After vacation, Thanksgiving, the world is stil the same.

The fact is, we had a pretty good vacation but both of us had some sickness, pain and annoyances. Then we came home for Thanksgiving and though ill, had a good dinner, praised God for all our blessings and then just yesterday, Sunday, heard a very encouraging sermon; 'But God...Ephesians 2.' Then we watched TV, read the papers and guess what? We found that the world was as evil , sick and in chaos as usual. Sure, people were featured with some very good agendas, issues and even statements. But, the defeatism of even Christians over the war against Islamofascism got thicker and sicker. No calls for victory and the Turkish Islamofascists are calling for the Pope's death!! Muslim birth rate soars as Western European birth rates go under 2 kids per couple. In a few decades, Europe will be Muslim! The Baker Commission asks for Syria and Iran to take over the Iraq situation. Yeah, that will work: putting the wolf in charge of the hens. Commons sense, spiritual sense and just common morality goes to the Devil, literally! If it were not for the blessings of God on this nation and some people around the world actually starting to follow the Biblical God, all would be lost. To be frank, the fact is Europe is entering a long dark night of the soul. And I fear it will not recover. Russia is aiding Iran. The Middle East is as usual a mess with Palestine and the rest of the Islamic areas filled with their own chaos of their own making because they hate Israel and America. We need more , 'But God...' moments my friends. We need more believers joining together to pray for strength and victory over evil not compromise. People can cry peace all they want, but the Bible rightfully states, there is no peace without God-Jesus. In fact, that is the fact of the Advent Season, the coming of the Babe who will bring His Peace. Chaos is rife but we believers in the Judeo-Christian Western Civ. worldview must cooperate and unify to spread the Gospel of Salvation as well as stopping evil. Be Thankful and welcome Advent friends but keep your powder dry to be aware of the Evil-doers who threaten to overwhelm even our blessed nation!

After vacation, Thanksgiving, the world is stil the same.

The fact is, we had a pretty good vacation but both of us had some sickness, pain and annoyances. Then we came home for Thanksgiving and though ill, had a good dinner, praised God for all our blessings and then just yesterday, Sunday, heard a very encouraging sermon; 'But God...Epesians 2.' Then we watched TV, read the papers and guess what? We found that the world was as evil , sick and in chaos as usual. Sure, people were featured with some very good agendas, issues and even statements. But, the defeatism of even Christians over the war against Islamofascism got thicker and sicker. No calls for victory and the Turkish Islamofascists are calling for the Pope's death!! Muslim birth rate soars as Western European birth rates go under 2 kids per couple. In a few decades, Europe will be Muslim! The Baker Commission asks for Syria and Iran to take over the Iraq situation. Yeah, that will work: putting the wolf in charge of the hens. Commons sense, spiritual sense and just common morality goes to the Devil, literally! If it were not for the blessings of God on this nation and some people around the world actually starting to follow the Biblical God, all would be lost. To be frank, the fact is Europe is entering a long dark night of the soul. And I fear it will not recover. Russia is aiding Iran. The Middle East is as usual a mess with Palestine and the rest of the Islamic areas filled with their own chaos of their own making because they hate Israel and America. We need more , 'But God...' moments my friends. We need more believers joining together to pray for strength and victory over evil not compromise. People can cry peace all they want, but the Bible rightfully states, there is no peace without God-Jesus. In fact, that is the fact of the Advent Season, the coming of the Babe who will bring His Peace. Chaos is rife but we believers in the Judeo-Christian Western Civ. worldview must cooperate and unify to spread the Gospel of Salvation as well as stopping evil. Be Thankful and welcome Advent friends but keep your powder dry to be aware of the Evil-doers who threaten to overwhelm even our blessed nation!

