SBC=>ENCOUNTERS

HERE IN AMERICA, IN GOD WE STILL TRUST

Iran is becoming a global threat with his infiltration in South America/link. Iran imprisons Christian pastors for being Christians. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is persecuting Christians in court/link.  The Benghazi cover-up shows us that our present administration is not as concerned about the death of our American Ambassador and three other courageous Americans as he is about the sensitivities of the Muslim world.  The president of this nation did nothing to come to the aid of those fellow citizens under attack.  NOTHING.

As Sharia law is being honored and now defended by the American DoJ more than the faith of Christian Americans in Tennessee/link, we have to wonder...how much longer will America trust in God?

Southern Baptists need to stop quarreling amongst themselves and get on with being Ambassadors for Christ in our lost world.  We need to be encouraging and strengthening and edifying one anoher.  I do not care whether we are Calvinists or Traditionalists, Arminians, or Bapticostals, we need to be sharing Jesus.  Our world is under worse threat than it has ever been due to the globalization of all ideologies via internet and instant telecommunications.  Riots can be face-booked and promoted in a nano-second.  It is time to stand in the gap and deliver what we still have the freedom to deliver.  Jesus is the only hope, the only way, the only salvation in this crumbling, dying world. 

Our character, words and actions must exemplify we are children of a Holy God.  Our habits and motivations must be consistent with the Spirit of God.  Prayer is our greatest weapon and the Word of God is our shield and sword. All God wants from us is undying, unflinching courage and faith in Him...obedience.  Go ye therefore and tell!

APOSTASY OF A NATION by Rick Boyne

Our nation is a mess.  Our leaders are proving to be spineless and mindless of the MOST HIGH GOD and His 200-year blessing upon our country and the efforts of our founding fathers who sought to preserve religious freedom and protect us from tyranny. Our world is a disaster in the making.  Famines, earthquakes, godless behavior.  Today I read an article by Rick Boyne, pastor of Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Waggoner, Oklahoma.

I believe it speaks truth in a succinct and powerful way.  It needs to be read and grasped in its simplicity. With Rick's permission I repost it here and pray it is widely read.  Please drop by Rick's blog and encourage him as he seeks to live as he writes. 

Definition of APOSTASY

1: renunciation of a religious faith

2: abandonment of a previous loyalty : defection

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostasy)

 

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the return of Christ] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (2 Thessalonians 2:3 NASB)

 

  Our nation has fallen away from God.

Despite what is taught today, the truth is our Founding Fathers believed in Jesus Christ and sought to create a government on godly principles.

To be accurate, our nation began to fall away from God and now has turned her back on God.

Once the shining light of freedom and hope to the rest of the world, the United States is now a mockery to our history with feel-good philosophy and anti-God actions.

President Obama announced judgment on our land with his proclamation, "America is no longer a Christian nation."

We've taken God out of our schools. We've taken His Laws down from our courtrooms.  We've taken prayer out of public venues. 

 

Our national motto, "In God We Trust" is only words, and means nothing to most.

We've embraced murder and call it a choice.  We've embraced the abomination of homosexuality and call it an alternative lifestyle.  We've embraced obscenity and call it Freedom of Speech.  We've embraced insensibilities and call it political correctness.

What we HAVEN'T embraced is God, His Word, His Desires, His Laws, and His Son.  

We have trampled these things underfoot bringing to mind the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

We see the persecution of Christians on the rise in our country. Truth is now considered "Hate Speech."  People have been arrested for conducting Bible studies in their private homes in California. Campus ministries have been expelled from universities for requiring student leadership to actually BE Christians.

Our nation is under attack from radicals from an ungodly religion. The news media is so far away from God that they are unwilling to admit that it is a religious war being conducted against us, for fear of insulting or offending others. The only ones they don't worry about offending are Christians.

I want to believe that we are still at a crossroad; we may still have the ability to repent, as a nation.

HOWEVER, since the Apostasy must come before the anti-Christ is revealed AND so many of the biblical signs are being manifested, judgment may be inevitable for the United States.

In order for the conditions of the world to be "right" for the anti-Christ to come, I believe the world must be in economic disaster. In order for the world to be in economic disaster, the United States economy must fail.

It is quite possible that the national apostasy is taking place because God has lifted His hand of mercy from the United States to allow what must take place for the "Man of Lawlessness" to be revealed.

Perhaps our national apostasy is irreversible. Perhaps God is allowing it in preparation for the return of Christ.

I will keep praying for my nation and for it's leadership. I will keep sharing the Truth. I will keep my faith in God, for, in the end, He is the One Who is truly in control.

It, however, may not be too late for you, personally. God is still in the salvation business. Trust Jesus and you'll be saved from your sins, from eternal damnation, and be adopted into God's family. If you'd like more information about this, please contact me or see the link at the top of the right column, Do You Know Jesus?"

