Finding Time – November 30th, 2008

It has been a busy last couple of weeks with a whole lot happening.  A couple of Sundays ago was a very special day for me as it was the first time my oldest actually went to sanctuary to worship with Angela and I.  On the way to church that morning, Nolan asked if he could sit with us and go to our service than his regular time with children his age.   Nolan is almost 7 and that may be a little young to some, but Nolan is much more mature than the average child his age, so we naturally were excited for him to attend.  Our church is rather large seating thousands and I wanted him to appreciate the size and breadth of the sanctuary, so we sat on the first row of the balcony right in the middle.   Nolan was amazed and it was awesome for him to both Angela and I worship where we regularly meet.  Nolan of course wants to go back every week, but we will probably let him visit once or month. 

We have found a new place to take the kids called the Sports Connection in Charlotte.  Our neighbors turned us on this over the top place for children and it is complete with rock climbing wall, laser tag, bowling alley, arcade games, and tons of things for them to bounce on.   We have been there three times in the last two weeks culminating a in a family bowling match in which Angela beat me.  It was depressing to watch, but I pretended not to care.  She will not win the next time!

I did have my wisdom teeth removed this past Monday and it wasn’t as bad I thought it was going to be.  I have a little pain all week, but it didn’t really interfere with eating lots of Thanksgiving food.  Thansgiving week was fun as we had Angela’s best friend from college (Caroline) in town to visit.   While I was healing from surgery I watched the kids a good bit while Angela and Caroline had fun just hanging out.  They both cooked an awesome Thanksgiving meal and we all were thankful as we shared the meal together.  The remainder of the weekend was spent with family and hanging out as I am most thankful to God for a wonderful wife and three awesome children. 

Today, I actually had the pleasure of speaking for the first time in a couple of years and it really was a treat to be with the teens at Calvary.  It was so refreshing and was thankful for the Holy Spirit using me as a vessel of Christ’s message of faith.  I truly pray the teens at Calvary expercience a cultivating relationship with Christ that builds their faith up to encounter the trials that life will surely bring them. 

I look forward to another week that allows us to draw closer as a family and closer to God. 

 

 

 

Money, Mansions and a Mercedes – How you can have all these things?

Money, Mansions, and a Mercedes – How you can have these things!

 

 

From the title you may think I’m about to tell you about my newest pyramid business scheme or multi-level marketing opportunity!  You will be glad to know I am not here to tell you how you can get rich selling Amway.  I am here to tell you that God wants all of His believers to be blessed.  God wants you to have everything you want.  You want money?  God will give it to you!  You want big houses or that mansion on the hillside? God will give it to you!  You want a ten car garage with the finest automobiles man can make? God will give it to you?  So what is that you want?  Just ask God, and He will give it to you.  I mean isn’t our sole purpose in life to be blessed by all the world has to offer?  

 

 

I hope you since my sarcasm by this point.  If not, let it be known I absolutely disagree with the thought that God wants all of His believers to somehow get everything they want in this world.  It may sound crazy and absurd to some out there like myself, but unbelievably there are a segment of “Christian’s” or so called “Christians” in America that subscribe to this belief.  The belief that because of there relationship with God and there so called status with God (His child), that they inherit the benefits of good health and incredible wealth.

 

 

Here is what Pastor Ben Gilbert proclaimed recently:

“We’re in a famine,” Pastor Ben Gibert proclaimed at Detroit World Outreach church in Redford Township, Mich., on a Wednesday night, drawing on an Old Testament verse from Ezekiel. “But…God is going to honor the righteous people, and he’s not going to allow them to go down with the land. So we don’t have to…cry and whine.” 

We are in famine?  Really Pastor Gilbert?  This is coming from a guy who lives in a tax free 6 million dollar mansion.  I am sure times are tough for him.  Here is what he told his congregation ….

 

 

 

 “You know why I live in a $6million house?” Gibert tells the crowd during his recent sermon. “Because I’m concerned about what other folk live in …You know why I ride good? Because I care about other people riding good. … That’s why the Lord blesses me.”

 

Seriously, if I held to the reasoning that God wants Christians to prosper in good health and great wealth then the opposite must be true, right?  If I am being blessed with health and wealth, I must really be a good Christian, right?  If that is the case, then I must be one of the best Christians out there right now!  In the midst of possibly the single largest economic downturn in America over the last 6 months, I have bought a new house, a new car, and a new boat.  How many people in America can say that over the last year much less Christians?  Heck, I mine as well go ahead and start a church in Waxhaw and give people the secret sauce to my unbelievable prosperity.  Maybe not, as my health isn’t what it once was as I am a walking accident waiting to happen and I am getting more out of shape, slower and I even have gray hair when I tried to grow a beard this week.  But I am sure I belong right up there some of the greatest Christians in the last 200 years because of my economic prosperity. 

 

Yep … that’s right!  Just pencil my name in right there beside … Billy Graham, Bob Jones Sr., Billy Sunday, Adoniram Judson, D.L Moody, Fanny Crosby, C.H. Spurgeon, and newly added Brian Williams! 

 

Ben Gilbert is just one of the many “Christian Pastors” (Christian is used loosely) that subscribe to this very anti-Christian dogma.  There are scores of mega churches across America blinded by this anti-Christian teaching that is spreading across the pulpits of these churches to the ears of truly needy people.  Kenneth Copeland, Creflo and Taffi Dollar, Benny Hinn, Bishop Eddie Long, Joyce & David Meyer, and Randy & Paula White are just a few of the prosperity gospel preaching proponents in America.  Those same persons are actually being investigated for irregular tax reports and various financial activities.  Yeah, bet we call couldn’t see that one coming!  I retrieved this information from the following blog:  http://danski.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/prosperity-gospel-preachers-under-investigation/

 

The problem with the “prosperity gospel” philosophy is three-fold.  First, it presumes that those needy people’s needs are material or from this world rather than spiritual.  Second, if the front side of this view is true that Christian believers are to prosper from a health and wealth perspective, then the reverse of that has to be true … if you aren’t prospering then you either aren’t a believer or your faith and relationship with God must not be strong enough.   Third and most importantly, it directly conflicts with Scriptural teaching and the teaching of Jesus during His earthly ministry. 

 

Addressing those points, there is no where in Scripture that says that unbelievers or believers need anything other than a relationship with Christ.  The famous C.H. Spurgeon once preached a sermon about the single common theme he preaches to his congregation each week.  He titled it “Preaching Christ Crucified,” and you can see the text of this sermon here (http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/3218.htm). 

 

Here is what C.H. Spurgeon said in his introduction:

 

Now, today, there are some who would be glad, if we would preach anything except Christ crucified. Perhaps the most dangerous among them are those who are continually crying out for intellectual preaching, by which they mean preaching which neither the heavens nor the preachers themselves can comprehend, the kind of preaching which has little or nothing to do with the scriptures, and which requires a dictionary rather than a Bible to explain it. These are the people who are continually running around, and asking, “Have you heard our minister? He gave us a wonderful sermon last Sunday morning; he quoted Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, and he gave us some charming pieces of poetry, in fact, it was overall an intellectual treat.” Yes, and I have usually found that such intellectual treats lead to the ruination of souls; that is not the kind of preaching that God generally blesses to the salvation of souls, and therefore, even though others may preach the philosophy of Plato or adopt the arguments of Aristotle, we preach Christ crucified,” the Christ who died for sinners, the people’s Christ, and “we preach Christ crucified” in simple language, in plain speech such which the common people can understand.

© Copyright 2001 by Tony Capoccia

 

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul stated in I Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ Crucified.”  Spurgeon is right and the ruination and damnation of eternal souls can easily be happen from the pulpits where a “prosperity gospel” is being preached rather than “Christ Crucified.”

 

This is the message that we preach to the converted and the unconverted.  The message of “Christ Crucified”  is the very foundation of all other messages and also defines the need of every human being in this world who has ever lived.   It isn’t health, money, cars, things, etc… that we necessarily need, rather knowing Christ and cultivating that relationship is our need for ultimate peace in happiness.  Our health and wealth are gracious gifts of the Almighty God of the universe and they are bi-products of that relationship.  Health and wealth are not guaranteed and granted to all believers nor does someone who has more money, more things, a bigger house, a better car make them more spiritual or closer to God than those without.  

 

The Scriptures are filled from the Old Testament to the New Testament with multitudes of examples of Spirit filled individuals (including Christ) that would never be deemed socially, economically or professionally prosperous in the world’s eyes.  The supreme example of Christ’s life and His words directly conflict with the notion that our lives should be prosperous from a material standpoint.  He who was without sin and bore the sins of the entire human race is said to not have had a place to call home and lay his head.  The very disciples he called were asked to leave behind (not literally to never see them again) their families, their businesses, and their possessions to follow Him.   It wasn’t that they would never have familial relationships, a business or possessions, but until they realized that those things weren’t t the supreme value in their life and only following Him was, they wouldn’t be suited to be a disciple.  It is the same in our lives in regards to a relationship with Christ.  Until we put into proper perspective and order our loves and our priorities, we will never prosper spiritually.  There are a lot of Christians that have many possessions, nice homes, nice cars, good salaries, and ease of life that is much better than a lot of people presently and in the past of human history, but it isn’t indicative of our spiritual maturity.  The priorities are always to be our faith and relationship with God, our love and devotion to our families, and our care and support of our Christian friends.   

 

My Cardio Mix List

My Cardio Mix List           

 

I love to know what play lists are on people’s iPods / iPhones!  I have many lists that include a Chill Mix, Country Mix, 80’s Mix, Christian Mix, etc., but my favorite mix is my “Cardio Mix.”  There is nothing like having good music to work out to, so I am going to share my most current mix with you! 

 

 

Better Off Alone                     Alice Deejay

World Hold On                       Bon Sinclair

Everytime We Touch               Cascada

Listen To Your Heart              D.H.T

Around The World                  Daft Punk

Days Go By                             Dirty Vegas

Heaven                                   DJ Sammy & Yanou

Call On Me                              Eric Prydz

What is Love                           Haddaway

Castles In The Sky                  Ian Van Dahl

Feedback (Remix)                   Janet Jackson

In My Arm (Remix)                  Plumb (Bimbo Jones Remix)

Rockstar                                 Nickelback

Chasing Cars (Remix)             Snow Patrol (Shape Walk CD)

Stronger                                  Kanye West (Top 40 Hits – Remixed)

Apologize                               One Republic (Top 40 Hits – Remixed)

One More Time                       Daft Punk

Rhythm Is A Dancer                Snap

Glamorous                              Fergie

I Don’t Wanna Be In Love       Good Charlotte

 

 

I would love to hear your favorite workout / cardio songs so if you have any that should be added let me know!

Finding Time – November 9th, 2008

It seems like forerver since I last wrote on the evening that the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series.  We still continue to be very busy, but can’t complain about too much.   The kids and I have battled through sicknesses.  Nolan (our most sickly child) actually hasn’t got sick yet!  I am sure it’s coming, but Peyton was croupy all week and Olivia is going through the same symptoms now. 

We have had some good moments.  Nolan, Peyton, Olivia and myself all dressed up for Halloween and attended Calvary’s Fall Festival.  Nolan went as race car driver, Peyton as a doctor, Olivia as a princess, and I went as Will Farrell’s character in Semi-Pro.  It really was fun, the kids got lots of candy, and Granny was also able to join us and spend the night with us on Halloween.  I have must give Calvary Church it’s proper due for an incredibly well run festival!  The next morning we had Nolan’s soccer game where we got to see Nolan score a goal from mid-field.  I think his goal total is somewhere around 8-10 this year so this has been a vast improvement over last year.  Granny and Papa Jim also were able to watch Nolan play so he was extra motivated. 

Later on in the week, I stayed home and watched all the kids while Angela had a doctor and hair appointment to go to since the kids were out of school for Election Day.  During this day I took the kids over to my parents house where they were able to play with Grandma for a couple of hours and eat the remains of their Halloween candy.   This past Friday I surprised Nolan and kept him home from school as I had a tee time for us at 8:30 at Carolina Lakes Golf Course.  We had a blast and Nolan again made a true par from 150 yards out on Hole 8.   It is the second time he has made par on this whole.  He is driving the ball consistently now around 60-80 yards with the occasional 100 yard drive.  We are working on the iron game, but he is getting better.  He actually made the two longest putts of the day! 

This past Saturday we drove up to Asheville for a wedding of our good friends Artur and Kelly.  It was a great ceremony and fun reception for all of us!  While we were there, we got to stay with my sister and brother-in-law (Josh & Misty) and they actually watched the kids for on Saturday.   They took the kids to play putt putt and then to Chuckee Cheese.  I know they had a blast, but I am sure they were ready to give the kids back the next morning.  It was great to see them and we ended our time together with breakfast at Cracker Barrell.  How good is that place!

Election Day was a lot of fun as I stayed glued to the tube watching all the drama unfold before our nation.  It truly spoke volumes to see Republican Party get destroyed.  I have always considered myself more Republican than anything else, but I did feel it deserved the lashing that it got this election year.  That’s another blog topic, but ultimately my trust is the God who controls all goverments for His ultimate plan so I don’t get too worked up when someone I want to be in office isn’t voted into office.  I will say that Barak Obama’s speech after winning was one of the best speeches I have ever heard in my lifetime.   I do hope that the President that we elected is more like what he says he wants to be, rather than his past has suggests he can easily become.  I will be praying for him and his family.  I pray for wisdom in his leadership and protection for him and his entire family. 

Stay Classy Charlotte!

Looking Back – November 5th, 1987

Looking Back – November 5^th, 1987

 

Hard to believe that is has been exactly 21 years to the date that I accepted Christ in my life at a little Christian School in Monroe, NC.  It was November 5^th, 1987, and I was just entering my 7^th grade year at my new school.  My parents desired to send me to a private school rather than the public schools in the area so I went begrudgingly to Tabernacle Christian School.  After all, I was a shy, skinny, and nerdy little runt of a kid, so I knew 7^th grade was going to be tough.   Through daily chapel preaching, through the daily teaching and my new friends it was hard not realize that they had something “or at least proclaimed something” that I didn’t have.  I remember sitting in the old chapel building and listening to the guest speaker that morning (Kitral Benton) and his message on the reality of hell.  I was scared to death and knew I wanted no part of that place.  I believed that my only recourse was to accept Christ, who paid for my sins through His sacrifice on the cross! He defeated death and the power of sin and rose from the grave so that I might not have to experience eternal death in hell and eternity without Him.   

 

That year, specifically that date, would be the single most influential turning point in my life.  I would become involved in the church there (Bible Baptist Tabernacle – Monroe, NC, and surround myself with so many Christian friends that would help frame who I am today.  When I think of the lives of individuals and how they change the course of history by following Christ and living a Holy Spirit filled life the person that comes up in my mind is Pastor Bobby Leonard.  Pastor Bobby founded that church and Christian School where I attended.  Obviously it’s more personal to me because his actions directly affected my eternal state as God used him to eventually create the place and position where I might hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know he would be the first to say it wasn’t about him, but about God; however, I can’t help to think of the “what if’s” in this scenario.  Ultimately I don’t dwell on them long because all those factors leading up to my salvation were God controlled and God ordained.  I didn’t choose Christ, rather before the foundations of the world, He chose me.  I don’t understand it, as it is only by the grace of God, and I am eternally thankful for the grace of God that he bestowed upon me in that little chapel on Walkup Avenue in Monroe, NC.

 

I couldn’t let the day go by without exclaiming how proud I am to be a believer in Jesus Christ and how thankful I am for what He did for me and continues to do in my life and the life of my family.   We live in a world where millions are without hope, seethe with hate, have no direction or purpose in life and as Christians we live with the remedy to their ailments.  I pray that there are more people who look at their lives like Pastor Bobby … as a chance to be a vessel of usefulness to God.  I know I am only one of likely thousands that he has impacted throughout his Spirit filled life.  My prayer is that I live my life with the hopes of being daily constrained to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the hopes that others lives will be eternally impacted. 