On vacation but thinking about politics and God

As my wife and I go on vacation, I pray for a boy who is undergoing a heart procedure. I also pray for the Republicans to reorganize their party with good, new , honest leadership in both Houses of Congress. After all, they claim they are the party of values. The Democrats are already feuding over Jack Murtha and Reid's integrity. One wonders if God is happy with any of these politicians? How these pols deal with the war against Islamofascism, God's and our enemies will be one way to see if courage, bravery and integrity has been lost or recaptured by Congress and the President. How to deal with taxes, poverty, the environment will also see if stewardship over our nation is taken seriously. We need a vacation but I will be praying and thinking about these serious questions. I will also be asking God to bring back our nation into a serious debate over and love for the Judeo-Christian Western worldview. Will our nation give up its historical foundations just to get along with our enemies? We shall see. But, prophetical utterances over the Second Coming do not seem so weird after all, do they??

On vacation but thinking about politics and God

As my wife and I go on vacation, I pray for a boy who is undergoing a heart procedure. I also pray for the Republicans to reorganize their party with good, new , honest leadership in both Houses of Congress. After all, they claim they are the party of values. The Democrats are already feuding over Jack Murtha and Reid's integrity. One wonders if God is happy with any of these politicians. How these pols deal with the war against Islamofascism, God's and our enemies will be one way to see if courage, bravery and integrity has been lost or recaptured by Congress and the President. How to deal with taxes, poverty, the environment will also see if stewardship over our nation is taken seriously. We need a vacation but I will be praying and thinking about these serious questions. I will also be asking God to bring back our nation into a serious debate over and love for the Judeo-Christian Western worldview. Will our nation give us its historical foundations just to get along with our enemies? We shall see. But, prophetical utterances over the Second Coming do not seem so weird after all, do they??

Thankfulness for a vacation and this nation

I did have a chance to preach on Thankfulness yesterday, Sunday, the 12th. This whole month, believers should be thankful for just breathing air in this great nation. All the other 11 months, we all should be thankful. That we get caught up in the mundane affairs of everyday living is natural but if one is a believer in the Biblical God and Savior Jesus Christ, thankfulness for just being able to live in the USA is a must. Sure, the election for me and for many Christians was a huge disappointment. And if the Party that won is truly the liberal socialist pacifist Party as I know them to be, our whole nation is facing many problems via the ongoing war against Islamofascism. Still, 300,000,000 Americans live in a free land and many of these value freedom and our democratic capitalisistic system.Yet, we all know that our Judeo-Christian foundations are slowly being reduced here in America. How then shall we live? How will Americans recapture their faith, their liberties, their courage in this time of appeasement, socialization, and fun, fads, and fundamental changes toward a more humanist secular society? Frankly, I can only fall back to the answer of sharing the Gospel with our fellow citizens. Sure it is tougher nowadays since so many either compromise the Call of Jesus on one's life, or our citizens simply resist and reject any call for throwing off our narcissism and selfishness and loner mentality. And nowadays, sin is not to be uttered. But, if Christians do not spell out the Bad News as well as the Good News, how can one be saved? With God, even in 2006, all things are possible. Will the Christian Church , will Abundant Hope really accept that and go to work? I pray so or our future will really be dark and lonely. Even in this blessed nation .

Questions, Preaching, Questions

I have no idea whether anyone actually reads this blog but readers might like to know that the name is actually the name of the church I attend. For nearly 20 years, I have been pastor here when it was Living Hope Church. Now we have for a few years been merged with Abundant Life under Don Waggoner's leadership. Hence the name, AHCC. Don is much younger and is now in charge but I do get to preach a few times a year. I stay to help him put in his vision of how Jesus wants us to share the Gospel with our community. Today, is Veterans' Day and Don is one. This Sunday, I preach on Thankfulness for our Thanksgiving time. And yet, I look back to Tuesday's election and wonder how 33% of Evangelicals could vote for a Party which does not have its cultural, spritual, and social concerns at heart. Don likes politics but is not a junkie like I am. He doesn't even know about the election and its aftermath because he is with his Dad for his 80th nativity and his mother , who has cancer. Our prayers go out for not only them but for our Vets, our military fighting Islamofascism, and our nation since the election results. Could it be that when a party forgets its ethical, social, cultural, and economic agendas anyone would throw up their hands and punish them for their ethical problems as well as their arrogance in not pushing through the issues that its BASE,mostly filled with Evangelical Christians wanted?? I think so. So while I am very thankful for our Vets, our military, our struggle to win against our enemies, politically, I pray our politicians learn their lessons and be the ethical, positive, and politically honest people we elected them to be!