Immanuel Southern Baptist Church Breaks Record

I love the things I encounter about Southern Baptists on Facebook.

Rick Boyne,  pastor at Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Wagoner, Oklahoma, posted some news which we can be thankful for today:

Just received word that the official count broke our Food Pantry Ministry serving records today! We served 66 families, (over 200 people) over 3000 meals! (we give groceries for them to prepare their own meals) Way to go volunteers at Immanuel Southern Baptist Church!*

If you'd like to help out financially, make your checks payable to: Immanuel Southern Baptist Church, 611 N. Gertrude, Wagoner OK 74467 We could really use the help.

If you are like our church, you are sharing in your own way in your own field of ministry.  Please feel free to share what your church is doing to be generous during this Thanksgiving season.  It will bless us all to hear.

*Isn't it nice to see a church that is not ashamed of being Southern Baptist?

How An Arabic Gal from Lebanon Views Israel

Brigitte Gabriel's speech she made at Duke University
"I'm proud and honored to stand here today as a Lebanese speaking for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. As someone who was raised in an Arabic country, I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arabic world.

I was raised in Lebanon where I was taught that the Jews are evil, Israel is the devil, and the only time we will have peace in the Middle East is when we kill all the Jews and drive them into the sea.

When the Muslims and Palestinians declared jihad on the Christians in 1975, they started massacring the Christians city after city. I ended up living in a bomb shelter underground from age 10 to 17, without electricity, eating grass to live, and crawling under sniper bullets to a spring to get water.

It was Israel who came to help the Christians in Lebanon. My mother was wounded by a Muslim shell and was taken into an Israeli hospital for treatment. When we entered the emergency room, I was shocked at what I saw. There were hundreds of people wounded, Muslims, Palestinians, Lebanese Christians, and Israeli soldiers lying on the floor. The doctors treated everyone according to their injury. They treated my mother before they treated the Israeli soldier lying next to her. They didn't see religion, they didn't see political affiliation; they saw people in need and they helped.

For the first time in my life, I experienced a human quality that I know my culture would not have shown to their enemy. I experienced the values of the Israelis, who were able to love their enemy in their most trying moments. I spent 22 days at that hospital; those days changed my life and the way I believe information, the way I listen to the radio or to television. I realized that I was sold a fabricated lie by my government about the Jews and Israel, which was so far from reality. I knew for a fact that if I were a Jew standing in an Arab hospital, I would be lynched and thrown to the ground as shouts of joy of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) echoed through the hospital and the surrounding streets.

I became friends with the families of the wounded Israeli soldiers, one in particular, Rina, whose only child was wounded in his eyes. One day, I was visiting with her and the Israeli army band came to play national songs to lift the spirits of the wounded soldiers. As they surrounded his bed playing a song about Jerusalem, Rina and I started crying. I felt out of place and started walking out of the room, and this mother held my hand and pulled me back in without even looking at me. She held me, crying, and said, "It is not your fault." We just stood there, crying, holding each other's hands.

What a contrast between her—a mother looking at her deformed, 19-year-old only child and still able to love me, the enemy—and a Muslim mother who sends her son to blow himself up to smithereens just to kill a few Jews or Christians.

The difference between the Arabic world and Israel is a difference in values and character. It's barbarism versus civilization. It's democracy versus dictatorship. It's goodness versus evil.

Once upon a time, there was a special place in the lowest depths of hell for anyone who would intentionally murder a child. Now, the intentional murder of Israeli children is legitimized as Palestinian "armed struggle." However, once such behavior is legitimized against Israel, it is legitimized everywhere in the world, constrained by nothing more than the subjective belief of people who would wrap themselves in dynamite and nails for the purpose of killing children in the name of god.

Because the Palestinians have been encouraged to believe that murdering innocent Israeli civilians is a legitimate tactic for advancing their cause, the whole world now suffers from a plague of terrorism, from Nairobi to New York, from Moscow to Madrid, from Bali to Beslan.

They blame suicide bombings on the "desperation of occupation." Let me tell you the truth. The first major terror bombing committed by Arabs against the Jewish state occurred 10 weeks before Israel even became independent. On Sunday morning, February 22, 1948, in anticipation of Israel 's independence, a triple truck bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists on Ben Yehuda Street in what was then the Jewish section of Jerusalem. Fifty-four people were killed and hundreds were wounded.

Thus, it is obvious that Arab terrorism is caused not by "desperation" or "occupation", but by the VERY THOUGHT of a Jewish state.

So many times in history in the last 100 years, citizens have stood by and done nothing, allowing evil to prevail. As America stood up against and defeated communism, now it is time to stand up against the terror of religious bigotry and intolerance. It's time for everyone to stand up and support and defend the State of Israel, which is the front line of the war against terrorism. Thank you."

