Is ACLU looking out for your rights?

The Tennessean, one of my local newspapers, had a headline stating that ACLU's Winberg has been keeping her eye on our rights - I so disagree!

ACLU’s Winberg does not keep her eyes on my rights, though she might be keeping her eye on ‘your’ rights. Speak for yourself and not the readership as a whole. ACLU strongly protects the rights of non-Christians, homosexuals, and others wanting sexual liberties to have sex when and with whomever they want. Christians want Biblical standard protected: sanctity of life, marriage as one man and one woman and freedom of speech and religious expression in public life.

Working in TN she herself stated that “TN continues to be a battleground for the radical religious right” and she has fought ‘those people’ throughout her career. Well, in TN ‘those people’, people whose lives are radically changed because they know Jesus as their Lord and Savior are most of the people in the Tennessean readership. So it is not only a lie that she is keeping her eye on ‘our’ rights, but very insulting that her life pursues are glorified in huge spread article/interview on the cover of the Issues section on Sunday, November 22, 2009. Christian do have rights, and more than most believe because ACLU lawyers are famous for threatening government, school authorities and any public exercise of Christian beliefs that are in contrast to their agenda. Christians do have the right to speak about their faith in Jesus and his impact in their academic, athletic and life as it pertains to public life in government or public schools.

I will keep informing people of their constitutional rights so they know how to exercise them, and not let them ‘die on the vine’. Christians do not want to take anyone’s freedom away. There needs to be truthful education to what rights are guaranteed under the Bill of rights and what it means in practical terms. There is no place in elementary school for education on being gay. This is not education, it is indoctrination often that run diametrically against the teachings and beliefs of many families served by public education. Children are taught that their parent’s religious beliefs are wrong – how dare anyone in a school undermine the freedom of religious beliefs!

Of course, Winberg wants to see generations of children taught her secular anti-Christian beliefs, and hopes this will empower them to be activist for her convictions. Maybe she should start a church of her own and teach these ‘religious beliefs’ in her own Sunday School classes and preach it from the pulpit of those who want to follow her beliefs. Of course, our constitution fully give her this freedom of speech and religion, but that is not her desire.

She is driven to see children taught as early as possible her ‘beliefs’ to be truth for everyone. Yes, I two, would love for others to know the truth about God, but I do not want to indoctrinate. God is able to draw people to Himself, and His Truths. Today anti-bullying classes are simply a cover for teaching about homosexuality. My son was bullied in elementary school for being courteous, saying yes, maim and allowing girls to go first. There are so few students that are bullied for being gay comparatively for all of the other different reason, but these activist want to use curriculum like this to teach their ‘spiritual-life beliefs’ and worldview. I don't want anyone to be bullied, and teaching people to love others despite differences is what needs to be taught. It is a universal message that flows out of the understanding that humans are created by a loving God, not some evolved blob of cells. Teaching these truths elevated humans to being priceless treasures that should be treated equally with love and respect.

Just because someone makes a statement it is not a guarantee that what they say is truthful. And just because her statements are in print doesn't validate them...don't believe everything you read. Many statements given by Winberg in the article are flat out lies. The ACLU is not about being committed to equal protection under the law for all people. And they do pick and choose their cases. For example, I believe and will publicly state the homosexuality, abortion and pre-marital sex is a sin in the eyes of God in the Holy Bible. Jesus taught we are to love the sinner but to hate the sin.

Since we are all sinners, I never see myself better than others only blessed to be forgiven and saved by grace. I am a sinner saved and always will be. Will Winberg be committed to protect my freedom of speech and religious freedom to make such statements in public schools, public forums and government property? I am not telling people what they need to believe I am simply testifying about my faith. Since I am a Christian, my faith affects everything I say and do, every breath I take. My life Bible verse is “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Can Winberg give one case she has worked on in her 25 year career with ACLU to protect someone with beliefs similar to mine? No, because she calls me part of the “radical religious right.” I am radical because I am a radically changed person due to Jesus Christ coming into my life. I have a relationship with God so that would make me what people would call 'religious'. And I aim to do what I right in the eyes of God! So go ahead - make my day - call me radical, religious and right!

I hate no one, but I do hate sin that puts people in bondage to lies and destroys families. I understand that everyone is precious and a special treasure to God, created in His image. I know that each person is created by God in the womb of his mother, and that people never have to freedom to take the life of another human because to do so as in abortion is murder. When you stop teaching the lie that people evolved from animals but that each is specially created by God for a purpose and a hope in their future, it is crystal clear that God is the only One Who choices the time of anyone’s life or death. The only reason to condone abortion is to eliminate the result of sexual liberty to have sex whenever you want and at whatever age, casual dating, affairs, cohabiting and outside of marriage.

