Battle Lines Are Being Drawn!

This past Monday (June 28) there was a ruling in the Supreme Court that slid in under the wire of most media outlets, but it is huge, as it is a violent swing at destroying religious freedoms in America. With a 5-4 decision, it is now required that all Christian campus groups that are on public universities, must accept gay students as members. Lou Engle, the prayer leader and founder of "The Call" prayer movement stated that this may well be the beginning of religious persecution in the United States. He said, "This is the first time in U.S. history where the Supreme Court has actually ruled that gender rights now trump religious rights, which means this is the beginning of the possible coming harassment and persecution of the church because it's going to be clear that the true church will take a stand only on the Word of God. So these campuses will find out who the real Christians are, who is willing to take a stand and risk their status with the school as a club."

California Universities Hastings College had blocked the "Christian Legal Society" funding and and recognition because it would not accept homosexuals as members. Monday's ruling states that campus groups cannot bar any student who wishes to become a member or move into a leadership position, even if that person does not agree with the group's beliefs. Gregory Baylor, attorney with the Alliance Defense fund which represented the CLS said, "The Hasting policy actually requires CLS to allow atheists to lead its Bible studies and the College Democrats to accept the election of Republican officers in order for the groups to be recognized on campus."

This quiet decision could have a sweeping effect all across the nation. The CLS already had the policy of welcoming anyone and everyone to participate in it's meetings and Bible studies, but had a standing policy that voting members and the leadership of the group were required to sign a Statement of Faith that included a line which stated, "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle." This ruling impacts all campus groups, but the impact could be particularly devastating as radical groups can now literally take over a group in order to destroy it.

Keep your eyes on this one. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

Coincidence? You Decide

The Simple Things of Life

Sometimes in life we can get so caught up in all the "stuff" that we miss the simple things of life. Yesterday was my daughter's 17th birthday and she wanted to take a couple of her friends to go shopping, and then she wanted to come home, make her own cake and have a few friends over to watch a movie. It was fun just watching her, because it was not that she really wanted to buy a lot, she just wanted to hang out with her friends. After lunch at Popeye's Chicken, some shopping and dinner at Olive Garden, we came home and she and her friends made her cake. Then they decided they wanted to make brownies and a steusel. There was about 5 or 6 kids in the kitchen cooking and a few more in the dining room eating and laughing like only teens can do. My wife and I were sitting in the living room and I looked over at her and she was just grinning and staring off into space. I asked her what she was thinking about and she said, "I'm just listening to the sounds." I just stopped and listened for a few minutes with her. There really just is not words to describe the simple joy that came in listening to them. They were having so much fun, and they have no idea how much pleasure it gave us to just know that they were having fun... without beer, drugs or sex. Just good clean fun. I really do love the simple things of life.

What Happened to "Commitment"?

It seems that one of the most dangerous subjects that a pastor can preach on now days, it is "Commitment." Say the "C" word and walls go up, defense systems engage, claws come out and blood pressures rise. We can preach on the most controversial subjects and have a much more receptive audience than when the idea of commitment is approached. What I've come to understand that it's not just church, but in 2010, it is pretty difficult to get people to commit to anything... except a party. Those you on Facebook, give this a try: Create an "Event" (mind you, not a party) and invite your friends and associates to that event. Especially if that event is centered around a church activity, I can pretty much guarantee you that your responses will reflect far more "may be attending" than those who will actually commit to attending. And when that event comes, at least one third to one half of those who said they will come, will not show up. Their word (commitment) means nothing. We as a people have completely lost the concept of commitment. We see it in marriages, where now, statistics reflect that roughly 40-50% of the marriages in the United States will end in divorce. (What happened to "till death do we part"?) Recently, I wanted to test out my theory of commitment, so when I was supposed to meet with a group of people, I first did the Facebook thing. Then, the day before the event, I texted each one of those kids who had said they will come and asked them, "Are you going to be there?" Several said yes, but almost half said, "I'll try" or "If nothing comes up." In other words, if no better offers come my way. That is the trend of society today. I was not raised that way. I was raised that your word was your bond. If you said you were going to do something or be somewhere, you were there, even if a better offer came, or something you'd rather be doing came. If there was an emergency, or if something vitally important came up, you extended the courtesy of a phone call to explain. I've called people to say, "I promised to be there, but such and such has come up. Would you be offended, or would it create a problem for me to back out now? If so, please tell me and I will keep my appointment with you." Not long ago, I had an evangelist scheduled to come to my church. As the revival approached, still better than a month away, the man called me and explained that someone had given he and his wife a 7 day cruise that fell during that revival. He asked me if it would be a problem to cancel or reschedule, and said that he would turn the cruise down if it were going to be a problem for me or my church.

