your family experience the beating Christmas heart that is the gift of Jesus Christ.

The Slow Train

2010-05-25T14:06:00.000-05:00

I watched a BBC news story on television recently about Japan’s slowest train. The land of the rising sun is best known for bullet trains that are insanely fast. But there is one popular train in Japan that actually moves quite slowly. Its top speed is only 12 mph.

The train slowly meanders around mountains and over rivers in some of the highest elevations in Japan. And parts of the track actually have to be rebuilt every year. Many of the train’s bridges are dismantled during the winter so they don’t get broken by an avalanche. Then every summer the workers go through a rigorous task of putting the bridges back together. It is hard and dangerous work. Even once the train gets going again there is constant maintenance that has to be done every single night.

Why all this slow and constant hard work? It’s because the train’s route has one of the most magnificent and breathtaking views in the world. Every corner it takes has views of castles, beautiful waterways, and spectacular peaks. It’s worth slowly moving forward for. It’s worth having to do some things over and over again. It’s worth it all to see those views and share them with others.

As one worker put it, “Sometimes we work to the early hours of the morning. What keeps us going is knowing we’re bringing smiles to the faces of our passengers.”

As a Christian and church member we know we’re in a race. But never forget that sometimes running a race is going to be slow, arduous, and hard work. Sometimes you will have to do things over and over again. Some things like prayer, bible study, and serving others are things we will need to do constantly. It’s hard – but it’s worth it. All that hard work is for a view far more glorious than we can imagine and one worth sharing with the world.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

How Suffering Can Point People to Christ (video)

2010-03-10T15:06:00.000-06:00

I Love You Hot Tub

2010-02-13T00:03:00.001-06:00

My endorsement for 2010 Illinois Primaries

2010-02-01T12:00:00.002-06:00

I am endorsing these folks personally - it has no reflection on my position as pastor of a church or a writer for NewsReal blog.

Governor: Adam Andrzejewski
Lt. Gov.: Jason Plummer
Treasurer: Dan Rutherford (only Rep. running)
Comptroller: William J. Kelly
US Senate: Patrick J. Hughes
15th Congressional: Timothy V. Johnson (only Rep. running)
Senate Dist. 55: Dale A Righter (only Rep. running)
House Dist. 109: Roger L. Eddy (only Rep. running)

The election is tomorrow! Go vote Illinois!

Huckabee's Response to Washington State Shooting Criticism

2009-12-01T16:36:00.001-06:00

Mike Huckabee's response to the police shooting criticism can be found HERE

Huckabee Tops New Rasmussen 2012 Poll

2009-10-20T10:07:00.002-05:00

Huckabee 29%
Romney 24%
Palin 18%
Gingrich 14%
Pawlenty 4%

Here is article from Baptist Press on it:
WASHINGTON (BP)--The last presidential election took place barely 11 months ago, but a new poll shows former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee leading a field of Republican candidates for the 2012 GOP nomination.

The Rasmussen survey of 750 Republican voters conducted Oct. 15 shows Huckabee at 29 percent, Mitt Romney 24 percent, Sarah Palin 18 percent and Newt Gingrich 14 percent. Huckabee also beats Romney and Palin in head-to-head matchups, edging Romney 44-39 percent and Palin 55-35 percent.

Although 2012 is still three years away, campaigning and fundraising for the GOP nomination will begin much sooner. The first debates will take place in 2011, several months after next year's mid-term elections.

Huckabee won eight states during his bid for the 2008 Republican nomination and finished second in delegate count. He's currently the host of his own show on Fox News, "Huckabee," which consistently is the top show in its time slot against other cable news programming.

He was governor of Arkansas for 10 years. Prior to his political career he served as pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Ark., and Beech Street Baptist Church in Texarkana, Ark. He also attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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Compiled by Michael Foust, assistant editor of Baptist Press.

Huckabee Attempts to Follow "Reagan's Path to Victory"

2009-09-30T21:49:00.003-05:00

Link to my American Thinker article that has gotten a lot of attention.

Here is what I wrote:
I've started reading a great book written in 2004 called Reagan's Path to Victory: The Shaping of Ronald Reagan's Vision: Selected Writings. The book examines the strategy Reagan used to win the presidency in 1980. While reading the introduction, it struck me that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has seemingly chosen to duplicate Reagan's plan himself. And it just might be working. This past week he was the clear leader among Republican 2012 presidential hopefuls at the Values Voter Summit.

Huckabee won the straw poll (28.5%) by more than doubling the totals for Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, and Mike Pence (who each garnered about 12% of the votes). Huckabee, who finished second in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, just may be the next Reagan that conservatives have been looking for. He's at least trying to follow Reagan's strategy.

Reagan, like Huckabee, was the governor of a large state who ran for president shortly after finishing up his term of office (Sarah Palin obviously decided to not follow this path). Reagan ran in 1976 as a true conservative against an incumbent Gerald Ford, who was neither a conservative nor a formidable candidate; Ford emerged as the Republican nominee for President but ultimately was defeated by Jimmy Carter, who would go on to distinguish himself as one of the biggest disasters ever to set foot in the Oval Office.

Here's the parallel: In 2008 Huckabee competed against John McCain, who, like Gerald Ford three decades earlier, was neither a conservative nor an effective candidate. And as we know, McCain emerged as the nominee, only to be defeated by Barack Obama in the general election.

Let's examine the strategy Reagan pursued after his 1976 defeat, setting the stage for his successful presidential bid four years later. Then we can determine if Huckabee is duplicating the plan.

After 1976, Reagan knew he needed a platform that would permit him to stay in the public eye and make his views known to the American people leading up to the 1980 election. In 1974 Walter Cronkite had offered him an opportunity to do a bi-weekly commentary segment on CBS, with the stipulation that Reagan's views would be counterbalanced by someone on the left. But Reagan was afraid that he would not have enough control over which topics he could discuss. He didn't just want to be another talking head; he wanted to offer his own commentary to America, and to have total control over the content.

According to Reagan's Path to Victory, two strategy documents that were dated November 4, 1974 "provided an outline and guide for Reagan's post-governorship activities, now two months away." One of those documents advised Reagan to use a nationally syndicated radio program (along with speaking engagements and a newspaper column) to "maintain influence in the Republican Party; strengthen and consolidate leadership as the national conservative spokesman; and enhance [his] foreign affairs credibility."

As we all know, Mike Huckabee, after losing his 2008 presidential bid, looked like he might just become another talking head on other people's shows (like the Hannity and O'Reilly programs). But then Huckabee, like Reagan, chose another path -- one that would give him a forum where he could air his own commentary in any way he saw fit: He created a weekly Fox News television show that was different from the typical shock-jock or "info-tainment" political-battle format. He decided to have a program that was described as a weekly "town hall meeting." If you've seen the show (which is rated #1 in its time slot), then you know Huckabee gives short commentary about his views on things in a folksy sort of way. Then he dialogues with guests of all political persuasions. He also makes speeches and writes columns from time to time, but his television show is his bread and butter. One paragraph in the Reagan book seems to foreshadow exactly what Huckabee is trying to do:

The personal campaign machine that Reagan built and ran from 1975 to 1979 was his pathway to the presidency. His speeches and columns were important and necessary, but his radio commentaries were the driving force. The radio program gave Reagan a national platform that no other politician had at the time.

Reagan had a large audience for his radio show, and, according to Reagan's Path to Victory, he "cast a wide net in looking for sources and subjects of his radio commentaries." Moreover, "Reagan sometimes used his airtime to advocate causes he thought exemplified American values." The same can be said of Huckabee.

Reagan wrote in 1980, "I have had a five-day-a-week radio commentary on more than 300 stations nationwide. I took up virtually every subject mentionable and stated my view on those subjects." And the editors of the Reagan book conclude, "It is doubtful whether he could have become president without them."

It was said of Reagan that he "had reached America long before he accepted the Republican Party's nomination for the presidency on July 17, 1980, and before his November landslide." Huckabee, too, is reaching America with his television show. Will his 2012 evoke memories of Reagan's 1980? Only time will tell.

Huckabee Wins 2012 Straw Poll!!

2009-09-22T11:16:00.001-05:00

As reported in Baptist Press:

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee easily won a straw poll Sept. 19 testing social conservatives' preference for the 2012 presidential race, beating Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty and a field of other candidates at Family Research Council Action's Values Voter Summit.

Huckabee won with 28.5 percent of the vote, more than doubling the percentages by Romney (12.4 percent), Pawlenty (12.2), Palin (12.1) and Mike Pence (11.9). Others receiving votes were Newt Gingrich (6.7 percent), Bobby Jindal (4.7), Rick Santorum (2.5) and Ron Paul (2.2). Just over 5 percent voted "undecided" and 1.7 percent voted "other." Approximately 600 people voted.

Huckabee's win was not a surprise. The former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist minister also won the first Values Voter Summit straw poll in 2007 among on-site voters with 51.26 percent of the vote. But that straw poll was the focus of controversy because it allowed people to vote online, and when including Internet voters, Romney actually edged Huckabee in '07, 27.62 percent to 27.15 percent. This year's poll did not allow online voting.

"We were surprised that the event's turnout was more than double our expectations, clearly showing intensity among social conservatives," FRC Action President Tony Perkins said in a statement. "This was the first time potential conservative candidates could present their vision for change."
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Compiled by Michael Foust, an assistant editor of Baptist Press.

My Momma's Life

2009-09-21T00:23:00.000-05:00

Link to My Political Blogs

2009-09-11T22:46:00.001-05:00

My NewsReal Blog: Click HERE.

Harry Reid Says He is Pro-Life

2009-09-08T13:41:00.001-05:00

The Obama School Speech Controversy

2009-09-08T10:43:00.001-05:00

Here is the best thing I've seen written on the topic of controversy surrounding the Obama school speech: R. Albert Mohler article

Right on Van Jones - Even broken Clocks are right twice a day.

2009-09-06T15:09:00.003-05:00

A couple of days ago I told my wife that the Green Job Czar Van Jones would be gone before the week was out. I told her that he would be asked to leave privately. He would then publicly make it look like he was stepping down so that he wouldn't hurt the bigger message.

Well broken clocks are right twice a day and even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. The controversial Van Jones stepped down today. And here is how the New York Times reported on the reasoning:

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said on Sunday that Jones had resigned because “the agenda of the president is bigger than any one individual” and he did not want the dispute to get in the way of creating green jobs in this economy.

Here is a great blog on the resignation: NewsReal blog

I'm now a contributing blogger.

2009-08-27T11:27:00.003-05:00

I now am a contributing blogger at: http://newsrealblog.com
The point of the blog is to be a check on what is going on on cable media. I was asked to write a Sunday weekly blog and give a Christian viewpoint. Occasionally I will write other blogs for them as well.

Poll numbers out for Obama v. Huckabee in 2012

2009-08-24T12:03:00.000-05:00

2012 Presidential Match-up:
Obama 47%, Huckabee 44% (-3% spread)
Obama 47%, Romney 40% (-7% spread)
Obama 49%, Gingrich 41% (8% spread)
Obama 52%, Palin 38% (-15% spread)

source: Public Policy Polling

Unamerican, racist, astrotuf nazis and their health care.

2009-08-10T13:50:00.002-05:00

I always thought Democrats were the party of free speech. However, now I'm watching the elderly, the handicap, and other passionate Americans argue against a 1,000 page government run health care program, and suddenly the first amendment doesn't look so good to those on the left. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi compared the passionate crowds to Nazis carrying swastikas - although no one has offered any evidence of people carrying such symbols. She also said they weren't grassroots but "AstroTurf" when telling a reporter that those folks shouldn't even be paid attention to. Chris Matthews, the New York Times, and others on the left side of the media are now claiming that much of what you are seeing with these frustrated crowds is just racism and has little to do with health care concerns. And now Pelosi has come out with an op-ed piece saying these folks are just downright "un-american".

Let me respond with a quote from someone that might surprise those on the left:

"I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. And we should stand up and say, 'We are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.'"

Who said that? Hillary Clinton in 2003. And I completely agree with her.

Jesus Loves Her As She Grows

2009-07-30T23:50:00.001-05:00

Responding to the Pro-Choice Argument of Exodus 21

2009-06-08T15:12:00.001-05:00

I have been preaching on Sunday mornings through Exodus. Last week someone anonymously wrote this note to me and put it in the offering plate:

“Exodus 21:22-24. You skipped the part where the unborn are not equal to a human life.”

Since the note was anonymous I have no idea if the person writing it really believed that Exodus 21 should be used for a pro-choice argument – or if they just wanted to know a defense to such an argument. (By the way, that’s one of the reason I don’t like anonymous notes – it’s much better if I can just talk to the person about what they wrote.) Since I have no way of responding to the note writer directly, I decided I would just put my response out in public and hope the person who inquired about it will read it.

Let’s take a look at the passage in question:

22 "If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges {decide.} 23 "But if there is {any further} injury, then you shall appoint {as a penalty} life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Exodus 21:22-24 (NASB)

Most people never take much note of this passage, because most modern translators use the phrase “gives birth prematurely”. That is a poor translation – a better one would use the word miscarriage. Now there is some precedent for the bad translation – but it is still a bad translation. All the old translations and the church fathers see this Hebrew phrase as a miscarriage until John Calvin. Calvin was the only one for a long time who translated it as a premature birth. However, in 1973 there was a change. Conservatives allowed Roe v. Wade to improperly influence their translations. The editors were afraid people would use this passage to back up the pro-choice argument. Literally in Hebrew it says “her children come out.” But that always meant death in ancient Hebrew. So what do we do with this passage? The worst thing to do is mistranslate it. Our job is to honestly deal with it.

Here is a better translation of verse 21:

“When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman's husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine.” NRSV

The passage says if a woman is hit in a fight and the fetus dies and the woman lives – the punishment is to pay a fine. However, if the woman dies then the crime calls for capital punishment. So pro-choice people say the Bible doesn’t see the fetus as full life, because the level of justice is different for a fetus than it is for an adult woman. The argument is difference in punishments means difference in personhood.

The way to respond to that argument is to find out if their assumption is correct. In ancient times did a difference in punishment mean a difference in personhood? It can help us to look at other ancient cultures’ laws at the time.

Let’s first go to the famous Code of Hammurabi. They have a similar law. Their laws were based on three levels of status – gentleman, temple dependent (commoner), slave.
If you hit the wife of a gentleman and there was a miscarriage you had to pay them 10 shekels for fetus. If the woman died then the daughter of man who did it was to be killed. If you hit the wife of a commoner you had to pay 5 shekels for fetus. If the woman died then you had to pay 30 shekels of silver.
Now if a difference in punishment meant a difference in personhood than the wife of a commoner was not a human and the wife of a gentleman was. However, a woman of any economical level is obviously a human being but she had a different legal status compared to men or depending on her status in society.

Now let’s take a look at ancient Assyrian law. If you hit the wife of a gentleman and his wife miscarried than you had to pay two talents and 30 mina of lead for the fetus. You also were to be beaten with a stick 50 times and perform the labor of king for one month. Another Assyrian law said if you punch my pregnant wife and kill her fetus then I get to punch your pregnant wife and kill her fetus.

Yet another Assyrian law said that if you punched a pregnant prostitute and killed the fetus then the man who did it would be killed! So the pro-choice logic would mean that only the fetus of a prostitute is a real human. Now why would you only die for killing a prostitute’s fetus and not a gentleman’s? Was it because only the fetus of a prostitute was a human and other fetuses weren’t? Of course not. The law was meant to protect babies from men who impregnated a prostitute. Prostitutes needed far more protection then a gentleman’s wife as their babies would be much more endangered.

It should be obvious to you by now that in ancient times differences in punishment had nothing to do with personhood. Even in our country today, adults get greater punishment than minors for the same act. It’s not because minors are less human than adults. Laws deal with your legal status – not personhood. That is why shooting a professor is not the same thing as shooting a policeman. Is a policeman more a human than a professor? Of course not, but a policeman has a different legal status than a professor.

Besides, the pro-choice argument here is further weakened by the fact that the Exodus passage has nothing to do with abortion. The legal context of Exodus 21:22 is not an abortion, because the death of the fetus is accidental. It is negligent manslaughter. It isn’t even similar to an abortion. 2000 years ago the famous Jewish historian Josephus would quote this verse and say Jews don’t ever do abortions, because of the 6th commandment. In other words – to abort a baby is murder. So they didn’t do it. This was the view of the ancient Rabbis too. Another reason they don’t abort is because the first command in Scripture is to be fruitful and multiply.

“The law forbids to abort a baby or the woman will be considered a murderer.” – Josephus

Actually ancient Assyrian law believed abortion was murder too. If a woman was convicted for aborting her baby she was impaled on stakes and not buried as a symbol of her disgrace. If she died in the abortion procedure she would still be impaled on stakes and not buried. Abortion hurt the growth of the King’s army, so later even the Romans had laws against abortion.

The Jews of ancient times and Christians ever since have recognized the fetus as human life. We accept Psalm 139:13-16 which says, “13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.”

Legal status and personhood are completely different things. Ancient cultures did have a different legal status for a fetus than an adult – but they were still considered a person. I hope one day our laws will also recognize the fetus as a human who is “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

(Special thanks to Dr. Russell Fuller who provided the vast majority of this information to me.)