 

Today I am thankful for 21 years of Salvation, a Godly country preacher who laid the groundwork that I might come to know Him, and to God who has never failed in those 21 years …. Even though I fail Him often! 

Finding Time – October 29th, 2008

Finding Time – October 29th, 2008

 

What a great week! I accomplished a lot and it has been very busy since I last wrote.  Friday night was a good night for Angela as she made me promise the night before that I would watch a movie with her on Friday evening.  I obliged although I have a hard time sitting for any movie.  I said see if they have Transformers or something like that …. I got “Baby Mama!”  I know, I know … it’s funny, but not exactly an oscar winning movie or something incredibly riveting.  Angela enjoyed me hanging in there through it so that was the plus!

We woke up to a cloudy Saturday morning to go to Calvary to pick up some of the teens for “Lend A Hand Day.”   Our job was to handle yard work and general house work for an elderly lady in our church who was incapable handling those tasks.   We all worked very hard and accomplished our task; therfore, we rewarded ourselves with a fun lunch at Q’Doba’s.  I went home that afternoon to prepare for the Seniors at Calvary to come over to our house in evening.  We had around 20 or so at our informal gathering and had an awesome time.  We grilled out, watched a little college football, played Scategories, listened to music, chilled by the firepit and made smores and overall it was a great time had by all. 

Of course the week was made better by the culmination of the World Series which I love to watch and the beginning of the basketball season.  As a sports nut this is one of my favorite times of the year as it is hard to change the channel and not find something to watch.  Even as I am typing this the Phillies just wrapped up the World Series!  Baseball to some is boring, but to me it will always be America’s past time. 

One of the things that we started to do with the boys this week is to begin “family devotions” with them.  They love it!  I didn’t think it would be so much of a hit, but we are starting from the very beginning in Genesis and they can’t wait for Chapter 3 tomorrow night when “the devil” tempts Adam and Eve.   This gives me time to answer some of there easy questions like … How does God talk to us?  How hard is that to explain to a six and three year old!  Not as easy as you would think as I can explain it well enough to write a doctrinal thesis, but not so much on that level.  I think this is going to be an awesome time to build up the importance of God’s Word in their lives and see how relevant the Bible can be to there lives even at there early age.

On another awesome note, I am very excited to start taking Seminary classes.   I have applied to begin taking online Seminary classes from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.   I have already signed up for New Testament Introduction and also Introduction to Apologetics that I can start taking in January depending upon my acceptance into the Seminary program.   I am very excited, as I always wanted to go to Seminary after completing my undergrad in the School of Religion from Bob Jones University.  I felt that LBTS offered an opportunity to continue to work my regular schedule, take advanced Theology / Religion classes, and get a balanced perspective from a Godly institution.   I really don’t know exactly what I am to do at this point by furthering my education in Religion, but I am sure that is what I am supposed to be doing.   I look forward to seeing how God uses this in the life of my family as we seek to become a family that is more committed to God this year than last year, this month more than last month and today more than yesterday.   God knows I have a lot of baggage and I do feel I have floundered or wasted a lot of good opportunities to get my education done much sooner, but I don’t think that I would have been ready for it as I am now.   I don’t know if I was even ready earlier this year.  It hasn’t been till this Summer that I have seen life from a totally different viewpoint.  It’s not about us … It’s about Him. 

On a funny note to end this week of things that happened, we had church tonight with the teens and I wore my Halloween costume!  It was pretty good … at least I thought so and they said it was good.  I had a replica uniform that Will Ferrell wore in his movie “Semi-pro.”  I wore a big afro and it was complete with the gross amount of chest hair protruding from my warm-up jersey I was wearing.  It really looked good and I had fun wearing it and fooling around with the teens.   I intend on wearing it Friday to Calvary at our fall festival.   Good times for sure! 

Glad I was able to get caught up and watch the Phillies wrap up the World Series.   Time for bed!

What’s in a church?

 

 

Photo by Gary O’Brien of the Charlotte Observer

 

When I first saw this photo it was hard to believe that this was my church!  I was immediately struck with the doctrinal thought that this is not my church, rather the building where our church fellowship assembles and meets regularly.  I then thought of the quote from former news writer J.M. Cash that said Charlotte had “more churches than Edinburgh, Scotland.” (1) Truly the city of Charlotte is known for its vast amount of “church or religious buildings,” but truthfully we have very few “churches.” The term church is formulated from the Greek word “ekklesia” which translated into English means “called out” (ek = out / kaleo = call).  In classical Greek “ekklesia” meant “an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly.” (2)

 

In our own communities all over this globe we have many buildings that we consider churches or religious buildings, but unfortunately the vast majority of those buildings are filled with parishioners and leaders that promote false doctrine, misguided faith, or an unbalanced philosophy of ministry.  It is true that I am a Bible believing Christian; therefore, any religion or ministry that doesn’t promote “salvation by Christ alone,” a relationship with Christ based upon “the principles of God’s Infallible and Inerrant Word,” or believes there is revelation from God outside of that “Word” is apostate and literally an anti-Christ fellowship or assembly.  I have relationships with many people, business or personally, that have very different views on God, religion and church.  I don’t want to this to be an indictment on religions blog or an indictment on other churches in the Charlotte community as there are many assemblies that meet each week in our area that I consider a valuable light of Christ’s Gospel and part of the eternal church of Jesus Christ.  I believe that going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car, but I do however want to praise God for the assembly of people that I gather with each week in what can look like an intimidating castle off of Rea Rd. in South Charlotte. 

 

 

Calvary Church has a rich history that goes back well before I was ever born and in its history has seen its share of diversity of struggles,  changing philosophies, and even getting over the stigma that it’s not a movie set for the “Wizard of Oz.”  I remember the first time I saw Calvary Church when I was in high school in the early 90’s.  They would have a “Living Christmas Tree” performance it seemed every year and literally thousands all over Charlotte would come to see this performance.  I was awestruck at its size, the elevators, the escalators, and the even have their own book store!  It was a magnificent building!  It wasn’t till years later that my wife and I visited Calvary, that we realized what an amazing ministry Calvary was to the South Charlotte community.  I have been members of equally sound doctrinal churches in the greater Charlotte area, so when we moved to South Charlotte away from those other sound churches, I was weary about finding the right fit for our family.  Unfortunately, too many people look for what a church fellowship can do for their family and not what their family can do for a church fellowship and surrounding community, but I did have a list of five demands of the next fellowship I would be involved.

 

• I wanted a ministry that I felt was serving the community and where my family could fit in and also serve.
• I wanted a ministry that was organized and whose church polity was sound.
• I wanted a ministry that I felt was a “spiritually healthy” environment for my children and a place they could grow to be more like Christ.
• I wanted a ministry that not only had sound doctrine as part of their constitution, but also preached that from the pulpit and taught it in classes of all ages. 
• I wanted a ministry that had their core focus on Christ and Christ-likeness and that all events and ministries it scheduled or planned had the dual purpose of evangelism and spiritual growth. 

 

Here is what my family can be thankful for each time we gather with our local fellowship at Calvary Church!

 

• Calvary is an extremely organized ministry.  From the leadership down to the very people serving lunch or teaching classes there might not be a ministry that I have been a part of that is more organized.   There are scores of ministries geared to the spiritual growth of all ages from pre-school, special needs, teens, adults, all the way to seniors.  It is an incredible site to see so many of this local body of believers working toward the equipping of other saints for the work of service and building up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13).
• Calvary’s leadership is Godly.  From getting to know many of the leaders at Calvary, I have been able to personally see their unwavering commitment to the work of the ministry, the edifying of the saints, and the building up of the Body of Christ.  Any local body or government for that matter rises and falls on good leadership.  The leadership at Calvary is faithful, transparent, caring and their philosophy of ministry is that of a sound faith.
• Calvary’s ministries and events are dually focused.  Evangelism and Christ-like growth are the preeminent focal points of each and every ministry Calvary designs and facilitates.  From the many children’s programs that emphasize learning about Christ and salvation, to the youth ministry whose current curriculum goes through the entire life of Christ, to the incredible sports programs (CHAMP SPORTS – www.champsportsinfo.com) that allow the entire church fellowship and local community to have a safe environment to involve their children, to the adult life groups at every level that encourage family values and Christ-like living, Calvary church is committed to using ministries to reach those in need.
• Calvary’s doctrine is sound.  It is with great sadness to see many fellowships across America embrace false doctrine and preaching that adds works to what Christ already sufficiently did for all of humanity on the cross.  At Calvary, the preaching and teaching from every leader and teacher emphasizes God’s Word as the sole source for sound doctrine!  I have had many pastors which were my mentors as they all brought something unique to the way I view Christianity, the church, or life in general.  Dr. John Munro’s contribution to my “faith value set” is the firmness in which he strives to shepherd the flock of Calvary to sound teaching.  I dare say that know other ministry I have been involved in so steadfastly adheres to Scriptural principles and God’s Word to make decisions and guide the affairs of the assembly at Calvary. 
• Calvary’s philosophy of ministry and worship is balanced.

 

 

See Below Calvary’s Philosophy of Ministry which can be found directly a their website (http://www.calvarychurch.com/site/18_116_74.cfm)

Calvary Church is an evangelical church committed to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. It was founded in 1939 upon the belief in and commitment to the preeminence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and only Savior from sin and spiritual death, and on the belief in the inerrancy of the Bible in its original text. Therefore, the foundation of our beliefs is our position that the Bible is our authority and ultimate source of truth. Additionally, we are guided by the Articles of Faith contained in our church’s constitution.

The Purpose of Calvary Church is to glorify God in the salvation of souls; the edification of Christians through the teaching of God’s Word; the world-wide proclamation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; the promotion of godly worship; the defense of “The Faith Once Delivered;” and cooperation with Christian activity functioning in harmony with God’s Holy Word, the Bible, until He comes.

The Mission of Calvary Church is to develop authentic followers of Jesus Christ through a balanced ministry of worshiping God, preaching and teaching the Word, edifying the saints, caring for the needs of others, and evangelizing the world.

Calvary will continue to emphasize strong biblically-based preaching and teaching that is well grounded in the truths of the Bible and in agreement with the Articles of Faith in each of its corporate worship services, Adult Life Groups, classes, and small group meetings. We believe that the Bible is inspired by God and is the divinely authoritative Word of God. Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the life of Calvary Church and is our only authority. The Bible is both timeless and timely, relevant to the needs of all people at all times, and to the specific problems of contemporary living. We believe, therefore, that the Bible must be taught and preached in the church. Sermons must be expositions of the Bible and its teachings, not expressions of the preacher’s or teacher’s opinions or the ideas of the age. Similarly in all facets of our ministry (including classes and programs for children, teens, and singles) and for all small groups, the Bible’s eternal truths must be taught and applied. We are committed to preaching “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” to the lost and equipping believers through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word to know the Triune God and to follow Christ in every sphere of life. God’s Word, rather than spiritual experience, is the test of truth. (Psalm 19:7–14; John 17:17; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16; Ephesians 4:11–16; 2 Timothy 2:14–19; 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 4:12)

Calvary is committed to having inspiring worship as we celebrate who God is and what He has done. We do this by expressing our love and devotion to God in spirit and truth through our praise and through the proclamation of the Word of God. We must focus on God in our worship rather than the satisfaction of our own personal needs. Biblical worship is dynamic — not passive. Therefore, meaningful and understandable congregational participation in worship is essential.

Believing that worship is our highest priority, and that Calvary Church is a local expression of the family of God — we strongly encourage people of all ages (children, teens, singles, families, adults, and seniors) and of all backgrounds to worship together as the people of God — so that God-centrality in the life of our church is demonstrated.

Also believing that the people of God should be united, we will seek to have corporate worship with a blend of musical styles and a blend of traditional and contemporary music. We believe that for the Christian, all of life is to be lived as an act of worship to God — and corporate worship should be a great encouragement to a life of worship and holy living. In all cases, the worship and music must glorify God and exalt Jesus Christ, and never be mere entertainment or emotionalism. We are prayerfully committed to striving for authentic biblical worship, so that our corporate worship is not supplanted by the entertainment culture where the emphasis is one of performance and taste, rather than God-centeredness. (Psalm 115:1; Psalm 145-150; Isaiah 6:1-9; John 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 1 Corinthians 14:14, 24-25; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:15-17; Hebrews 13:15)

Calvary will seek to build communities of faith within its membership through enabling relational ministry in small group settings for the purposes of Bible study, discipleship, support, encouragement, exhortation, accountability, and fellowship.

Calvary will continue to give its people and financial resources to evangelizing the lost within our community, region, and around the world. We will seek to accomplish this through prayer, training, and intentional development of programs, services, and events. We will also support such work by other Christ-centered churches and ministries throughout the world.

We believe that God desires us to reach as many people as possible with the Gospel of the grace of God. Therefore, we seek to take seriously the great commission to evangelize and disciple the lost world at home as well as overseas. We believe that an important part of evangelism is discipleship of believers, their baptism, their responsible membership in a local body of believers, and their being equipped for worship and service. We will pursue various methods and outreach to the “unchurched,” which will facilitate this biblical commitment to evangelism and discipleship without compromising in any way our commitment to biblical truth and our integrity. We will seek to be and make disciples who not only proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ but also who display Him. It is the Lord who saves and causes growth. Our salvation is of God, has been accomplished by God, and is for God’s glory. We affirm that we must glorify Him always, and so self-improvement, self-esteem or self-fulfillment must never be allowed to become alternatives to the Gospel of God’s grace.

What we seek to do in Charlotte and surrounding areas, we also seek to do throughout this continent as well as overseas. Calvary Church is committed to being a church with a “global vision” seeking to identify, send, pray for, help, encourage, train, support, and generally minister to those who are called by God for either short-term or long-term missions. We also seek to educate everyone (including children and teens) at Calvary Church in this vital ministry of missions. (Psalm 127:1; Matthew 28:18–20; John 1:12-13; 3:8; Acts 1:8; 2:47; 1 Corinthians 3:1–2; 3:6-7; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)

We believe that God desires His people to pray, and that He hears and answers prayer. Therefore, we ought to pray with and for one another, sharing our burdens, sorrows, and joys. Furthermore, we believe that the ministries and activities of Calvary Church will be characterized by our reliance on prayer in their conception, planning, and execution. (Matthew 6:8–15; Matthew 7:7–11; Luke 18:1; John 15:5; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 6:18–20; James 5:13–18)

Adopted by the Session of Calvary Church
April 2006 & December 2006 
 

See Below Calvary’s Philosophy of Worship which can be found directly a their website (http://www.calvarychurch.com/site/20_205_0.cfm)

Calvary is committed to having inspiring worship as we celebrate who God is and what He has done. We do this by expressing our love and devotion to God in spirit and truth through our praise and through the proclamation of the Word of God. We must focus on God in our worship rather than the satisfaction of our own personal needs. Biblical worship is dynamic – not passive. Therefore, meaningful and understandable congregational participation in worship is essential.

Believing that worship is our highest priority, and that Calvary Church is a local expression of the family of God - we strongly encourage people of all ages (children, teens, singles, families, adults, and seniors) and of all backgrounds to worship together as the people of God - so that God-centrality in the life of our church is demonstrated.

Also believing that the people of God should be united, we will seek to have corporate worship with a blend of musical styles and a blend of traditional and contemporary music. We believe that for the Christian, all of life is to be lived as an act of worship to God - and corporate worship should be a great encouragement to a life of worship and holy living. In all cases, the worship and music must glorify God and exalt Jesus Christ, and never be mere entertainment or emotionalism. We are prayerfully committed to striving for authentic biblical worship, so that our corporate worship is not supplanted by the entertainment culture where the emphasis is one of performance and taste, rather than God-centeredness. – adopted April 10, 2006. 