THAT, folks, is commitment. That is how we should live our lives.

I read a story one time, that to the best of my knowledge is true that illustrates to us commitment, and how to go about being committed. The story is about the explorer Hernando Cortez, and how in April of 1519 he sailed into Vera Cruz, Mexico. He brought with him roughly 600 men, yet within the next two years, that relatively small group of warriors, although vastly out numbered, defeated Montezuma and the Aztec empire, making Cortez the conqueror of Mexico. That is an incredible feat, especially when you consider that two prior expeditions had failed to even establish a single colony on Mexican soil. They were driven away in utter defeat.

So, what made the difference? How did Cortez rally his men to do what the others had failed to do, without themselves turning back? This is the cool part of the story, which excemplifies what it means to be committed.

Cortez knew from the beginning of his journey that he and his men were facing some incredible odds. He knew that there was extreme danger and to say it would be difficult would be a major understatement. He knew that when it got rough, he and his men might be tempted to abandon their mission and return to Spain. So Cortez took a most extreme measure to make their commitment unyeilding. As soon as he and his men had come ashore and unloaded their provisions, he ordered their entire fleet of eleven ships to be burned. He and his men stood on the shore and watched as their only possibility of retreat burned and sank. From that point on, they knew beyond any doubt there was no turning back. The only thing that lay behind them was a vast ocean, so the only option remaining was to go forward. They would conquer or die.

The problem, as I see it, is that in 2010 we, as a people, always leave options... a way out.

We alway want to hedge our bets. This has crept into our worship of God as well.

When I grew up, we were committed to our church. Now days, there is seldom that type of commitment. I've had people, even leadership say to me, that, "if this church ceases to exist, there will always be another." That is what is wrong with our churches. That is what is wrong with the Body of Christ. We've become a transcient society... and a transcient church. Commitment has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Archeological Evidence of the Red Sea Crossing

This is just too cool to not post!

Obama: An Incompetent Executive

The following is an article posted by Dick Morris and Elieeen McGann which I received in my email. I wanted to share it, not with the intent to slam President Obama, rather to make sure people understand that this entire thing is being mishandled and it will be used to impose yet another Government takeover, add more taxes to American families. Rather than focus on the solution, this administration is seizing the opportunity to wrestle away more freedoms while making Government bigger.

Don't forget that in the first 2 days of this crisis, BP said that the answer was to drill more around that area to take the pressure off of this leak. For almost two months now, all drilling has been frozen due to an Executive Order by our President. Time to stop playing politics and let the people who know what to do, do it!

Contrary to what the Constitution says, the president does not run the executive branch of the federal government. It runs itself. Following Newton's Laws of Motion, it is "a body in motion that tends to remain in motion in the same direction and at the same speed unless acted upon by an outside force." The bureaucracy keeps doing what it is programmed to do unless someone intervenes.

And that intervention is the proper job of the president. He has to step in, ask the right questions, get inside and outside advice, and decide how to intervene to move the bureaucracy one way or the other. President Clinton had an excellent sense of how to do this and when to get involved. President Obama does not.