Why do you think liberal men want abortion legal? Do you really think they care about the women they want to have sex with? Do they want abortion available for themselves or for women? Let's face the true, if man truly loved a women he would not be having 'casual' sex. He would want to cherish her, make a commitment to her for life and honor her through waiting to have sex until they are married. He would not want to use, abuse, and dump women to move on to the next conquest. I am not saying it is only the fault of men, truly some women want care-free sex, but often women fall into this because they want to feel loved. Abortion removes the unwanted consequence to people who selfishly want to have sexual liberty without responsibility.

A civilization that kills millions of unwanted infants within the women womb under a lie of a way to take care of a ‘problem’ is crumbling under a lack of basic moral and total disregard to life! Where is Winberg protecting these human beings that are so very vulnerable and without a voice? Since she does not live in the belief of a God Worldview, she ignores Him and His teachings. But simply not believing in God or the Bible does not make Him any less who He truly is, we do not create reality by what we believe. Truths are absolute, and not subjective to a person’s feelings, desires or beliefs. We do not create reality by what we think...only God can speak or think reality into existence. My faith in God does not make Him real. He is Whom He is regardless of what I or anyone else believes. I can deny a truth, but it does not make it go away in reality.

If you agree with the thoughts I have shared check out www.ManhantanDeclaration.org, and consider signing your name to this declaration. I signed it along with 50,000 and signatures are growing each day. We do not need to surrender our Country to people who love power and money. It is high time we each become better educated and that we take a stand for what we believe. We need public virtue to be taught and understood. Americans have a high calling - we are blessed by God - and therefore we are responsible to Him and our Country to preserve the freedoms He has already provided for each and every American.

How are you going to respond?

The Ultimate Journey - 7 Practical Steps for Christians

Have you been sold on the "easy yoke" of the Christian life? Why did you say the sinner's prayer? Did you want all of your problems to ride away in the sunset on the promise of eternal life in heaven? If you did, you were lied to, duped by some over zealous evangelistic Christian that was trying as hard as possible to get as many converts as they could.



Have you ever noticed that those same people are not the disciplining type? No, they focus on numbers, big events, reaching the masses all in the name of the Great Commission! "Go!" They read those words and that is their charge. They are going about doing everything they can to bring lost into the church. Their focus is not on the baby Christians who need to be taught. Nah, someone else can waste their time changing the spiritual diapers.

They see the big world of fish swimming about and they intend to catch every one that they can scoop up in their wide and broad net. "Keep it simple stupid." Don't caution the lost that becoming a Christian is not the end of struggling in this world it is really only the beginning. No, that would not be an effective evangelistic message. I mean, lets get them to pray to receive Jesus, run them into a baptismal service and later they can figure it out themselves that Jesus didn't promise a 'rose garden' life.

The Deceiver loves these types of 'converts'. The fringe 'christians' who repeated some words in a moment of guilt, shame or excitement. He knows these people spoke the words with their mouth embracing the thought of a Savior, but the majority of them never even dreamed to go deeper into the heart to confess Jesus to be the Lord of their life. He know that no conversion took place! God doesn't save people who repeat prayers with their mouth. This is why so many people don't see a difference in their life from before they "prayed a salvation" prayer. Matter of fact, it proves more to them that being a Christian isn't real...they should know, they experienced it and it didn't change them.

If they may stay in a church long enough to hear a different kind of message, one that talks about trust, commitment and radical servant-hood they feel tricked or confused. "Hey, wait a minute. No one said anything about Lordship." "I was told Jesus was the answer to all of my problems, that I needed Jesus or else I was going to live in hell for eternity." "What's this about a daily relationship? I wasn't told I would have to change my routine...that I'd have to study the Bible, listen to older, wiser followers of Christ, to trust God with the details of my life."

Yes, the Deceiver delights to see the masses repeat a simple prayer, as they cling to their way of life, and go to Sunday morning church to feel spiritual. They love to sing the songs, hear the message, see their friends, go to fellowship meals...this all feels so good. It is nice to be accepted and to belong to something.

Oh, what easy prey these pretend shallow 'converts' make! It is not that they faked the prayer they made to accept Jesus in their heart. No, they really wanted Him to be in their heart. They wanted to be good, to do the right thing, and be accepted into heaven. But the easy believe-ism message forgot to talk about how true believers in Jesus, count the cost of what changes must be made in their life to daily carry His cross. Jesus clearly told a young rich man if he wanted to be His disciple he needed to "sell everything you have and give it to the poor...then come and follow me" (Mark 10:21).