 

It is with great joy that my family and I get to attend and be actively involved with such a great body of believers inside that intimidating castle off of Rea Rd.  That large building that looks so daunting from the outside isn’t really all that daunting at all.  Yes, it is still big inside and I am still not used to taking an elevator (still take the stairs), but I find it comforting that inside that building is small network of believers that love God and His Word and desire to share that with the surround community.  My prayer is that there are more churches with like philosophy, like ministry, like doctrine, and like faith are started all over this globe. 

 

If you are in Charlotte or ever visiting, please let me know as you can always be my guest!

Footnotes

(1) Charlotte has long been known as a city of churches. Charlotte News writer J.M. Cash, author of the seminal 1929 essay “Mind of the South,” said Charlotte had “more churches than Edinburgh (Scotland).” This is a portion of an article posted on Charlotte.com written by Gary O’Brien. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/479/story/260165.html

(2) Liddell and Scott define ekklesia as “an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly.” [R. Scott, and H.G. Liddell, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 206.] Thayer’s lexicon says, “an assembly of the people convened at the public place of council for the purpose of deliberating” [J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 196]. Trench gives the meaning as “the lawful assembly in a free Greek city of all those possessed of the rights of citizenship, for the transaction of public affairs” [R.C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, 7th ed., pp. 1-2]. Seyffert’s dictionary states, “The assembly of the people, which in Greek cities had the power of final decision in public affairs” [Oskar Seyffert, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, pp. 202-203].From “fully after the LORD” by Steve Flinchum http://www.bryanstation.com/flinchum-fully.htm

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Where’s The Beef?

Where’s the beef?

 

January 10^th, 1984, the phrase, “Where’s The Beef” became one of the most well known advertising slogans of the 1980’s and did wonders for Wendy’s!  There were three little old women staring a large bun with a tiny piece of meat saying that phrase over and over with the message being that Wendy’s was the antitheses of that company with no beef!  To this day I always think of that phrase when I go to Wendy’s for one of those burgers that truly has the beef. 

 

There a few things that you have learned about me over the past month as I blog.  I like to write, I am very opinionated (not always right), I love my family, I love my faith, I love music, but there is one more important thing to note about me:  I love to eat!  I love almost every kind of food and if given over, I could easily indulge all day long on snacks and meals without ever missing a beat.  I love trying new things, but I do have my favorites.  Very similar to my music nostalgia, I have “meal” or “restaurant” nostalgia.  I remember trips or places I visit based upon where I eat and what I eat.  I am not partial to the type of meal.  I can enjoy fine dining, ethnic foods or greasy spoons all the same.  I love breakfast, lunch and dinner.  My stomach rarely says no and it isn’t partial to the type of food, but rather the quality. 

 

Here is a list of my favorite “Restaurants & Meals” that I have had over the years!  They are in no particular order as I have loved them all for one particular reason or another. 

 

The Big Dog Café – Waxhaw, NC

 

Breakfast is the first meal so I will start out with one of my favorite new breakfast places.  I live in Waxhaw, so I am partial, but it is hard to beat the price, the people, and the quality of food (quantity too).  If you eat here, you better figure on skipping lunch (which I don’t normally do), but this renovated old building turned breakfast nook is our family’s new breakfast hangout.  It welcomes all walks of life and serves the best bacon, eggs, grits, and extra crispy hash browns I have ever eaten.  Definitely atop my greasy spoon dives!

 

 

 

The Burger Bar – Las Vegas, NV (Mandalay Bay)

 

There is no place like this anywhere.   You select from some of the best meats from all around the world and almost anything you want with it as you can create the greatest burger known to man.  I only order one burger every time I go here and it’s called the “Surf & Turf” Burger.  It is a little pricy ($30), but worth the money for this magical display of land and sea atop a warm bun!  You get an 8oz Black Angus Beef patty with a half lobster tail garnished with steamed asparagus.  It is to die for and I have never traveled to Las Vegas without making this one of my stops!

 

 

 

Dukes Malibu Restaurant – Malibu, CA

 

I was introduced this ocean side restaurant by my brother-in-law Jared and sister-in-law Angela a few years ago as I traveled to Los Angeles to visit with them.  There might not be a more beautiful view of any restaurant on my list!  You are right there beside one of the most famous beaches in North America watching the sunset while you dine on some of the freshest seafood possible.   Definitely in my top 3 of seafood places that I have ever eaten and one of the prettiest views of any place I have ever visited.  There is a reason why all the stars by huge homes in Malibu, because it is beautiful. 

 

 

 

Waldhorn German Restaurant – Pineville, NC

 

I love German food!  I love all the meats they offer and prepare up in such different ways than we are used to.  I very rarely add a restaurant so quickly to my favorite list; however, last night was an exception as it was added on my list even before the meal and two bites into the appetizer.  The ambiance was incredible and the staff was amazing.  I also love accordions so the live accordion performances were awesome!  To top all of that off, I had not only best German food I have ever eaten, but I would rate this as one of top restaurants in all of the Charlotte, NC, metro area.  We tried different samplers of all sorts of food and the quality was superior. 

 

 

 

Hyman’s Seafood – Charleston, SC

 

If you ever travel to Charleston, SC, and you ask the locals where you should eat they will never say Hyman’s because they consider it as a tourist trap.  I will agree it is a tourist attraction, because there tables are labeled with some of the most famous people from all over the world (leaders, stars, presidents, etc.) who have eaten there.  I will tell you the locals are just jealous and while the staff uses a marketing ploy to make the lines look longer to keep up the excitement of the place, it doesn’t change the fact that this casual seafood place has AWESOME food!  The two “Hyman” brothers run this downtown Charleston seafood haven and the deli right beside it.  I haven’t been back in a couple of years, but on occasion their mom can often be found serving and speaking with patrons.  The nicest lady ever too!  I eat the same thing when I go every time:  Whole Flounder w/ Chutney Glaze.  The freshest flounder I have ever eaten to this day!

 

 

Frenchy’s – Clearwater, FL

 

Two words describe this beach nook:  Grouper Sandwich!  There is no place that you have ever been that will do it better.  They are renown all over for their grouper sandwiches and with good reason.   A beautiful location right along Clearwater Beach makes the ambiance awesome, but I can’t past the size, quality and taste of those crunchy bites of Grouper all between two pieces of bread.  It’s all that and a bag of chips!

 

 

 

Aureole – Las Vegas, NV (Mandalay Bay)

 

Back to Vegas for another favorite place to dine!  This was the first place I ever ate in Las Vegas.  I was flown out to Las Vegas by Yellowpages.com, whom I served on an advisory board), and they treated us to truly one of the finest dining places you could imagine.  When you first walk in, you are awestruck by the huge skyscraper-like wine rack that holds 9,865 bottles of wine of which you can order one of their large looking specially made “wine palm pilots.”  I know I have spent a lot of my time already on seafood, but this is by far #1 of the places I have eaten seafood.  The halibut literally tastes like it was just caught and prepared by a master chef.  You will not be disappointed with the meal and dressing up is a must, but might have wished you could have saved the average $250 per person meal on some slots!  If you ever go to Las Vegas to catch a play or act, this is the perfect place to have that romantic date beforehand.

 

 

Jerry’s Famous Deli – South Beach, FL

 

South Beach in my mind might be a little over rated.  Not the beach itself as it is amazing and “The Delano” has the largest collection of beautiful men and women staying in one hotel than all the hotels in Las Vegas combined.  With that being said, I really would go back to South Beach to have the Cuban sandwich from Jerry’s.  I love Cuban sandwich’s and I have had a lot of them, but there is none that are made tastier than their creation at Jerry’s.  If I found a flight cheap enough, I really would just go down for the day just to get the sandwich. 

 

 

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse – Cancun, MX

 

If you know me, then you know that my favorite steak and overall meal from any restaurant is prepared by Ruth’s Chris.  Filet cooked Medium Well, Lettuce Wedge w/ Bleu Cheese Crumbles and sides of mushrooms and asparagus.  In fact the mushrooms are so good at Ruth’s Chris that my sister-in-law (Angela Rankin) send pictures of them to each other whenever we dine out at a Ruth’s Chris.  They are that good!  Being in Cancun, MX, is one thing, but it has become our custom as a family or business partners to go there at least once on our vacation there if not twice.  For some reason the steaks are always better in Mexico (I think it’s more the fact that we are on vacation). 

 

 

Winks – Statesville, NC

 

Back to breakfast for my favorite my second favorite breakfast place in the US!  Wink’s is actually known more for their barbeque, but I go there for the omelets.  It is easy to mess up an omelet in my mind and they continually get it right time after time.   I order the Western Omelet and I always ask for the cook that prepares them with whole cherry tomatoes.  I have never seen another place that prepares it that way.  It is a greasy spoon, but I eat there several times of year when I visit clients in that area of North Carolina.  My business partner Mark and I consider this a staple for our regular food intake during the year. 

 

 

Bob Chinn’s – Wheeling, IL

 

Outside of Chicago is one of the greatest and busiest restaurants in America.   It is one of the highest volume restaurants in America for four reasons.  Garlic Rolls, King Crab Legs, Blue Crab Claws and Mai Tai’s!  There is no other restaurant in America that goes through more ice tea, sugar, crab legs, mai tai’s and blue crab claws.  I would easily rate this as one of my favorite restaurants.  The food is that of a five star restaurant and the atmosphere is as laid back as you could imagine.  Come as you are but be prepared to wait as they are never slow.   Check out there overnight delivery!  Great dinner treat! www.bobchinns.com

 

 

Nikko Japanese Restaurant & Sushi – Charlotte, NC

 

I love SUSHI!  The finest sushi and overall restaurant for fun of any I have ever been to is Nikko’s.  The owner aka “The Sushi Lady” makes this elaborately decorated restaurant a must before hitting uptown Charlotte on a nice evening out.  Not only is the sushi excellent quality, the service outstanding, but you can’t leave that place in a bad mood.  It is the perfect atmosphere of good taste and great fun.  Angela just surprised me with a huge 33^rd Birthday Surprise Party there in June and it was one of the best surprises I have ever had.  If you like Sushi, it is all good here!

 

 

Montgomery Inn Ribs – Cincinnati, OH

 

A good food lover can’t leave out ribs in there menu!  Montgomery Inn is a staple in Cincinnati and most likely the best well known restaurant and for good reason.  They have the best RIBS known to man.  I can’t resist getting a full rack of ribs with onion straws on the side with extra sauce to dip.  Another great ambiance as they have a location right along the Ohio River next to downtown Cincinnati.  I have always said that Cincinnati has one of the best skylines and to be right there on a warm summer evening right after eating the greatest ribs possible is one of my favorite memories of meals with my wife’s family.  My best memory was wedding rehearsal when we had it catered in for 120 of our family and friends.  Not my tab!

 

 

Purple Space Monkey – Placencia, Belize

 

I probably like this more for the karaoke that I found myself involved in all night back in the middle of July.  I will remember Belize for several things like being the most beautiful and fun vacation I have ever been on, the beautiful beaches and islands, the nicest people on earth, but what impressed me the most about visiting the country was the quality of food.  I could really put a lot of their restaurants on this list, but I just thought it was an awesome little sandwich place in the middle of a third world country that I couldn’t get anywhere else.  Truthfully, the sandwich wasn’t so mind blowing that I remembered it more than another one, but it was all about the ambiance.  To top it all off Verizon not only told me my cell phone wouldn’t work in Belize, but the whole island had wireless capabilities and The Purple Space Monkey was a equipped with many computers for the locals to use or tourists.  The nicest internet café I have seen. 

 

 

Jack N’ Jill’s – Beverly Hills, CA

 

There might not be anything like eating breakfast in Beverly Hills sitting outside of Jack N’ Jill’s.  This tiny little breakfast and lunch nook is well known for great food.  When I visit I always make sure to sit outside at one of the few outside front tables to get the view of all the unreal cars that ride by or the occasional movie star that walks by the restaurant.  You seriously feel like you are in the middle of a TMZ show! As far as what to eat, I love the ABT Omelet.  Fresh Avocado, Applewod Bacon & Tomatoes with Jack & Cheddar Cheese!  Yeah …. It’s that good!

 

 

Murphy’s Bleachers / Cubbie Bear / Casey Moran’s – Wrigleyville, IL

 

I couldn’t just name one, because they offer two things fairly equally that you can’t find anywhere in the US.  Nestled right beside the greatest ballpark ever made, Wrigley Field and its surroundings are home to the greatest sports fans in the world and also “THE BEST HOT DOGS & BRATS.”  In the summertime there might be nothing more American than watching a baseball game and eating a hot dog or brat and each of these Bar / Grills offer some of the tastiest on earth.  It probably isn’t so much the taste as much as it is being in the center of the baseball heaven doing to things I love the most: Eating and watching the Cubs!

 

 

Honorable Mentions

 

Beaver Creek Chophouse – Beaver Creek, CO (Fine Dining and Great Cuts of Meat)

Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse – Jackson Hole, WY  (The Ultimate Cowboy Steakhouse and the Steaks are enormouse).

Sullivan’s – Charlotte, NC  (I like their seafood, but there Crème Brule is amazing!)

Yolie’s Brazilian Steakhouse – Las Vegas, NV, (Just have to try it!  Unreal)

Victorian Room – Las Vegas, NV,  (5am breakfast right before you go to bed!)

How do we spend our time?

I recently googled the phrase “finding time.” Turns out I wasn’t the first one to do so as there were over 37 million references to that phrase returned from my initial query! For someone who makes there life living through online marketing, that is a lot of references.

When I was younger it seemed if time stood still and you couldn’t get through high school or college fast enough. I remember how I couldn’t wait to get my drivers license. I failed my first test and had to wait an entire week to try it again! Talk about an eternity and to a teenager it seemed if nothing else mattered and the world stood still.

Ten years of marriage and three children later, I hardly know what day it is each week they go by so fast. By the time things slow down from the day, I barely have enough time to have a good conversation with my wife and it’s time to go to bed … only to get up at 6am to do it all again.

Looking at the responses to “time” with different view points, either through the eyes of your youth or the glasses of your adulthood are both very normal, but it is how we respond to “time” in our life that defines us as human beings. More specifically in terms of our relationship with God, our response to time defines who we are as Christians and our level of committment to Him.

Time is the ultimate commodity for Christians! To God, time is irrelevant in terms of his Deity as He has always been and He always will be, but He will ultimately judge His flock based on how they used this commodity. Time is consistent and never stops. Time waits for no one and once that time is up, so are your chances for using it. Whether we use it for furthering God’s Kingdom or on our on personal pleasures on earth, it doesn’t change the fact that time has been given to us from God.

Here is where I finally get to my answer … I am sure you were waiting intently. As I get older, I have become more aware of the thought that I only have a certain amount of time in life. I know that is something that most people get much younger, but I have never been considered a fast learner. I have spent the vast majority of my time in the past 33 years doing whatever I wanted and where ever I wanted. It is has only been recently in the last year that I have considered the thought of “how do I spend my time?” As my children get older, I want them to see the that the most important things in life aren’t wrapped around people, sports, things, job, money, etc… As this thought permeated through my heart and mind, I immediately felt like a hypocrite, because those were the things that were important to me.