[Copied from www.facebook.com/israelforu ]

Will Hobby Lobby Have to Close Its 500 Stores

[reposted from a facebook post:  One of finest Christian owned businesses in the country, Hobby Lobby, may have to close. What a tragedy.]

Please share (cut and paste if you have to)

A Letter from Hobby Lobby Stores CEO
By David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn't much bigger than most people's living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God's word. From there,Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation's largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We're Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I've always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God's laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that's what we've tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week's biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We've not only added jobs in a weak economy, we've raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don't pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don't cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that's raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It's not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it's the same for everybody. But that's not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won't exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby and my family are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don't like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is goinmake that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that's a choice no American and no American business should have to make.
The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.

Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media, pass this on to all your contacts.

Sincerely,
David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc."

[ANOTHER UPDATE: Federal Judge Issues Injunction on Obamacare Mandate for another business owner. This one in Missouri!]

Laboring for the Master or What Is Ministry Anyway

As a pastor’s wife, (formerly, since my husband's now retired), I was involved in many different ministries throughout our service in four pastorates. In every church we ever served, the folks had their own ideas of what a pastor and his wife were suppose to do in fulfilling their calling as ministers. So I’d love to know what you think of when you consider that word. The church we now attend has multiple ministries and many people who also volunteer for ministries outside our church. But for the purpose of my point in this post, Hebrews 10:23-25 defines–in part–what I think ministry is.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He Who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur each other on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–all the more as you see the Day approaching.” [italics mine].

Four things jump out at me when I read the passage above:
~Let us hold.
~Let us consider.
~Let us not give up.
~Let us encourage.

When we "hold" steadfast–without wavering–to the faith our Lord Jesus Christ implanted in us, we will super-naturally "consider" how we can spur each other on toward love and good deeds. We will want to meet together, fellowship together, accept guidance from one another in order that we might be better able to serve one another and our Lord. We will long to be together as we are beaten down from the world and from life’s trials and tribulations. We will want to encourage others and be encouraged as we have been encouraged. We will not want to be separated or severed from the Body.

I remember a time when ministry met me at the door I knocked on. My husband and I went to deliver a large fruit tart to my friend whose son had just died in a car accident. When we arrived at her home, she wasn’t there; she and her husband were at the funeral home. But some friends from church were there. They were down on their knees scrubbing floors. They were scouring bathrooms and stripping beds. They were getting the home ready for out-of-town relatives who would arrive that day. Each lady had plans for their own lives that day–but they put their plans on hold. A crisis in the life of a brother and sister in Christ takes priority.

That's ministry. It doesn't wait for a convenient time.  Nor does it take pre-planning, fund-raisers or theological training.  Ministry sees a need and meets it. Ministry is an act of love; and our expressed love testifies of our Savior.

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

Death is an interruption that brooks no arguments. Routine is interrupted. Schedules are changed. Loved ones are shocked and grieving as they fulfill responsibilities of caring for a lost loved one’s final journey.

Has anyone ever died for whom you had to attend to all the details? From picking out the casket, deciding on a burial plot, choosing clothing to dress your lost loved one in, contacting relatives, arranging for accommodations, meeting with banks to get a loan to pay off the funeral, picking out flowers, greeting visitors who bring food and come to offer condolences, finding something appropriate to wear yourself?  Details, details, details: choosing songs, pallbearers, people to eulogize, finding photos to display. 

It is monumental what a family in grief faces during the first days following a death. And it doesn’t stop after the funeral. It goes on and on, for weeks, months, and sometimes, years.

The days and weeks and months following, I know from experience, will be filled with hours of the agony of separation. Tears will be rivers without end. Minutes will be filled with the blessings of friends calling and ministering to the needs of a grieving family. There will be memories and regrets and guilt. There will be questions, denial, and anger. There will be depression and anxiety and extreme sadness.  Death brings these things when it visits.

As I sat in the funeral home next to my sister-in-Christ, kneading her shoulders and holding her hand as she shared stories about her deceased son, I remembered. I remembered my own son’s death. I remembered the turmoil, the emptiness. When my friend moaned in relief as I continued rubbing her back, she brought attention to an act I had not even been aware of myself. I remembered how bad I’d ached–the stress-filled muscles–unending knots which wrenched at every fiber of my being that Mother’s Day in 2005. I thought how simple this was: to sit and touch my friend…to stretch forth a hand in love. Such a small deed. I thought of hundreds of acts of kindness from my church family in the past few years and knew this is what ministry is all about.  Ministry is loving when life brings sorrow, need, joy and celebration.  Ministry is showing the love of Christ as well as teaching the words of Christ.