So what is the Ultimate Journey ...

Every true believer comes to Christ first on the inward journey. They have been discipled enough to know what they are committing the rest of their life to (yes, even their eternal life to). Let's go back to the Great Commission...what does it say .... after all everyone is saying that is the cause of their evangelistic quest to bring as many converts into Christianity as possible. If it is the ultimate charge to the saints, what does it say?

• Matthew 28:19-20
• Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

How do pastors hungry for the lost souls so misread these famous verses? Let's us break it down...

• Go therefore and
  
• Make disciples of all Nations
• Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
• Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
  
• Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.

Dare I say that they are following their great commission of fame, pride and drive to be great in the kingdom of the greatest pastors! The great commission says nothing about saying sinner's prayers, holding extremely fun events to draw large crowds to get as big of a number of believers as possible, and baptizing anyone that wants to be dunked. It does say to "go". Going is an natural outflow of developing and growing in the inward journey.

"Make disciples" is much deeper than make converts. A disciple is one who has learned enough to count the cost of making a permanent commitment to God. A disciple knows completely what they are signing up for when they ask God to be their Lord and Savior. God is very clear throughout His Word. His call is a call of hardship that takes daily devotion to Him, deep desire to change/repent from wickedness and a longing to reach out to meet the needs of others through God's power.

"Baptism" is for the new disciple. It is an outward step of obedience, a joyous celebration of what has already taken place in one's heart. Baptism is not magical or mystical. It does not save or literally wash sins away, anymore then Jesus washing his disciples feet washed their souls clean. We are forgiven sinners, not perfect saints. Salvation does not make us perfect in a one-time swoop, but it does provide forgiveness for our sins we are ready to repent from and trust God to help us change. New disciples take baptism solemnly and joyfully understanding that they have died to self to live for Christ.

"Teach them to observe all things I have commanded you." It is not enough to lead people through a sinner prayer. Moreover, it is dangerous for these people's soul. God requires us to take on our disciples and to teach them all things He has commanded us. It would blow some people's mind to know that being a Christian means you must be taught how to follow commands. How we have played into the hands of the Devil by not sharing the whole salvation message!

Teaching others is part of our outward journey after we have been a student long enough to learn what God commands and then to inwardly be practicing obedience to Him out of devoted love knowing He let His only begotten Son to die in my place on the cross so that I could have a personal relationship with God, be freed from the penalty and bondage of sin, and so that I could live for eternity in heaven with God.

Here is a list of seven things that should be part of our journey with God as a Christian, in no certain order (note these are not all exclusive), just a good starting point:

1. Daily reading and studying God's Word, the Bible (daily spiritual bread)
   
2. Learning the practice of prayer (being still before God and communicating with Him)
   
3. Gathering together with other believers in a Church (Fellowship/ Worship)
   
4. Reading solid teachings from Christian books and articles (Lifelong learning)
   
5. Memorizing Bible Verses (Powerful weapon against enemy/inward sanctification)
   
6. Joining small groups for mentoring and Bible study (community/connectedness)
7. Developing authentic Christian friendships (accountability, support, siblings in Christ)

If you begin with these seven steps, God will lead you beyond them into deeper ultimate journey of being a child of His! When you lead someone to faith in Jesus, take them through these steps to insure that this new believer gets securely grounded so that they can begin their ultimate journey with God. Remember if someone is willing to commit their life to a cause, they expect it to be a challenge. The inner man responds to hardship and needs to know practical ways to live out their new commitment.

How has the doctrine of "easy believe-ism" affected your life?

Easy Solution for Racism

"Racist" is a word being thrown around widely today. People who disagree with the values, thoughts, ideas or morals of someone can be quickly called 'racist' if the person is dark skinned.

Is it possible that people may actually not agree with a person's life values/goals/agenda and it has nothing to do with skin color? Yes! Many people actually really do listen to what others' say and do,without giving any weight to skin color, when making decisions of whether to identify with or agree with the person.

Is it also possible that people may actually not agree with a person just based on their skin color regardless to the person's life values/goals/agenda and it has everything to do with skin color? Yes! These people regardless of their skin color are racist. Anyone who uses color of skin to identify with or separate out others are racist.

So what is the solution for racism?

Thus, the answer to racism is to believe and apply the history of the human race as given in Scripture. If every person were to accept that:

They are all equal before God,
All humans are descendants of Adam,
All people are sinners in need of salvation,
Everyone needs to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of their life,
Each person must build his or her thinking on God’s Word,
All behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, etc. should be judged against the absolutes of God’s Word, no matter what culture one is from—

then the problem of racism would be solved.