In my my mind I knew I had to make a “life altering adjustment.” In my heart I didn’t want to let go of all those things I liked to spend my time gaining or enjoying. It wasn’t till I my eyes actually saw a real life example of someone who really lived each day of her life as if it were her last. She spent the last two years of her life spending that time as efficiently as possible. I saw her take one day at a time through so many of lifes trials and cruelties. Even what I thought was a cruelty was to her another extenstion of God’s truly amazing grace. The more I saw her glorify God in the midst of what I considered unfairness, I hardened my heart against that commodity of time determined to find what I wanted in life on my own. Even to the end of her life I saw her continually impact hundreds and maybe thousands of people through the way she spent her time. When I saw her for the final time, I determined to spend my time like she did … with her focus on her faith, her family and her friends.

She truly had it right. While her time on earth was shorter than most, the way she used it to enhance her faith in God, show her love to her family and encourage her friends was “time well spent.”

It is my prayer that I spend the remainder of my time concentrating on what is truly important! Each day I want to say that my FAITH is stronger, my FAMILY is more loved and led toward Christ than the day before, and my network of FRIENDS are more encouraged each time I am around them.

I want to say thanks to Meredith Rankin who was that example to me of humility and grace during that trial that would eventually take her to heaven on April 22, 2008. I am not perfect, but because of Meredith real life Christian example it led me to do an self examination of “where I spent my time.” Through that challenge and Holy Spirit’s guidance, I am a better husband, a more loving and caring father, and friend to all who need one.

This blog hereby serves as my “public accountability” as to how I spend my time and how effectively I spend that time on things that matter for all eternity!

Who ya got?

My favorite show on television is on ESPN and it’s called “Pardon The Interuption” or “PTI.”  I love it because it’s two hosts usually spend  a few minutes debating and talking about the most relevant new stories in the world of sports for that day.  It’s great because it usually provides two different opinions of all sorts of sports news and  you get to hear them arguing as if they were trying to convince a jury to believe they are right.  Almost every show they have a segment called “Toss-Up.”  In this segment they each have to answer a question where the two hosts choose between two sides of a topic announced by the producer over the loudspeaker.   Often a question is directed in the vernacular, “Who ya got?” in this debate between the two sports news reporters.

I have been asked by many of my friends of “Who ya got?” in terms of who I am voting for in the 2008 Presidential Election.  We have had many debates especially concerning this and I am sure there will be many more revolving around the candidates, the issues, and what we all believe to be the best choice.  In this particular election there are two choices with two contrasting personalities, ideals, backgrounds, and beliefs.   Before I get into what those differences are and what I believe to be the direction I am hedging on giving my vote, I think a short bio of what “voter block” I come from would do well here.

I am a 33 year old caucasion male.  I have spent my entire life growing up in the South.  I have grown up and I still am a conservative, Bible believing Christian.  I went to a very religious universtiy in Greenville, SC, called Bob Jones University and graduated with my BA from the School of Religion.  I am happily married and I have 3 children and as a family we are extremely active in our faith.  I work in the business realm of society and I own and operate a business.  While i don’t think of my self as rich, I would certainly be considered “rich” by our Democratic Nominee for the Presidency of the United States and I represent about as high a tax burden possible in the US on an individual.  I live comfortably with a mortgage, two car payments and zero credit card debt.  While I am no Dave Ramsey, I tend to be more conservative in my economic standards.  Basically I don’t like high taxes and I don’t create depreciating debt for both my family and I, other than the two car payments (that would be where we would disagree .   That’s enough about my background and where I come from, but I feel it’s important because for the first time in my voting life, I don’t know who I am casting my vote for in November. 

Let’s face it, people of my faith and with my pedigree tend to be biased without ever looking at the crucial isssues and policies and then they cast their vote and with almost 100% certaintly pull the lever for the Republican nominee.  I pulled that lever for George Bush in the last two terms. 

Here is how we think …. Does he believe in Abortion?   Check him off the list if he does.  Does he believe in same sex marriage or equal rights for homosexual couples?  Check him off the list if he does.  Does he support our war efforts?  Oh my … he voted against it, check him off my list because he doesn’t support our troops.  Our own prejudices across society even go as far as saying that because he is or he isn’t black or the fact there is or isn’t a woman on the ticket, that will influence my vote.   

What I am trying to say is that there is a preconceived notion that every faith based Christian should and has to vote on a conservative ballot.  I have many friends that would consider me a heretic for even writing that Christians and all Americans need to go futher than surface issues and truly consider who they ought to choose even if outside of party lines.   It is almost as if we think that every gay and lesbian person in this country has to vote on the democratic ballot because of one or two issues or that every every right wing evangelical must ask Pat Robertson who he voting for before they decide  who to vote for and they don’t look at the totality of how a candidate stands on all issues.   It works both ways and both parties struggle with this issue, which is why we are so divided as a country.  It is because we truly are intolerant of other peoples views and we can’t get our head out of the ground to realize it.

Specifically, as conservative Christians in America, it is almost as if we believe that our particular members of the Republican party all went to seminary, read their Bibles everyday, don’t sin, and have every issue correct (just because of their party affiliation).   Not only do we have a problem in this nation with corporate greed, misuse of taxpayer money, and core values, but we also have an issue of intelligent decision making.  I really would like to know just how many of “my faith affiliation” (Bible believing, social conservatives) have truly prayed and ask about who they ought to choose to run our country in all sects of local, state and federal government.  I bet we would be sorely dissapointed, because you know why?????  We automatically think that God is on the side of “republican party,” as if He has an affiliation.  I understand there are issues that create a different value system between most conservatives and liberals that not only I disagree with, but that I know God abhorrs.   I know God says that homosexuality is a sinful behavior and that life is to be given and taken away by Him (not a doctor or a human being just because they want to).  I get that!  I affirm that!  However,  I can’t accept a blanket acceptance of a candidate based on those beliefs or a few more beliefs, rather in totality of there entire political viewpoint.   I took this route in the last two elections, by just looking at a persons value system.  Why? I guessed I just did what I was expected to do as a social conservative and a Bible believing Christian.  I mean isn’t that what is engrained into our mindset? Absolutely!  What did that get us in return?  Last I checked Roe vs Wade wasn’t changed, we are in a war without merit, and the financial / credit crisis might be the largest single failure in an economy in the history of the world as we know it.   I understand that George Bush is a good man and we share a very similar value system and i wouldn’t want nor think i could do his job any better.  However, this did happen during his watch.   Our economy is on the brink of disaster!  We are fighting a war and helping a nation get back on its feet and they will eventually hate us all over again.  George Bush has been the worst Presidential leader we have had since LB Johnson in the 60′s.  He has failed America, because he didn’t fight for America.  He has looked defeated from the minute they found out there wasn’t WMD hiding in bunkers througout Iraq and that really is when he lost his credibility with America.   It’s okay to make mistakes, but when you are the “leader of the free world” you can’t afford to make some of the gaffe’s that he has made during his leadership and oversight.  So while we (Christian America) got our man for eight years in the office, because he believed like we do, we also got also got his negatives (his inability to lead, his inability to love his job, his inability to unify a nation, his inability to gain respect on a global scale).   Many have said that his policies were that of a Ronald Reagan (a man who is my hero growing up and I consider to be the best President we have ever had), but let me say, George Bush truly is no Ronald Reagan.  Ronald Reagan loved his job, unified a nation to fight against Communism, and led us as a nation on a path to what I believe set the tone for the prosperity and growth during the 1990′s.  

Therefore, to all my Christian friends that will villify me, please forgive me as a Bible believing Christian and social conservative if I put on the forefront of my list of demands of our next President:

* Wants The Job                  

* Has a plan that is different than is different from George Bush’s plan in realms of economy, education, healthcare reform, national security (at home), border security, ending the war in Iraq.  If John McCain’s plans on education, national security, border security and ending the war are no different than George Bush, that is unacceptable.  However, they do both believe that abortion is wrong, so go ahead and cast your vote …. as if that is the only thing God cares about.  God doesn’t compartmentalize ignorance and moral ineptitude, just as He doesn’t weigh out abortion and homosexual rights over sending men and women to a war without merit or stopping corporations from raping the American public or failing to come up with a healthcare policy that is fair and equal and doesn’t continually side with doctors, practices and insurance agencies or anything else you can think of!  Yes, I know that was a run-on sentence! 

* Picked a running mate that has experience in case something happens to the President.  I am sorry, but making breakfast for a family every day, going to sporting events with your children, and running a state with less people than New York City doesn’t necessarily disqualify you, but it doesn’t exactly make me secure in her ability to control the affairs of the free world.  I will err on the side of caution (isn’t that Scriptural too?). 

Please forgive me for putting on the back burner (not that I don’t care, because I do) topics surrounding abortion, gay and lesbian rights, taxing me “the middle class / rich / whatever” at a higher rate (although I disagree with the fairness equation), helping Iraq build a better country or economy while ours suffers and they have a surplus of 80 billion, or even caring about someones past voting record in the past, or (with all do respect … and I mean that) that because a man was a POW and in the military that makes him suddenly a five star general and able to negotiate foreign relations and capable of leading us in military decisions. 

I want to see a change from the status quo.  I want to see change from the current leaderless regime.  If that means I am turning my back on “what we are supposed to do” voting for the candidate that best reflects my value system, then so be it.  

Senator McCain and Gov. Palin …. you have one month to change my mind.  Right now, you are the status quo and I am not buying another four years of it.

For a very well written opinion against everything I just wrote, please see the following blog:

http://ryan-and-emily.blogspot.com/ 

It is entitled “That Time of Year” and you will find it much easier to read than my novice blogging efforts. 

My Top Nostalgic Songs

If anyone truly knows me then they definitely know I am a music enthusiast.   I grew up with music and it was a very important part of my life and I still enjoy music of all sorts.  My wife often views my music knowledge as “useless factual information,” as I am constantly playing name that tune with her everytime I hear music.  I love all eras and genres of music for the most part and I would totally agree that in the light of more important things to know …. it is useless knowledge.   I grew up in the south where country music in a household is as common as Bible in the living room.   I have an infatuation with almost all 80′s music and oddly enough I really enjoy sad songs.  I am sure I will do a blog on my favorite “sad songs” someday soon.   My guilty admission is that my wife has asked me once if I could be anybody or do anything for a week as a career, what would it be?  Now you have to remember, I am thinking from a carnal mindset so I am not going to enlighten you with how much I would love to be my favorite evangelist or favorite missionary.  I have always said that I would want to be a rap mogul or rockstar.  I mean in light of carnality, how much fun does there life look?  I understand that they eventually hate life, they are miserable and I am likely to see them on VH1′s, “Where are they now?” or “The Surreal Life.”  But one week?  You can’t tell me that doesn’t look like fun for a week or so!  So that’s my odd carnal wish!  It’s only for a week, so don’t throw my under the bus and like you haven’t thought about it!

This blog however is compilation of different songs that have nostalgic value to me!  Do you have certain songs that come on the radio and you can remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, or it had some sort of impact on your life at that given time?  I have plenty and I date myself by being able to remember where I was or what I was doing by certain songs in my memory bank.  Please feel free to comment on mine or even tell me some of your songs that have nostalgic value to you .   Mine are in no particular order or dated timeline.

#10 – NO DOUBT – Don’t Speak.   It was Christmas break in 1995 and I was home from college and I remember the first time I logged on to the world wide web.  I was in our laundry room where my dad has just placed our new family computer and had is “perigee” account activated.   Through this new account we would be able to get online and go to different websites.  It was truly amazing and definitely for my generation a “were was I moment.”  While I was dialing in I remember this song, which I believe was new at the time, playing in the background.  Now everytime I hear this song, I think of that time in the laundry room that I as able to log in and go to all sorts of websites (if you had one yet). 

#9 – MICHAEL JACKSON – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.  I have very few memories of when I was four years old, but this is without a doubt one of my fondest memories during that time.  I can remember my mom and I in the kitchen and her teaching me to dance to a new record that she had purchased.  It was an album called “Off The Wall,” that would become one of the most successful records of all time and she would always play this songe.  To this day this song will always be one of my favorites because of those memories.

#8 - CULTURE CLUB – Karma Chameleon.  Don’t think I am wierd on this one, but it wasn’t like I was the only one that purchased this album.  I am sure there dozens more! LOL.  It wasn’t some love for Boy George I assure you, but I loved this song and I loved the beat; therefore, this would serve as one of the first albums I ever purchased.  I remember actually putting the record on and listening to it! I don’t remember what it cost and I can’t even remember the stores name, but I know it was in the Monroe Mall and I couldn’t wait to get it.  And no I don’t have this in my current ipod playlists, but now that I think about it, I need to add it!

#7 – DURAN DURAN – Come Undone.  1993 was the year I graduated high school and several things were still cool to do:  Cruising the mall was the thing, CD’s were still new, and having a radio / CD player in your car with big speakers with a lot of base made you REAL COOL.  I can remember taking my 1983 Toyota Corolla that I purchased from my dad for $1200 and transforming it from a 2 front speaker / AM only vehicle to a 6 speaker sound system with my new Kenwood CD Player.  It even lit up and had a detachable face plate!  Talk about really exciting!  I even saved a little money and did the whole installation myself and what song was playing once I completed the job?  You guessed it …. Duran Duran’s COME UNDONE!  How simple was life back then!

#6 – DIRE STRAITS – Money For Nothing.  It was 1988 and I was 13 years old.  MTV was just hitting the air waves and a new era of teenager was born in the US.  I was part of the original MTV Generation.  Although MTV started in 1981 it really never took off until the mid to late 80′s when record companies saw a hot commodity in the music video market and my generation craved for music videos from all their favorite artists.   While Dire Straits was hardly my favorite artist, the song “Money For Nothing” was one of the first videos I remember seeing as a young teenager.  Music videos aren’t the big hit like they used to be, but I can’t think of MTV and those early years when I hear this song.

#5 – JANET JACKSON – Escapade / CALLOWAY – I Wanna Be Rich.  Here I have two songs that were released very close to each other and I can’t hear either one of these songs without thinking of one person.  At the time and for several years of my life that person was the love of my life.  Didn’t we all have those relationships in high school?  Mine was Paulette Moser (now currently Paulette Simpson)!  I was in 9th grade when these two songs came out and she was a Senior (don’t laugh – I was really mature and hot / LOL) and I was smitten with love (okay maybe we would actually call it infatuation) and these two songs were two songs that she absolutely LOVED.  She sang them all the time and I have no doubt if I saw her today she could probably sing both of these songs.  Those two songs are the two I remember when I think of her and all of those memories that we shared which were many good memories!  Since that time we both married good strong Christian individuals and both families have a collection of the cutest kids in the world.  Aren’t we thankful for God’s Providence!

#4 – GERARDO – Rico Sauve.  I really, really hate this song and it can easily go down as one of those songs I hate with a passion.  However,  I love it because of what it takes me back to!  it was 1991 and I was a sophomore in high school when this song came out.  I had a couple of my best friends who were girls that absolutely loved this song!  Laura Griffin, Rachel Lugo, and Allison Grant I know only liked this song because of Gerardo’s supposedly hot body, but nonetheless probably sang this song for 6 months straight and I while I hated it if it ever comes on, I think of those three girls.  Those were some of the best years of my life and there were some of the best friends a person could ask for in high school.

#3 – DIAMOND RIO – Meet In The Middle.  I have plenty of country music that is nostalgic to me, but this probably is the most notable that comes to mind.  In 1991 a new group called Diamond Rio came out with this catchy tune.  If you have ever heard it, it is hard not to like and that would be the reason it would shoot up the charts to #1.   Was there that girl / guy that you always wanted to date, but you were just too good of friends?  I had plenty as we were a tight knit group and Cora Ingalls was definitely one of them that I loved everything about her, but she was almost like a sister or close cousin.  I remember how much she loved this song.  She sang it, played it and to this day I can’t listen to this song without thinking of her and driving her home after school or practices or going to eat after church.  I always had this song on the tape deck (that’s right the tape deck … no more albums).  