When the spill started, he and his campaign staff - now transplanted to the White House - reacted the way a Senator or a candidate would, blaming British Petroleum, framing an issue against the oil company, and holding it accountable. But what he needed to do was to review the plans for coping with the disaster and intervene to move the bureaucracy in untraditional but more appropriate directions. Instead, he let business as usual and inertia move the process.

The president's tardy requests for international assistance and his government's bureaucratic response to their offers demonstrates his lack of command and control. The Washington Post reports that the Obama Administration initially "saw no need to accept offers of state-of-the-art skimmers, miles of boom or technical assistance from nations around the globe with experience fighting oil spills." Arrogantly, State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters on May 19th "we'll let BP decide what expertise they do need."

Two weeks after the spill started, the State Department and the Coast Guard sought to figure out what aid they could use from abroad. On May 5th, the Department reported that thirteen international offers of aid had been tendered and the government would decide which to accept "in the next two days." Two weeks later, it said that it did not need any of them.

Now, when it is too late, the U.S. has finally accepted Canada's offer of 10,000 feet of boom. In late May it took 14,000 feet from Mexico, two skimmers from Mexico, and skimming systems from Norway and the Netherlands. Too little too late.

Why didn't the Administration act sooner?

Bureaucratic obstacles stopped it and the president was not involved or active enough to sweep them aside.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr Christopher T. O'Neil said that "all qualifying offers of assistance have been accepted." But this bureaucratic-speak did not mention that the Jones Act - an isolationist law passed in the 1920s that requires vessels working in American waters to be built and crewed by Americans - disqualified many of the offers of assistance. But Obama could have waived the Jones Act whenever he wanted to.

A Norwegian offer of a chemical dispersant was rejected by the EPA - more bureaucracy.

When Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal sought to create sand berms to keep oil away from the coastline, the Washington Post reported that he reached out to "the marine contractor Van Oord and the research institute Deltares...BP pledged $360 million for the plan, but U.S. dredging companies - which have less than one-fifth the capacity of Dutch dredging firms -- objected to foreign companies' participation."

An activist, involved chief executive would have swept aside these impediments and demanded immediate action. He would have ridden roughshod over bureaucratic and political objections and gotten the cleanup underway.

But this president is no executive. He is a legislator - he is now pushing new environmental legislation. He is a lawyer - his Attorney General is investigating criminal charges against BP. He is a populist - he is quick to blame BP. He is a big spender - he wants a fund to pay the spill's victims. He is all of these things. But he is no chief executive and that, unfortunately, is the job he was elected to do.

Don't Believe Everything You See!

We are bombarded with news reports and footage from the Middle East and told (and supposedly shown) how that Israel is brutally assaulting the Palestinian people. I was just talking with someone about taking a stand with Israel and they told me that I was being deceived or blinded by my Christian stand, and that I needed to watch more of the news accounts to see just how brutal Israel really was. I started looking for some footage online, and to my surprise, I found this video of a 60 Minutes show from several years ago. This video proves once and for all that we should not believe everything we see... especially what we see on the news! It's a rather long video, but I challenge you to watch it all. You need to see how we are being manipulated and deceived.

American Voters Can Be SO Stupid

I often am quite vocal about how I feel about American voters. One of my pet peeves when it comes to voters is how so many people refuse to look at issues and where a candidate stands, but rather will simply vote for someone simply because they have a "D" or and "R" next to their name. There are people who literally hate someone because they are not of their political party affiliation. I've asked countless people why they voted for someone, and their answer was, "he/she was the right choice." When pushed for specifics, I'm frustrated to discover how many know nothing of the issues at hand, but admit that they simply voted for their party line candidate. It frustrates the daylights out of me how so many are absolutely ignorant of the issues and where candidates position themselves on those issues, so they simply vote their for the party, assuming that makes them the best choice. This week, my argument was proven conclusively.

If you are not aware, there were primary elections held in many states across the United States. There has been a lot of reporting on some of these elections as the results will have a profound impact in the fall general elections. Some of the results are, shall we say, "less reported." The one election result that I want to focus on took place in South Carolina to determine who the Democratic nominee will be to run against the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. The winner of the South Carolina Democratic primary is Alvin Greene. He won with a commanding lead over Vick Rawl, an experienced and well known lawmaker in the state.