(This is taken from the wonderful book, One Blood, by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland and Don Batten)

People are different colors not due to being a different race! We are all of the human race and we are ALL descendants of Adam, created by God and in need of God's grace and Christ's death, burial and resurrection to be saved from our sins.

What makes difference in skin color is having more or less melanin in skin cells - period! It has absolutely nothing to do with behavior, intelligence, ability, giftedness, or any other quality chosen as a measure. Skin color truly is skin deep! If we all could educate ourselves, our families, our students, our churches, our communities, our Nation, and everyone in the world - We would finally embrace the truth that we are all human, children of God, and have different amounts of melanin in our skin cells.

The problem of racism is a problem of education! We are not different races! We have different people groups, different heritages, different environments, different traditions, different beliefs, different goals, different values, different abilities/talents/gifts, and yes, different SKIN COLOR!

Skin color does not make or break a person. It is the cover of a book. You can't judge a book by its color. And you certainly can't judge a human by skin color!

Skin Color Does Not Identify Humans.

This is a truth that needs to be embraced by humans of all color. Whiter skin, darker skin,
medium skin - people with any and every skin tone - need to reject clubs, organizations, contest, societies that base membership and acceptance on skin color. This is one of the biggest things we can do to begin bringing unity to people of a variety of skin color.

There is one race - HUMAN!

Everyone should stop marking race as what skin color you may be. Stop checking those little boxes that are not accurate and check 'Other' and write in 'Human' on the line. This would go very far in stopping discrimination. Let people who discriminate find another way to separate from people. Don't give them the use of untruthful statistical facts of skin color. No reverse discrimination can occur if we all mark human as our race and it is the only truthful answer.

Africa is a Continent not a type of person!

There are seven continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, North American, South American). Continents are not a race. Continents are landmasses of the earth. A human's race is not defined by continent they are born in or that their parents were born in. Race is based on genetic DNA. Amazingly no matter what continent a person is born in or what skin color a person may have, human DNA cannot be separated/sorted by skin color!

We are really much more alike then we have been taught and the continent of my familyline is not my race.


Textbooks need to be re-written to be accurate and truthful.

Any textbook that speaks of people being of different races is inaccurate, and any textbooks that discuss people be "race color" are racist! Textbooks that are inaccurate and racist should be removed from all public schools. Truth must be taught. DNA studies are available to testify to these facts and must not be ignored or not taught because it might not be socially accepted.

So now that you know these facts and the truth about race, what are YOU going to DO?

President or King Obama?

The President of the United States is not a King! While he should be presidential in maintaining the respect of the highest office of our Republic, and thereby respected in likewise manner. We the People do not give deference to our president as one does to a King or Queen, Royalty of a Nation. Barack Husien Obama or his supporters should not be shocked by the response he is receiving as he continues to rally in campaign-furor leading chanting crowds of supporters and attacking quips to those dare oppose him.

Gathering opposing view emails and website by gestapo-style 'reporting of fishy' material to the white house, "KGB" video taping of tea party rally participants, and mass e-mailing unsolicited propaganda-syle leaflets flying into email boxes of defending the President's HealthCare truths are not constitutional or the American way of an Executive Branch, White House, protocol. This is vastly different from previous administrations.

So I am not surprised we are seeing vastly different reactions, such as "you lie" comments coming from representatives of opposing views being forced to listen to Presidential spin on His Healthcare in calling a rarely used Presidential address to a joint session of Congress, formly only used at times like the aftermath of 9/11!

The wield of Executive power over the past 9 months has crossed its legal bounds and in many ways looks more like a King, a Despotic, than an American President.

We need to view the whole picture, not one still frame at a time.

There is mounting evidence that this administration is strikingly non-American in its day to day function, plans, and swift-moving force down our throats agenda. We have already swallowed a $1Trillion '2-day rush, don't read, to-pass' spending bill under the guise of stimulus spending. How much medication must an American be forced to take before they are applauded for standing up and speaking out boldly for our Constitutional freedoms?

I applaud Joe Wilson, of South Carolina, who pointed and said, "You lie!" I personally would have done no less, and frankly the framers of our constitution gave us the freedom to be able to do this when dire situations arise, as they certainly have in 2009.

Never forget there is a sin of silence! I proudly stand up and say, "Don't Tread on Me! or My Republic, America!" I would proudly serve my country without pay, or any desire for private gain, to insure Her Liberty!

Truth Does Not Change

The winds of change are blowing.

If you are established in truth, it is absolute, and need not change.

What is changing? That is a good question to ask. Who is changing?

We are to change, conforming to the Truth.

Truth never needs to be corrected, repackaged, transformed, enlightened by a new opinion.