Finding Hope in Hopeless Situations

2009-05-26T14:36:00.001-05:00

In a recent sermon I briefly mentioned four pointers about having hope in a hopeless situation. I felt like I needed to address such a big topic here. Grab your Bibles for this one – because the guidance on the topic is given to us in Exodus 14 when Moses and Israel face the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. They have no place to go. Death and disaster seem certain.

Many of us get to moments where death and disaster seem certain. We get into a place of hopelessness and don’t know how to hope when it hurts. I’ve been there this past year in a couple of ways myself. I’ve watched my mom fight terminal cancer where at one point she was probably within hours of dying. My wife Amy has experienced two miscarriages, and we wait and wait – hoping God gives us another child. Others of you have lost family to death or feel like you are losing them to disease. Many have lost what were considered reliable jobs in this unreliable economy. Some of you have marriage problems, and it can be hard to see any relief. All of us have either just come out of a hopeless feeling situation, are in one, or about to go into one. So how do you keep hope in such moments?

1. Realize the hopeless situation was God’s plan. (verses 1-4)
God told Moses that they were trapped in their situation, because God wanted to make Himself known to Israel, Egypt, and the world. What Pharaoh meant for evil – God meant for good. Reminds me of Joseph when he told his brothers you meant it for evil but God meant it for good. God has a purpose for every trial. It should give us hope knowing that God knows right where you are at – and has a perfect plan. He is going to make Himself known through your trial.
Recently many of you have prayed for a friend of mine. A young couple stopped watching their 10 month old son for a second and then he drank lamp oil. Death seemed certain. Now the boy is out of the hospital and doing great! And his parents – they found Christ in the process. God had a purpose for the pain.

2. Silence words of doubt and speak in faith what you believe God will do. (13-14)
Moses told the Israelites that God will fight for them in their SILENCE. He told them to quiet their doubtful talk and speak what God will do. We’ve been reading Psalms on Wednesday nights. In dozens of Psalms David starts out hopeless wondering why God was allowing evil – but he always ends the Psalm in faith and hope. He speaks what He knows God will do before He does it. That’s faith! And when you have a hopeless situation – speak what you know God will do and silence the talk of doubts and fear.

3. God expects you to move forward in faith at times of fear. (15-18)
God told Moses to send the people forward toward the water – BEFORE the water had been moved away into a wall. When fear hits – we must move forward in our faith. When disaster strikes we must never lose our trust in our faithful God.

4. If you hope – God will fight for you. (14,19-27)
In these verses we see how God’s spirit guarded the Israelites from the Egyptians, raised up the water so they could cross on dry line, confused the armies of the Egyptians, and then destroyed that army with the waters crushing down on them. God fought the battle for them. And if we would have unshaking faith and hope – God will fight for us.

Never lose hope no matter how hopeless the situation seems – for we have a God who is greater than all our problems and loves us more than we could ever imagine.

Huckabee Urges Pro-Life Efforts (Baptist Press)

2009-05-19T10:29:00.001-05:00

Q&A: Huckabee urges pro-life efforts

Posted on May 18, 2009 | by Baptist Press Staff

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a question-and-answer session with former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential contender Mike Huckabee about the importance of continued involvement in the pro-life cause.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Q. What are the dangers you see if President Obama follows through with his campaign promise to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act?

Huckabee: I think there are two problems. First, FOCA would override the will of the people as clearly expressed through their state legislatures -- the people closest to the issues. That's a problem. Secondly, I think it would be a violation of the Tenth Amendment. There is nothing in the federal constitution that gives the federal government the power to regulate this issue. One of the reasons I support a constitutional amendment to protect human life is that it would settle it in all states. But in the meantime states still have -- and at this point should have -- the right to put restrictions on the taking of an innocent unborn human life.

Q. What do the Washington "tea leaves" say Obama will likely do with issues like homosexual marriage and cloning?

Huckabee: I think the "tea leaves" say he'll push as radical a left-wing agenda as he can get away with. He's already indicated that. He was so quick to push the same-sex (marriage) rights agenda that he put it on his website within five minutes of being sworn into office. I was shocked by that. Quite frankly, I didn't believe it. A friend of mine had e-mailed me and said, "Have you looked at the White House website?" and told me that this was, you know, a new agenda for gay-lesbian-transgender issues. I thought, "No, it is just one of those Internet things." I went to the site and, sure enough, there it was in just as clear language as it could be.

The same thing happened with the reversal of the ban on embryonic stem cell (cloning) research. This issue has been so completely misunderstood. President Bush spent more money on stem cell research than had ever been spent before, billions more. But the one area that was not federally funded was embryonic stem cell research and, unfortunately, Obama has clouded things and made it as if it was a scientific issue. Federally funding embryonic stem cell research is purely a politically driven issue by the president. Science has never been restricted -- even on embryonic stem cells. It was simply that the federal government wasn't going to use taxpayer money to experiment with human embryos -- which by the way, scientifically is not proven to be any more effective than adult stem cells that may be obtained in other ways.

Q. With Obama moving so quickly on these moral issues, some pro-life supporters could become discouraged and give up. How would you address those who are feeling discouraged?

Huckabee: Discouragement is a legitimate reaction to seeing hard work being, in essence, pushed aside. But it ought to motivate us. Discouragement that leads to a greater heightened awareness and activity is good. If discouragement makes us roll over and quit, that's not good. I don't think any believer could ever justify sort of just resigning oneself to an immoral direction. That to me is the most un-Christian approach we could ever take. Just to say, "Well it looks like it's just going south on us; we give up." That shows a lack of faith in God's ability to work miracles. It denies even our calling to be "salt and light." So the darker things get and the more decadent they get is really a call for the "salt" to be salt and the "light" to be light. Discouragement says that we need to back off, but our faith demands that we step up.

Q. So you would encourage Southern Baptists to be actively involved in the formulation of public policy?

Huckabee: I'd say, "Get loud. Get loud and do it quick." And the reason I say that is because, as you see, these changes are being foisted upon us and they are going to have a big impact. For example, consider both Catholic and even Baptist hospitals that don't provide abortions. Under some proposed legislation, they would either be required to provide abortions or no longer be able to take Medicare or Medicaid or any government funding. What it essentially does is shut them completely out of business.

Q. The archbishop of St. Petersburg, Fla., has said that if FOCA becomes the law of the land, Catholic hospitals in St. Petersburg will defy it and will not do abortions. At what point does civil disobedience become an option that Christians may have to seriously pray about and consider?

Huckabee: I think at the point of when you are saving human life, it is very definitely an option that has to be exercised. There are some things, for example, how much is a speeding ticket? I don't think we can exercise civil disobedience over that because there is no moral issue in question that can be cut and dried. But when you're talking about the existence of a human being and all that it represents to those of us who are people of faith, yeah, I think that in the same way that there were people who conscientiously objected to slavery that same mindset is that we have to absolutely object to the idea of human ownership of another human.

Q. Recently a state law enforcement agency, the Missouri Information Analysis Center, issued a report that seemed to target people who are pro-life, linking them to radical elements within the nation's militia movement. Many Missourians fear an attack on their First Amendment rights. In general, what do you make of such developments?

Huckabee: I'd want to see that (report) to believe that that is actually happening in America -- that a person who values, respects and cherishes life is dangerous. I would think the person to be afraid of is the person who thinks if anyone is in their way, economically or socially, then they have a right to terminate them. Because if they think they can do it to the unborn child, there will come a day they'll think they can do it to anyone.
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This article first appeared in The Pathway (mbcpathway.com), newsjournal of the Missouri Baptist Convention.

The Audacity of Advertising Abortion

2009-05-14T11:07:00.006-05:00

A few days ago I saw this picture posted by Dr. Al Mohler. He came across this truck bed while eating at a McDonalds one day. Everyone who sees it can't help but laugh at those poor cows. Right on the truck that is hauling them it says to eat beef - so cows like this will be slaughtered for your satisfaction. That's bold advertising by the beef folks of Kentucky.

Another group that profits off of death has been doing bold advertising lately. That ad reminded me of them - Planned Parenthood. Last Christmas season, right around the time that it had been revealed Planned Parenthood of Indiana was covering up rape and advising minors how to get secret abortions, PP of Indiana did an ad campaign for Christmas gift certificates. Yes, you could celebrate the birth of Jesus by his unmarried teen mother by buying unmarried teen mothers gift certificates to not have births. Talk about bold advertising.

Well Planned Parenthood wasn't done with bold ideas for abortion advertising. Over the last month on the build up to Mother's Day, Planned Parenthood did an email blitz campaign featuring Judy Blume proclaiming that the perfect thing to do on Mother's Day is to give money to Planned Parenthood. Now there's some more bold advertising. The perfect way to celebrate Mother's Day is to help fund women avoiding motherhood. That's like celebrating the 4th of July by burning a flag. That's like celebrating Martin Luther King day by giving to a white supremacy organization. That's like celebrating your anniversary by getting a divorce. It is like all those things but far worse. Why? Because giving to Planned Parenthood for any reason means your dollars go to the destruction of human life. Your money goes into the coffers of those who profit from killing small babies in the wombs of mothers.

Planned Parenthood may have no limit to their disgusting ad campaigns. My hope is that such audacity will lead to people realizing just how sick and warped an organization Planned Parenthood is. Maybe for their next ad they will copy the idea of the beef ad above - it would probably look something like the picture below. Then maybe more will see Planned Parenthood for who they really are.

The Robin's Nest and Heaven Above

2009-04-28T09:42:00.001-05:00

Its springtime and I’ve had the pleasure of watching a momma Robin (that Abigail has named Sissy) build a nest, lay some eggs, and sit on them. I have my own personal National Geographic on my office window ledge. Everyday I get to watch all of this unfold. Observing all of this action has led me to read up on just what is going on. There are a lot of similarities with the Robins and us – but one big difference.
Momma Robin (Sissy) protects her eggs at all cost. She fights off predators. She completely covers them in a storm. She wants to make sure they become all they are meant to be. Christ is like a mother bird to us. He fights off Satan’s attacks. He covers us in the storms and trials of life. He wants us to become all we are meant to be.
When the eggs hatch the baby robins will need constant feeding. In fact, before they leave the nest, the birds are fed 35-40 times a day. They need all that nourishment to survive and thrive. Without proper eating they will look sickly and eventually die. God teaches us we need the constant nourishment of His word to survive and thrive too. Otherwise we won’t look like a Christ follower and not knowing His ways can even lead to death.
With all these commonalities there is a major difference. The goal of the Momma Robin is to prepare a nest, protect the eggs, and feed them, so they can go off on their own and live independently. One day all that will be on my window sill is an empty nest. But Christ has a completely different goal in mind. He is at the right hand of the Father preparing us a home right now. He’s building us a perfect nest. Not so one day we can leave it and fly off on our own. He does it so that one day we’ll fly off to join with Him. He is not shaping me and you for independence. He’s conforming us to Himself. Our goal of this journey is not to learn to stand alone one day. Our goal of this journey is to learn to lean completely on Him.

2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:2-3

Morning after Pill and the Dangers of Subtle Media Bias

2009-04-23T09:44:00.003-05:00

Want an example of clear media bias that they try to hide (maybe even from themselves) through word choices? Here ya go:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_he_me/us_morning_after_pill

Now this story is an AP story by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, and the AP is supposed to be a balanced news agency. The article is about 17-year-olds now being allowed to use the "morning-after" pill known as Plan B. Here's the first paragraph:

"Women's groups cheered the government's decision to allow 17-year-olds to buy the "morning-after" emergency contraceptive without a doctor's prescription, but conservatives denounced it as a blow to parental supervision of teens."

Who are the people for the pill? "Women's groups." Not liberals or leftists or even progressive women's groups. Just women's groups.
Who is against the pill? "Conservatives." Not concerned people or other women's groups or even conservative women's groups. In fact, every time the article quotes opposition, the people are always labeled "conservatives".

Later the article says, "Conservatives said politics drove the decision.
"Parents should be furious at the FDA's complete disregard of parental rights and the safety of minors," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America."

Did you catch that? The AP writer quotes a woman's group that happens to be conservative, but their not labeled a "woman's group". They don't represent women - they only represent "conservatives".

The author is hiding (though I don't know if he even is aware of it) his own pro-choice bias. He is portraying that the pro-choice argument is what women want and the pro-life argument is only what conservatives want. Of course pro-choice people's foundational argument is that abortion is about the rights of women. And that conservatives are therefore anti-women. Yet pro-life people say it has nothing to do with women's rights, but that abortion kills human lives. The AP writer has already sided with the pro-choice argument by picking his labels.

There are other bias problems with the article as well and it is sad that it comes from an AP account. AP stories are picked up by news agencies all over the world and reprinted and retold as fact. There is a lot of power to change the hearts and minds of people on an issue without them even realizing. It is subtle bias - and that makes it all the more dangerous.

Oz and Gore Give a Convenient Truth

2009-04-15T10:41:00.004-05:00

In the last few months I have been so frustrated that people still were pushing for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR)(which kills embryos for medical research) after recent discoveries have shown induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS)ends the need for ESCR. The great thing about iPS is that it can use a person's own skin cells and change them into having the same abilities the embryonic stem cells gave but without ethical issues and such a high risk of cancer. Sadly, people like Michael J. Fox and other ESCR fans have appeared to ignore this new research. And then President Obama changed the law not allowing government funded ESCR with an Executive Order to allow our government to fund the killing of embryos for medical research. To make matters worse, he took money from research that had results and pointed it to ESCR. The policy is the worst kind of stewardship and anti-Science while pretending to be a return to good science.

Well the tide is turning. A couple of weeks ago Oprah's famous Dr. Oz said to her, Michael J. Fox (who was there), and the millions watching:
"The stem cell debate is dead, and I'll tell you why. The problem with embryonic stem cells is that embryonic stem cells come from embryos -- like all of us were made from embryos -- and those cells can become any cell in the body, but it's very hard to control them, and so they can become cancer..."In the last year, we've made 10 years of advancement" [in iPS research], Oz said. "Think about that. We went places we never thought we would go."

"Here's what the deal is," he said, describing the iPS procedure to Fox, "I can take a little bit of your skin, take those cells, get them to go back in time so they're like they were when you were first made, and then they will start to make that dopamine, and I think those cells, because they won't be as prone to cancer -- and because they're your genes -- will be the ones that are ultimately used to cure Parkinson's.

"And no one can tell how fast we can do this," Oz said, "but I've talked to a lot of experts in this field, and I think we're single-digit years away from making a big impact in lives of Parkinson's disease [patients] but also diabetics, heart attack victims."

Oprah and Dr. Oz have a ton of pull in our culture. So that was great news. And it just got better. Al Gore - who is no friend of conservatives - has come around on the issue too, and he's putting his money where his mouth is. Gore announced April 14 his involvement in a venture reportedly worth $20 million that will boost research on iPS.

"Stem cell research holds great promise for the creation of new therapies that could revolutionize the treatment of disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and muscular dystrophy," Gore said in a statement. "The discovery that iPS cell technology brings, that 'stem cell-like' cells can be generated from a small amount of human skin rather than from embryos, opens a new door for stem cell research and its application to therapeutic discovery."

"I just think it's a very important breakthrough that is filled with promise and hope," Gore told USA Today. "I think this is one of those good news stories that comes along every once in a while."

In the news release, Gore said the collaboration is "a critical step" in "turning stem cell research into therapeutic realities sooner."

The tide has turned. Even with the horrible decision by President Obama to fund deadly ESCR and take funding away from more promising and uncontroversial research. It appears good science and fair minds just may win out - and lives will be saved!

How to Criticize Your Pastor

2009-03-24T11:13:00.002-05:00

One of the most infamous things any pastor has to deal with is handling criticisms and complaints. Though only a pastor for a short time, I have had my fair share of them. I’m often asked by church members and others what I think about criticism. So I thought I’d write to you my feelings on criticizing a pastor.

Let me first make it clear that I believe I need to hear concerns and healthy criticisms. God wants me to get better each day as a pastor, and I cannot do that without guidance from others. I welcome criticism and concerns shared in a biblical way. I would be a prideful fool if I didn’t. Hopefully your pastor feels the same way.

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 15:32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

Proverbs 17:10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.

Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Proverbs 29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

Clearly, the Bible teaches that pastors need to listen (as we all do) to biblical reproof.
So that begs the question – What is biblical reproof or criticism?

4 Keys to Healthy and Biblical Criticism:
1. PRAY
Spend serious time in prayer about a subject before criticizing. Time alone can protect you from simply being rash and reactionary. Plus, God might change your thinking or show you some things you need to work on. As one pastor said, “It's seems like people are slow to confront sin, but quick to confront their pastor.”
However, if you pray and God has given you peace about confronting, then pray for wisdom on how to criticize in a gracious way.

2. Follow God’s plan if it involves sin.
As another pastor summarized, “In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus revealed a four-step strategy for correcting people: (1) talk to them privately, (2) if they don’t listen, talk to them again with the help of an objective negotiator, (3) if they don’t listen again, bring the matter before the elders, and (4) if they still don’t listen, clearly mark the boundaries of right and wrong, outline the consequences of behaving wrongly, and enforce those consequences even if it means removing them from fellowship.”