#2 – MARIAH CAREY – Dreamlover / ALABAMA – Dixieland Delight / JOHN MELLENCAMP – Jack & Diane.  Here we have three totally opposite genres and all of the songs where written in totally different periods of time.  To me they all have one common denominator and that revolved around one of my best friends during high school.  Mike Boyce absolutely loved these songs.  Mike liked Alabama’s song most likely because he is absolutely a country boy and this song I would almost bet was very nostalgic to him as well.  The Mariah Carey song was sort of a wierd obsession for him as he loved the part where Mariah Carey’s voice goes real high and he would sing along as best as his AC Delco radio would allow him to in his Chevy S-10!  I absolutely know why he loved the Mellencamp song it was because of the drums and he can’t play the drums, but his air drums to this song rivaled even Tommy Lee’s abilities.  For young people Tommy Lee was the drummer for Motley Crue.   To say the least I can’t think of Mike when these songs come on the radio and I absolutely have these on my favorite songs playlists on the iPod.

#1 – ERIC CLAPTON – Tears In Heaven / GUNS N’ ROSES – Live & Let Die.  I loved sports growing up and played varsity basketball, baseball and soccer in high school.  My life revolved around athletics and we didn’t have iPods at that time, but we did have walkmans!  I remember my favorite was a yellow casio that had a base booster on it (to really give it that great sound … LOL).  Before my soccer, basketball and baseball games I would make sure I had my walkman and I would play one of these two songs.  Live & Let Die was a remake of Paul McCartney’s version and released in 1991 and this would serve as the music to amp me up before games in 1991 & 1992.  In 1993 the song of choice was Eric Clapton’s Tears In Heaven.  That may seem odd, but tastes have always been across the board and it is no different now.  Listening to either one of those songs can easily take me back to the years of my athletic prime.  Those were years where you had no worries, no bills, and no obligations.  Right or wrong (mostly wrong) athletics is what I loved and lived for and those songs served as the inspiration to help me work and try my hardest.

Are the “Christian Right” right?

I have heard the cry from all my social conservative, right to life, and marriage defending friends.  Please hear me out … I am a social conservative as I like to keep more of the money I work for and I assure you that I am not a socialist in the making.  I also think that abortion is wrong except for the purposes of saving the mother’s life.  What defines a “marriage” in this country is a legally binding relationship between a man and a woman and I would oppose any constitutional amendment saying anything different. 

 

 

 

With all of that being said, I am amazed that a lot of my friends now think that John McCain is some ultra-conservative politician with high standards and the new poster boy in America for moral authority.  To their defense many of those friends would state they don’t agree with that necessarily, but that they are choosing the lesser of two evils by voting for John McCain. 

However, conservative Christian America is absolutely championing John McCain as their political savior all because of his defense of the unborn, his definition of marriage, and his agreement to not raise the tax burden on the middle and upper classes to help the lower classes of society. 

John McCain is not Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, Bob Jones, (insert your favorite preacher) or even Pat Robertson for that matter.  John McCain’s legacy isn’t characterized by five years as a POW like Fox News would have you to believe makes him the ideal candidate to run this country.  John McCain is the following:

(1) MONEY ISSUES – THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT’s SELF PROCLAIMED ECONOMIC GURU NOW is a self professed gambler and loves to play craps.   Some of his closest friends say that he can be often found playing 14-20 hours straight at the tables.  He readily admits he loves to gamble.  Sorry if I have a problem with that.   I don’t mind playing a slot machine or some poker and Lord knows I love me some Vegas, but I am also not running to control the free world.  But I guess he has the money since he wants to keep it all to himself, so we will let it slide.  Oops stop the presses …. maybe he was using his wife’s money as she has a credit card debt between two American Express cards totalling $225,000 a few months back.  Cindy McCain (the adultress … get to that point in a minute) has been known to purchase up to $500,000 a month on her AMEX.  The McCain’s total credit card debt in June of 2008 was over 1.3 million dollars  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/mccain-owes-1-million-in_n_114075.html.  Are you kidding me?  I felt bad when I used to owe Belk like $500!

(2) MORAL ISSUES – THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT’s SELF PROCLAIMED CHAMPION OF MORAL SUPERIORITY is best known in his legacy for being an adulterer.  Not that I would ever justify adultery as God doesn’t, but I might have given him a little slide if the lady he was married to / cheated on / then divorced wasn’t seriously injured in accident, waited for her husband (John McCain) to come home from his “courageous” years of being a POW.   After Marrying, McCain went to Vietnam in 1967, Carol Shell (his first wife) was in a terrible auto accident that would leave her 4 inches shorter, on crutches, and overweight.  After returning in 1973 to his wife, McCain began his lascivious and adulterous lifestyle.  It was well chronicled that through the 70′s he was absolutely involved in numerous affairs and due to that lifestyle he divorced his wife in 1980.  Did I mention he married his second wife a month later after divorcing?  Yes, that would be Cindy Lou Hensley (now McCain) whom he met in 1979.  “A man that cannot be faithful to a loving, self-sacrificing wife cannot be trusted to be faithful to the American people. Bill Clinton taught us that.  This week the New York Times reported that during his previous Presidential run in 2000, McCain may have had an inappropriate relationship with the young and lovely lobbyist, Vicki Iseman. The public, not knowing McCain’s history of adultery, responded to the NY Times as if they had to be making the story up.  NOW what do you think?”  by Jake Morphonios (Conservative Libertarian) Thursday, February 28, 2008.  http://www.nolanchart.com/article2957.html

To my Christian friends … who is the lesser of two evils when it comes to moral superiority in their personal lives?  I am sure he would be the one I would go to in order to help me define the definition of “marriage,” in the US …. that is if you want it defined “marriage between one woman and one man until I get tired of her and I will go screw other women and when I get tired of her I will do it again.”   Are you seriously championing this guy as one taking a moral high road to lead this nation?  This guy is no better than Bill Clinton … he probably wants the job just have some more staffers to fool around with.  There is nothing that you can say to make anything think he wouldn’t, right? 

I am sure glad his wife didn’t know he was married when she was screwing around with him.  Maybe she did which is while she turned into a junkie for awhile popping pills for years.  Sure glad they got counseling from their episco/baptist churches … where ever they went. 

(3) MEMBERSHIP ISSUES – THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT’S SELF PROCLAIMED MEMBER of the North Phoenix Baptist Church in North Phoenix, AZ, is telling people different things concerning his religion.   John McCain was an Episcopalian growing up and went to an Episcopalian high school.  For over 15 years he listed on all sorts of authorative documents that he was indeed an Episcopalian.  I really have no problems with Episcopalians and by no means does that disqualify you from being a member of the Senate or President of the US.  Even in June of 2007 he was still telling reporters such as the McClatchy News Service he was Episcopalian.  That’s funny because I remember that when in September of 2007 he told a reporter that, “By the way, I’m not Episcopalian. I’m Baptist.”  Converted? Hardly!  He was in South Carolina campaigning in an area that he had fought tooth and nail against George Bush just 8 years prior.  When pressed about it a little more about this topic he stated that he has been attending the aforementioned church for 15 years.  Baptized during that time? Nope.  Asked about his adulterous affairs from the church leadership during the time he was supposedly attending? Nope.  Which one is it Senator McCain?  Help me out here so I can tell my friends so they can put this to rest.   Here is the ultra conservative Fox News report concerning this issue:   http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296973,00.html   You might want to note the point where he responds “no” to advertising his faith.  I know the answer … it is because he is faithless and the very definition of a white sepulcher full of dead man’s bones (Matt. 23:27 if you taking notes).    To me this is just another indicator that he is just another politician who is happy to tell anyone anything as long as he gets their vote.  His abiilty to deceive and lie given the crowd he was around would be the same reason people didn’t like him in 2000 either. 

Sen. John McCain Attacks Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Republican Establishment as Harming GOP Ideals

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/28/se.01.html

Sen. John McCain attacks conservative Christian leaders calling them “agents of intolerance” 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/gops29.shtml

I guess he is a Christian, but doesn’t like Christians?  I am confused again with what he is or isn’t.   Just listen to Fox News though and I am sure they will set the “spin” I mean record straight. 

I have more points that start with an “M” but I will leave them off this blog.  I already have enough that makes me want to throw up and throw my vote down the toilet rather than vote for this guy. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Let’s talk about taxes and raising taxes on the middle to upper class …..

I know it’s not the goverments right to try to create a “fairness” in the economic pay scale, but rather it should be more in line with the churches across America to help those that need help (Matt. 19:21 / Matt. 23:14 / Mk 12:40 / Lk 20:47) right?  I am sure that we are putting our 10% in the offering plate with the hopes of helping the poor, orphaned and widowed or heck even the alcoholic in the homeless shelter, right?  How many churches in America right now have a plan in place to giving to the poor, those that don’t have as much as we have, from a different socio-economic background or didn’t have the same opportunities?  The answer … Very Few! The inequailty and lack of support for those in need isn’t “nessarily” due to their bad choices, but rather the failure of the church through the years to pick those people up and show them the true love of Christ and be there for them.  Seriously, if our churches came to us tomorrow and said that the goverment isn’t going to raise taxes on those making a certain income levels to help those that are without, but they are going to require that churches begin retaining 5% of all members income to now take and give to local social projects, food shelters, low income housing, etc…. what would our response be?  And yes, that would be after you gave your 10% which I don’t agree with either … another blog topic.  Your reaction would be the same as it would be if the government was taking it from us.  And before you get into I don’t want my money to go to support initiatives that I don’t whole heartedly agree with, and I would trust my church to properly distribute the money versus a government, let me say that it isn’t about the principle of helping with you, but about the money.  You don’t want to lose anymore of your stinking money!  We as Christians and Christian churches have failed in America to support those that need us (Christians).  It’s amazing that churches will support a missionary with a few grand to help build his ministry (to help those same types of people in a foreign country) but when it comes to helping someone right down the street in our community … we tell them to get it together or judge the person automatically as going to use that money for drugs and alcohol, and we walk away. And I know that I come close to an extremely liberal Christian view of a social gospel.  I am well versed in the theological ramifications of the social gospel began by Walter Rauschenbusch, had the classes and I assure you that I fall short of the social gospel’s tenant that this would usher in the Kingdom of God or even the work we would do as a church would somehow secure eternity in Heaven for us. I also know that Martin Luther King Jr. held a similar view of this social gospel. What I am saying is that we are in epidemic of selfishness where we care more about bank mergers, our 401k’s, and our kids college funds that we without a doubt forget one of the basic tenants of Christ’s love and sharing that love.  I don’t think Barak Obama or John McCain have the answers in their economic plans, because ultimately God reigns and controls, but to my Christian friends:

Please don’t act like the reason you don’t want to pay more taxes and those that don’t come close to what we have is because it’s a slippery slope to Socialism (which it easily could be).  The real reason is you want your money! You feel like you own it and you worked for it and therefore entitled to keep as much for your family regardless how it may impact other families.  We are only mere managers of money that is rightfully God’s.  As stewards we should be willing to use that money wisely (I get that too), but if we aren’t helping those that need us during a time of economic crisis and the churches aren’t either, then what should we do?  Do nothing?  God help us if we believe that way, but I choose to be part of something that will do something unlike John McCain who just keeps telling me that he is going to “name there names.”  Like I care now who got us into this mess.  It was under George Bush that it was aloud to flounder even if started under Bill Clinton’s watch.  George Bush did nothing and John McCain offers nothing different.

Let’s talk about abortion  …..

McCain supports the following statements:

1. Abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered.
2. Prohibit the late-term abortion procedure known as “partial-birth” abortion.
3. Prohibit public funding of abortions and public funding of organizations that advocate or perform abortions

I totally agree with Senator McCain in his comments above and I would love to see Roe vs Wade repealed and made illegal, but even John McCain knows that isn’t going to happen.  Please see the following statement:

McCain said, “I’d love to see a point where Roe vs. Wade is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.” A spokesman said that McCain “has a 17-year voting record of supporting efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade.   He does that currently, and will continue to do that as president.”  Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999 

The statment can be summarized as I wish abortion weren’t here, but right now in America I wouldn’t force it upon the women in America.  What the heck does that mean? If it were a fence he would be squarly on it!  I will give Sen. McCain credit in that his voting record is superb here, but please understand this and get over it:  He isn’t going to make repealing Roe vs. Wade a priority.  He wasn’t going to when he made that statement running for President in 2000 and it isn’t like Bush made it on his list of things to do while in the White House either. 

 

On CNN’s “Late Edition,” McCain reiterated that he would not have an abortion “litmus” test for a running mate or Supreme Court nominees. He added that while he ultimately favors repeal of Roe, “we all know, and it’s obvious, that if we repeal Roe v. Wade tomorrow, thousands of young American women would be performing illegal and dangerous operations.”  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/mccain082499.htm  So what McCain is saying is that it really doesn’t matter if he chooses a running mate that is pro-life or pro-choice.  He obviously did in choosing Sarah Palin, but if it wasn’t that important to him then, then why are so many of the “Christian Right,” hanging their vote on this position? 

 

Please let me reaffirm my position that I am not for abortion and I do care for life which happens at conception.  I don’t agree that a woman should be able to choose life or death for her child like she is choosing a value meal at Burger King, but it is the time we live in and it will take a revival starting with Christians all over this land to change the moral compass of America and to see that unborn children have laws to protect them (not a conservative or liberal President).  I don’t like it that Sen. Obama believes completely opposite with me on this issue; however, Sen. McCain isn’t exactly the choice I had in mind as a bastion for pro-lifers either. 

 

 

Let’s talk about the definition of marriage and Gay Rights ….

 

 What does John McCain say ….

 

“I think, uh … I think that gay marriage should be allowed if there’s a ceremony kind of thing, if you wanna call it that … I don’t have any problem with that.”  (10/18/2006, MSNBC Hardball).

“I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.” (BOOS 10/18/2006, MSNBC)

Are you against civil unions for gay couples? “I am not.” (ABC NEWS: This Week with George Stephanopoulos)

McCain voted against a federal constitutional amendment supported by President Bush in 2004, and said he thinks states should be able to determine their own approaches to marriage—and he has repeatedly said the matter should be left to voters, not judges, to decide. 

Sen. McCain says leave gay marriage to the states, he says ….

• Gay Marriage – Believes it’s an issue best left up to the states. While in the Senate McCain voted “No” on a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
• Hate Crimes – While in the Senate, McCain voted no on extending the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation.
• Job Protection – Voted no on prohibiting job discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Civil_Rights.htm

 

Looks like James Dobson and I have the same opinion of Sen. McCain: 

 

 

 

 

“Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances,” said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents. To be fair to Dr. Dobson if you read the entire article, he absolutely has a disdain for both candidates pitiful stance on the family unit.

 

Sen. Obama says about gay marriage, he says ….

• Gay Marriage - Barack Obama has said that he supports civil unions, he is against gay marriage. In an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune, Obama said, “I’m a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”
  Sources: Chicago Daily Tribune
• Hate Crimes -  Barack Obama co-sponsored legislation to expand federal hate crimes laws to include crimes perpetrated because of sexual orientation and gender identity. Sources: Chicago Daily Tribune
• Job Protection – Barack Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes it should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Sources: Chicago Daily Tribune

To my friends on the “Christian Right” please tell me the differences between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain involving the gay and lesbian marriage, gay and lesbian discrimination in the workplace and crimes against people with different sexual orientations (namely gay and lesbians).  You guessed it … nothing!  If I can see and James Dobson can see it, why can’t every other american in the Christian Right?  Neither candidate and including Joe Biden (if you listened to him in the debate the other night) said they wouldn’t support any kind of ammendment to change the laws involving marriages of Gay and Lesbian couples. 