What sets America apart from other countries is that our founding fathers, set up a government based on unchanging principles. They did not look for the best methods of governing of their day. They looked to principles that could pass the muster of the Bible. Principles equal rights, not fairness or equal things. Can current bills in congress pass the muster of the Bible. Are they right Biblically? Are they necessary? Are they fully funded? Are they written in plain english that can be clearly understood instead of needing to be litigated to get their intent interpreted by the judicial system (too fond of writing laws from the bench)?

Our founding fathers understood that certain rights were unalienable Rights, given by God not government, that all men were created equal, under a one true Living God. The Bible taught them that there was peace through strength, to protect the role of the family, to avoid the burden of debt, to protect human frailty and in a free market, the diligent would have more than enough while the lazy would go for want.

The Secret to America's Strength was the fundamental understanding of the role of religion. Cleon Skousen, author of The Five Thousand Year Leap, addressed law students in 1981 explaining our Founding Father's firmly attached the role of religion to our founding documents, like our Constitution, hoping our Constitution would emerge the first free people! People not enslaved to government, debt, winds of change, turbulent times, and the latest ideas. But they failed to realize, beyond their wildest thoughts, that the role of religion would fall to the wayside in many American homes/families.

They emphasized the essential need to teach religion and morality in schools:

"Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." (Northwest Ordinance, Article 3)

Note these 3 important subjects (and note, these are the foundation of homeschoolers):

1. Religion (fundamental beliefs of the origin & relationship of man to God and others)
2. Morality (a standard of behavior distinguishing right from wrong, in the sight of God, not man)
3. Knowledge (intellectual awareness and understanding established facts, not theories)

These were not intellectual exercises of today's philosophy and religious classes taught in today's schools, but essential ingredients necessary for "good government and the happiness of mankind."

Is there any question why we are in the dire condition we find ourselves in today in America? Is there any doubt as to why God is drawing simple Christian families to school their own children?

God is not giving up on America. He is intent on clearing the slate of those who think themselves wise in their own eyes.

His Word promises (and His promises are firm foundations,truth, to stand on):

Proverb 12:21 No grave trouble will overtake the righteous (believers of Jesus)
Proverb 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise
Proverb 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to force labor
Proverb 12:13 The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will come through trouble.
Proverb 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are right but the counsel of wicked are deceitful
Proverb 11:21 The wicked will not go unpunished, but the prosperity of the righteous will be delivered.
Proverb 12:7 The wicked are overthrown and are NO more, but the house of the righteous will STAND.
Proverb 12:3 The root of the righteous cannot be moved.

We, Americans that hold dear our religious faith, principles morally right in God's eyes, and knowledge, need to stop being tossed to and fro by these 'winds of change' and 'wicked lies we hear and read'! We need to stand firmly on the promises of God's Word, without fear! God is watching and waiting. He is enormously more powerful and sovereign then anything man-made or any person. With God on our side, Who Should We Fear? No One!

Steady yourself, ground yourself in quiet time with Him and be filled with His truth to combat the lies so poetically rolling off of the tongues of those given a platform and media coverage. Don't get discouraged, keep your focus on Jesus. He is still at the right hand of God and in Him you are seated in the heavenlies. Don't grovel for what is toss as a 'keep quiet bone' (like Obama's demonstration tort reform on healthcare in one state to be tested)! We will not bow down to lies watching our republic and constitution being ripped to shreds. The battle is not lost. Look up to the horizon, it has only just begun!

God has been preparing a godly generation of children called out and set apart to Him. He is about to unleash them. Be prayerful and prepared to stand with them. Homeschoolers have been trained up the last 30 years for this cause. The time is now! Watch and see what God is doing. Praise Him, and be awed! I have felt there was a specific reason for over the last 20 years that God moved hearts to homeschool, now I am going to live to see it fruit! In this, I am rejoicing!

Fearless by Max Lucado - Book Reveiw

True to Max Lucado's rich visual storytelling style of writing, he draws the reader quickly into his book, Fearless, with a real life story. Fearless is a state of being that God offers to all of His children and Max Lucado begins in Chapter One asking, "What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats?...Can you imagine a life with no fear?" This is the possibility in Jesus that Max Lucado writes about in the next chapters of his book, and he is serious about your ability to live fearless practically day in and day out, even in the fears of today (debt, terrorist, swine flu, politics, foreclosures and job loss).

He grabs the reader with his talent to make the Bible come to life as he reveals the treasures many of us miss in a quick Bible reading. He teaches that "Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness." and "We begin to wonder if love lives in heaven" since so many terrible things are happening all around us. This book is packed full of Scripture that commands us to not be afraid, lending to the authoritative teaching-style which convinces and convicts the reader to trust God and stop fearing.