If you know for a fact that your pastor is involved in some unconfessed sin then I desperately hope you will follow this pattern. Pastors need to be seeking holiness to be an effective pastor. Just make sure you follow this biblical pattern. You don’t gossip about it, talk to others about it first, assume the worst, etc. You follow the pattern that God has given us.

3. Approach in humility and not anger.
Many people criticize a pastor or anyone else simply out of anger. That only is not helpful, but it is in fact sinful.
As one writer put it, “Work through your anger before the Lord, not in the pastor's office or in a scathing letter. Sarcasm may make you feel clever, but it is never constructive. Hang on to that letter or e-mail for at least 24 hours—a week is even better—before you send it. "The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God" (Jas. 1:20, NASB).”

4. Do not criticize anonymously.
I know of only one exception to the rule: if doing a small group annual review of the pastor - that may need to be anonymous. But in every other situation, it is not helpful to be anonymous.

Do not leave unsigned notes to your pastor telling him how you feel about something. It is unfair to him as he has no chance to talk to you about the situation. If you choose to go to a Deacon/Elder to criticize something the pastor has done, tell that person he is free to tell the pastor your name. Often people feel like they can be crueler when hidden under a cloak of anonymity. That is simply not Christian, and I know of nothing in Scripture that allows for anonymous criticism or confronting. In fact, Matthew 18:15 says, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” It is simply not fair to the pastor and is often sinful in that the criticizer is acting in anger. The apostle Paul didn’t criticize Peter anonymously when Peter was in the wrong. “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” Galatians 2:11. If you have anonymously criticized in the past – I am not condemning you, I am simply asking you to follow God’s word and change.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:25-27

If you are angry or upset with your pastor about something, the biblical example is to go to him truthfully, graciously, and humbly. If he is a good pastor and you are being truthful, gracious, and humble; he will listen to you and discuss it with you. And if he is in the wrong and following Christ then he will change with the help of God.

Grace to you,
Pastor Paul

P.S.
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19

Attempting to Make Good Faith Argument for Bad Science: Obama cites his faith as reason for tax payer funding of killing embryos!

2009-03-09T11:09:00.006-05:00

Although recent scientific discoveries and research have shown embryonic stem cell research is no longer needed for pluripotent cells - Obama has still decided that our tax dollars will now be used to kill human life for medical research! The media is portraying Obama's overturning of Bush policy as science winning out over religious morality. However, Obama's new policy is not pro-science, it is ignoring science. ESCR has a 0% success rate in medical research but a 100% kill rate. In these economic times wouldn't good stewardship mean sending this research money to stem cell research that has already proven successful? Isn't that common sense? We could help the greatest number of people by funding what works instead of putting our money down a black hole of death.

And to make matters worse - President Obama said he is changing the law because of his faith! "Rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said. "In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." He is claiming that his faith in Christ has led him to fund death of human life for medical research. I'm not sure that he understands what Christ stands for:
36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Matthew 9:36-37

Instead of welcoming children into the world we are now going to use them for medical research. What does that have to with being a Christ follower? I am deeply offended that President Obama would claim faith as what spurs him on to such a horrible decision of death. It was despicable political maneuvering to try to make an issue of bad science be accepted by people of good faith.

I am so so saddened by the "change" that has come.

When the Young Die

2009-03-05T12:39:00.003-06:00

Last week I had to go to a funeral visitation of a girl that I graduated high school with - Sara McCool. We weren't close but we shared close friends. I waited in line for over an hour as hundreds showed up for her visitation. Sara left a great impact on a lot of people's lives. However,when anyone young dies it tends to have a large impact on people, because it reminds us of our own mortality and how man does not know his own time. Being there reminded me of a blog I wrote 2 years ago about the death of another young Terre Haute South grad. Below is that blog - written Jan. 28, 2007:

It was so sad today to find out about a fellow Terre Haute South grad who had gone to Ball State this year passing away. Travis Smith who was a freshman golfer this year at Ball State passed away in a car accident this weekend. I read about it and heard about it while visiting Terre Haute this weekend.

I did not know Travis though I know a lot of people connected to him and his family. I thought I would see what his facebook page was like now. I was surprised to see that dozens of people have already posted messages to Travis on his wall saying how much they will miss him and talking about memories. Also, it was interesting to read how a majority of people mentioned Heaven and longing to be there. It really brought to mind how life is so short and the importance of eternity in the hereafter.

When someone who is young dies we can't help but think of our mortality. And most of us believe in Heaven and hope to go there. Person after person that wrote on his wall talked about Heaven and wanting to be there to see him one day. I am so glad that God has placed that truth in our hearts. Yes there is a heaven and yes we should long to go there when we die. And thankfully God has provided a way. In fact, God gave us a way we can know without a shadow of a doubt we are going there.

God sent His own son to make a way. You see all of us sin and mess up. We all rebel against God. And the problem for us is that God and Heaven are perfect. And the imperfect cannot exist with the perfect. And therefore none of us deserve Heaven or can be allowed there without someone taking away our imperfection. And that is why God sent His perfect son. His perfect son Jesus did not come to just teach or give a philosophy. He came as a payment and sacrifice. Jesus volunteered His perfection to us and He took our sin. So if we accept the payment of Jesus' death for us - He gets our sin and we get His perfection and can therefore enter Heaven when we die. That is why Jesus had to die. Because sin demands death. So since he took mine and your sin - He had to die for it. And then He went even further by proving His perfection and His deity by coming to life three days later.

It is my prayer that all those touched by Travis' death or who simply come across this note will realize this truth. Heaven awaits you. And the path there is God's gift of His son Jesus. The Bible says if you believe Jesus paid it all for you and that He was raised to life. And if you make Him your Lord/Leader then you WILL ETERNAL LIFE! It is truly the good news. If you have any questions about this I'd love to talk to you. Shoot me a message.

Making Sense of Turning the Other Cheek

2009-03-03T15:18:00.003-06:00

Ever been hurt by someone real bad? Ever been taken advantage of? Ever have massive amounts of injustice poured out on you? What should you do about it? Fight back? Make sure what goes around comes around? Demand justice? Jesus had a different (and some might say crazy) idea:

38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:38-41, 44

What is that all about? It makes no earthly sense that if someone were to hit you that you would actually turn the other cheek to be hit again. It makes no logical sense that if you get sued for a thousand bucks - you go ahead and give them two. I cannot even fathom being physically dragged a mile and then tell the offender, "Hey, I think I'll go another mile with you."

Where is the justice? I want justice in such situations. We all do. So what is Jesus getting at by telling us these things? What is the good of repaying evil with good? What is the advantage of showing grace when others are stepping on you? It can't be simply to win someone over. Most people stepping on you don't care if you are yelling ouch or saying I forgive you. Most people robbing from you will be happy for you to give them more than what they have taken. So what is the purpose of not seeking justice when the situation demands it?

I think the answer is found in Romans 12:14-21
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse... 16 Live in harmony with one another...17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

A church sign I read recently said, "Love your enemies. It really messes with their heads." That is a funny reason to repay evil with good - but that isn't the main reason according to Paul. Why repay evil with good? Why not take revenge? Why not seek justice when you have been harmed? Paul tells us why here in Romans. If you don't seek revenge - then God will take it upon Himself to avenge you. If you don't repay evil with evil then God Himself will actually pour out justice and wrath on the person who did evil to you!

Why is it so great to have God be my avenger instead of me getting justice served myself? Because God will do it way better than I ever could! Believe me, God's way of carrying out justice is far greater than my cheap attempt at justice. God's vengeance is far more affective than my pathetic attempt at revenge. If you let Him make things right - they will be made right. And besides, as one person told me when we talked over this issue, you'll feel a lot better about yourself. Your revenge will end up making you feel sick. God's vengeance will help you feel rightfully restored.

Over and over again in the Psalms the writers asked God why He would allow evil to win the day.
"O Lord, the God who avenges, O God who avenges, shine forth. 2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve. 3 How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked be jubilant?" Psalm 94:1-3

But over and over again the Psalmists realized and trusted that God would have justice served.
"22 But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. 23 He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the Lord our God will destroy them." Psalm 94:22-23

Let me tell you something vital you may have never considered. When you repay evil with evil - that is the only justice you will ever get on that issue. If you get the revenge - than God will not avenge. In other words, every time you are wronged you have a choice. You can either fight back, feel bitter, and hurt the other person. Or you can respond with grace and have God bring forth true justice. It's a choice. That's why Paul commands, "Leave room for God's wrath." If you try to get your own paybacks then you have left no room for the wrath of God. You can have your revenge or God's vengeance. You can have your angry response or His awesome retribution. You have to choose, because you cannot have both.

The idea is parallel in Scripture to Jesus' teaching on rewards. Jesus said if you boast in your good works - you got the only reward you'll ever get. But if you do good works behind the scenes - your reward will be great in Heaven. You choose. It is the exact same principle. When it comes to doing good, you can get your own cheap reward or receive God's unimaginable rewards. And when it comes to seeking justice - you can have your paybacks or His perfect justice. You can have one or the other - never both.

Now Jesus' words in Matthew 5 make sense. Next time you get slapped - do something crazy. Turn the other cheek and leave room for God's wrath. Justice will be served, because you made the right choice. It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it - and best of all, you will honor God!

Let it snow!

2009-02-25T10:12:00.000-06:00

I wrote this late in January for the monthly church newsletter article I write:

Outside there sits ten inches of snow. The most we’ve seen in this area for about 15 years. Most people don’t like it or are annoyed by it. I, of course, love it. I’m always a kid at heart. However, no matter what you feel about snow – there are lessons in it.
You don’t think about snow when it comes to Bible times, however, there are at least 20 cases where the Bible speaks of snow in various ways. It is used multiple times to talk about the whiteness of someone’s leprosy, it is used to talk about how God makes it snow and we don’t see how He does it, and snow is also used to talk about how God refreshes us or the land. However, my favorite use of snow is that of God making us holy.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

When you look out on that snow think about something other than having to shovel it or dig out of it. Think – God makes me white as snow. Now don’t think about the snow that has been driven on or dirtied up by salt and dirt. That’s not the kind of snow that Christ has washed over you with. It’s that new and fresh snow, the kind that has been untouched. That’s what you look like in Christ!
You might say, “Well Pastor, I and other people have already walked all over my snow. I’ve already had the salt and dirt of sin and mistakes make my snow melt away or look ugly.” Here is the great thing about Christ – the moment you repent and call on Him the newest and freshest snow covers you once again. All you need to do is pray this prayer of David: "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7

Sometimes a Pastor has to brag on his church!

2009-02-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

Out of 1100 churches in our state convention, in all of 2008, our church was 95th in the state in giving to the Cooperative Program, 69th in the state in giving to the Annie Armstrong offering for North American missions, 56th in the state for giving to the Lottie Moon international missions offering, and 75th in the state for the State Missions Offering! I am so proud to be the pastor of Marshall Baptist Church! Only 1 other church in our association (Mattoon First Southern) made it into the top 100 in all four categories!

In our local association of 18 churches: We are 3rd in Cooperative program giving, 2nd in Annie Armstrong (just barely), first in Lottie Moon giving, and 3rd in our Illinois Missions state offering!

Those numbers don't meant to infer that it's a contest. But it is a good measuring stick to see how well Marshall Baptist church is giving! God will bless our church as we continue to grow as givers and stewards of His money. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

What is exciting is that all 4 areas of giving are about missions. They do not directly help us grow in numbers, pad my salary, or refurbish anything in the church building - yet the church gave. They gave simply out of wanting to see the Acts 1:8 challenge met to reach people locally, in our state, nationally, and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Update: I just found out we are 45th in Illinois in giving to the Baptist Children's Home and Family Services. This offering supports children in need of care and/or adoption. They also are involved with Angel's Cove which houses teen mothers who often give their children up for adoption.

Letter from Huckabee on our new President

2009-01-20T12:31:00.000-06:00

As of this afternoon, we have a new President. I had hoped that the 44th President would be a guy named Huckabee, but that didn’t happen. I don’t lament the results of the election, I celebrate the process of our great Republic that gives us the privilege and responsibility of voting and choosing our leaders.

I have stated repeatedly that I will pray for the new President in the same way that I would have desired for my fellow citizens to pray for me had I been successful.

I know that some, even on this blog, have been hesitant to commit to pray for and support the new President. I believe that it is my Christian duty to respect the office, to honor the process that led to the selection of the President, and to seek to put my country and its best interest above that of my party or even myself. I might find myself in disagreement in some of the policies that President Obama puts forth, but I will express my disagreement in the spirit of respect and civility that I wish had met President Bush when his critics disagreed with him.

Today, I am above all an American. A proud one. Proud that we have transitioned power without soldiers, bayonets, or bloodshed. I celebrate America. Now, the task is to stand more firm than ever in the convictions that life is precious and is the basis of liberty. I will work to elect good men and women to help shape this nation. It will be a long journey. I hope you’re ready to join me.

Prayerfully,
Mike Huckabee

From Brokenness to being Rebuilt. Holiness is Happiness.

2009-01-19T10:32:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine wrote a blog where she quoted an article that she really liked. The article had a lot of good points but it falls into some classic blunders that so many people in their passion for Christ fall into. Below I will show you the article and then put my response to it.

The article:

"Our generation has been programmed to pursue happiness, wholeness, good feeling about ourselves, positive self-image, affirmation, and cures for our hurt feelings and damaged psyches. But God is not interested in these ends as we are. He is more committed to making us holy than making us happy. And there is only one pathway to holiness--one road to genuine revival--and that is the pathway of humility or brokenness.

Brokenness is not a feeling; rather, it is a choice, an act of the will. It is not primarily a one-time experience or crisis; rather, it is an ongoing, continual lifestyle. Brokenness is a lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and life, as He sees it. It is a lifestyle of unconditional, absolute surrender of my will to the will of God--a heart attitude that says, "yes Lord," to whatever God says.

Brokenness means the shattering of my self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord Jesus may be released through me. Brokenness is my response of humility and obedience to the conviction of the Word and the Spirit of God. And as the conviction is continuous, so must the brokenness be continuous."

My response:

Brokenness is often misunderstood by well meaning, passionate Christians. Brokenness is good but then we should move on to be being rebuilt by Christ.

The article said, "Our generation has been programmed to pursue happiness, wholeness, good feeling about ourselves, positive self-image, affirmation, and cures for our hurt feelings and damaged psyches. But God is not interested in these ends as we are."

I disagree. After God breaks us of our own selves apart from Him, He rebuilds us in Him. He shows us that we should seek "happiness, wholeness, good feelings about ourselves, a positive self-image, affirmation, and cures for our hurt feelings and damaged psyches" in Him alone! He wants us to be happy and whole in Him. He wants us to know who we are in Christ and have a positive self-image based on that! He wants us to affirm who we are in Christ. And He definitely wants to heal our hurts and damages. The article says God wants more to make us holy than happy. I believe the scriptures teach God seeks to show us that happiness comes from seeking holiness. God would love for us to find true happiness in holiness. He does not weigh holiness as more important - they are one in the same.

The article also says brokenness must be continuous. Yes, whenever we try to act like that old sinful man that was crucified when we accepted Christ - we must seek to be broken of that. But then move on to wholeness and happiness in Christ.

So many Christians get confused on these points. Christianity is often portrayed as us constantly being broken, down on who we are, and knowing the "true condition of heart" - meaning that our hearts are sinful and evil. That is the wrong view of Christianity. Christianity is about joy, completeness, wholeness, and knowing that if you are in Christ then He has given you a new heart! You are a new creature. You are the righteousness of Christ! The old has gone and the new has come. Do you sin? Of course! But that is not the real you. That is the old you that you must remember you are dead to and move on to understanding who you are in Christ. Even affirm who you are in Christ and build your self-image upon it.

Christianity is truly about joy and fulfillment. That is why at the old BCM I ran we called our weekly meeting 209. It comes from 1 Corinthians 2:9 which says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him!

(Reprinted with slight editing by permission from me - I wrote this in an older blog on Sept. 22, 2005).

Thoughts on Autumn, Death and Beauty

2008-10-21T09:56:00.000-05:00

My favorite time of the year has begun. I love fall! This morning I came outside and saw one of my trees has begun to change colors and the leaves have already begun to fall. I’ve enjoyed the fall festival and I think I’ve already begun to enjoy too much wonderful fall treats. The only thing I don’t like about autumn is how short it is.

The strange thing about the beauty of autumn is that it is really a march toward death. Each day moves us closer to the long, cold, dead winter. The winter season is only nice for a few weeks of holidays and then it goes on and on in dreariness.

We usually look at moving towards death as only a sad event. However, autumn shows us that moving toward death can be a beautiful thing. Jesus Christ spent his whole ministry on a march toward death. All the miracles and all the beautiful things He did were done while He walked toward the cross. It was sad that our Savior would be pierced for our transgressions and placed upon that cross for our sins. It was sad – but it was beautiful. It was beautiful, because it would bring life – eternal life to all those who believe.