So, who is Alvin Greene? That is the question that everyone in South Carolina is asking this week! Alvin Greene is a 32 year old political unknown, who is an unemployed veteran. As the Democratic leaders of South Carolina have scurried to try to discover who this man is, they have been shocked to find that just 8 months ago he was arrested in Columbia, South Carolina for showing explicit pornographic photos to a young female college student and trying to lure her back to his room. As they dug further trying to discover who Alvin Greene is, they discovered that to the best of their knowledge he has never given a political speech, never advertised... not even a single campaign poster was printed or displayed. The state Democratic party spokesperson said, "we have no idea how he won."

When asked about some of the issues that face the nation, Greene has some fantastic answers.

When asked about unemployment, he responded, "I want to put South Carolina back to work. I know about being unemployed." (OK, I'll give him a pass here, even though he has no plan.)

He was asked what would be on his campaign platform. His response was that he was stationed in South Korea and he believes that there should be one Korea, that it would be good for the economy of the United States and South Carolina. (Uh, yeah...)

A reporter asked him about where he stood on healthcare and the economic stimulus packages enacted. He said he was a supporter of them. The reporter asked him for more detailed information about how he felt about TARP, to which Greene responded, "TARP? What's that? I'll have to look into that and get back to you."

The reporter asked him how he felt about the latest issues surrounding Iran and the United Nations. Greene responded, "I think how we're going about, what we're doing is OK, I think ... Look, I have someone beeping on the other line, I have to move on ... I'm exhausted."

OK... I think you get the idea. The man knows little to nothing about the political issues at hand, has no experience, did not campaign... yet he won the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Senator Jim DeMint in the fall elections. HOW does this happen? It appears that Alvin Greene won the election because voters went to the ballot boxes uninformed and they simply looked for the Democrat candidates and on the ballot Alvin Greene appeared (alphabetically) before Vick Rawl, so voters simply checked for the first person on the ballot. Sad, but true.

This is not an isolated incident. It happens all the time. Just a few months ago, here in the Illinois primaries, the candidate who won the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor, Scott Lee Cohen had been arrested for domestic violence against his girl friend, after holding a knife to her throat and threatening to kill her. (For more information on this, read my blog written at that time here.)

There are numerous cases of similar situations.

I implore the American voter to educate yourselves. This nation is in a mess, and things like this illustrate to us exactly why. More than 60% of the Democratic voters cast their vote for a man that they had never heard of. That is absolutely unacceptable.

It's Bush's Fault

The following is an opinion piece by Chuck Green who writes "Greener Pastures" for the Aurora

(Colorado ) Sentinel...one of the more liberal papers in the country. It is important to note that Chuck Green is a life long Democrat...so this is a particularly amazing article. I have searched the net and cannot find a direct link to this article, so to prove it's authenticity, I am including a photo clip of the actual article.

Green: Obama is a victim of Bush's failed promises

By CHUCK GREEN

Columnist

Published: Sunday, February 7, 2010 11:14 AM MST

Barack Obama is setting a record-setting number of records during his first year in office.

Largest budget ever. Largest deficit ever. Largest number of broken promises ever. Most self-serving speeches ever. Largest number of agenda-setting failures ever. Fastest dive in popularity ever. Wow. Talk about change. Just one year ago, fresh from his inauguration celebrations, President Obama was flying high. After one of the nation’s most inspiring political campaigns, the election of America ’s first black president had captured the hopes and dreams of millions. To his devout followers, it was inconceivable that a year later his administration would be gripped in self-imposed crisis. Of course, they don’t see it as self imposed. It’s all George Bush’s fault.

George Bush, who doesn’t have a vote in Congress and who no longer occupies the White House, is to blame for it all.

He broke Obama’s promise to put all bills on the White House web site for five days before signing them.