Even the seasoned Bible Student will glean new insights into areas of their life that fear still lingers, making this book a valuable read for a wide audience. His book would be a wonderful book to give as a gift because fear is a universal topic we all experience, and everyone will be able to relate and grow in faith as he/she reads Fearless.

Creating a New Church - Good Enough for the Future

Call For Change

In light of reading a blog post by a Southern Baptist Church Pastor on the fact that SBC organizations needed to "rise up a new breed of leaders who can truly cooperate, examine, dissect, implement and strategize to create a new convention of churches that say the past had its place but it is not good enough for the future." I became alert to how familiar this sounded to the current events of our American Country today.

He went further to say "A changing world deals ruthlessly with ministry and organizations that don’t embrace change, and people are coming to respect that fact more every day. The Cooperative Program and the Southern Baptist paradigms of organizations are broke. We can fix it, change it, or simply sit back and continue the tired rhetoric of “we just need to keep doing what we have been doing…just work harder.”

My Personal Response:
While I have been a member of a SBC church for over 10 years, I only have allegiance to God. He can organize His children together under solid Biblical Teachings to further His kingdom work. What concerns me the greatest is not the desire to change, but a common view held by society today that we need to re-construct new frameworks, instead of returning to the foundations that are tried and truly tested over centuries. God's church is not new, His ways are not new, He never changes.

While science has learned to build upon previous scientist experimentation, especially theories repeatedly showing to be correct time and time again, and even becoming laws. The church and society in whole thinks the ways of a previous generation are not applicable or able to move forward to reach newer generations, but must be taken down and discarded instead of being remembered, dusted off and returned to.

Just as we loose our course as Americans, as we try to make the Constitution living, changing for times and current thinking. It seems the church, sees a reason to move on by disassembling the past framework for new ideas, which are never really new because "there is nothing new under the sun".

In the church, We The People (congregation-led), has worked well for the SBC as for our American Constitution. Representative leadership voted in by the freewill of the people, less central (Federal/CEO-type) control over local (State/Member-led) church assemblies and membership. As I see church constitutions in SBC tumble over, often beneath the surface of church member's awareness or knowledge, to become a Leader/ Senior Pastor control (as a despotism of government) removing the rights of the people (the congregation), and places all rights/control in the hands of one or a few leaders.

While this may seem prudent in a season when the one or few leader are of highest character and spirit-led, it is not far-thinking to a time when one less scrupulous (even a wolf in sheep's clothing) may take the helm of leadership and destroy congregations. It is dangerous to God's Church and to Government to put all power in the hands of few instead of broadly trusting God's ability in and through all people.

I don't have a personal benefit from seeing society honor forefather's wisdom and discipleship of thousands of years of believers, but I have a responsibility to God to be alert in the times that I am alive because one may never know when for such a time as this He formed me in my mother's womb, and allowed me the experiences of my life, to stand up and speak a plain and simple call - "It about God, and nothing else"....not a congregation, denomination, Nation, person, method, program, ministry, tradition,etc. Clearly Solomon in all his wisdom bestowed on him by God found "all is vain" and "fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Having such wisdom from God, need we look for today's ways or should we not listen to the wisdom of Solomon and return only to God's ways?

A Picture Story

Picture this, a first century church leader is preaching in the home of a believer teaching about Christ come, Christ died, Christ resurrected way into the night. As the Spirit-led, multitudes gather to hear and learn. As he spoke about repentance and the call to respond, many felt touched, some even had tears well up in their eyes, others looked convicted. In the corner was a magician to keep the children entertained, the musicians played loudly in the street to give the young people a place to hangout, and a drama skit alternated with an artist on the far left side to keep the seekers plugged in and not overwhelmed by the weight of the Preacher's message.

Still a man fell asleep, and dropped out of the second-story window to the ground, because Preacher was not engaging enough to keep him alert. The church leader vowed to never again preach so long into the night, for the health of those listening. He was to not be led by faith in what he could not see for it was obvious the truth is what he could see with his naked eye, and plain to everyone else. Times were changing, the people drawn to fellowship needed more than God's simple message.

They need laughter, excitement and practical how-to life lessons on saving money at the market, how to speak in foreign languages, and wholesome recreation. From this day forward he taught all the leadership to gauge the mood of the people to discern what the church needed to offer to those coming weekly and to draw out those who lack interest in knowing God. And the local called-out gatherings of believers swelled in numbers too big to fit in the home they had once used because every wanted to spend time with their friends, to uplift/ encourage one another to good neighborly deeds, and relax to a reasonably-priced fellowship meal before a weekly nighttime activities since they had been working hard all day in the fields.

