Perseverance Benefits the Godly and Ungodly
As believers in Jesus Christ, many of us have hailed the decision of the California Supreme Court to uphold the state’s ban on gay marriage. It became law after a majority vote of the people of California, and I personally was pleasantly surprised to see the court uphold a statute that clearly had constitutional grounds. As is often the case, the victory appears short-lived. Gay leaders say they plan to put a new measure on next year’s ballot to overturn the ban. This reminds me of my home state of Missouri. Year after year Missouri voters would vote on new forms of riverboat gambling, and year after year the voters would say no. Every time the casinos lost, they simply tried again. And when they finally won the vote simply by wearing down the opposition’s willingness to fight anymore, it was a done deal. Those against gambling didn’t attempt another ballot measure, but instead gave up.
Could 2010 be the Year of the Bible?
I ran across an interesting article on foxnews website yesterday. Here is the link to the full article. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/22/georgia-republican-wants-obama-make-year-bible/
Georgia Rep. Paul Broun has put forth a resolution that if signed by President Obama would make 2010 the year of the Bible. The reason for this is to recognize that much of our heritage as a country is based on Biblical values.
Let’s Start Examining Our “Heroes”
Like many Christians, I was pleased to hear the report the day after the Miss USA pageant about the honest answer of Miss California, Carrie Prejean. She stated a simple belief regarding the institution of marriage being between one man and one woman. Honestly, I didn’t think much more of it than that. It was nice to see a young person state their beliefs very publicly and to seemingly be unashamed of it. However, within a few days there was a bit of Carrie Prejean mania going on. Suddenly she was on the morning talk shows and becoming a voice for the issue of marriage. Pro-family groups were calling, all hoping for an opportunity to get her onboard with their cause. Focus on the Family scheduled a broadcast with her, and even Liberty University had her stop by to talk in front of students. They didn’t know much about her as a person or a Christian (she does go to a Christian college), just that she had given one good answer.
Swine Flu and Evangelism
I know that you are all tired of hearing about the swine flu at this point. It seems like another news story that is negative has dominated the news recently. We have had the economic crisis and now the swine flu. It is interesting some of the reactions people have had. Some are wearing mask, some churches have stopped shaking hands, serving coffee and taking other precautions. Certainly there is an overreaction to this problem.
Anyone Can Look Normal
The police have been searching for the “Craigslist Killer” for a few weeks, and finally made an arrest in this series of crimes. The news media seemed shocked at the arrest, because of the appearance of the suspect. He’s a good-looking, 23-year-old med student, who’s currently engaged to a beautiful young woman. The various reporters all talked about how strange the crime was because he had no criminal history and was the All-American boy. They tried to uncover something about his appearance or family history to explain why he would do such a terrible thing, but they came up empty. I wonder if the media would have preferred the suspect to be a dirty, homeless person? Perhaps they would feel that he was matching his outward appearance by his dirty actions.
Family, Marriage and Resources
I know that often I am guility talking way to much about my wife and family but I love them so much. I have been married now for almost six years and we have two awesome boys. Our boys are three and one. We are currently praying about when God will expand our family again (hopefully a girl). Lately I have just enjoyed hanging out with my boys so much, maybe because it is spring time and we can get outside. Today in this post I just wanted to share with you some books that really have impacted me.
The Crime of Prayer
I came across the story of some 8th graders in Lexington, Kentucky who committed such a terrible act that the local police had to be called in. The mother of a fellow student had been killed in a car accident, and so these students decided to pray for the kid who lost his mom. These students knew that they couldn’t pray during class times, so they gathered during lunch to pray. They say that the school administrators came and told them to be quiet and to sit down, but they refused. So the administration called the police to come deal with these defiant kids. The superintendent said that there was no problem with the students praying, but that they were all going to be late for class.
The Economy and the Bible
If I hear the word “bailout” one more time or AIG and bonuses I might just throw the remote through the TV. That of course would be bad because that would mean no more Blue Clues for my sons for a while (but my sanity would be restored from Blues Clues overload). Certainly many are still on edge wondering when and if we will ever get out of this economic slump. We ceratinly do not know what tomorrow holds.
Miraculous Transformations
I have been following a segment on the Today show for a while about people that lost over 100 lbs simply through diet and exercise. Their stories of transformation are both amazing and inspirational, and you feel good for people who identified a problem in their life and worked to be different. A few years ago we were worried about the size 0’s in Hollywood who portrayed a body image that was hardly attainable. Now we seem to have moved more towards health than Hollywood. Whether it’s episodes of the Biggest Loser, new workout routines, or a better diet, there are constant reminders out there that if you’re overweight and unhappy, you don’t have to stay that way.
Lost
I am sure you have heard the news about the four men who capsized their boat off the Gulf of Mexico this past weekend. Sadly so far only one survivor has been found and the Coast Guard has called off the search for the other three men. As I heard the news I began to think about how frightening it would be to be lost at sea. I could not imagine being out in the middle of the ocean with no one to talk to, yelling out for help and getting no response. Simply put it would be lonely being lost. This leads me to my focus this morning, thinking about all those in our area who need to know Christ, those who are lost!