When you asked Christ to come into your life you marched toward death too. And it was beautiful! Like a leaf blown down by the wind, the Holy Spirit blew into your life and knocked you off the tree of selfish living (John 3). You fell to the ground and died. But Christ grafted you in as not just a tree – but as a branch into His vine (Romans 11, John 15). Just as you died with Him – now you get to live each day with Him! "For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:8-10

How beautiful!

Questions for Pro-Life supporters of Obama

2008-10-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

If you are pro-life and have considered voting Obama this November - I wanted to ask you some questions.
What spurred this on? I have a lot of great friends, that are great people, that love Jesus and support life in the womb. So I was amazed to hear how many of them support or are thinking of supporting Obama. The thing that amazed me was that he is staunchly pro-choice. So I asked many of them about the issue. Many told me that they believe Obama will do things to limit abortion. Some of them even told me that abortion has gone up in the Bush administration and so McCain won't do any better. And Obama's comments on abortion during the election process have often focus on limiting abortions and coming together. So I though I better look at his record. Honestly, I was surprised at what I found.

So what are my questions for my pro-life pals who have considered Obama? They are all did you know questions. There was a lot I didn't know. So I just want to ask if you knew these things about Obama and abortion and related issues.

Did you know Obama promised Planned Parenthood last year that ''the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act'' (known as FOCA)?

Did you know FOCA would abolish virtually every existing state and federal limitation on abortion, including parental consent and notification laws for minors, state and federal funding restrictions on abortion, and conscience protections for pro-life citizens working in the health-care industry-protections against being forced to participate in the practice of abortion or else lose their jobs?

Did you know FOCA would make it law that abortions would be a right of every woman through all 9 months of pregnancy - even partial-birth abortion would be allowed again?

Did you know Obama supports tax payer money paying for abortions in other countries?

Did you know Obama wants to repeal the Hyde Amendment which protects pro-life citizens from having to pay for abortions that are not necessary to save the life of the mother and are not the result of rape or incest?

Did you know NARAL says the Hyde Amendment reduce abortions every year in half - so if it is removed than abortions would most likely double - this according to pro-choice NARAL?

Did you know Obama wishes to strip federal funding from pro-life crisis pregnancy centers that provide alternatives to abortion for pregnant women in need?

Did you know that Obama opposed the ban on partial-birth abortions when he served in the Illinois legislature and condemned the Supreme Court decision that upheld legislation banning this heinous practice?

Did you know Obama referred to a baby conceived inadvertently by a young woman as a ''punishment'' that she should not have to endure?

Did you know Obama has not endorsed or offered support for the Pregnant Women Support Act, the signature bill of Democrats for Life, meant to reduce abortions by providing assistance for women facing crisis pregnancies?

Did you know Obama voted 4 times against a law that protected children who survived an abortion? He says it was because it would be used as a tool to repeal abortions - but there is no wording in it that would do so. And a federal bill using the same wording was passed that he said he would have supported if he had been able to vote on it - but it was the exact same wording!? I don't think Obama wants infanticide - but he definitely voted wrong on those bills.

Did you know Obama co-sponsored a bill that would authorize the large-scale industrial production of human embryos for use in biomedical research in which they would be killed? In fact, the bill Obama co-sponsored would effectively require the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage that were produced by cloning. This is called a "clone and kill" bill. It's scary stuff.

Did you know Obama opposed a bill for modest funding increase of adult stem cell research that has now led to the discovery that embryonic stem cells may not be needed?

Did you know all these policies and views of Obama would not decrease abortion but increase them by leaps and bounds?

Did you know Obama has rightly said that one or two Supreme Court justices will be picked by the next President? Did you know he has rightly said that if McCain wins than Roe V. Wade could be overturned - so if you don't want Roe V. Wade to be overturned than you must vote Obama?

Did you know abortions have actually gone down during the Bush presidency even though Obama supporters said they went up?

There ya go. I hope you are more informed now. If you are reading this and you are pro-choice then much of this didn't meant much to you. But if you are pro-life I hope you see how as one Princeton professor put it, "Sen. Barack Obama's views on life issues ranging from abortion to embryonic stem cell research mark him as not merely a pro-choice politician, but rather as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket."

For more information - read that professors essay at:
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2008.10.14_George_Robert_Obama%27s%20Abortion%20Extremism_.xml

Princeton Professors Calls Obama "the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket."

2008-10-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

I think with the election coming up and with my readers caring about life issues - I need to copy this article verbatim. It is written by Professor Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.

Here is the link for the article:
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2008.10.14_George_Robert_Obama%27s%20Abortion%20Extremism_.xml

Obama's Abortion Extremism

by Robert George

Oct 14, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama's views on life issues ranging from abortion to embryonic stem cell research mark him as not merely a pro-choice politician, but rather as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket.

Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.
Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals - who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view.

What is going on here?

I have examined the arguments advanced by Obama's self-identified pro-life supporters, and they are spectacularly weak. It is nearly unfathomable to me that those advancing them can honestly believe what they are saying. But before proving my claims about Obama's abortion extremism, let me explain why I have described Obama as ''pro-abortion'' rather than ''pro-choice.''

According to the standard argument for the distinction between these labels, nobody is pro-abortion. Everybody would prefer a world without abortions. After all, what woman would deliberately get pregnant just to have an abortion? But given the world as it is, sometimes women find themselves with unplanned pregnancies at times in their lives when having a baby would present significant problems for them. So even if abortion is not medically required, it should be permitted, made as widely available as possible and, when necessary, paid for with taxpayers' money.

The defect in this argument can easily be brought into focus if we shift to the moral question that vexed an earlier generation of Americans: slavery. Many people at the time of the American founding would have preferred a world without slavery but nonetheless opposed abolition. Such people - Thomas Jefferson was one - reasoned that, given the world as it was, with slavery woven into the fabric of society just as it had often been throughout history, the economic consequences of abolition for society as a whole and for owners of plantations and other businesses that relied on slave labor would be dire. Many people who argued in this way were not monsters but honest and sincere, albeit profoundly mistaken. Some (though not Jefferson) showed their personal opposition to slavery by declining to own slaves themselves or freeing slaves whom they had purchased or inherited. They certainly didn't think anyone should be forced to own slaves. Still, they maintained that slavery should remain a legally permitted option and be given constitutional protection.

Would we describe such people, not as pro-slavery, but as ''pro-choice''? Of course we would not. It wouldn't matter to us that they were ''personally opposed'' to slavery, or that they wished that slavery were ''unnecessary,'' or that they wouldn't dream of forcing anyone to own slaves. We would hoot at the faux sophistication of a placard that said ''Against slavery? Don't own one.'' We would observe that the fundamental divide is between people who believe that law and public power should permit slavery, and those who think that owning slaves is an unjust choice that should be prohibited.

Just for the sake of argument, though, let us assume that there could be a morally meaningful distinction between being ''pro-abortion'' and being ''pro-choice.'' Who would qualify for the latter description? Barack Obama certainly would not. For, unlike his running mate Joe Biden, Obama does not think that abortion is a purely private choice that public authority should refrain from getting involved in. Now, Senator Biden is hardly pro-life. He believes that the killing of the unborn should be legally permitted and relatively unencumbered. But unlike Obama, at least Biden has sometimes opposed using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion, thereby leaving Americans free to choose not to implicate themselves in it. If we stretch things to create a meaningful category called ''pro-choice,'' then Biden might be a plausible candidate for the label; at least on occasions when he respects your choice or mine not to facilitate deliberate feticide.

The same cannot be said for Barack Obama. For starters, he supports legislation that would repeal the Hyde Amendment, which protects pro-life citizens from having to pay for abortions that are not necessary to save the life of the mother and are not the result of rape or incest. The abortion industry laments that this longstanding federal law, according to the pro-abortion group NARAL, ''forces about half the women who would otherwise have abortions to carry unintended pregnancies to term and bear children against their wishes instead.'' In other words, a whole lot of people who are alive today would have been exterminated in utero were it not for the Hyde Amendment. Obama has promised to reverse the situation so that abortions that the industry complains are not happening (because the federal government is not subsidizing them) would happen. That is why people who profit from abortion love Obama even more than they do his running mate.

But this barely scratches the surface of Obama's extremism. He has promised that ''the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act'' (known as FOCA). This proposed legislation would create a federally guaranteed ''fundamental right'' to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, including, as Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia has noted in a statement condemning the proposed Act, ''a right to abort a fully developed child in the final weeks for undefined 'health' reasons.'' In essence, FOCA would abolish virtually every existing state and federal limitation on abortion, including parental consent and notification laws for minors, state and federal funding restrictions on abortion, and conscience protections for pro-life citizens working in the health-care industry-protections against being forced to participate in the practice of abortion or else lose their jobs. The pro-abortion National Organization for Women has proclaimed with approval that FOCA would ''sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies.''

It gets worse. Obama, unlike even many ''pro-choice'' legislators, opposed the ban on partial-birth abortions when he served in the Illinois legislature and condemned the Supreme Court decision that upheld legislation banning this heinous practice. He has referred to a baby conceived inadvertently by a young woman as a ''punishment'' that she should not endure. He has stated that women's equality requires access to abortion on demand. Appallingly, he wishes to strip federal funding from pro-life crisis pregnancy centers that provide alternatives to abortion for pregnant women in need. There is certainly nothing ''pro-choice'' about that.

But it gets even worse. Senator Obama, despite the urging of pro-life members of his own party, has not endorsed or offered support for the Pregnant Women Support Act, the signature bill of Democrats for Life, meant to reduce abortions by providing assistance for women facing crisis pregnancies. In fact, Obama has opposed key provisions of the Act, including providing coverage of unborn children in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), and informed consent for women about the effects of abortion and the gestational age of their child. This legislation would not make a single abortion illegal. It simply seeks to make it easier for pregnant women to make the choice not to abort their babies. Here is a concrete test of whether Obama is ''pro-choice'' rather than pro-abortion. He flunked. Even Senator Edward Kennedy voted to include coverage of unborn children in S-CHIP. But Barack Obama stood resolutely with the most stalwart abortion advocates in opposing it.

It gets worse yet. In an act of breathtaking injustice which the Obama campaign lied about until critics produced documentary proof of what he had done, as an Illinois state senator Obama opposed legislation to protect children who are born alive, either as a result of an abortionist's unsuccessful effort to kill them in the womb, or by the deliberate delivery of the baby prior to viability. This legislation would not have banned any abortions. Indeed, it included a specific provision ensuring that it did not affect abortion laws. (This is one of the points Obama and his campaign lied about until they were caught.) The federal version of the bill passed unanimously in the United States Senate, winning the support of such ardent advocates of legal abortion as John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. But Barack Obama opposed it and worked to defeat it. For him, a child marked for abortion gets no protection-even ordinary medical or comfort care-even if she is born alive and entirely separated from her mother. So Obama has favored protecting what is literally a form of infanticide.

You may be thinking, it can't get worse than that. But it does.

For several years, Americans have been debating the use for biomedical research of embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (originally for reproductive purposes) but now left in a frozen condition in cryopreservation units. President Bush has restricted the use of federal funds for stem-cell research of the type that makes use of these embryos and destroys them in the process. I support the President's restriction, but some legislators with excellent pro-life records, including John McCain, argue that the use of federal money should be permitted where the embryos are going to be discarded or die anyway as the result of the parents' decision. Senator Obama, too, wants to lift the restriction.

But Obama would not stop there. He has co-sponsored a bill-strongly opposed by McCain-that would authorize the large-scale industrial production of human embryos for use in biomedical research in which they would be killed. In fact, the bill Obama co-sponsored would effectively require the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage that were produced by cloning. It would make it a federal crime for a woman to save an embryo by agreeing to have the tiny developing human being implanted in her womb so that he or she could be brought to term. This ''clone and kill'' bill would, if enacted, bring something to America that has heretofore existed only in China-the equivalent of legally mandated abortion. In an audacious act of deceit, Obama and his co-sponsors misleadingly call this an anti-cloning bill. But it is nothing of the kind. What it bans is not cloning, but allowing the embryonic children produced by cloning to survive.

Can it get still worse? Yes.

Decent people of every persuasion hold out the increasingly realistic hope of resolving the moral issue surrounding embryonic stem-cell research by developing methods to produce the exact equivalent of embryonic stem cells without using (or producing) embryos. But when a bill was introduced in the United States Senate to put a modest amount of federal money into research to develop these methods, Barack Obama was one of the few senators who opposed it. From any rational vantage point, this is unconscionable. Why would someone not wish to find a method of producing the pluripotent cells scientists want that all Americans could enthusiastically endorse? Why create and kill human embryos when there are alternatives that do not require the taking of nascent human lives? It is as if Obama is opposed to stem-cell research unless it involves killing human embryos.

This ultimate manifestation of Obama's extremism brings us back to the puzzle of his pro-life Catholic and Evangelical apologists.

They typically do not deny the facts I have reported. They could not; each one is a matter of public record. But despite Obama's injustices against the most vulnerable human beings, and despite the extraordinary support he receives from the industry that profits from killing the unborn (which should be a good indicator of where he stands), some Obama supporters insist that he is the better candidate from the pro-life point of view.

They say that his economic and social policies would so diminish the demand for abortion that the overall number would actually go down-despite the federal subsidizing of abortion and the elimination of hundreds of pro-life laws. The way to save lots of unborn babies, they say, is to vote for the pro-abortion-oops! ''pro-choice''-candidate. They tell us not to worry that Obama opposes the Hyde Amendment, the Mexico City Policy (against funding abortion abroad), parental consent and notification laws, conscience protections, and the funding of alternatives to embryo-destructive research. They ask us to look past his support for Roe v. Wade, the Freedom of Choice Act, partial-birth abortion, and human cloning and embryo-killing. An Obama presidency, they insist, means less killing of the unborn.

This is delusional.

We know that the federal and state pro-life laws and policies that Obama has promised to sweep away (and that John McCain would protect) save thousands of lives every year. Studies conducted by Professor Michael New and other social scientists have removed any doubt. Often enough, the abortion lobby itself confirms the truth of what these scholars have determined. Tom McClusky has observed that Planned Parenthood's own statistics show that in each of the seven states that have FOCA-type legislation on the books, ''abortion rates have increased while the national rate has decreased.'' In Maryland, where a bill similar to the one favored by Obama was enacted in 1991, he notes that ''abortion rates have increased by 8 percent while the overall national abortion rate decreased by 9 percent.'' No one is really surprised. After all, the message clearly conveyed by policies such as those Obama favors is that abortion is a legitimate solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancies - so clearly legitimate that taxpayers should be forced to pay for it.

But for a moment let's suppose, against all the evidence, that Obama's proposals would reduce the number of abortions, even while subsidizing the killing with taxpayer dollars. Even so, many more unborn human beings would likely be killed under Obama than under McCain. A Congress controlled by strong Democratic majorities under Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi would enact the bill authorizing the mass industrial production of human embryos by cloning for research in which they are killed. As president, Obama would sign it. The number of tiny humans created and killed under this legislation (assuming that an efficient human cloning technique is soon perfected) could dwarf the number of lives saved as a result of the reduced demand for abortion-even if we take a delusionally optimistic view of what that number would be.

Barack Obama and John McCain differ on many important issues about which reasonable people of goodwill, including pro-life Americans of every faith, disagree: how best to fight international terrorism, how to restore economic growth and prosperity, how to distribute the tax burden and reduce poverty, etc.

But on abortion and the industrial creation of embryos for destructive research, there is a profound difference of moral principle, not just prudence. These questions reveal the character and judgment of each man. Barack Obama is deeply committed to the belief that members of an entire class of human beings have no rights that others must respect. Across the spectrum of pro-life concerns for the unborn, he would deny these small and vulnerable members of the human family the basic protection of the laws. Over the next four to eight years, as many as five or even six U.S. Supreme Court justices could retire. Obama enthusiastically supports Roe v. Wade and would appoint judges who would protect that morally and constitutionally disastrous decision and even expand its scope. Indeed, in an interview in Glamour magazine, he made it clear that he would apply a litmus test for Supreme Court nominations: jurists who do not support Roe will not be considered for appointment by Obama. John McCain, by contrast, opposes Roe and would appoint judges likely to overturn it. This would not make abortion illegal, but it would return the issue to the forums of democratic deliberation, where pro-life Americans could engage in a fair debate to persuade fellow citizens that killing the unborn is no way to address the problems of pregnant women in need.

What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama's America is one in which being human just isn't enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama's America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: ''that question is above my pay grade.'' It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator's pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy - and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.

In the end, the efforts of Obama's apologists to depict their man as the true pro-life candidate that Catholics and Evangelicals may and even should vote for, doesn't even amount to a nice try. Voting for the most extreme pro-abortion political candidate in American history is not the way to save unborn babies.

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is a member of the President's Council on Bioethics and previously served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He sits on the editorial board of Public Discourse.

Short Comment About Palin

2008-09-08T10:59:00.000-05:00

I am very excited about Gov. Palin as the VP choice! While Mike Huckabee was my first choice I think Palin was the next best option. It is bold and it moved me from just supporting McCain to being excited about his campaign.