He broke Obama’s promise to have the congressional health care negotiations broadcast live on C-SPAN.

He broke Obama’s promise to end earmarks.

He broke Obama’s promise to keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent.

He broke Obama’s promise to close the detention center at Guantanamo in the first year.

He broke Obama’s promise to make peace with direct, no pre-condition talks with America ’s most hate-filled enemies during his first year in office, ushering in a new era of global cooperation.

He broke Obama’s promise to end the hiring of former lobbyists into high White House jobs.

He broke Obama’s promise to end no-compete contracts with the government.

He broke Obama’s promise to disclose the names of all attendees at closed White House meetings.

He broke Obama’s promise for a new era of bipartisan cooperation in all matters.

He broke Obama’s promise to have chosen a home church to attend Sunday services with his family by Easter of last year.

Yes, it’s all George Bush’s fault. President Obama is nothing more than a puppet in the never-ending, failed Bush administration.

If only George Bush wasn’t still in charge, all of President Obama’s problems would be solved. His promises would have been kept, the economy would be back on track, Iran would have stopped its work on developing a nuclear bomb and would be negotiating a peace treaty with Israel , North Korea would have ended its tyrannical regime, and integrity would have been restored to the federal government.

Oh, and did I mention what it would be like if the Democrats, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, didn’t have the heavy yoke of George Bush around their necks. There would be no earmarks, no closed-door drafting of bills, no increase in deficit spending, no special-interest influence (unions), no vote buying ( Nebraska , Louisiana ).

If only George Bush wasn’t still in charge, we’d have real change by now.

All the broken promises, all the failed legislation and delay (health care reform, immigration reform) is not President Obama’s fault or the fault of the Democrat-controlled Congress. It’s all George Bush’s fault.

Take for example the decision of Eric Holder, the president’s attorney general, to hold terrorists’ trials in New York City . Or his decision to try the Christmas Day underpants bomber as a civilian. Two disastrous decisions. Certainly those were bad judgments based on poor advice from George Bush.

Need more proof?

You might recall that when Scott Brown won last month’s election to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts , capturing “the Ted Kennedy seat,” President Obama said that Brown’s victory was the result of the same voter anger that propelled Obama into office in 2008. People were still angry about George Bush and the policies of the past 10 years, and they wanted change. Yes, according to the president, the voter rebellion in Massachusetts last month was George Bush’s fault. Therefore, in retaliation, they elected a Republican to the Ted Kennedy seat, ending a half-century of domination by Democrats.

It is all George Bush’s fault.

Will the failed administration of George Bush ever end, and the time for hope and change ever arrive?

Will President Obama ever accept responsibility for something — anything?

Chuck Green, veteran Colorado journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Denver Post, syndicates a statewide column and is at chuckgreencolo@msn.com

Staying Alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.

No, I'm not really going to talk about disco, John Travolta or the Bee Gees. In fact that has nothing to do with my topic today, other than as I was contemplating this, that song popped into my head and I could not get it out.

So, what is it?

I want to share a bit about keeping your dreams alive. Let me begin by sharing a story that I heard told recently.

There was a couple who loved mushrooms and bought several pounds of them from a roadside vendor. They had so many that they made mushroom omelettes, mushroom salad, mushroom soup, and even came up with a mushroom dessert. After their mushroom feast was over, they gave the left overs to their cat, who gobbled up the leftover mushrooms. Later that evening the lady went into her kitchen and found the cat lying on the floor, gasping for breath. She frantically called the vet who said they'd probably gotten some poisoned toadstools and advised they go to the emergency room. Several hours later, after having their stomachs pumped the couple came home with the dire expectation of finding their cat dead and they prepared themselves for the inevitable task of burying their beloved pet. To their amazement, when they walked into the kitchen thy found the cat curled up in the corner nursing a brand new litter of kittens. What they thought were death pains were just birth pains!