I feel that I need to affirm that while I encounter and have several friends that are of a different sexual orientation, I do believe that their relationships are not in line with the teachings of God’s Word.  I don’t shove that down their throat and I can easily have a meal or go watch a movie with anyone of those friends.  I consider them friends.  I don’t look at them as some how more sinful than the preacher that is 150 pounds over weight because he is a glutton and can’t stay away from the Sunday lunch buffets.  I am not prejudiced or biased and I would never support mistreating or giving someone of that sexual orientation any less benefits than we give people like John McCain that spend their life blowing money on craps tables and screwing other women.  God absolutely doesn’t compartmentalize sin and we shouldn’t either.  I am for the definition of marriage between that of one woman and one man for the span of their earthly life.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Come on people!  I really don’t care who you vote for, because I really think neither candidate is worth their salt.   However, don’t make your decision based upon weak arguments.  So far it’s really lame and I am really saddened with the fervency to crown John McCain as some flagship or bastion of conservatism that is going to lead our nation closer to God.  John McCain is not going to lead us closer to God and neither is Barak Obama for that matter.  Only when we as a nation look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we have truly become, will we then know how far we have drifted.  The problem is that we think the downtrodden of society, the prostitutes, the drug runners, the gangbangers, etc…. is what is dragging down our nation and away from God.  It’s not!  It’s our inaffectiveness as Christians in America to truly do right and put God first and Christ’s principles.  Once we realize how far we have strayed, only then will how much we need God and not a candidate.  In the end it’s all about our relationships involving Faith, Family & Friends.  I pray that your faith is strengthened and that God be glorified with each of our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Innocence Lost: The War on America’s Youth

Innocence Lost: The War on America’s Youth

I have a confession.  Last night I succombed to my fleshly desires for one of lifes greatest pleasures (Double Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese from McDonalds).   On the way home with the family from Nolan’s soccer practice we stopped by McDonalds.  It’s one of those places that I love to eat at, but after I eat there I have a rush of guilt that floods my entire being.  However, there is one constant thing that I love about McDonalds and that is “Happy Meals.”  Happy Meals are a staple of McDconalds.  Each time I stop at McDonalds, my three kids without a doubt get a happy meal and last night was no exception.  They tore into the happy meal without a care in the world not looking for what I just paid for, but the free little plastic toy that comes in each happy meal.  I remember when I was a kid how excited I was to get a happy meal and last night was no different, only I was watching my three children come away with that same excitement.  In my mind it took me back to a day when I had no worries, no bills, no stress, no expectations, no quotas and every summer meant no school and sleeping in late.   I thought about how innocent it was for a child to be happy for a simple happy meal toy and I wondered how long that innocence would last.  How long would it be until my children learned that the toy they coveted was really worthless and wouldn’t make them happy?  What will they gravitate to after that to find happiness? 

Here are a few of the things that made me happy growing up!

My mind started to delve deeper into this subject of “innocence.”  In an age where children are being exploited online from infancy to their teens, our educational system pushes safe sex rather than abstinence, and clothing stores for pre-teens / tweens/ and teens are being pushed toward a style that says that young and sexy is synonomous, what are we to do as parents?  What are we to do as Christians?  Where has the innocence gone in America?  I spent a good portion of my years in college taking history classes and I remember doing my Senior thesis in 1999.  I was aloud to choose the subject and I chose to spend the entire semester reading and writing about the Vietnam War era focusing on the year 1968 (well before Tom Brokaw wrote his book on this very same subject by the way).  I look at the year of 1968 as an influential turning point of America’s moral decline and the loss of innocence in this country.  My grandfather would say it was when they cursed in “Gone With The Wind” or Elvis danced on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Some say it began after prohibition was lifted in the US.  Everyone has different starting points of our moral decline, but we all agree that America’s morals and values has and still declines.  However, in 1968, it was very similar to the tense politcal landscape we face now in America in 2008.  Our nation was in a war that would never end that many objected to (sound familiar), our economy was in shambles and In the span of a couple of months, America lost it’s two most prominent voices with the assinations of Martin Luther King Jr.  and Robert Kennedy.  Regardless of what you think of either of those persons political or socio-economical values, both were sinceless murders that impacted our nation like no other we have ever experienced.  Instead of rallying together and seeking God at a time of turmoil, a time of dissapointment, and a time of dispair, American people chose to become bitter.   We then proceeded to rebel against society, against government and more imporantly against God (we call it the 70′s).   In 1976 we voted into the White House possibly the worst President the US has ever had in President Jimmy Carter.  What makes it eery is that both Jimmy Carter and possible President Barak Obama have extremely similar socio-economic values (I call it borderline Socialism) and similar religious beliefs (liberal Christianity).   The 70′s brought us free love, rampant drug use, widespread prostitution, and the end another step in our ”loss of innocence.”  On a side note the 70′s also brought us inflation, high gas prices, high interest rates and high unemployment (also similar to our current state). 

Most people look at the 80′s as a blur, which as a person who grew up in the 80′s, I take offense.  Not really, but a look back at the 80′s shows us a couple of things about America.  First, we still strayed away from God and allowed our homes (Christian and non-Christian) to be desensitized.  We welcomed into our homes cable TV and the invention of channels such as HBO and MTV.  For the first time men and women could subscribe to television shows that aired nudity and young boys and girls (just like you and I) would hope that we could get a sneak peak of that channel that our parents said wasn’t something we couldn’t watch.  MTV allowed the record companies and artists to make it much easier to infiltrate the minds of young people all over the US with their value system.  The movie industry introduced to us PG-13 movies so they could at a much younger age force their value system among America’s youth.  You get the picture. (no pun intended with motion picture comments before).  The very choices, that at the time our parents thought to be innocent, were actually the very agents in desensitizing the youth of America.  It wasn’t all bad in the 80′s though as God showed America His immeasurable Grace and Mercy, which brings me the second item that the 80′s brought America.  If it were not for God sending Ronald Reagan into the White House, I have no doubt that we could easily be a Russian territory and teaching our kids how to speak Russian today.  Through his leadership, he solidified America amongst other nations and truly secured our borders from outside threats.  The Cold War ended because of God working through President Reagan.  So we look at the 80′s as another failure to heed God’s values and moral standard, thus moral relativism flourished in America. 

When I look back at growing up in the 80′s to the pre-Clinton era, I can honestly say that there is a huge gap between morality then and morality in today’s America.  Our values are vastly different.  Our priorities are out of touch with God’s priorities.  I can remember when i was in 9th grade (1989) and learned what “sex” was all about.   Not only that, but I remember people saying that there were a couple people in our school that had experienced pre-marital sex.  I was dumbfounded….. maybe naive, but I rather think of myself as still “innocent.”  I couldn’t believe it and although I was a carnal Christian during my high school years, I can say that I respected girls.  Unlike today, my closest friends and I would never have considered sex before marriage.  I wasn’t perfect in High School and had my issues, but we still had a conscience and respect for how our actions affected other people.  Today’s youth are being taught something very different which I believe took a giant leap in the wrong direction during the Clinton Presidency in losing “innocence” in America.   Bill Clinton wasn’t some bastion of liberalism that introduced massive policies that forced America down a path of moral depravity.  Bill Clinton was just Bill doing his thing … where ever he wanted and when ever he wanted.  Apparently even in the oval office with Miss Monica!  It was the parents in America who chose to widen the gap of vices in America to steal away our youth’s innocence, not Bill Clinton.   President Clinton was just there for the ride, but he did teach our country one thing … depravity and moral relativity are viewed in the eye of the beholder and not in accordance of God’s perfect and infallible Word.   The unfortunate thing is that we didn’t learn the lesson, rather becoming excepting of the rationale and tolerance for sin and sinful behavior in this country. 

The greatest and worst gift this world has seen in the last 100 years, much less America, has been given to us in realm of technology.  It is the power of online and wireless communication.   I remember last year sitting under the stars in Jamaica just last year texting my friends from all over the US as to just how beautiful the view was that night.  I could immediately send and receive messages sitting on a remote island in another part of the world.  Just this past April, I was on vacation in Cancun and I would wake up every morning and handle all my emails and orders from my phone while sitting by a tiki bar.  With the advancement of phone technology (iPhone now), I could literally run my business in a dungeon in Siberia and never see the light of day, if I had a power source and online access / communication through my phone.   What an awesome gift that God gave to us!  How much more effectively could we share Christ’s love, His Word, His sacrifice to the world!  How much more efficiently can we now run our businesses saving money on time use, travel, communication, less paper, etc….. It revolutionized the way we operate and do business in the world.   That of course was the good.   

The world wide web has easily been called today’s “adulterous woman” in the household, because of the vast amount of pornography, smut, trash, etc… out there on the web.  If you are normal male in this world then you have somehow been affected by online pornography or the trash that is online.   If you say you haven’t, then you don’t own a computer or have zero testosterone.   I am always weary of the guy who says he doesn’t struggle a looking at a beautiful woman and that his relationship is perfect because he has adopted the ”Five Love Languages” by Gary Smalley (good book by the way).   Don’t act like you didn’t laugh at that point and don’t act like we are perfect either in regards to our mind not being totally given over to God in regards to our daily walk.   I wish I walked through my daily life and I could tell everyone that all I have done since accepting Christ was read my Bible every morning, preach on the street corners during my lunch breaks, and give 50% of my income to the church and missionaries.   I wish I could say that I have invested my last five years in one percent in that fashion, but truth is that God and Satan are constantly warring for our mind, our thoughts, our desires, and our everyday lives.  No one on earth, save Jesus Christ (who was in all points tempted as we were, yet without sin) has walked through this earth perfectly.   God doesn’t expect perfection rather perfecting.  The youth in America today see this daily warring of allegience everyday with a greater pressure than maybe ever before in humanity.  It doesn’t mean that sin is somehow worse or there have been new ways to sin that didn’t exist.  That may well be true, but that’s not the point.  The point is that in all walks of life now, the ease into which America’s youth have now to access vehicles to moral depravity is much greater and the online vehicle is at their fingertips.  Our country’s “innocence” for all inents and purposes has gone to hell in a handbasket and the 90′s poured gasoline on an already smoldering problem.  I have always wanted to use that phrase :- ….. it’s just catchy.     

So here we are in the 21st century, set ablaze, we see the fire of moral depravity and decay that was burning out of control not being quenched.  The last eight years have been some of the most formative years of my life.   Of course one would expect that you ought to be learning lessons in your personal life when you are a newlywed and add three children to the mix.  I have mixed emotions about that time frame personally as some of those years were spent doing what was right in the eyes of God and other years it was total abandonment of God in my life (on my part, not His).  If I can say that I, someone who feels is grounded in their faith, understands the spiritual implications, and sees the big picture, how much harder must it be for the youth in America now to see those same things?  I think the failures of the last eight years don’t lie in President Bush, rather us as Christians.  I believe that our dissapointment in his Presidency to quinch the flame that was so burning out of control (speaking of the moral decay, the violence, the humanistic worldview) actually points us to our fault as Christians in America.  We actually believed and thought that a man and a plan was going to heal our nation and while it is true that God does use leaders to lead lands across this globe, our fault was not truly turning to God, but trusting a man.   I believe we missed our chance and the consequences of a nation not seeking God are damning.  It may well be that the next decade, regardless of who is in office, we will experience the next “1968″ marker of American civilization.  The next major turning point in the fabric of our nations being may well begin 40 years later as we continue down a path of Godlessness and self dependence. 

Just yesterday, I read this article called, ”The Pornification of A Generation.”  http://www.newsweek.com/id/162792.  It is actually an article about a book written by Kevin Scott and has as its basic tenant that for kids in today’s America there is no escape from pornography.  It is an interesting read about that segment of sin that is barreling into our homes through even the smallest of toys (bratz dolls) to mainstream social networks (Myspace).  Our children can get to the vehicles of sin so much faster in America than ever before and I tend to believe that is much larger on a scale than pornography as that is just one of the many vehicles.  Illicit sexual sin in all forms is being pushed down our throats everywhere we look.  Just last night as I sat down to watch Beverly Hills 90210, I immediately had a huge rush of guilt.  I was in that era that had the original show and I loved it and the new show was going to be a fullment of my “nostalgia.”  I literally had to tell my wife to turn it off last night.  Not because I am some super spiritual being (as my closest friends can attest, I am far from that).  I turned it off because my eyes saw the propaganda that was being force fed to a new generation.  The first show started off in a high scool setting of two teens in a parked car being caught in a sexually compromising position.  Episodes after that have show a teen addicted to cocaine, parents knowingly allowing their spouses to live in adultery, teens casually hooking up, and the list could go on and on.  For three weeks I rationalized my feelings of guilt, and last night I overcame my own desensitization to this propanganda.  How could I effectively minister to the youth of America and in my life be a hypocrite?  I have so many hypocrisies, that I could list another bog on those as well.  Bob Jones Jr. would be rolling over in his grave if he knew the list .   I am not perfect, but I do realize the battle we are in as parents in this generation.  And as a parent where I see my children now picking up on every little thing I do, what is my life going to teach them?  What values and morals will they learn as they watch me live ordinary and every day life?  Our youth … my children …. your children are entering a period of time where “Innocence is Lost.”  It is lost in our goverment.  It is lost in our leaders.   It is lost in malls and stores.  It is lost in our television programming.  It is lost in our movies.  It is lost on the world wide web.  It is absolutely losing in our churches and in mainstream Christianity which is the largest indictment upon us all. 

There is hope.  God gives us hope.  Our hope lies in the redeeming work of Christ and His shed blood that cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  II Chronicles 7:14 says that, “If my people, which are called by name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turned from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  I understand the context was concerning the nation of Israel who found themselves in a similar state as we do now in America; however, the principle of God’s Word is the same.  In layman’s terms, until we are ready to humble ourselves before God, recant our selfish ways, repent of our sinful behavior (as a nation and as Christians),  and turn to God for our direction, God will not heal America.  The innocence of just a simple happy meal toy or our children being able to ride a bike down the street or play in the yard without the fear of having our children harmed may well be gone.  I tend to think it is, but it doesn’t minimize our efforts to raise our children with values and morals that are consisten with God’s Word.  It doesn’t change the fact that we can protect them from being desensitized by what America currently offers our children and our youth.  But it won’t stop until we as Christians hold in our hearts and minds those same values.  A lot of us don’t keep those standards and I haven’t always in my life held up the moral standards by which God gave us.  We can change though and we can make an impact.  We can make a difference … even if it’s just with our own children.  As Christians in America we must get our lives on the right path, so that we can lead our chldren down that same path and protect their innocence.  May God shed His Grace on us in America, because it is hard to believe we won’t need it anymore than we do now. 

Albert Einstein once said, “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

Getting It Together: Can we be “Complete Christians?”

Title:                Getting It Together

Author:             Brian Williams

Scripture:         James 1:1-4

Interrogative:  Are there areas in your Christian walk that you do not have all together?

Proposition:     The complete Christian is the one who has all his parts together and is   

                            making progress in his or her Christian life!

 

Introduction

 

James, the half brother of Jesus Christ, wrote his epistle to the believers scattered all over the known world at that time.  Writing around 55 AD, the Roman empire was still in control and Christians were constantly being persecuted.  One would expect James to spend most of his time dwelling on how to make it through these difficult times of persecution and he does speak of trials that believers would be going through; however, James’ basic concern is to help the believer (YOU) become a “Complete” person.  James method of writing focuses entirely on the inner struggles that all Christian’s have working in them on a daily basis.  The theme of chapter one is set up in verse 4 when he says, “that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Translated: that you (Christian) would be complete and having all parts of your Christian walk together, needing no other parts.