AFA Poll on who Conservatives want for Republican VP

2008-08-25T11:39:00.000-05:00

Poll as of 8-25-08 at 1130am ct.
Gov. Bobby Jindal [LA] - 3,365 vote(s)

Gov. Sarah Palin [AK] - 2,682 vote(s)

Gov. Haley Barbour [MS] - 428 vote(s)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty [MN] - 1,122 vote(s)

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee [AR] - 83,778 vote(s)

Sen. Lindsey Graham [SC] - 424 vote(s)

Former Gov. Mitt Romney [MA] - 38,298 vote(s)

Other 12,995 vote(s)

Whatever Happened to the Emerging Church Not Being Political?

2008-08-22T09:17:00.001-05:00

The emerging church movement has been a lot of things. Some of it good, some of it bad, and some of it was simply left open to debate. One consistent of the emerging church movement had been that they are not political. The message was that God is above politics. The message had always been that Jesus was not a democrat or republican.
I have never had a problem with the emerging church folks saying they aren't political. However, something interesting began to happen. Their non-politics promotion slowly changed from convincing Democrats they could be Christian to convincing young Christians to be Democrats. The emergers decided to no longer focus on abortion and pick topics that supposedly democrats were strong in - like the environment, war, and other areas of social justice. I actually believe that Democrat policy hurts those areas more than helps - but the majority idea is that those are pro-Democrat topics. The emergers have slowly but surely been convincing young evangelicals that you can be pro-life and still support the most left wing supporters of abortion, because supposedly the liberals wanted abortions to be rare (though they recently removed that from their party line).
Worse than just convincing young evangelicals to become Democrat through promoting non-politics, the emerging movement is suddenly and shockingly becoming political itself. The emerging movement's focus on non-politics is quickly becoming a farce. In this election it seems every day the emerging movement is becoming more pro-Democrat and especially pro-Obama. What happened to Jesus isn't a Republican OR Democrat?
Last week an online ad came out with Brian McClaren endorsing Obama and adding his voice to a negative attack ad on John McCain. McClaren has always been the best known emerger and now he is not only promoting one party - but he is slamming the leader of the other one. Donald Miller of Blue Like Jazz fame is now doing a prayer at the Democratic Convention which will be painted by all as an endorsement of Obama. Relevant Magazine did an Obama interview where he boldly lied about abortion and they didn't hold him accountable in it. And the editor of their magazine is involved with the Democratic convention and just publically switched from registered Republican to independent just in time for the election.
Whatever happened to the emerging church not being political? They have spoken ill countless times of evangelicals who were political - even though the political passion comes from a desire to stop the genocide of 4,000 babies a day that is abortion. But now many of them are passionately political on the left side for what? Because it's cool to like Obama? It is because they think a man who is the most pro-abortion candidate of all time says he believes in change and hope?
It is sad to see the emerging movement become what it has always said it was against. Just like I wonder what is so good about the change Obama wants, I now wonder what is so good about what many in the emergent church want to emerge into.

Obama Lies Boldly at Saddleback - on ethics and abortion

2008-08-18T16:43:00.000-05:00

Martin Luther once famously said, "If you're going to sin - sin boldly." I think Obama is taking that advice by practicing, "If you are going to lie - lie boldly!"
Newsweek.com has posted an article by Factcheck.org that checks the statements by Obama and McCain at their recent Saddleback Forum. The only thing wrong with what McCain said at the forum was that he used the words tax credits instead of tax exemptions. It wasn't exactly a big error. But I was shocked at how Obama was obviously lying to Pastor Warren and the American people on two of his responses.
Read the article for yourself: http://www.newsweek.com/id/154039/page/1

Obama was asked how he worked with Republicans in a way that went against his party. This question is vital as Obama is running on the idea that he works with all people and across the divisions of the country. His example he offered of working together was saying he worked with John McCain for ethics reform back in 2006. It is shocking that he would use this example. Obama and McCain not only did not work together - but had an epic battle about ethics reform where McCain told Obama he was sad to see that Obama was just playing party politics like everyone else. Obama had made McCain mad by sticking to party loyalty over his own promised word to work with McCain. This isn't the audacity of hope. This is the audacity of a dope to use such an example to answer Warren's question!

Secondly - Obama must believe the whole line about if you tell a lie enough times than everyone will believe it. He told Warren what he and other democrats have continually told evangelicals and pro-lifers - abortions went up or stayed the same under Bush. The only problem is that the facts get in the way. Abortions have gone down significantly under Bush's presidency. Obama obviously understands that his left-wing and vicious abortion views hurt him with evangelicals. So he tells a lie to make them believe it is he who will decrease abortions even though he is 100% pro-choice and pro-abortion. What makes it so sad for me is that I have many Christian friends who support Obama even though they are pro-life. They are believing his lies about abortion rates under Bush and using that as a "get out of guilt free card" to vote for a pro-choicer.

If Obama really has any integrity then he will publicly admit he was lying and clear up what he said. I won't hold my breath with that hope for change.

Richard Land gives Huckabee a shout out.

2008-08-11T16:55:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I heard anyone mention Huckabee's name for VP - the media obviously wants a moderate. I was glad to hear Richard Land mention Huckabee in an interview with CBS News just this past friday. Here is the excerpt:

CBSNews.com: Who’s on the list of people mentioned for VP that you think would most excite Southern Baptists and other members of the conservative faith community?

Richard Land: Probably Governor Palin of Alaska, because she's a person of strong faith. She just had her fifth child, a Downs Syndrome child. And there's a wonderful quote that she gave about her baby, and the fact that she would never, ever consider having an abortion just because her child had Downs Syndrome. She's strongly pro-life.

She's a virtual lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. She would ring so many bells. And I just think it would help with independents because she's a woman. She's a reform Governor. I think that, from what I hear, that would be the choice that would probably ring the most bells, along with Mike Huckabee, of course, who's a Southern Baptist.

The Traumatic Grace of Kimery Hill

2008-07-25T09:37:00.000-05:00

Prosperity Gospel/Joel Osteen article and my response to it.

2008-07-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

The original article:
What’s Wrong with Prospering? The Gospel according to Joel Osteen
by Ben Witherington

As the offering is about to be taken at the Compaq center, Joel Osteen’s wife and co-pastor Victoria urges generosity as a way of prompting God’s favor. “He not only wants to enrich you but do things for you you know nothing about,” she said. “Let him breathe the breath of life into your finances and he’ll give it back to you bigger than you could ever give it to him,” she said. To which the congregation, said, “Amen,” and the buckets went around. This paraphrased excerpt is but a part of a new article in today’s NY Times about the ministry and enormous success of Joel Osteen, and in particular his recent book ’Your Best Life Now’. The whole article is worth reading. Here is the link.—-http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/books/30oste.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc=th

With 20,000 peeople regularly showing up at his church in the Compaq center in Houston and bringing in revenues of millions on his bestseller book, it is not a surprise that many will wonder and ask— well what is wrong with a message that speaks about kindness, and generosity and success and prosperity? What could be wrong with this? What’s wrong with a message that hardly ever mentions Jesus by name, or sin, or suffering, or self-sacrifice? Of course this message of prosperity is not new in America, nor new to American Churches.

There used to be a TV preacher from New York called Reverend Ike. One of his core messages was on the supposed Scriptural topic— “The lack of money is the root of all evil”. He kept saying things like, if you have trouble handling money, send it to me. Osteen is far more slick than this, and in fact far more accountable. His ministry maintains public records and provides financial reports, and in fact he has not taken a salary since his book went mega-platinum. He has also reportedly signed an enormous contract for his second book with Simon and Schuster. He is then not a shister or a crook it would appear. His example seemsfar more beguiling than the obvious huckster. Wherein lies the problem then?

The problem is several fold, and it involves a fundamental replacement of what the Bible actually has to say about wealth, with what our culture says about wealth and prosperity. And of course when you preach a message that is heard as saying “God wants you rich” or is heard as saying “if you give generously to God (i.e. our ministry) he will repay you many times over”), then of course the implication is that the Gospel message is really all about us, and ways to get God to fulfill not merely our needs and desires but even our conspicuously consumptive dreams. But is God really a nurturer of a vision of life that says its all about me and my material success?

How very different indeed this message is from John Wesley’s Famous Sermon “On the Use of Money” in which he stresses that if you make all you can honestly and save all you can, but do not give all you can to relieve poverty, feed the hungry, make well the sick you may be a living person but you are a dead Christian. Wesley like the Bible warns of the enormous dangers of wealth, especially if it is used to provide one’s self with an opulent lifestyle while others have nothing to survive on. As Wesley suggests my luxuries should always come after someone else’s necessities, or I am living a selfish and self-centered life style. Wesley preached that Christians at the beginning of the industrial revolution should de-enculturate themselves, live simply, and have as their goal, giving so much to others during their lives that when they die they will have successfully given it all away. This sounds far less narcissitic and self-centered than the message of Osteen. And it comes from a different vision of God. God is not viewed as the grand sugar Daddy in the sky who exists to meet our every desire, and in particular our desire to live well, or even opulently. But forget the warnings of great church leaders of the past— what does the Bible say about such things?

First of all, I would stress that there are more warning about wealth in the New Testament, than about any other ethical subject with the possible exception of sexual and relational issues. And right off the bat this ought to seem odd to us, since only a small percentage of first century Christians had any prospect of getting wealthy. Why such a stress on a message that is the polar opposite to Osteen’s message in the NT when the audience was much poorer on the whole? It is a question worth asking. It has to do with fallen human nature and its desire to secure its own life on its own. But let’s start with some texts we will not likely be hearing preached from Osteen’s pulpit. Let’s start with Jesus.

The Sermon on the Mount would be Jesus’ version of “Your Best Life Now”. In it he says “Do not store up for yourselvss trasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mt. 6. 19-20.

This saying of course comes before the “do not worry about what you will eat, drink, or wear, because God will provide” message in 6.25-33. This text warns strongly against the accumulation of wealth, and in particular having and keeping for yourself more than you need. Jesus’ real concern is found at the end of vs. 21 in the saying about treasure. Human beings are acquistive by nature– consider how many Americans are addicted to shopping. Consider how our culture encourages us to think luxuries and necessities to the point that we can’t tell the difference between the two.

If you want to know where a person’s heart really is— follow the money. This could be said of all of us. And what happens to already self-centered acquistive persons when they are encouraged to be even more that way is that they commit idolatry. Their real center of existence is not God. They only relate to God for what they can get out of God. Their real center of existence is their own prosperity and life style— “God bless my standard of living”. we should have seen Osteen coming when the “Prayer of Jabez” became a run away best-seller and an excuse for continuing to think that God wants us all to be rich, even if it destroys our soul.

Notice as well that Jesus says quite clearly three things at the end of Mt. 6: 1) we should seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and the necessities of life will be added to us. Jesus does not say anything about wealth will be added to us. He says the necessities will be taken care of if we are God-focused and seeking his righteousness, not our profit. And while we are at it it is well to remember that when Jesus says “ask anything in my name…” this means “ask anything that is in accord with my will, in accord with all my other teaching about the dangers of money and wealth, the sorts of things I would ask for”. If you are praying prayers Jesus would not endorse, selfish and self-centered prayers, prayers about purely material success then you had best not sign Jesus’ name to them, nor should you expect him to answer yes to them. 2) Jesus’ teaching consistently tries to get us to focus on God and others, not our own desires or needs.

This is not in fact the character of Osteen’s preaching unfortunately. He is doing his best to make us feel comfortable and happy if we are wealthy, and to simply see it as a blessing from God. But even if on occasion God does bless someone with abundant material resources, the next question should be stewardship. The next question should be how should I use these resources so that God is glorified and others are helped. It should not lead to a “God bless my standard of living” and we give ourselves permission to live high off the hog. There should always be the thught that God has blessed you to be an abundant blessing to others, and I don’t just mean one’s own family.

Mt. 6. 24— “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and wealth.” The issue is what is your object of ultimate concern? Where is your heart and treasure? When you take a human being who is acquisitive to begin with, and then take away all warnings about the dangers of wealth leading to idolatry, you are in trouble.

Someone should make a huge banner with this verse on it and hang it in front of the Compaq Center for all those entering to see. We could also hang up the Lukan beatitude “Blesssed are the poor” (Lk. 6.20). How about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16.19-31) which suggests that those who prosper in this life and do not help others will find the reverse is their condition in the life to come. So much for the slogan “he who dies with the most toys wins”. We could also focus on Jesus’ teaching about the fool who stockpiled his assests and of whom God required his life before he could get the full benefit from them. Have you notice that there is no theology of retirement, or pension accounts in the New Testament, no blessing of those who store things away just for themselves?

Jesus’ brother James is equally insistent about the dangers of wealth. Read James 2.1-7 where we hear among other things “God chose the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom.” He warns not to cozy up to the wealthy or give them preferential treatment not least because “Is it not the rich who oppress you?” You would have thought that after the Enron scandal the good Christian people of Houston would have become a little more wary of courting the rich and of lusting after the lifestyles of the rich.

Listen to what else James says “You covet something and cannot obtain it: so you engage in disputes and conflicts…You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God.” (James 4.2-6).

Paul in 1 Tim. 6.6-10 puts it this way “There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into this world, and we shall take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a rot of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” There could hardly be a much sterner warning against believing in the health and wealth Gospel than this one.

We need to stop listening to the siren song of our culture about the goodness of personal wealth and material prosperity. We need to advocate a theology of stewardship which puts other people’s necessities before our luxuries. We need to simplify our lifestyles and get a clear grasp on God’s prioirties including God’s especial concern for the poor and destitute of the world. We need to realize that what Jesus promised us if we seek the kingdom is not prosperity,but rather ’just enough’ to take care of our basic needs. We need to remember that the Lord’s prayer teaches us to pray for daily bread, not for resources today that I could not possibly use in 10,000 lifetimes. We need to heed all the warnings about how wealth can destroy the soul of an inherently self centered and acquistive creature– namely any human being. We need to renounce the false gospel of wealth and health— it is a disease of our American culture, it is not a solution or answer to life’s problems.

Sometime ago when Donald Trump was riding high, he was interviewed on the subject of “how much is enough?” This was after he had assets totaling in the millions. His answer was very revealing— “a little bit more.” This is the truth about human nature, and what Paul says about that nature is that it needs to be crucified, not indulged, it needs to die not be pampered. The goal is this “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I wholive, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved mne and gave himsellf for me.” (Gal. 2.19-20). The model for the Christian life is not Donald Trump, it is that man who made the ultimate self-sacrifice, the man who lived simply, fed the hungry, hung out with the poor, and renounced conspicuous consumption— Jesus himself.

My response to it:
Anyone else sick and tired of people throwing stones at straw men? Anyone else weary of hearing only the two extreme versions of wealth and Christianity - and missing what the Bible actually says? Joel Osteen has a lot he needs to change - but calling him a prosperity gospel preacher is a total misunderstanding of what is wrong with the prosperity gospel. Joel does not say God guarantees you will be rich and live luxuriously if you give (which is the root of the prosperity gospel). He says God will bless you - which, by the way is what the Bible says. I don't think Joel preaches enough on sin either - but the only reason he is relentlessly attacked is because he is popular. By the way, the quote used from his wife in the beginning of the article is a paraphrase of Scripture on the subject - so it's not a good idea to present that as an ungodly quote.

Also, many times this article falsely attacks wealth and money as if IT is the evil. That is like attacking sex as being evil instead of the misuse of sex. There is nothing wrong with money and wealth if handled properly. The writer of this article needs to go reread Wesley's sermon that he mentions. The whole point of that sermon is that wealth can be a wonderful thing if you use it to secure your finances and give it away to those in need. In fact, Wesley tells everyone they should seek to make as much money (honestly and without messing up other priorities) as possible. That way people can be secure in their finances and give and give and give.

There are lessons in the pain of poverty, but it is no goal to strive for. People need to learn God's plan for money. God demands we use what He gives us to to invest in the Kingdom and in others and then He will give us more so that we can invest more in the Kingdom and in others. This principle is huge in scripture and is all but denied in this article.

Put down the stones labeled for popular preachers and teach people how to be vessels for God's awesome work. All the money is His and it can be a great tool if we would learn what He says about it and how to use it.

Life in the Womb and methods to end it.

2008-07-15T17:37:00.000-05:00

Abortion and Obama - this ain't about politics.

2008-07-15T00:49:00.000-05:00

I recently had an online discussion with a friend who is supporting Obama for president. She has always been a Christian conservative, so I was surprised to say the least. However, she has inferred that my anti-Obama and pro-life stance is all about politics. She asked me why I would choose to vote for someone over just one issue. She asked me if I cared so much about pro-life was I backing it up with helping prevent abortion. She asked me if my denomination supports the war, and why isn't "collateral damage" death as bad as abortion. Here is my response to her:

As far as abortion being a one-issue voter; please read this:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1995/1524_OneIssue_Politics_OneIssue_Marriage_and_the_Humane_Society/

It explains exactly my feelings. One issue can never make me vote FOR someone. But one issue can definitely make me NOT VOTE for someone. If McCain believed rape should be legalized - on that issue alone I would not vote for him. Make sense? Obama supporting infanticide and partial birth abortion AND being the #1 supporter of abortion of any serious presidential candidate in the history of this country definitely disqualifies him for President. Frankly, I don't think he should be a Senator, because he uses his position to support abortion. As Piper wrote, "I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him—except that child-killing is more serious than those."