It was evident to all this formula was working since so many filled the halls and yard of the homes being used. New larger building would need to be erected to allow newcomers a place to sit and tie up their camel, so everyone brought their offerings to the Preacher and his growing staff along with their tithe to ensure everyone would feel welcomed, comfortable and desire to come again.

News spread quickly of the success of the First Century Leader. People traveled from afar to learn his method, longing to repeat his outcome in their hometown and become the largest, fastest growing local church. Years later, huge building were in many towns, often a few on a single street and the people were committed to their congregation enjoying the positive influence on their life and their children's.

Change and hope were continually in the air, and all the best leaders kept their eyes peeled for new and creative ways to communicate .... hmmmm hmmm, oh... leaders were doing all kinds of programs, small groups, children activities to communicate .... oh...., love, acceptance and tolerance to all to never offend the crowd and keep up the growth, and of course, to keep their high paying job.

Jesus's Leadership

The greatest leader ever known to mankind was not by worldly standards a great leader. He was simply a man called Jesus of Nazareth. He build no buildings, created no clubs or organizations, and delivered no campaign drumming up attendence prior to his plan to enter a village or town to preach.

He was not about change, embracing the new trends of his day to keep up with the times. He was only about one change in life, offering each of us an opportunity to trade our sinful wrecked life for His new righteous life. He was about helping people return to a relationship with God that had long been severed by sinful choices by do what seemed right in people’s own eyes instead of God's.

He never desired a larger team. He liked working in small groups developing personal life-on-life relationships. He never drafted a long-term mission plan. He knew God's plan would be written in the Scriptures, and sufficient for every life from His first coming to His second coming. He never listened to others opinions and views before he spoke. He was a leader following only the voice of one other, His Father-God. He set forth not policies, committees, programs or goals. He was spirit-lead, and when He died and left His followers and closest companions, He trusted each to be personally Spirit-lead doing the will of His Father-God.

Does the church of today need to embrace change and new structures and rising leaders? What do you think? Are today's leader's like Jesus' leadership? Tell me what you think.

She Still Calls Me Daddy by Robert Wolgemuth Book Review

At first look, She Still Calls Me Daddy appears to be a book written by a man for other men. Pleasantly, it turns out to be a delightfully interesting book, rich with wisdom of experience for a much wider audience. Robert Wolgemuth has beautifully crafted a book that is an easy, must-read for new Fathers-of-the-Bride. But more surprisingly, he has written a book that is an insightful read for mothers and parents, in general, at all stages of life. The relevance comes from the writing being authentically lived; Wolgemuth has lived the words written in this book.

The gem of this book is his coming to terms that his role of daddy, protector of his daughter, changes to daddy, protector of his daughters’ marriage! I simply love this. Who would not desire a person who deeply loves them to be working intentionally to protect their marriage? Wolgemuth shares the purposeful shift in his father-daughter relationship, the moment he released her from his care by speaking the word, “Her mother and I do,” granting a new son this protective role in his daughter’s life.

This is why I treasure this book as an essential parenting book , one that will used as a resource for many years.

Editorial La La Land - Congressman Bart Gordon

I tried to send this to my local newspaper but I got a notice the their website key verification failed after I hit the send button. Fortunately I have learned to make a copy of all my letters to the editor because most of the time they end up in Editorial La La Land.

So here goes my letter to the editor, maybe someone in my State will get to read it:

Thank you for the article this weekend about the telephone meeting planned by Our Congressman Bart Gordon. On Thursday, last week I personally made a trip downtown to ask when our representative was going to be meeting with his constituents, as he has all previous years. I was told by the receptionist that he had not yet decided on a time but I could call anytime and see if a date had been set.

As most constituents of the 6th district I was befuddled trying to figure out how it was "more convenient" for his 700,000 constituents to go online and sign up for one of two telephone "meetings".

The only person convenienced by a telephone conference call is Congressmen Bart Gordon himself!

I called his office today to express my desire to still have an opportunity to meet with him face to face. If he wants to convenience all 700,000, he might set 3-4 dates for meetings at MTSU (Middle TN State University) Murphy Center or football stadium. I am sure many constituents could find time to attend, and be convenience by the large arena.

I told his office to consider how inconvienced people without internet connections are to be involved, since you can not sign up even by calling his office. For that matter, think about older residents that are totally uncomfortable with using computers. This just doesn't seem very accommodating to a very large sector of his district. After directly asking if people could go into his downtown office on main and use his internet to sign up for this conference call, his office staff told me, "Yes." So I thought it would be nice to inform all of Bart Gordon's constituents to head down to his office if they need to sign up for one of two phone calls he will be making before he runs back to Washington.