When it seems that your dream is gasping its last breath, keep believing God; you're closer to giving birth than you've ever been!

Remember the story of Joseph in Genesis 37? Joseph had a dream where he became great and his brothers bowed down to him. When he told his brothers, they hated him for it. Now many of us would have quit right there, where the criticism came. But rather than quit, Joseph had yet another dream (vs 9), an even bigger dream.

There is a powerful lesson in that verse. When those around you demean, criticize and try to discourage you... dare to dream again,... and dream bigger! In the face of criticism and hatred, Joseph dreamed a second dream, an even bigger one!

If you've had a dream and maybe you've abandoned your dream because of ridicule and scorn and now you have given in to fear and discouragement, I dare you today to rise up and reclaim it. Maybe you've had a dream that you have already fulfilled. If so, then it is time to ask God to give you another... and even bigger one.

Dare to do great things for God. You may feel inadequate and think that the challenge is too big for you, but I say to you that it's not too big for God!

You can never out-dream God. In the Bible He asks, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?..." (Genesis 18:14 NKJV)

Don't come to the end of your journey filled with regrets over things you never did. Dare to do great things for the Lord. Don't let your dreams be stolen from you!

If God has given you a dream, he will equip you to carry it out. If you've had a dream that is fading away, you must seek God and dream again!

Keep those dreams alive!

I'm Back...

I have not posted for awhile, and even when I did post, it was videos. I've been extremely busy... and stressed... and just did not feel like I had anything to share. Anyone else ever just reach the place where you feel like you are empty? Life has been really hectic for the past month. Things that had to be dealt with "on schedule" and no room to rearrange things... and in the midst of all this, there were several situations where people needed help immediately and time was limited. Honestly, I've had some situations where I've tried to help people and no matter how I tried, no matter what counsel or advice I gave, my efforts had little or no positive effect, and I was beginning to feel quite useless and a failure. This was compounded because I really had no "down time" to "recharge the batteries." And in case you don't know it, that is when Satan comes at us with his most fierce attacks. Physically, I've really not felt well for more than a month. I have arthritis in some of my fingers, my wrist, shoulder and knees. I've battled extreme headaches ever since a car accident I was involved in in 1988. The weather caused the arthritis to go spastic on me and I've fought headaches nearly every day of the last 4 weeks. I'm sure the stress and mental fatigue only intensified them.

I could go on... but I'm sounding like quite the whiner right now. I've tried really hard not to give in to being negative and whining... but today, the headaches got the upper hand and I've just had all I could take. I didn't really whine to anyone else... but I sure had a whining session with God. I mean, I just unloaded on Him, telling Him I've had all I could take and he was going to have to do something and soon. I sure am glad that God is not like we humans are, because if He were, I think He just might have smacked me upside the head. But He let me vent my frustrations and anger... and He took it. A little while later, I went by to see one of my church members who is an elderly woman. I had promised to come see her last week, but another person's emergency took her time away. When I got there, she expressed her happiness that I'd come and began to fill me in on the past couple of weeks since my last visit. As I sat there and listened to her I began to think about how that for almost a year now, she has been shut in, either in the hospital, in her home, or for a couple of months in a nursing home. She began to speak of her loneliness and how much she misses being able to attend church, and then for the next 30 minutes told me stories of her memories of church, her love for God and the people of God. As I listened to her, I began to realize just how blessed I am, even on my worst day. The headache was (and is) still there, but I thanked God that I am able to get out and do things for myself. Yes, I have pain... and yes the stresses of life are real... but I am blessed. My efforts are not always successful... but I thank God for the opportunities to at least try. I may not see a lot of progress in trying to help others right now... but I thankful that God has chosen me to be used by him in these situations. The reality is, all I can do is give advise and counsel from the Word; the choice from there belongs to others. I'm thankful for the opportunity to at least sow seeds.

Yeah, I'm back tonight... still fighting a headache... still fighting my arthritis... but I've gotten up from my pity pot, and I happy to proclaim... "I am blessed!"

We The People