What am I doing to help end abortions? Well I would refer you to my recent sermon on abortion. There is a link to it in my posted items and you can listen to it (http://www.sermoncloud.com/marshall-baptist-church/a-god-who-cares-for-the-unborn). I list off various ways we can help prevent and stop abortions. The sermon will make it clear to you that this has nothing to do with politics. My main way of helping prevent abortions is through supporting Crisis Pregancy Centers. Amy and I are part of our local CPC's 300 supporter club that means we give monthly to support our CPC. Also Amy has begun talking to them to see ways she can volunteer with her schedule. Your question kind of infers that this is just about politics for me and I'm not backing it up with lifestyle. I'm glad to show you otherwise. I hope you and your husband are also supportive of the CPC. And I guarantee you that the number one enemy (earthly) of CPCs are Planned Parenthood. And one of the best ways we can help them is to not put someone in office who will use our tax money to support PP even more than our tax dollars do now. It is unjust and wrong that God's money is being used to kill babies. And Obama has vowed to make it worse.

I'm not sure where you got your information that the Southern Baptists support the war. We have made no denominational statement in support of this war. God hates the shedding of every innocent life. However there would definitely be a difference between accidental killing of innocent humans and purposeful genocide of innocent humans. If a soldier accidently kills an Iraqi child in an attack - it is sad, but you cannot compare that to a Ugandan man with a machete slicing down a village of women and children. One is a sad accident - the other is evil and genocide. Abortion is evil and genocide. If Obama supported Ugandan soldiers slaying women and children in villages would he still be worthy of your vote? I hope not. Well abortion has sadly killed many more and is just as evil. I hope this reply helps.

Video with Facts on Obama and Abortion

2008-07-12T10:35:00.001-05:00

Is Christianity really a relationship and not a religion?

2008-06-05T10:36:00.000-05:00

Personal hot button: I'm really tired of Christians attacking the word "religion" like it is evil. The most overused statement is, "Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship." Let me be very clear: I get the heart of that statement and I know what you are trying to say, but it is just plain wrong.

Let's first look at the accepted world's definition of religion according to Merriam-Webster:
the service and worship of God or the supernatural

Would you ever say, "Christianity is not the service and worship of God - it's a relationship." I hope not! In fact defining Christianity as the service and worship of God is a much better definition than just calling it a relationship.

Let's stop defining religion in a negative way. You say, "Yeah, but that's the world's definition." Okay, what does the Bible say about religion? James wrote: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
James spends a lot of time in his book defining true religion compared to false religion. He doesn't say following Christ is not religion. And he doesn't define Christianity as simply a relationship. Instead he focuses on Christianity being about helping the helpless, speaking words that lift up, pursuing holiness, and having a faith that works itself out in action. Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus, but it is also about a religion that focuses on a faith in God that shows itself in service to others. We do Christianity a disservice by only defining it in terms of a personal relationship.

Instead of saying Christianity is not religion. Let's do what the Bible does and define what true religion is.

What Every Pastor Wants you to know about complaining and Criticism

2008-06-02T15:18:00.000-05:00

One of the infamous things any pastor has to deal with is handling criticisms and complaints. Though only a pastor for a short time, I have had my fair share of them. I’m often asked by church members and others what I think about criticism. So I thought I’d write to you my feelings on criticizing a pastor.

Let me first make it clear that I believe I need to hear concerns and healthy criticisms. God wants me to get better each day as a pastor, and I cannot do that without guidance from others. I welcome criticism and concerns shared in a biblical way. I would be a prideful fool if I didn’t.

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 15:32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

Proverbs 17:10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.

Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Proverbs 29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

Clearly, the Bible teaches that I need to listen (as we all do) to biblical reproof.

So that begs the question – What is biblical reproof or criticism?

4 Keys to Healthy and Biblical Criticism:

PRAY

Spend serious time in prayer about a subject before criticizing. Time alone can protect you from simply being rash and reactionary. Plus, God might change your thinking or show you some things you need to work on. As one pastor said, “It's seems like people are slow to confront sin, but quick to confront their pastor.”

However, if you pray and God has given you peace about confronting, then pray for wisdom on how to criticize in a gracious way.

Follow God’s plan if it involves sin.

As another pastor summarized, “In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus revealed a four-step strategy for correcting people: (1) talk to them privately, (2) if they don’t listen, talk to them again with the help of an objective negotiator, (3) if they don’t listen again, bring the matter before the elders, and (4) if they still don’t listen, clearly mark the boundaries of right and wrong, outline the consequences of behaving wrongly, and enforce those consequences even if it means removing them from fellowship.”

If you know for a fact that I’m involved in some unconfessed sin then I desperately hope you will follow this pattern. I need to be seeking holiness to be an effective pastor. Just make sure you follow this biblical pattern. You don’t gossip about it, talk to others about it first, assume the worst, etc. You follow the pattern that God has given us.

Approach in humility and not anger.

Many people criticize a pastor or anyone else simply out of anger. That not only isn’t helpful, but it is in fact sinful.

As one writer put it, “Work through your anger before the Lord, not in the pastor's office or in a scathing letter. Sarcasm may make you feel clever, but it is never constructive. Hang on to that letter or e-mail for at least 24 hours—a week is even better—before you send it. "The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God" (Jas. 1:20, NASB).”

Do not criticize anonymously.

I know of only one exception to the rule: if doing a group review that needs to be anonymous. But in every other situation, it is not helpful to be anonymous. Do not leave unsigned notes to your pastor telling him how you feel about something. It is unfair to him as he has no chance to talk to you about the situation. If you choose to go to a Deacon to criticize something the pastor has done, tell the deacon he is free to tell the pastor your name. Often people feel like they can be more cruel when hidden under a cloak of anonymity. That is simply not Christian, and I know of nothing in Scripture that allows for anonymous criticism or confronting. In fact, Matthew 18:15 says, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” It is simply not fair to the pastor and is often sinful in that the criticizer is acting in anger. The apostle Paul didn’t criticize Peter anonymously when Peter was in the wrong. “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” Galatians 2:11. If you have anonymously criticized in the past – I am not condemning you, I am simply asking you to follow God’s word and change.

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:25-27

If you are angry or upset with me about something, the biblical example is to come to me truthfully, graciously, and humbly. If I am a good pastor and being truthful, gracious, and humble; I will listen to you and discuss it with you. And if I am in the wrong I will change with the help of God.

Maria Sue Chapman

2008-05-26T16:33:00.000-05:00

Tribute video I made about Maria Sue Chapman who passed away in an accident May 21, 2008. She was five years old. Daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ay1vgulzR8I

Go deeper!

2008-04-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

It’s almost May!! I love May! Summer is peaking in and it’s time for swimming pools to open! In fact, this past week, Abigail (my 2 year old) and I had the joy of taking a dip in some friends' heated pool. We had so much fun. Abigail was all excited until we went to get in the pool. All of a sudden she got afraid of the unknown. It had been a long time since she was in a great big body of water like a pool. This was no shallow, small bath. First she didn’t want in. I said, “Abigail, why do you think we came here? We came to get in the pool.”

After a while I convinced her to just stick her feet in. She liked it, but was a little unsure. With more convincing I got her to go down another step and sit in deeper water. She was very comfortable there. After a while she was even sticking her hair and face in the water. I took her out to the deep, but she wasn’t quite ready for that yet. I’m sure she will be in the next couple of weeks though as she gets more and more used to the deeper waters of the pool compared to her bathtub.

Here is my challenge for May. Get out of the bathtub in your walk with Christ. You are probably in a place where you have gotten too comfy. It’s time to ask God to take you into bigger and deeper waters. Ask God to reveal more of Himself to you. Ask God to bring you into new and more impactful areas of ministry. Start by just sticking your feet in. Then go a step further. And before you know it, you will be asking God to take you out into the deep. You will be excited to see what God can do with a willing vessel!

16 I pray that out of God’s glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-18

Proud

2008-04-22T10:05:00.001-05:00

Proud to be an official blogger of huckpac.com

Huck is back!!!

2008-04-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

Check out what Mike Huckabee is doing for country now - and how you can be involved at
http://www.huckpac.com

The Environment

2008-03-10T11:42:00.000-05:00

I have signed the Southern Baptist Environment & Climate Initiative found at:
http://baptistcreationcare.org/

I encourage all SBC folks to sign it. I do think many people have gone way too overboard with claims about humans' roll in global warming. However, I do think we as believers should speak up that we support good stewardship of the environment. I have read and agree with all the statements in the initiative. I do believe we have come off as uncaring about God's creation and need to find our voice on the issue. I believe this new initiative does just that.

Goodbye Huckabee - for now

2008-03-05T14:54:00.000-06:00

Huckabee has lost:(
I will now fully support John McCain and pray that there will be another day that Huckabee runs for the presidency.

Ronaldinho is the man!

2008-03-03T23:46:00.000-06:00

The Jesus Candle and the Resurrection

2008-02-26T10:39:00.001-06:00

Last fall when we were having our Coffee with the Coopers night, someone gave us a present. It was a candle with a picture portraying Jesus on it. Our two year old daughter Abigail loves candles, and she quickly became fascinated with the candle. She learned that it was a picture of Jesus on it and suddenly the name of the candle to her was “Jesus”. She began to take it everywhere she went. She would go to sit on the couch and say, “I need Jesus to sit with me.” We would call her into a room and she’d say, “Wait, I need to bring Jesus with me.” She would ride in her toy car and proclaim, “I’m taking Jesus in my car.” Everywhere she went she needed to take Jesus with her and she wanted us to know it.

When we first discover Jesus many of us act like Abigail. We make sure no matter where we go that Jesus is with us. And we are passionate to tell everyone that we have Jesus. He is in our lives and on our lips.

After about a month of Abigail playing with that candle things began to change. She no longer carried the Jesus candle with her. She no longer talked about the Jesus candle. And she went on to something else to focus on.

Too many of have moved on to other things to focus on just like Abigail did. We have Jesus in our lives, but we aren’t thinking about how He is always with us. We aren’t telling others about Him. We are acting like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2 where it says in verse 4, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

March is the beginning of spring. Things that have died are reborn and all things are new. I pray that you will make March a spring time for your faith where you rekindle your first love. I pray that your faith and walk with Christ will be renewed and refreshed. I pray that your relationship with God will blossom like never before.

March is also the month of Easter this year. Easter of course is more properly known as Resurrection Day. It is the day we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Well when you accepted Christ, the old sinful you died and you were raised to walk in the newness of Christ. “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” (Romans 6:4-5) Remember this spring that you now walk in the Resurrection – so carry Christ with you and proclaim Him wherever you go! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

James Dobson supports Huckabee - Finally!

2008-02-08T11:54:00.001-06:00

James Dobson has finally backed Huckabee. He should have done this in December, but better late than never.

Here are Dobson's own words:

"The remaining candidate for whom I could vote is Governor Huckabee," Dobson said. "His unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others ... Obviously, the governor faces an uphill struggle, given the delegates already committed to Senator McCain. Nevertheless, I believe he is our best remaining choice for president of the United States."

Vote Today - I did!

2008-02-05T17:18:00.000-06:00

Huckabee for President Volunteer Issue Guide

2008-02-01T09:10:00.000-06:00

Huckabee for President Volunteer Issue Guide

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1. With ten-and-a-half years of experience running state government, Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas has more relevant executive experience than any candidate in the race – either Republican or Democrat.

2. Recognized and tapped by his peers for leadership, the National Governor’s Association selected Governor Huckabee as it’s Chairman,

3. TIME Magazine honored him as one of the five best Governors in America.

4. Governor Huckabee is a fiscal conservative who cut taxes almost 100 times in the state of Arkansas, including the state’s first broad-based tax cuts, and turned a $200 million deficit into an $850 million surplus.

ISSUES
1. TAXES/ECONOMY –Governor Huckabee supports The FairTax because it will restore the “Made in America” label, making American goods 12-25% more competitive, boosting economic growth, increasing our exports, and securing American jobs. It also prevents criminals or illegal aliens from avoiding taxes, and makes the taxes we all pay 100% transparent.

2. GOVERNMENT SPENDING – Governor Huckabee is committed to reducing government spending. One way he’ll do this is by reducing the cost of welfare. Governor Huckabee will work with states to reduce welfare roles through programs like the one he implemented in Arkansas, which reduced welfare roles by 50%.

3. HEALTH CARE –Governor Huckabee will implement a consumer-based healthcare system that emphasizes preventative medicine and wellness. Because 70% of our $2 trillion dollar healthcare costs is spent treating chronic, preventable diseases, this approach will make healthcare more affordable for everybody while keeping us healthier.

4. FAMILY VALUES –Governor Huckabee supports a federal constitutional amendment to protect the right to life. He Successfully fought for Arknasas’ marriage amendment and strongly supports a similar, federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

5. IMMIGRATION –Governor Huckabee will secure the border (with physical barriers, electronic surveillance, and more border-patrol personnel and detention facilities). He will also end sanctuary cities and increase penalties on, and enforcement against, employers who hire illegal immigrants. Governor Huckabee will make sure the border patrol has adequate funding to end our “catch and release” system so that everyone caught trying to enter illegally, overstaying their visa, or committing a crime will be held until they’re tried, convicted, and deported. Gov. Huckabee has also signed the Numbers USA "No Amnesty" Pledge.

6. WAR ON TERROR AND IRAQ – Governor Huckabee knows it takes a large, well-equipped military to ensure our national defense and to deter conventional military confrontations. He also knows we need large, well-equipped intelligence and Special Forces operations for our national offense – so we can effectively find and eliminate terrorists threats at home or abroad. Governor Huckabee will be a Commander in Chief who knows that IF WE HAVE TO FIGHT A WAR, our President has to fight it the way our GENERALS tell him it can be won, not the way we wants it to be won.

7. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE –Governor Huckabee will implement a program to end the import of foreign oil in the next ten years by increasing domestic oil production in the short term, and then replacing oil-based energy infrastructure with alternative and renewable energies.

8. CLEMENCIES – Arkansas Governors grant clemency, but the parole board grants parole. Wayne DuMond’s parole was granted by the board and NOT Governor Huckabee.

9. TAXES –When Governor Huckabee left office, the tax rates remained exactly the same as when he first came into office. Governor Huckabee returned almost $400 million to Arkansas taxpayers, and he also DOUBLED the standard deduction for individuals and married couples, DOUBLED the childcare tax credit, and eliminated the marriage penalty. He also repealed capital gains taxes for home sales, lowered the capital gains rate by 25%, expanded the homestead exemption, and set up tax-free savings accounts for medical care and college tuition. Gov. Huckabee has also signed the Americans for Tx Reform's pledge not to raise taxes.

10. SECOND AMENDMENT-
• Lifetime member of the NRA, member for over 15 years
• First Governor to have concealed-carry permit
• Removed restrictions on carry permit holders
• Protected gun manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits
• Opposes reauthorization of the Assault Weapon Ban
• Opposes expansion of the unconstitutional “Brady Bill”
• Opposes waiting period for purchase of firearms
• Opposes background checks on private firearms transactions at gun shows
• Will nominate judges who interpret the Constitution a the Founders intended, rather than as a “living document reflecting current political trends or opinions”
• An avid hunter and conservationist, and a member of the Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey Federation and BASS.

Lost and Davy Jones' Locker

2008-01-31T11:30:00.001-06:00

I admitted it - I am a Losty. I love the show Lost on ABC. I am a huge fan. I have never had a strong feeling on where the castaways are until now. Mind you, this post will only appeal to big Lost fans and I may be totally off with my idea.

Where are the Lost castaways? They are in Davy Jones' Locker.
Why do I believe that?
1. The new ads for Lost show the island with a reflection in the water being that of a city. That made me thing of the third Pirates of the Carribean movie. In that film they take their ship looking for Davy Jones' Locker and they flip the ship upside down. When it is upside down it flips the world and they are in a new dimension of sorts - of Davey Jones' locker which is a lot like purgatory.
2. Lost creators have said it is not purgatory. Many people have thought it was, because everyone is going through so much junk -which I can't go into because there are far too many examples. And Locke's dad said they were in Hell. The creators could say it isn't purgatory if it is Davy Jones' locker which is like purgatory but technically not.
3. Davy Jones' Locker is known for pirates. The Rock is an old pirate ship found on the island.
4 Naomi tells them their plane was found at the bottom of the ocean with no survivors. Many people define Davy Jones' locker as the bottom of the ocean.
5. Davy Jones is a mystical character that brings people down there. Jacob is definitely a mystical character with strange powers.
6. Read this earliest known description of Davy Jones' Locker in 1751 and tell me it doesn't sound like the island: "This same Davy Jones, according to sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various shapes, perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes, ship-wrecks, and other disasters to which sea-faring life is exposed, warning the devoted wretch of death and woe."
Jacob is a shift changer as many people think he is the black smoke monster. And everyone in the show is connected to death and woe.
7. Sources have cited Davy Jones might be the British pub owner who is referenced in the 1594 song "Jones's Ale is Newe." He may be the same pub owner who supposedly threw drunken sailors into his ale locker and then dumped them onto any passing ship.
Many of the people on the island were in pubs shortly before coming. And that room Locke's dad came from could be compared to the ale locker.