Also, I told them that I, personally, am highly inconvenienced by having a telephone conference because I have never had one in my life. It is unnerving. When will I get to speak? Will I have to listen to a long monologue from Bart Gordon without any feedback or comments? How will his office decided who gets to ask a question? Will it be a video conference? How will he really understand what the people want when he considers voting for upcoming bills? Is not a representative someone that is elected by a districts citizens to govern in their behalf, representing their principles and desires.

Noah Webster explained that a Republic was "a state in which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged in representatives elected by the people. In modern usage, it differs from a democracy or democratic state, in which the people exercise the powers of sovereignty in person."

How Can Bart Gordon represent this citizens of his district if he doesn't meet with them to understand how he should exercise the legislative power given to him, being elected by the people? Something just doesn't feel right about waiting months for my Congressman to come home from Washington to speak with him and to only get to do it over a large, controlled, impersonal conference call.

Frankly, it feels like he doesn't care what I or any other of his constituents think. Is this what American Congressional Representation has come to? If so, God help America regain our former governing principles that has made US the greatest country to live.

Is the Whitehouse Trying to Intimidate Free Speech?

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While this may not seem odd to most, I am highly uncomfortable with the current Presidential administration. This was on a recent white house government post:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Freedom to Speech
I see nothing wrong with people blogging or emailing their take on issues in America. There is always a lot of disinformation. Separating lies from facts is one of the reasons American owe it to themselves and their families to be highly educated. It is essential to not be spoon fed facts from government, schools, newspapers, news shows, television or speeches. One must seek facts and know history, civics, and current events.

Anyone who questions or intimidates being challenged is putting a big red flag up. Do we have an administration who feels they are beyond hard questions, protest, and investigative truth-seeking. It appears to be since Obama continually is trying to rush huge legislation through congress even before our representative have time to read it.

One has to wonder how in the world could his administration have time to write such huge pieces of legislation after only a few weeks or months, and be in such a rush to ram-rod it through processes that were put in place to purposely make law creation a tedious slow procedure to insure only laws that were worthy of surviving ever made it to the President's desk for his signature or veto. Laws were not to be made quickly, because each Federal law had the possibility of stripping away or taking control over individual State Rights.

State Rights
America was born as a country bonded together by our desire to have States where local government was always suppose to control the details of our cities and counties from education, to zoning, to taxing, and social agendas. The beauty of strong state rights and weak Federal rights is the mobility of the American citizen to move to a state that was more of his/her liking.

As the Federal Government digs further and deeper into our lives, individual Statehood becomes almost meaningless. What would be the difference of being one big United Statehood instead of 50 states united together for common protection, and purposes that served the good of all Americans- not a particular nationality, minority, group of people or agenda.

You Have a Choice
If you want to live in a place that allows their infants to be killed in their mother's womb or for same sex couples to marry (for example), go live in a State that agrees to such standards. But don't use the Federal Government legislation to force others to adopt your beliefs or choices of living. For many citizens it is a moral sin to agree to these standards and we are being forced to live under and pay for a sinful government agenda.

It should not be that way in America! This is not freedom for all. It is the 'liberty' of a few mandated, controlled, and force-ably removing the liberty of most.

I live in my State because it is where I want to raise my family. I believe in the conservative Christian values, and want to be an active citizen in helping to take care of our local poor, widows and children in need. The only reason the Federal government needs to step into states with our hard-earned tax money funding controlling laws is when citizens of a state forsake brotherly love.

I say, "Let those States who want to live under nanny-federal-government enjoy higher taxes, less freedom and poor quality social programs (including education). But also give the States back their rights to take care of their own citizens without big brother telling us what and how to do it!"

We are to be led by God and not by government. I love my Country, but I will not be shackled by greedy, power-hungry, godless people who want to re-create America in the image of their god. I am proud to be an American; I always have been! And I believe in the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness I am charged in the constitution to protect from a tyrannical government.

If the Lord taries, I have an obligation to my children and grandchildren, to give them a country that is full of its promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

What do you want from your government? Is it right for the white house to ask citizens to turn emails and websites into flag@whitehouse.gov?

Should my email be sent? And what happens if I get flagged? Will google pull my blog? Will I get a visit from the Feds? Will I be on Obama's Most Wanted list? Should I be afraid?

Fortunately, for me, My God, Jehovah of the Bible is Sovereign. And it helps that He is my Abba, Father! (Greater is He that is within me, then he that is within the world!)