It is over; now where do we go?

The election is over and one whether how Christians voted. Jews supported the Democrat Party with an 87% turn out. It is now over and one wonders how God wanted this election to really turn out. Some Bible researchers would say, He wanted this ; He ordained this. Well, since He also gives us all free will, one wonders if this is just a cycle of voting or is it a long term condition of the American electorate? Many initiatives decided some abortion, gay marriage, affirmative actions. War seemed to be a part of the decisions. But so did ethical and corruption charges. Did Evangelicals stay at home? Why? Why not? And how did people view ministry scandals such as the one in Colorado? All of these issues will be debate but one thing will not change. God in the Person of Jesus is still the King of the Universe. When all is said and done, unless we all , who call ourselves Christian, follow Jesus and allow Him to direct our lives, no election result will ever satisfy any of us. One thing is disturbing. Some issues and candidates did indeed run against traditional Judeo-Christian values. That will play out in the next few years. Prayer, closeness to the Lord , and discernment will still be the call of the day from me as we pray for the betterment of our nation.

A Christian leader falls again. Will it matter on Tues?

In Colorado, another Christian pastor has bitten the dust. Regardless of whether he had sex with this Jones person, Haggard is done as a leader of the NAE and his church of 14,000 in Colorado. Some leftists are crowing that this will depress voters in Colorado from voting against gay marriage and supporting not only stem cells-cloning in Mo. but parental notification in other states. Perhaps not. This may , in fact, so infuriate Christians that they come out to vote just to show that one leader falling does not obviate and cancel the effect of moral values on an election. I hope that is true. Sure Christian leaders falling and failing lead liberals , secularists, and other faiths to make fun of Christianity. But, grace, repentance, salvation and second chances are Jesus' way not the world's. When leftist pols fail, they seem to get approval but when so called moral leaders fail, the saws, hammers, and pikes are out to stab them into oblivion. Some deserve it but others do not. Like addicts, Christian leaders who fail and want to change and repent should be helped to do so. And since so many non-Christians fail and fall and that never seems to stop them from voting, holding office or making media statements, Christians need to come off the floor and use their right to vote. And yes, they can still vote their values. The Bible's values do not change or are not obliterated just because some followers blow it. Frankly, I hope millions of Christians come out and vote on Tues. and vote their values without shame!

Is it a sin not to vote?

Chuck Colson, the old Nixon hand, who is now a Christian, has written an article that appears on Townhall.com today, Nov. 1. It is this question on which I wish to comment. " Is it a sin not to vote?" Now this is directed at Christian voters and no one else. It is not meant to chide or encourage or depress non-Christians in the voting mode. It is to encourage and inform Christian voters that when the stakes are high as they are in this election next Tues. Nov. 7, that to omit to vote is really a sin because one knows that to vote is to be at the table in this democracy when hugely important issues are at such stake. Remember, the Bible infers that there are sins of commission and omission. When issues hit at Christians, and they have a chance to influence outcomes in this nation , not to vote is not only silly, inane and stupid but really outrageous if one who is a Christian omits to vote on issues which are life and death. Prop. 2 in Missouri is on cloning. Voters should be very interested in that. Abortion is up on many ballots. Illegal immigration is on ballots. People who do not want to protect this nation via the War against Islamofascism are on the ballot. Parental notification is on many ballots. Even cutting taxes as well as raising them are on ballots. Then there are obvious Christian politicians who are running for office.. If they have integrity, honesty, and stand correct on the issues that affect their constituents, not voting is to allow secular humanist liberal pacifist socialists to win office. I think Colson is right for Christian voters. Not to vote is a sin. And if our nation gets candidates elected who are not for Judeo-Christian Western Civ. worldviews, and many Christians stay at home because they whine, carp and are snitty over one or more policies they don't like by one party or the other, they only have themselves to blame!