I think this might be it! I may have figured it out. I guess we'll see.

There's No Quitting in Baseball

2008-01-28T11:29:00.000-06:00

What is the opposite of winning? Is it losing? What is the opposite of success? Is it failure? Think about it for a minute. The opposite of winning is not losing. The opposite of success is not failure. The opposite of success and winning is quitting. Falling is not failure – staying down is. Tripping is not defeat – staying on the ground is. Getting knocked down does not mean it’s over – giving up does.

For many people February is the worst month of the year. It is the coldest. It is the shortest – even with the extra day in February this year. And it is often the most depressing. People deal with loneliness and also by February most people have quit their New Year’s resolution. Have you quite your New Year’s resolution? I hope not. And if you have, consider recommitting to it.

I will always remember the day I quit baseball. I grew up, like any good American boy, loving the game of baseball. I still long for the days of standing in the outfield smelling the leather of my glove and shagging flies. When I was 12 years old I played in the Little League majors on the best team in the area. In the last 9 years that team had won 7 area championships. But that year was different. We were in third through the season and that meant for our coach that we stunk. He was a marine and decided to work us like we were pros. He made us practice every day and the game quickly went from fun to something I dreaded. One day I broke. I let the toughness of it all get the best of me. I told my parents that I wanted to quit baseball. They made me call the coach and tell him myself that I quit. It was so hard to do and to this day I regret it. It has eaten at me ever since. I let the tough times win and I quit.

I know you are either in tough times or tough times aren’t too far away. That’s just life. Let me encourage you that whatever it is – don’t quit. If you are in a nursing home and dealing with sadness – don’t quit. If you are a widow and are down – don’t quit. If you have been wanting to share Christ with that person but haven’t – don’t quit. If you wanted to do something great with the church but have feared it – don’t quit. If you have failed at your work-outs – don’t quit. If you have tried to live sold out to Christ but have fallen – don’t quit. The apostle Paul tells us why in Galatians 6:9: And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

If you are doing good and meeting frustration I just want to encourage you not to grow weary and not to quit. God promises you will reap a harvest in due season. There should be no quitting in baseball – and there should be know quitting when doing what God has called us to.

Two Important Links!

2008-01-27T00:35:00.000-06:00

Here is the link to my new youtube page on Huckabee:
http://youtube.com/user/Reasons4Huckabee

Here is a link to an article very similar to a recent blog I wrote:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20080124/cm_rcp/huckabee_hatin_could_backfire

Fred Thompson drops out - only one true conservative left.

2008-01-22T13:56:00.000-06:00

One week ago there were three true conservatives in the Presidential race: Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter, and Mike Huckabee. Fred and Duncan are gone and Mike is the only real conservative left standing. It is time for conservatives to join together and support Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee out? or We've Only Just Begun

2008-01-21T15:01:00.000-06:00

Some people think Huckabee is in bad shape because he narrowly came in second instead of first in South Carolina. Actually, Huckabee is running second in delegates to Mitt Romney. McCain is being treated like the front runner but he is currently third in delegates. And those are the only three Republicans with any significant amount of delegates. In fact, Rudy is last with only 1. It takes almost 2000 to win the race - so there is a long way to go considering the top 3 all have around 35-45 delegates.
As the Carpenter's song proclaims, "we've only just begun."

On to Florida and Super Duper Tuesday!

What is a true conservative - Setting the Record Strait on Huckabee

2008-01-16T11:30:00.000-06:00

I have been shocked over the last month to watch Mike Huckabee get slammed by many of the conservative elite. People I have loved to listen to and who spoke for me are suddenly speaking a different language. Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and more have spoken harshly against Mike Huckabee. Why?

When Huckabee was a blip on the radar screen for the presidency he was heralded as a great conservative. New Man magazine was proclaiming him as the first candidate to be like Reagan since Reagan. Everyone loved his answers in all the debates. Then when the Huckaboom hits he becomes target number 1 for people who have always represented themselves as "true conservatives." What happened?

The wolves took off their sheep's clothing. The economic conservatives who married us Christian conservatives in the 80s have shown their true colors. Social conservative issues simply don't matter to them. All they want is 0 taxes. Zero taxes is more important to Rush and Ann and Sean than the fact that 4,000 babies are killed every year in this country. Zero taxes are more important than the downfall of the moral foundations of our country! And here is the ironic thing - Mike Huckabee has pledged to never raise taxes! So why is he so anathema? It is simply because he raised taxes in Arkansas. But why did he raise taxes? 1. The courts required that Arkansas fix their then horrible education system which was at the bottom of the nation. So a minimal tax increase was put in to make Arkansas now 8th in the nation for education!!! And what will that produce? More wealth and income for Arkansas! Also, the people of Arkansas voted for something like a half cent tax increase to fix some of the worst roads in America. What was the result? Trucker's Magazine voted Arkansas the most improved roads in the nation!

I'm all for lower taxes! I am a conservative. I, like Huckabee, think we need to get rid of income tax all together. Lower taxes is the answer. But how can you fault the man for doing one of the few things government is supposed to do - fix roads?! And how can you fault the man for completely changing the education system in Arkansas to being a huge success? These are some of his successes - not failures! And by the way, Reagan did the same types of things as governor of California. Also, Huckabee left Arkansas with a huge surplus! What did our "real" Republicans do when winning the white house and congress this past decade? They ran up the largest deficit we have ever seen and the Republican congress got ran out of town.

Mike Huckabee is the TRUE conservative. He is the solution we are looking for and need in this country. Look at the other three leaders for the party and that becomes even more clear. Rudy can't be the answer. He is for mass genocide of innocent babies. There is nothing conservative about that. He also is the weakest of all candidates on immigration. That is NOT conservative either. Romney wants to pretend to be the answer, but he is about as liberal as they come. I am terrified of putting a guy in office who literally and purposefully ran to the left of Ted Kennedy in '94. Anyone who thinks he is a genuine conservative is either ignorant of Romney's record or is a fool. And McCain has always been considered the anti-conservative. 8 years ago he ran for president as the moderate Republican. He has been against tax cuts and fostered many laws that have hurt the Republican party. He is also for stem-cell research on embryos which is killing innocent human life.

Of the top four candidates the real conservative is clear. It is Mike Huckabee. And I am sick and tired of people acting like he is just a nice Christian with liberal economic views. Mike Huckabee is the best candidate we have had as a party since Ronald Reagan. Rush, Ann, Sean, Laura, and Wall Street: Wake up! Social priority conservatives want to stay united with you economic priority conservatives - but when you push Huckabee away you push all of us away.

Life in the Movies

2008-01-08T10:34:00.001-06:00

Rick Santorum has written an excellent article on movies coming out with a pro-life message to them. It is worth the read:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080103_The_Elephant_in_the_Room___5_characters_reject_abortion_in_a_cultural_shift_in_movies.html

Donate to Huckabee

2007-12-31T00:58:00.001-06:00

https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&r=2795

Babies in Bathrooms and the Culture of Death

2007-12-16T12:45:00.000-06:00

Last night it came out on the news that an 18 year old college student-athlete killed her newborn baby. She had the baby in the bathroom and then suffocated the child in a bag. She had hid the pregnancy and read online about how to kill the child when the baby was born.

I saw this reported on Nancy Grace - the news show. Nancy was very angry talking about how horrible this event was, and that this girl needed to be tried for first degree murder. She then kept saying, if she would have had an abortion that would have been legal and fine. But this was horrific, because the girl birthed the baby and then killed the child. So let's get this right - what makes it murder is simply that the mother went through the birthing process? I couldn't believe how Nancy couldn't see how silly that sounded. Clearly to abort the baby before birthing it would have still killed the baby and still should count as murder!

How can things like this happen? How can a smart girl in pre-med biology classes, who is an athlete stoop to this crime? The answer: we live in a culture of death. That young woman had no problem killing her baby, because we live in a society that has no problem allowing 4,000 babies killed every day through abortion. We live in a country where Hillary Clinton just the other day proudly announced at a debate that she would remove the ban on embryonic stem cell research to allow more death - even though science now shows we don't need embryonic stem cells. We live in a country where the top Republican running for president is also proudly pro-abortion.

We need life! We need Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus Come!

My Church

2007-12-12T10:18:00.001-06:00

Those interested in my church's new mychurch page, go to: http://www.mychurch.org/churches/IL/Marshall/65611/Marshall-Baptist-Church

It will have sermons and videos rotated that are down loadable - as well as other information.

Our regular church website is: http://www.marshallbaptistchurch.org

The Second Advent and the Nations

2007-12-05T09:47:00.000-06:00

One of my all time favorite hymns is old – I mean real old. It is a Latin hymn from the 12^th century that was translated into English in the mid 1800s. You probably know it well.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

I love that hymn as it represents this time of Advent. Advent is a time where we remember the anticipation for Christ to come in human form to die and take the sins of the world. We have already begun this time of Advent at our church by the hanging of the greens and we will continue this time all the way up till Christmas by the lighting of the Advent candles.

I wonder if you ever realized that Advent is not just about the anticipation of the coming of Christ the first time. Advent is also a testimony of our anticipation that He is coming a second time. There will be Second Advent. And we long for it as we live this time between the two Advents. Advent literally means “coming” or “arrival.” We wait for Christ to once again arrive. This time He will come as a great judge who will make all things right.

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28 (ESV)

What is our job during this time of anticipation? It is to long for His return. During the Christmas season remember that as you long for Christmas day – you should also be longing for the Day of His return. And that should spur on to holiness and to take part in the spread of the gospel. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 that He will return when the nations have been reached. That is why December is the perfect time for giving to internationals missions. In my denomination we have the Lottie Moon offering for international missions. 100% of money given to the Lottie Moon offering goes to the work of international missionaries. Your anticipation for His advent is shown in your help to reach the nations. As John Piper wrote, “Missions is the automatic outflow and overflow of love for Christ.” Maybe that is why the great advent hymn ends:

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

It is our job to promote Christ to be the desire of the nations. That is why I hope this Christmas you will not just give to friends and family – but that you will sacrificially and joyfully give to international missions - like the Lottie Moon offering. That is what Advent and Christmas is all about.

If your church does not give to the Lottie Moon offering but you would like to give to a cause that sends 100% of what you give to the most missionaries in the world out spreading the gospel, go to: http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/fa/store.prod/ProdID/256.cfm

Abortion and our Next President: Get Serious!

2007-11-30T18:51:00.001-06:00

Message to every Democrat running for President - and a message to those Republicans running who don't support a full Federal ban on abortion (which includes Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Ron Paul). And a message to those who support any of those people mentioned. The word of the Lord:

"The LORD hates ...hands that shed innocent blood." Proverbs 6:16-17

Abortion is wrong. It is so wrong that we must not only overturn Roe V. Wade to the states - but we must federally ban it. If it is wrong then it is wrong!

For those who take abortion seriously - here are the available choices for President: Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, and Duncan Hunter. That is it. It is clear from my other blogs who I like out of those three. It is the only one of the three that is a top tier candidate. His name is Mike Huckabee. Regardless of who you like, if you believe God's word about abortion then you have to take that into account this election! 4,000 babies are killed every day in this country! It is a bigger deal than Iraq, immigration, terrorism, education, health care, or any other issue. I am tired of pro-life people backing candidates that are not fully for life.

iChurch

2007-11-26T09:20:00.000-06:00

We made this video for a series on Discipleship vs. Consumerism. This was for the week on the Church. Most Americans view the church as a consumer and not as a disciple. The video makes fun of the church consumer mindset. It is a take-off on the Me Church video that you can buy online from various sources.

Note to Michael J. Fox: Life Wins.

2007-11-20T13:45:00.001-06:00

AP news article today:
"Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy."

See what happens when you draw the line. You tell Michael J Fox, Nancy Reagan, and all the other rush to death people that we don't have to kill innocent life to try to save sick people. We can draw an ethical line and still find ways through creativity and science to help sick people. This new discovery may never have happened if it wasn't for conservatives (and not to mention George W Bush) holding the line on ethics. Right now, if Fox and many democrats in congress had their way, we'd simply be cloning life just to kill it and use embryonic stem cells.

"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone — the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, which has been trying to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos. It's a bit like learning how to turn lead into gold," said Lanza.

"People didn't know it would be this easy," Dr. James Thomson said. "Thousands of labs in the United States can do this, basically tomorrow."

The article goes on to say that regular embryo cloning, besides the ethical problems, has proven too expensive, impractical, and not effective.

This news should end this whole debate about embryo killing for science. Mr. Fox and liberal congress, I hope you realize this. The debate is over. Life wins!

Richard Land and Russell Moore on the hypocricy of evangelicals supporting Giuliani

2007-11-18T00:47:00.000-06:00

I found a March 12th Baptist Press article about not supporting Giuliani. It gives the views of both Richard Land and Russell Moore. It is an interesting read in light of Pat Robertson's support of Rudy. Both men said they would be hypocrites to speak against Bill Clinton and then to support Giuliani. Hint Hint Pat Robertson!

Land would sit out Giuliani-Clinton race
By Michael Foust
Mar 12, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--If the choice for president in 2008 is between Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, Richard Land says he’ll skip that portion of the ballot.

The president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission made the comments March 9 during an appearance on the “Albert Mohler Radio Program,” in which he and guest host Russell D. Moore discussed the presidential race.

Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is leading in polls of Republicans nationwide, while Clinton, the Democratic senator from New York, is leading in Democratic polls.

“Some would stay home, and I would counsel them not to do that,” Land said of the prospects of a Giuliani-Clinton presidential race. “They need to go and vote. They can always not vote in that race. I would go and vote, and I would vote for congressmen and I would vote for state senator and state representative, I would vote for U.S. senator, I would vote for governor. But I would not vote in the presidential race.”

Land has told several media outlets in recent days that Giuliani’s past -- he is on his third marriage and was involved in a particularly messy second divorce -- and his positions on social issues would prevent most evangelicals and Southern Baptists from supporting him. Giuliani, who has yet to make official a run for the Republican nomination, is pro-choice on abortion and supports homosexual civil unions -- just like Clinton.

Land has called Giuliani’s history “divorce on steroids.”

Responding to a hypothetical argument that Christians should support Giuliani because he’s solid on other issues, Land responded, “What I would say is the lesser of two evils argument has its limits, and this is beyond those limits.... It would violate my principles, it would violate my convictions, and I would be a hypocrite for having said that character was a key issue with Bill Clinton, and then turn around and make it less of an issue when it’s a candidate that I like better than I like Bill Clinton. I couldn’t compromise my principles to that extent to do so.”

Moore, dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Land, “I agree with you on that completely.”

While Giuliani and social conservatives may agree on 80 percent of the issues, Land said, “[T]he most important 20 percent are where the disagreements are.” Moore said the 20 percent “includes the lives of unborn children.”

Even if Giuliani pledges to appoint strict constructionist judges in order to get conservative support, Land said he wouldn’t vote for him.

“How can we believe him?” Land asked. “He promised ... two wives that he would love, honor and cherish and be faithful only unto her until ‘death us do part.’ And twice he lied to his wife -- twice. He broke his marital vows. That gets to the basic issue of trust, the basic issue of character. As Harry Truman once argued, he said, ‘I would never knowingly hire a man to work for me who cheated on his wife.’ When he was asked why, he said, ‘Well, if he’ll lie to his wife, he’ll lie to me. If he’ll break his oath of marriage he’ll break his oath of office.’ It’s pretty hard to argue with President Truman’s logic.”

I Heart Huckabee

2007-11-15T14:11:00.000-06:00

Pat Robertson Sold Out!

2007-11-14T23:19:00.000-06:00

I was shocked this past week to learn that televangelist Pat Robertson is supporting Rudy Giuliani for President. I believe Pat Robertson has sold out and will be judged by Christ for supporting a leader who supports the killing of 5,000 babies a day. If Rudy wins then that innocent blood will be on Pat's hands. I know this is a blunt blog, but I am passionate about it.

I just watched Pat explain his reasons for backing Rudy on Hannity and Colmes. After touting that he believes Rudy will appoint conservative judges (even though he never has in the past), he goes on to say that the main issue today is Islamofacism. Wait a second? Does Pat Robertson really think Islamic terrorism is more important than the abortion issue? I was shocked! Islamic terrorism has killed maybe 3,000 people in America. And Islamic terrorists are at least connected to the deaths of 4,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it is a huge deal. But 5,000 innocent children are murdered in this country every day! And they have been sold out by Pat, because he thinks Rudy is the only one who can beat Hillary. By supporting Rudy, Pat Robertson has not so much helped Rudy as he has hurt himself. He can no longer be taken seriously as a conservative or a religious leader. He sold out for politics.

I am shocked that Pat continues to call Rudy a real conservative. He said it repeatedly on Hannity and Colmes. He is either blind, ignorant, or a liar. None of those options are good. Pat reports that he knows Rudy's heart. Well Rudy's record and his words is that he is a social liberal. The real irony is that Pat is supporting him just because he can supposedly have a better chance of winning than candidates who are true social conservatives. The hypocricy of that is that Pat Robertson ran for President in 1988 asking people to vote for him instead of George HW Bush, because Pat was the only real social conservative. Now he is saying don't vote for people like he was, instead vote for someone far more liberal than George HW Bush. Speaking of the elder Bush, do people remember even he let a more liberal judge slip into the supreme court? Will liberal Rudy do better? I don't think so.