 

When I was younger I had a lot of favorite TV programs that I watched regularly just you like your have your favorites today.  One of those programs was called “The A-Team.”  In this program you had an incredible cast of characters (such as Mr. T, Hannibal, Murdock, Face, etc.) that were running from the law because they were fugitives from US Government for being blamed for a crime that they did not commit.  So while they stayed on the run from the government, they would be hired out by a person or a group of persons to do special tasks.  They always did what was right and usually helped those people whom they met along there way running from the law.  It seemed like every show that would come on that they would get themselves in an incredibly hard situation to get out of and somehow if by a miracle, they would get out of the situation.  They never got caught and always got the job done!  At the end of every program, Hannibal, the leader of the group of vigilantes, would make this statement: “I love it when a plan comes together.” 

 

Similarly, James wrote with the same confidence of God’s Plan and how to get all of our parts to come together for the believer.  For each of us, we have our own vices and struggles that the Christian Life brings us.  Some of you struggle with spending time with God.  Others struggle with pornography, lust, improper actions or words to the opposite sex.  Some of you are trapped by jealousy or envy of what others have. Others have an authority problem and are constantly disobeying higher authorities.   It may even be as simple as not caring or being apathetic.  Whatever your struggle or vice that you have, God says through James that the struggles are normal, but they can be won!!  You can be a complete Christian!  You can have all parts of your life functioning correctly!

 

 

                 Interrogative:     Think for a minute or two and examine your own life at the  

                                              different struggles you might have in your own Christian    

                                              life.  Do you sometime feel like they can’t be won?  Can you

                                              challenge yourself to try God’s challenge to become a

                                              “Complete” Christian?

 

 

I.          Count It!

Jms. 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (trials).”

 

During the Roman rule, they were slaughtering Christian’s each day.  Many Christians were constantly on the run for there lives while they lived out their faith.  This does not even begin to compare to our lives today, because there “trials” were so much greater, but that does not mean God cares any less nor wants any less of our allegiance to Him and His plan.  If any thing the temptations to give our allegiance to something else or someone else is magnified one hundred fold. 

 

Application:        Today, you are constantly being bombarded for your purity of mind and body.  Every television show that comes on seems to flaunt sexual experimentation before marriage, infidelity during marriage, and just making sure you have fun at all costs.  The majority of the internet sites that are on the web today are pornography related.  The ability to get pornography of any imagination is a click away for most people.  The loose standards of today have made women and teenage girls today mere sex objects in today’s society.  Even the music of the day pushes the lascivious and derogatory lifestyle to the limits making it almost a game for most teenagers to be involved.

 

Application:         Your time to spend with God is almost pushed to the backgrounds with all the activities, work,  and meetings, that you are currently involved.  We try to rationalize our lack of time spent with God because we have so many other obligations in our life that we are trying to fulfill.

 

Application:         How can we rejoice through these constant temptations and trials that God has allowed in our lives?  Because of the one constant “We have an opportunity to have victory!” We often look at the negative, which is us failing God’s test.  When in reality, James tells us to count it all joy!  Why? Because we can have victory!

 

Interrogative:      What are those current struggles that you thought about earlier?  What is stopping you from gaining victory over them?  Is it because you expect to fail because that is the expectation you set? 

 

 Transition:         God wants you to have your life functioning correctly and you lacking no parts, but without joyfully entering trials God allows in your life with the attitude of victory, we run the risk of never being complete!  

 

II.        Know It!

James 1:3 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

 

James, knowing what difficult times it was for the believer during the Roman rule, made it known that these difficult times tried even the greatest Christian’s faith in God.  The phrase, “knowing this” is actually referring to the previous statement and also leads in to the next statement.  He said “knowing” that you are to go into trials with an attitude of joy and victory, but it is also going to try your patience (rather “endurance”).  In order for us to become complete, God allows trials and temptations to enter into our lives.  He does not do this so we can fail though I am sure he knows often we will fail;  however, God allows those same trials and temptations in our lives until we can learn to have joy and to have the endurance to make it through them with a victory.  Some times we confuse the word patience in the King James language to our own definition of patience.  We look at the word as one that is passive and the idea of waiting; however, the word used then was quite the opposite.  It carried an active tone and one of a long race such as a marathon.  It is the one who makes it to the end of the race who has “patience / endurance.” Endurance and the attitude of joy in the midst of trials are the first and second keys of finding the formula to completeness in your Christian walk. 

 

Illustration:          I can remember when I was almost 16 and how many sleepless nights I had waited to get my driver’s license.  I had my whole day planned.  I was going to get to take out the family station wagon later on that afternoon and pick up some friends.  We were going to go the mall and then out to a movie.  I was so excited and the anticipation was all I thought it was going to be.  The day had come and I got into the car to begin my drivers test to get my driver’s license.  After supposedly rolling through a stop sign and not merging fast enough in to the traffic, the lady giving me the test informed me of my failure to pass the exam.  I was crushed.  I felt my life flash before my eyes! This was a major trial.  The embarrassment and the harassment I would soon be a part of seemed unbearable.  This was a trial I did not ask for and it lived up to the embarrassing hype I thought it would.  I did get my license a week later, but for that week I felt like I was in the midst of the worse trial life could offer.  Needless to say, It was not close to what some of the Christian’s in this world go through, but in a small way it was a trial nonetheless.   

 

Application:         No matter how silly or how serious the trial we are presently going through, we need to endure, understanding that this is part of the process of becoming a complete Christian.  How can we know the grace and mercy of God without ever going through trials in our life? 

 

Interrogative:      What are the trials and temptations that you are currently in?  What did you go through this week, whether you passed or failed?  Did you have joy?  Did you even realize that it was a process designed by God to make you a “Complete” Christian”?  Were you able to endure through it or are you currently enduring through your present trial or temptation?  What are you doing to see that you pass the test?

 

Spend Time:        Take a few minutes and discuss ways that we can endure our trials.  What do you think are some ways to increase our endurance and our ability to overcome in personal trials and temptations?

 

                              Examples: 

     

·        Prayer

·        Reading God’s Word

·        Asking for a close friends help and support

·        Seeking Accountability with someone close to you

·        Talking with your parents and asking for there help 

 

III.      Let it!

James 1:4 “But let patience (endurance) have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing.”

 

The third key to the formula to your completeness in your Christian walk is “letting it.” Letting endurance have her perfect work!  To put it in to today’s vernacular, “Don’t take any shortcuts.”  Completeness is not found in our time doing what we want, but rather on God’s time allowing God to do the completing and perfecting!  So many times we want what we can see.  We don’t want to take a year off of sports to spend more time in our relationship with God.   We don’t want to live a life of purity of our minds and bodies because that wouldn’t be as fun for us and besides that (everyone else does it).  We live in a give it to me now society that creates in us the lost art of endurance.  As we see through our small picture of the job we have, or the family and friends we are surrounded by, or by the church we attend, God sees the entire picture.  God desires for every Christian to be complete but until we can enter life’s trials with joy, have endurance, and not take short cuts we will never be complete, but rather always lacking something. 

 

 

Illustration:           I can remember this one trip my wife and I were on a few years ago.  We were driving north to Ohio to visit my wife’s relatives when we came to Knoxville, Tennessee, and there was road construction that looked to be backed up for 30 miles.  I immediately got out my Atlas and exclaimed I know a short cut.  My wife oblivious or neither caring did not care if tried to wait out the traffic or took the shortcut.  Of course she wouldn’t, she is not driving I thought.  She then said you make the decision even if it was against her decision to wait it out.  I then proceeded to take the short cut or what I thought was going to be a short cut.  I took off the main interstate and found some country roads only to my dismay, I found out that either Atlas’s are either no good or either I am no good at reading them.  After a 2 hour shortcut  I found myself back on the interstate.  I was not quite sure how much time I had lost on my shortcut until I realized that after two hours I was only 20 exits down and still in the construction zone.  A lot of good that paid off!  My lack of endurance showed by immaturity as a driver.  It is the same in our own Christian lives when we want to take short cuts with God design and plan for our completeness.

  

Interrogative:      What are you lacking?  Do you always want to be lacking or do you desire to have victory in your life and be the

                                               “complete” Christian God desires you to be? 

 

Conclusion

 

About 9 years ago my wife and I purchased a new bedroom set.  This was one of our first major purchases and it was very nice.  They even came to the house and delivered it and set it up for us.  After about a year that we had the bed we decided to move, so I took the bed apart, took it to the new house, and set it up in our new bedroom.  One night my wife and I were sleeping soundly, then my wife woke up suddenly saying did you hear that? I was still groggy, but I began to listen.  It was a creaking noise and I responded that it must be the rain dripping off the house.  No sooner did I say that, when the bed falls to the ground with a sudden boom.  Scaring me half to death, I then realized that the sides of the bed had given out causing the bed to fall.  The next day I angrily called the place where I bought it from telling them I had defective bed rails and told them I was not happy about the situation I was going through.  Of course the place where I got it, quickly sent out new rails and even sent out a person to install them for us.  After the person arrived, he noticed how “supposedly defective” rails were installed.  He then made the comment that whoever put the rails up, put them up wrong, which caused the problem; however, he assumed it was the store person who had originally delivered the bed that did it.  I did not tell him that we had moved!  To my own embarrassment, I then realized that I had not done the job properly and took shortcuts in setting up the bed to save time and even not using all the original parts to set it up the second time.  It did not affect me at the outset but later, because of on my own impatience and my own desire to save time, it actually cost me much more.  I did not realize that it took all those parts to make it work properly and in the long run it cost me. 

           

It is the same in our Christian walk.  We have our own ways we go about things and often we do not include God in that walk.  We use the parts we see fit that would cause us the least amount of time and stress in the short time, instead of using all the parts to make it work for the long haul.  The trials and temptations that come in our lives offer the opportunity of joy and victory.  Those opportunities can work in our lives to be an enduring faith that is complete and has all of the working parts working together to make us that “Complete Christian” that God knows each of us can be in our walk.

 

Are you taking shortcuts and not using all the parts God had given you?  What are you going to do today to see that this action plan of becoming “Complete” is begun in your life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where are your commitments?

 

Where are your commitments? Are your commitments pointed in the right direction?  

I loved this Sunday morning’s topic concerning the life of John The Baptist and his life that personified commitment and appreciate the way Pastor Jason pointed out a couple of things. 

·     There is a need for “true commitment” among the young people at Calvary and our generation.

·     True Commitment is born of authenticity (authenticity being a true and not fabricated faith).  Not only did John The Baptist’s life personify commitment, but his commitment was pointed in the right direction. 

The subject of commitment is one that I think needs to be addressed in the lives of young people and my generation. 

There is no doubt that in the United States, the level of commitment to Christ has been dropping dramatically in the last century.  Take for example the poll below conducted by Billy Graham School of Missions.

 

A poll conducted by the Billy Graham School of Missions found that the percentage of Americans who say they have accepted Christ as their savior has dropped from 65 percent in the World War II generation to 33 percent in the baby-boom generation to 15 percent in Generation X, and even smaller numbers in the most recent generation of teenagers. This has prompted Bill McCartney, who founded the men’s movement known as Promise Keepers, to plan revivals for teenagers in an effort to change those declines by using language that will challenge boys to “step up to the plate” and “become warriors for Christ.”

(Denver Post, November 1, 2002)

Copyright The Human Quest Jan/Feb 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

 

Knowing that we are losing ground in this world in the realm of “true commitment,” I would like define the different types of commitments we are or will face, and to write concerning a few of the things that I believe are standing in the way of “true commitment” among young people and our generation.   I would also like to follow up with several points as to how we can become more committed and see our commitments that are lasting.

Let’s look at the definition of “commitment” from Webster’s Dictionary as I divide up the realm of commitment into three basic segments:

1.  an act of committing to a charge or trust.

2.  an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. 

3.  something pledged – the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled.

 

This isn’t meant to be exhaustive, but it is my belief that “commitment” can be looked at in three core segments.

 

·     Occupational Commitments

·     Personal Commitments

·     Relational Commitments

 

Occupational Commitments are those that arise out of the job(s) that we have while we are on earth.  God recognizes this type of commitment throughout Scripture and Paul includes the subject of employer / employee based commitments in Colossians 3:10-15 right beside the relational commitments of husband / wife and parent / child.  It is obviously to see that God puts this segment of commitment right up there with our relational commitments and our judgment by God largely depends how we effectively stay committed in our jobs.  Having been an employee of a company and now a business owner, I can say that I see both sides of the relationship much clearer than most.  There used to be a time that I viewed everything as a “have not,” while I viewed those in power as the “have’s.”  Now that I am on the “have’s” side, I am not wondering what it is that I now have.  What I do have is an obligation to treat my employees fairly and pay them an adequate wage for the hours that they work for my company.  I think that the employer also has an obligation to make the workplace conducive to a healthy working environment.  As an employee they should be willing to work there hardest in the capacity that they were hired to make a contribution towards in return for that fair wage. As a Christian’s in the workplace we tend to understand these basic tenets of working hard, not stealing, not lying, etc …  However, I believe our biggest weakness as Christian’s involving occupational commitment is our unbalanced view against our other commitments.   This is obviously more of an issue to Christian males, but nonetheless is a problem, where put our commitments to our job and employer above our relational commitments with our spouse, children, and God.  There is a need to work hard as God demands this out of us in our commitment, but it should never cost us our most important relationships.  The lesson here is to not let your job in life and the demands it brings upon you overshadow your time and commitment to God and your family.  While it is important, the key here is a balanced lifestyle between all commitments.

 

Personal Commitments could easily be broken down into sub-segments, but for this blog we will keep them all grouped together.  Personal commitment examples include the following (again not meant to be exhaustive):

 

·     Education – Our education is extremely important.  From a social perspective it is almost a must to have occupational success.  Just a thought here, but Jesus trained His disciples for over three years before they started their ministry.  From the time of Paul’s conversion until his first missionary journey, he had been going through training for over a decade. 

·     Sports / Activities – Team building or being involved in other activities require commitment.  In American culture, there might be nothing that defines commitment than being involved in a team sport, or activity such as band, drama, art, honor society, etc.   My six year old is already learning commitment in two aspects as he plays 6 year old soccer and also involved with Awana at church.  Both of those will play a huge role in defining what commitment is in his life and it’s no different in those sports or activities that you now find yourself involved in currently.

·     Personal Purity – Unfortunately this is a “lost commitment” in most of society and especially in our schools, but it doesn’t change the fact that God calls us to a higher standard of personal purity (I Thess. 4:3-4).  Where is your standard and commitment level in regards to personal purity? Without personal purity of our mind and body, we lose our authenticity; whereby we try to worship and our inability to be authentic defines us as uncommitted and our worship is in vain.   

·     Exercise and Health – Where do we stand in our efforts to make sure our bodies, which belong to God, are in the best shape and condition possible.  If left up to me, each day I would eat the biggest burger I could have and have fried onion rings on side.  I would wash it down with a cold Mountain Dew.  My desire would be to do this routinely and never working out.  In I Cor. 9:27, Paul is writing as if he were an athlete talking about how that we race for an earthly reward and that he beats his body (disciplines) his body to keep it into subjection.  He literally makes his body his slave and not the other way around and so should we be committed to a health lifestyle as that commitment creates discipline.

These are just a few of the personal commitments that at some point we find us involved currently, will be involved or refuse to be committed.  Very similar to our occupational commitments, our personal commitments are worthwhile endeavors if God is involved in those commitments; however, the struggle here is the same and that is finding the proper balance between all three segments of “commitment.”  Being committed to a sport, a club, an activity, or any other worth while endeavor is great thing if it is born from God, but it can never take precedence or dominance over our relational commitments which are the most important commitments we will make in our lives.

 

Relational commitments are those commitments that arise as we create relationships with others.  There are several relationships that we either are born into or create over time in our lives and inside those relationships we are committed to those people in different fashions. 