Maybe more shocking to me is I have yet to see real outrage at Pat's endorsement. The only negative comments have come from liberals calling him out on the hypocricy of it all. Religious leaders should raise up and ask Pat Robertson to recant his support. If by any chance Pat Robertson ever reads this blog (small chance, I know), Pat, I am asking you to take back your endorsement of Rudy. It is wrong. It is hypocritical. It is dangerous. And I believe God will judge you if you don't.

Endorsing

2007-11-10T15:52:00.000-06:00

The list of SBC members endorsing Huckabee includes:

- Dr. Jack Graham – Plano, Tex.

- Dr. James T. Draper Jr. – Colleyville, Tex.

- Dr. Jerry Vines – Woodstock, Ga.

- Dr. Daniel L. Akin – Wake Forest, N.C.

- Dr. Jay Strack – Orlando, Fla.

- Dr. Billy McCormack – Shreveport, La.

- Rev. Paul Cooper - Marshall, IL

Okay, I added the last one, but I thought it would look impressive if I was listed among these guys.

Sermon Notes on Baptism

2007-11-05T15:55:00.000-06:00

The Big Deal about Baptism
Romans 6:3-5

Intro: This week Ellen Degeneres. The dog. Begging and crying. Death threats to the place.
What’s the big deal? It’s just a dog. And that rule is dumb.
Baptism. What’s the big deal? Isn’t it just a silly rule?

Proposition: Baptism is a big deal that all believers are required by Christ to do and it is deeper than just obedience. You proclaim and show three at least three things through your Baptism.

I. Be baptized to proclaim union with Christ and His body – the church. (3,5)

Paul tells us that baptism is a symbol of unity. Primarily it shows our union in Christ as believers. The fact that our baptism is a sign of our unity with Christ teaches us that baptism is only for those who have been believed in Christ as Lord and savior.

NT is filled with verses about first believing and then being baptized:
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 (NIV)

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:41 (NIV)

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Acts 8:12 (NIV)

And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. Acts 8:38 (NIV)

Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. Acts 18:8 (NIV)

It is not for people who just want life insurance. Episode of Lost - baby baptized in case it died.

If you are being baptized for anything other than showing what Christ has done in your life than you are just getting wet. Baptism is linked to the salvation that has taken place in your life.

Ex. Growing up as a little kid I asked a lot of girls to marry me. But we never really got married. Why? Because I had no understanding of what I was doing. It didn’t really mean anything.

Ex. In Morocco I think I was in negotiations for a bride. But it didn't count, because I didn't know what I was doing.

Ex. Also in Morocco Amy and I had a fake wedding party. I tried to do the honeymoon, but she wasn’t for it. Why? Because we hadn’t really committed.

Baptism is showing a commitment to Christ you have made as a believer.

Baptism also proclaims your union to Christ’s body – the church. Paul is writing to a church – not an individual. He is saying we have been united to Christ and each other.

Baptism is not merely an individual matter.

We are all saying we believe this person is in Christ. That is why we don’t do private baptisms.

The Church has been given authority of Christ to baptize. We have authority to do what God has granted.

Ex. Travis walking in shorts. I say that is wrong. I put pictures on the screen. We get together and vote on discipline. We have done nothing. We have no biblical ground. We have said nothing but that we refuse to be ruled by Jesus. But if Travis next week comes to the pulpit and says he found Cindy Sue – a gal that is a pit boss in Las Vegas and is going to marry her and she will make a great bride, and decides to leave Theresa for her than we can discipline him with the authority of Christ. If he won’t change than we can remove him from membership. We make a pronouncement to Travis that he needs to hear like it is coming from Jesus Himself. (This example came from a Russ Moore sermon).

In baptism we are pronouncing with the authority of Christ that this person is in Christ. You are telling us you are in Christ and we are telling you that you are in Christ.

If we “baptize” someone who does not know Jesus then we are saying nothing.

II. Be baptized to show that you have died to your old ways. (4-5)

The message of baptism is a message of death. I come to these waters to die - to lay down my own life and my own selfish desires.

The person is baptized into Jesus’ death. Baptism speaks of judgment. The baptism is just like the flood wiped out the old creation. Baptism is like when the Israelites came through the red sea. Jesus speaks of his crucifixion as a baptism.

Read Matthew 32:-39

Baptism is the waters of wrath and the curse of God. When we baptize we are saying this person has been judged in Christ. Baptism is about repentance. We are proclaiming that this person is worthy of death. United with Jesus in death, judgment, and burial. This person will not be judged or experience hell because they have already experienced it through the death and burial of Christ.

Can baptism be traumatic to be lowered back in the water? Yes! It is not a normal thing we do by putting people in the water. We are announcing individually and corporately that Jesus was traumatically lowered into the grave and abandoned. But He was brought back to life.

In baptism, you are showing by faith you believe you will be pulled back up out of the grave.

Ex. Lady won’t be baptized that has been a regular for decades. Was a Methodist and not been baptized. Why not baptized? Boo fond hairdo and doesn’t want to be humiliated. It is a humiliating experience! You enter that water a dead man who needs someone to pull them up into life. (Another Russ Moore example)

III. Be baptized to proclaim new life to the lost. (4-5)
What we are saying in baptism is that without Christ I deserve hell, deserve death, and deserve condemnation. But through Christ I can be raised up to life after dieing to the old self. The old me is a dead man. You have been drowned in Christ and now walk in holiness of your newness of life.

Ex. If I die Amy could marry anyone. The cricket chirps no more. You cannot call her an adulterous. She is perfectly free to remarry. (Moore again)

Such it is with you. You are not in that old arrangement anymore. You have a new life.

Baptism defines who we are. It is not just something we do. It shows what a Christian is. The baptistery proclaims the gospel and calls out to those who do not know Christ to come and die and find that you may truly live.

Baptism is not an optional issue. Jesus says to follow me.

What’s the big deal? Baptism doesn’t save me.

Even though it doesn’t save you it is clearly expected of all Christians. It is an act of obedience. Jesus Himself was baptized.

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV)

So why would you not be baptized? It is expected of you, and it is a testimony of your relationship with Christ and what He has done for you.

Conclusion: Friends of ours had a secret wedding. It drove them crazy keeping it a secret. They had to have a second ceremony so everyone would know. What’s the big deal?

It is a big deal to let everyone know who you are in Christ. In those waters you proclaim to the world – I was dead in sin, but Christ has rescued me. Christ died for my sin and was raised to life. Don’t you see? In those waters, I united with Christ in death and now I have real life. And that’s a big deal!

Jesus Loves Abigail (my girl)

2007-11-02T01:19:00.000-05:00

Why I Support Mike Huckabee for President

2007-11-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

Here is a great article from Rick Scarborough and I can't say it better:
Why I'm supporting Mike Huckabee for president

Posted: November 1, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Rick Scarborough

Dear Friends,

I write you as a private citizen and not as president of Vision America. From where I sit in the gallery of the Christian conservative movement, we are in complete disarray. Since the last election we have lost several giants including Dr. Bill Bright, Dr. Adrian Rogers, Dr. Jerry Falwell and Dr. D. James Kennedy.

Three years ago, Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush's rise to power and prominence, was touting an era of conservative control of all branches of government, and many in our circles were celebrating, even though there was little evidence that the victories we secured at the ballot box were in fact stemming the tide of moral collapse in our culture.

Today, we are fragmented and can't even decide on a candidate to support for president. In a sobering article in the New York Times Magazine Oct. 28 entitled, "The Evangelical Crackup," David Kirkpatrick wrote:

Up to this point, though, most conservative Christian leaders are still locked in debate about which front-runner they dislike the least. Dobson's public statements have traced the arc of their dissatisfaction. Last October, he observed that grass-roots evangelicals would have a hard time voting for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon. In January, he said he could never vote for Sen. John McCain. More recently, Dobson panned Fred Thompson, too, for opposing a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. "He has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to,'" Dobson wrote in an e-mail message to allies. "Not for me, my brothers. Not for me!"
Finally, at the end of last month, Dobson was the foremost among the roughly 50 Christian conservative organizers who declared they would support a third-party candidate if the nomination went to Giuliani, who is their greatest fear. Some even talk of McCain – once anathema to them – as a better bet.

Over and again I have been encouraged by men I admire to be patient. But I submit that our patience has moved beyond prudence, and we are increasingly being viewed as irrelevant. I would submit that our mistake has been that we have been looking for perfection in a candidate, which can only lead to frustration.

I am a Christian conservative. Let me be more emphatic: I am a "Jesus First" conservative. I have many good friends in our movement who may find that objectionable, but I must be who I am. I admire and esteem my Jewish friends, Don Feder and Rabbis Daniel Lapin and Aryeh Spero, and they know I would never intentionally offend them or any of my many good friends who might not use such language in regards to their religious or political views. But my commitment to Jesus is the sole explanation for my life, my work and my calling. I will not sacrifice that to advance any other agenda or please any group.

In an ideal world, I am looking for a sincere follower of Jesus who is competent to run our country as president. If I can't find both in a person, I will choose a competent person over the follower of Jesus. I have the same philosophy of life when it comes to physicians, financial advisers and mechanics. I want competency first, and if the person is also a follower of Christ, for me that's a bonus of immeasurable significance.

I have chosen to cast my support for Mike Huckabee, not because he is perfect, but because I believe him to be competent, and I have known him for more than 30 years. I have watched his life up close and from a distance for the entire time. We attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary together in Ft. Worth, 30-plus years ago. It was and still is the largest evangelical seminary in the world, and at the time there was significant liberalism on the campus.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee

Among the students, there were three basic groups: 1) Those that sat in awe of the professors and drank the "Kool-Aid" of the latest liberal theological fad, 2) Those who were conservative but who chose to go about their business of getting their education quietly with as little conflict as possible, and 3) Those who were there on a mission to prepare to change the world and for whom Christ was their first love and winning souls their passion.

Mike and I gravitated to each other because we hung with students in the third category. During those days Huckabee joined the staff of James Robison, who at that time was the leading soul winning evangelist in the Southern Baptist Convention. After seminary, I entered full-time evangelism and had the privilege of preaching a crusade in a church in Arkansas where Mike Huckabee was their beloved pastor. Together we witnessed scores of people give their hearts to Jesus and many joined his church.

During those early years, the "conservative resurgence" in the Southern Baptist Convention was taking place. Always the warrior, I jumped in with both feet, doing all I could to expose theological liberalism in our denomination. In 1989, I ran for president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. In the process, I ran an aggressive campaign, naming names of liberals in both churches and educational institutions. In the end, I was defeated by a significant margin. Mike took a different approach in Arkansas, which resulted in his being elected to the office of president of the Arkansas Baptist Convention.

Some have tried to diminish his conservative credentials because they say he was a "no-show" for the theological wars of the Southern Baptist Convention. While that charge is not completely accurate, his gentler approach certainly proved prudent in God's wider agenda of providing a leader for the whole state of Arkansas. And after three doses of Bill and Hillary Clinton, people of both sides of the theological wars in the SBC, as well as people of many faiths in Arkansas, voted for and elected a Baptist pastor, Mike Huckabee, to state-wide office three times.

It seems that the narrow view of some is that he would be a better candidate today had he stood up during the battle for a denomination. Had he done so, he would never have been the chief executive officer of the State of Arkansas for 10 years, and we would not even be discussing his presidential candidacy now. And we must not forget it was Solomon, the man of peace, whom God commissioned to build the temple in Jerusalem, not David, the warrior.

I choose to believe that God, in His sovereignty, orchestrated that chain of events. Now we have a viable and competent candidate in Mike Huckabee, who also happens to be a committed Christian. Note, I did not say "perfect."

Wherever Huckabee is exposed to values voters, he is their clear choice. We witnessed this in Ft. Lauderdale in September when approximately 2,000 assembled for the Values Voter Debate in which more than 40 members of our coalition participated, and again among those who were on site at the Values Voters Washington Briefing in October. On both occasions, he won with more than 50 percent of the votes cast on site and with a 5 to 1 margin over his nearest rival. Those of us who were in the room when Huckabee delivered his remarks in D.C. could sense the enthusiasm of the attendees for his message as well as his candidacy, as they interrupted his speech numerous times with standing ovations.

Some correctly point out that Huckabee hasn't raised enough money to conduct a national campaign and therefore suggest he is "unelectable." That appears to be changing, but while the money issue is important, it should not be the most important consideration for people of faith. We should not overlook the fact that he, a Republican, was elected thrice in a predominately Democrat state where he received over 45 percent of the black vote.

Many are praying that God will spare our great nation from the judgment we certainly deserve for the killing of over 45,000,000 pre-born children, not to mention the millstone we deserve to have hung around our necks for allowing our living children to be exploited by the sexual anarchists that now control public education and Hollywood. We need revival for survival.

I suggest that God may be sending us a lifeline. Who better to lead a nation nearing moral collapse and perhaps World War III than a president who is also a pastor with 10 years of senior executive experience as a governor? Many in the secular press are now reporting that he is a legitimate first-tier candidate whose star is rising while others are fading. Millions of voters are gravitating to him.

I acknowledge I am not as politically savvy as some, and you should consider that as you read this open letter, but I have concluded that Gov. Mike Huckabee is our best hope for leading this nation at this time.

Some suggest that he has no foreign policy experience. Neither did Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, nor George W. Bush.

Some criticize his alleged "big" government approach to problem solving. I'd rather debate that issue with a candidate than abortion, same-sex marriage and marital infidelity.

Some criticize his redefining values as social justice. My response is as Christians and values voters, we must include social justice. Can you imagine Jesus ignoring the plight of the disenfranchised and downtrodden while going after the abortionist? This is not an either/or policy question.

Some criticize his positions on illegal immigration. I have listened to a maturing candidate whose stated solutions begin with secure borders.

Some criticize his positions on the environment. I would suggest that as stewards of God resources, there needs to be a fresh look at this issue, and while we may not agree on causes or solutions, I can assure you that citizens in this nation and many Christians in the pews will not be kind to a version of Christianity or politics that refuses to address this area of wide concern. Huckabee is forcing Republicans to discuss this issue, and that is healthy.

Many often lament, as I have done, "Where are all the pastors?" Well, one of them is running for president, and it seems to me the Christian pro-family movement might do well to help him. If he fails to secure the nomination, then we can regroup and do something else, but right now we have a great chance to give him what millions of dollars cannot assure … tens of millions of faithful and God-fearing Americans who want a godly leader. I hear from many of them daily, and they are looking to us for affirmation and leadership.

I acknowledge that Huckabee is not the perfect candidate, but I believe that in him we have a legitimate candidate who will listen to wise counsel and who shares our core values. This is the primary season where little is much in terms of turnout, and now is the time for us to rally our people.

Respectfully,

Pastor Rick Scarborough
Founder and president of Vision America Action

The Mission Comes Above All Else

2007-11-01T16:30:00.000-05:00

I ended a message recently that touched a lot of people - especially me! At that service I ended the message with a portion of an email of a dear friend of mine who is serving in Iraq. I would like to share that portion of the email with you in writing. The person who wrote this is Jake Snow. He is an Army pilot that goes out and rescues people that have been shot or hurt in battle in Iraq. I recently received his first email since arriving in Iraq:

When my guys and I finally landed at our end point, we were surprised by what we found. The mission comes above all else. I thought I understood it before academically, but now I’ve seen it. A picture really is worth a thousand words. The guys that we replaced here were awesome. They were so dedicated to the mission, and took it so seriously, that when we got here we fell right in line with them.

Everyone carries a radio all the time. When you are on call (we call that 1^st up) for 24 hours, you don’t shower or take off your shoes. We sleep in our clothes and maintain our gear preset in the aircraft. At night you learn to sleep but still listen to the radio. When that call comes over the net it raises the hair on the back of your neck; even it’s for another MEDEVAC unit. Immediately, everyone who isn’t on 1^st up sprints out to help the crew to get strapped in and get the aircraft launched. No one laughs or jokes; the group is focused on a singular goal. We strive to get the aircraft off the ground in less than ten minutes from the time the call comes in. As one might imagine, all that effort day after day sometimes gets cumbersome, but it all makes complete sense when you look into the faces of the people we’re going to get. When that call comes in, somewhere out there could be a young guy, maybe 18 or 19 years old, screaming in the night and waiting until he can hear the sound of our rotors overhead. Knowing that we are making a difference makes it all worth it.

Here in Marshall and in Illinois, North America, and the rest of the world there are people screaming in the night for a savior. We have been given a mission by Jesus Christ Himself to go reach those people in need of rescue. We must take that mission seriously, be dedicated to it, and understand that the mission comes above all else. Can it be tough? Of course! It will take sacrifices to make sure we are taking out the gospel locally, helping plant new churches, going on mission trips, and giving more sacrificially. And all that effort day after can sometimes can get cumbersome, but it all makes complete sense when you look into the faces of the people we’re going to share with. Knowing that we are making a difference makes it all worth it.

Welcoming Myself

2007-10-17T11:59:00.001-05:00

This blog exists because one person asked for it - John Mark. So if you hate anything I write in the future - blame him.