• The first relational commitment that we are normally involved is the parental / child relationship or familial relationship.  In the aspect of the familial commitment, I have and continue to experience both sides of this commitment.  I am a child and God puts a premium on the type of commitment and relationship we have with our parents.  One can’t read God’s Word without coming away seeing that children are to obey their parents and make it a lifetime commitment of always choosing to respect and care for our parents.  Commandment #5 states to honor our father and mother.  As a parent I carry the responsibility making sure I am committed to the nurturing and admonishing of my children.  My children must know that my commitment to them is volitional, just as God loves us volitionally.  Other than your commitment to God and your spouse, there is no more important commitment that you will make than that of committing to your children.
• The second relational commitment involves our commitments to our friends.  It has been said that people have many friends, but very few “true friends” in a lifetime.  It is my belief that those true friends that you encounter through life help shape and mold how effectively we live out our lives.   The friends that you choose to be committed to, beginning in high school through your college years, could easily be the single most influential guiding factor in the educational course you take, the job you choose and the spouse you later make a commitment to.  If that is the case, how important is for young people and our generation to surround ourselves with friends that encourage us to make wise and Godly decisions?
• The second relational commitment that most will make or have made is that of the husband / wife relationship or spousal relationship.  The most sacred of commitments we make, other than the commitment to Christ, is that of our commitment to the one we say “to death do us part.”  Truly that is “supposed” to be the end result of our commitment with the one we marry.  With ultimately over 50% of marriages ending up in divorce it becomes especially disconcerting to see just how many commitments aren’t “true commitments.”  It is a sad state to say, but if I divided up the congregation right down the middle in our church and stated to them that percentages tell us that half of you will not honor your commitment to your spouse, what would their reaction be?  What does that tell you about the importance of making sure that you 100% believe in that commitment?  The problem is that no one says on their wedding day, I am pretty sure this is going to end up in divorce.  So what is the problem?  It is the order in which we list our commitments!  God first, spouse second, children third, friends fourth in our relational commitments.  When those get out of order, we lose our balance and our perspective and we get out of line of what’s most important. 
• The third and most important of all commitments is the God / Child relationship or spiritual relationship.  As Christians, our commitment to God manifests the authenticity of our faith.  True Christians and “true commitment” reveals our character, reveals what is most important to us, and reveals what we think of our of God, in whom we have made that ultimate commitment.  Whenever I think of a person who has fallen away from their commitment with God, I am always reminded of a lesser known person recorded in the New Testament.  In the light of God’s Word, Demas isn’t mentioned that often, but only a few verses define the authenticity of his faith and his level of commitment.  Demas is only mentioned in three passages of Scripture (Col 4:14, Philemon 1:24, and II Timothy 4:10), but we see the full circle of his life.  In Colossians he is mentioned as greeting the people of Colosse along with Luke.  In Philemon he is called a fellow laborer with Paul.  However, only a few years later when Paul is writing to his “son in the faith” he warns Timothy that Demas has forsaken him.  He didn’t just forsake Paul, rather all that Paul stood for and worked for in the light of Christ.  He tells Timothy that he loved the present world too much (i.e.  his commitments were placed in the wrong places).

It is possible to have our commitments in the wrong order of priority or to even have them pointed in the wrong direction, but at the end of our life, the authenticity of our faith will be judged upon those commitments.  So what is standing in our way in reference to “true commitment?”  Here are a few of the things that I believe are standing in the way:

 

• Misplaced Faith – Are we truly a believer?  Where is our faith?  Are we converted?
• Misplaced Friends – Do we have the right core of friends that are beckoning us to do right, make wise decisions, and by their walk cause us to be more like Christ?
• Misplaced Priorities – If you listed all your priorities down in order, what would your list look like?  If God isn’t first on your list of “true commitment” then all of other commitments are either in vain or will not last.  

“When God’s forgiveness is coupled to our commitment to God, and both are bound together with the love that lives in us because we belong to Christ, we experience the ideal spiritual relationship. Our commitment will not exploit the forgiveness of God. The forgiveness extended by God’s goodness will never be exhausted. In that is security. It is our faith in and commitment to the God of forgiveness that allows us to be preserved and protected by His power (1 Peter 1:3-5).”  David Chadwell / West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR, / Evening Sermon, 14 February 1999

With all that being said, how can we become more committed God?  Assuming that we are all Christians here, I have to say that there are several things we can do to see our commitment level where it should be in our relationship with God.  Let me preface this by saying that I don’t believe we can become “more committed” as I believe you are either committed or not committed to God.  It’s fairly black and white, but what we can do as believers is to put into practice certain things that will compel us to keep those commitments which are Godly and to rid those commitments that take away from our effectiveness in living for God. 

·         Prioritize existing commitments – Reallocating our time to focus on the commitments that compel us to be more like Christ. 

·         Pray for future commitments – Don’t make a commitment to anything without first seeking God’s opinion on the matter.  Anything that deters or takes away our commitment to Christ isn’t acceptable. 

·         Seek God’s Word as it is the source for principles that God has set forth for decision making and commitment making.  No Godly commitment will ever violate the principles that He has laid forth in His Word. 

·         Seek wise counsel involving present and possible future commitments (i.e. college, dating, job, large purchases, marriage, and ministry involvement). 

·         Surround yourselves with friends and people of like faith and beliefs.  You are more likely to make wise commitments after seeing different view points from other people. 

 

What are you committed to in your life right now? 

Do your commitments exemplify the principles of God’s Word?

In what order are your present commitments and is God at the top of that list?

What can we do as Christians to make sure that we keep existing and future commitments that we make?

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time, year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.

Source unknown

The Bohemian reformer John Hus was a man who believed the Scriptures to be the infallible and supreme authority in all matters. He died at the stake for that belief in Constance, Germany, on his forty-second birthday. As he refused a final plea to renounce his faith, Hus’s last words were, “What I taught with my lips, I seal with my blood.”

Source unknown

The Morning Drive – October 15th, 2008

On my way to work I was reminded of something we probably already know, but it was for some reason more apparent than other mornings.    Since the new move to Waxhaw, NC, it is much further to drive to work than in times before, but I have committed that drive time to prayer with God.  No emails, no calls, no texting, and no radio!  And if you know me, then you know that takes a lot not to just hold my phone like a two year holds their favorite blanket.  And if you know me then you also know I am no super spiritual person as I have more faults than most, but lately I have desired to be more in tune with God and talking to Him (like any relationship) seems to help.  Yes, that was sarcasm.

In my 45 minute drive to work this morning, I was reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit and how He displays himself to believers.  In that 45 minutes He displayed His role as the One who convicts sin and He made that apparent in several aspects of my life.  My response was one of confession and with that confession it allowed the Holy Spirit to work in several other roles this morning.  I am often a worry wart and I constantly worry about my temporal body or my families temporal bodies.  I often find myself begging God to keep my children and wife safe during their earthly lives.  I think that most of my Christian friends who are fathers / husbands most likely find themselves with similar thoughts.  It is natural not to want trials or tribulations or to have something affect the health of yourself personally or with your family.   I think it is natural to pray for the safety of your family or others you love.

So as I worry and I pray, I am reminded of the Gift that Jesus said he would give the Christians in this world (not just the world) to be our helper after He left this earth.  John 14:16,17 says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of the truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”  How awesome to think that the Holy Spirit is inside of me and comforts my fears. 1/3 of the Trinity is there in my life to comfort me until Jesus Christ comes back to reclaim His bride.  Knowing that, I feel ashamed that I often treat the Holy Spirit if he were something I could bring out every once in awhile each day as if he were a ball cap that I would sometimes wear nor not.  Yet, the Holy Spirit never left me.  He is always there to give comfort to the believer who is committed to Him and it was no different this morning for me as He was there to calm any fears I had and assure me of His comfort and that He was never going to leave me.   Through any circumstance in life a true believer can always be assured of one thing through any trial or tribulation and that is the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life.  What an awesome thought!

I drove a little further asking God about a few of the circumstances in my life that I now find myself in and I was reminded about the Holy Spirit’s control.  I can’t speak for my male friends, but for me, I have a control problem.  Not with my wife or even my children although I always like to know what’s going on, but just in general, I always want to know beforehand what’s going to happen.  I don’t like flying on a plane because I have no control.  I don’t like to watch scary movies, because I can’t control the girl that knows something is wrong and doesn’t know what to do and we sit there and yell at the screen for her to run.  Don’t act like you haven’t done that!  I don’t like leaving my children at school all day without me being around, because I feel helpless.  It was even hard for me to buy a house with a master bedroom downstairs because I would be further away from the kids.  I serioiusly have an issue I know! 

But as I drove and prayed the Holy Spirit reminded me that I can’t control anything.  I was reminded of my favorite book in the Old Testament … Job.  Talk about a guy with no control.  You know you must be pretty close to God when Satan has a special meeting with God to discuss yourself.  Here was a guy that at the time it was said there was none more righteous, that lost his wife, his children, his house, his land, and all his belongings.  Even his friends were convinced he had some hidden sin, but Job continued to praise God even when to others his life seemed out of control.  My favorite part is where Job questions God (as I think most of us would given the same circumstances).  I choose to refer to it as wrestling with God during his suffering.  I really think Job thought he was going to get an answer from God of sorrow or of “better luck next lfe,” sort of response and it was vastly different and I think it has everything to do with God’s control in our lives.  There may be no other portion of Scripture that outlines the ultimate control of God than Job 38-40.  Job’s life, every life that has ever existed and all the way to my life are all controlled by God.  So what does that tell me about my worries? I can’t control it and only by the grace of God do I make it through each day.  I am thankful that the Holy Spirit is in control of my life today as He guides and directs my movements. 

So that was “The Morning Drive” in to work!  I was able to feel the Holy Spirit’s presence as He convicted me of sin, He comforted my worries and fears, and He assured me of His control in my life.

My prayer is that I would always seek to remain in tune with the Holy Spirit’s convicting, comforting and controlling in my life.

Finding Time – December 20th, 2008

Well here I am a few weeks removed from my last post and I feel like I have a little time to rest.  I am watching my Duke Blue Devils vs. Xavier right now while Angela and the kids take a nap.  I made the kids take a nap so they would be refreshed enough to take them to see a late afternoon movie.  I think we are going to see Madagascar 2.   I think the kids are pretty stoked about it although Nolan would rather be golfing.

The past few weeks have really flown by and it never ceases to amaze me how fast it seems like my children are growing up.  We were going to dinner a family a couple of weeks ago and Nolan asked me if Santa Claus is real.  I of course couldn’t lie to him, so I said do you really think a big fat guy and some reindeer can go to ever house in the entire world in a night and deliver toys and presents?  He did say yes and I asked him to rethink his question.  He  replied with …. “so there is no Santa Claus!”  I said you would be correct in that statement.  He thought for a second and only as his little mind thinks responds … “So you are the one that eats the cookies and drinks the milk!”  I thought Angela would never stop laughing.  I made sure that he promised not to tell anyone at school nor his siblings and he assured me of that.

We are trying to make sure that the children know the real meaning of Christmas.  We feel it’s important that they do learn the true meaning of Christmas and that it isn’t about getting toys.  A few years ago when Nolan was about 4 we decdided we wouldn’t do gift but rather help a family.  Our plan is to do that again next Christmas when Peyton and Oliva can also participate with a little more understanding.  We will get the kids a few toys and a “Wii” but other than that we feel that our children should learn more about giving to others than just getting more and more.   We will be traveling to Cincinnati, OH, where my wife is from to visit with her family.  It will be awesome to visit with all of them as we haven’t been together since last April. 

Last week was a fun week for the teens at Calvary as we had the Calvary Youth Christmas Party.  It was extremely well done, the food and entertainment was great, and the attendance of the function was amazing.  I was able to show off my talents (or lack thereof) on a karioke machine.  Ken Whitley and I decided to sing “Great Balls of Fire” and “Jailhouse Rock.”  After the Christmas Party, I invited the teens (whoever wanted to come) to hit up the Sports Connection in South Charlotte for a few games of bowling.   I thought we had a blast there as well although my bowling skills are severely lacking.  After Christmas we are going with the teens to the Xtreme Conference in Gatlinburg, TN, for good music and great teaching from some of the best groups and teachers in the US.  I know I am looking forward to a bus ride with that gang.  Angela and I are actually flying back from Ohio and leaving the kids in Cincinnati with her family so we can go on this trip with the teens.   Her family will drive the kids down from Ohio to Gatlinburg at the end of the conference and we will all drive back.

My friends from Philadelphia (Casey & Becky) are flying in for New Year’s and a couple of days to spend some time here in North Carolina.  We will be excited to have them at our house and having fun showing them around town.  After the New Year I gear up for my two classes at Liberty Seminary.  I really look forward to them although I know I will be very busy during that time. 

I look forward to a great  2009 and I pray for the good health for myself, my family and all of my friends!

Finding Time – October 23rd, 2008

This week was a pretty good week!  It happens to be the beginning of the “World Series,” and ever since I was a little boy I have loved watching baseball (specifically the CUBS!).   I never miss an all star game or the world series.  In fact this past July while on vacation to Belize, I made sure I was able to find a TV in a little third world country that would be showing the game and we were able to watch some of the game.  So this is definitely the highlight of my week being able to watch some baseball although I really don’t care who wins. 

On the opposite end of the “happiness scale” work was a real drag this week.  Each week I become increasingly weary of work in general.  I guess that is normal .  I mean who wouldn’t want to NOT WORK!  I had one of my online clients get wrongfully sued by a bunch of ignorant goons.  It really is amazing how ignorant people can be in this world.  Anyway, in that suit, I was named so that obviously brings your stress level up a notch.  I really didn’t worry too much and met with our attorney today and really believes there is no way that this would stand up in court so I felt better.  However, do you continue paying expensive legal fees or pay them off to go away?  It’s not right, but it ends up having to the best business decision.  It just doesn’t seem fair that some one can pursue litigation, make a false claim, serve papers, and walk away with a check which seems likely to happen.  I am just thankful that my company upholds the highest integrity possible and has approached it from angle with an ethical and honest response.  I will update you of the results later. 

The family is doing pretty well.  We were all pretty tired this week.  Angela went for a Lasik consultation and looks like she is scheduling to have Lasik done sometime in December or January.  I think she will love it, so I am excited for her.   Olivia is absolutely adorable and still a daddy’s girl; however, I am having the worst time being able to discipline her.   I mean I am doing it, but she is so DRAMATIC.   You would think that when I scold her that I was beating her.  I tried to get her to eat her food tonight and told her to sit down and thought she was going to choke she was crying so hard.  Anway, that is something we are going to have to work on.  Peyton is Peyton … that guy is the most consistent member of the family.  Nothing really ever gets to him.  He doesn’t worry, never gets angry or mad and just enjoys playing and having fun.  Definitely going to the “full of life” kid!  Nolan’s week started out good, but today was horrible as he went to the dentist and got bad news.  7 Cavaties!  Most of the small but in between his teeth so it wasn’t able to be seen with the eye.   Anyway, he had to get 4 fillings and 2 crowns today.  They gave his some laughing gas which he liked and didn’t cry or flinch the whole time.  They will to 3 more fillings on the other side next week.  Apparently it wasn’t something we should have seen.  He brushes and the previous dentist just 1 month ago said he only had one filling.  Isn’t that what a dentist is supposed to be able to find?  The new dentist did, so they are our new dentist.  I could go on about that, but he is doing great. 

The teens at Calvary in the Senior Class are going to be coming to our house for a fun night on Saturday which should be a lot of fun.  Of all the things I do in life other than spending time with my own family, I love spending time with our teens at Calvary.   Of all the ministries I have been in they are so much more mature than others.  They have a lot of potential and it is awesome to be able to help grow stronger in there faith.   I am sure we will have a blast. 

Well here is to another good week!