Ministry is not so much the monumental organized efforts of dynamic planning (Though there is much for which to be grateful in organized ministries, too). Ministry is servant-hood. It’s scrubbing floors and toilets. It’s sacrificing time. It’s embracing one’s own pain to comfort another’s. It’s spending all of what we’ve been given of the blessings in Christ to give glory and honor to the Most High God.

God has a purpose for things He allows. We do not always know what that purpose is, and often we don’t agree with His timing. But as we “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” in Christ, He is faithful to His promises. As we consider how we may spur each other on toward love and good deeds, we find purpose in our trials, our heartaches and brokenness. As we continue “meeting together” we are given opportunities to encourage one another. We have every opportunity in the world to minister to others in our Lord’s name. Don't you agree? selahV

FACING the REAL Problems of the SBC

It's not an easy thing to do.  The older I get the less I want to look in the mirror.  The person staring back at me does not seem to fit the knowledge and understanding of my mind, the depth and breadth of my heart, nor the hope of my youth.  Years of trial, struggle and grief have left its marks.  Regrets may be the tiny red veins now lacing their way across my nose.  Wrinkles reveal evidence of decades filled with mixed emotions: worry, joy, victory, disappointment and sorrow.  Gray hair salts the black with time I spent learning from experience, growing through mistakes, and achieving goals.  Vision is dimmed by years of seeing what should be done, what could be done, yet, somehow, never realized.  When I look at myself in the mirror, I know that the person I stare at is me...I am all I have been but still am yet to be.

The SBC is who she is but is not all that she can be.

She could be more.  I truly believe for her to become all she can be, it behooves me to be more than what I am.  If you are Southern Baptist, you, also, must be more than you are.  We need to pray more for our brethren, ourselves and the lost in this world.  We need to pray we do not grow weary in well-doing, but remember the doctrines of faith we first learned.  We need to pray that we and our brethren do not fall into temptation.  We need others to pray for us.  We need to pray for God's power, glory and majesty be made manifest in all we do and say.  Then we need to trust God and rest in Him.

We have not, because we ask not.  God does not do many miracles because we lack faith.  We have often left much of the armor of God lying on the floor of our secret closets.  We have walked about in our communities without proper equipment.  We have been like the Levite and walked on by the beaten and dying.  We have busied ourselves with much conversation and fellowship with one another while ignoring the Savior who dwells within us.  Our thoughts are more focused on our thoughts, views and opinions than the thoughts of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We have lost the joy of His salvation and failed to comprehend the expediency of "today is the day of salvation" and "the kingdom of God is at hand."  Our plans mean more to us than His plans for us; His presents more than His presence.  Woe are we who profess the name of Jesus and trust in horses and chariots instead of the Most High God to empower us for HIS glory and not ours.  Do we truly want to give honor and glory to God?  Or are we like those who shall cry out "Lord, Lord, but I have labored in your name"?

Perhaps I am too harsh.  Perhaps too introspective.  Perhaps we just need another program, another task force, another survey, another poll, another emphasis, another system of theology or more reforming.  Perhaps another network. Perhaps more giving and sacrificial offerings. Then again...

Perhaps we need to turn from our wicked ways--our bickering and complaining.  Perhaps we need to humble ourselves and acknowledge we do not have the answers.  Perhaps we need to confess our sin of pride and seek God's face.  Perhaps we need to ask Almighty God to forgive us our sin and give Him the honor and glory due HIS name--not ours.  Perhaps it is not our name we need to change; we simply need to change our ways.  selahV

Some Straight Talk from Oswald Chambers

"The mainspring of Paul's service is not love for men, but love for Jesus Christ. If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no intangible can hinder us from serving our fellow men." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost (Feb.23rd)

Oswald emphasizes Paul's "determination" for service was because of how he had treated Jesus--how he spoke against him, and persecuted Christians before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  I can imagine how little Paul thought of himself after he'd recognized his Savior and how he'd treated those whom Jesus loved.  I can imagine that the image of Stephen's face was forever embedded in Paul's mind.  Can you imagine being there that day as Paul stood approvingly and watched men stone Stephen to death? Can you imagine hearing Stephen's sermon and the glory on his face as he beheld the Lamb of God? Can you imagine grabbing a stone and throwing it at Stephen's bloody body just as he requests that God not hold your sin--his own murder--against you?

58 And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep.  "Acts 7:58-60

Oswald considers Paul's thoughts to be:

"...no matter how men may threat me, they will never treat me with the spite and hatred with which I treated Jesus Christ."

Then Oswald speaks for us:

"When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

Paul knew that meanness.  Paul knew that spite and hatred.  At the time, Paul was Saul and he had no remorse:

"And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word." Acts 8:1-4

Sometimes people treat us with disdain and rejection and rebuke.  Some insult us, ridicule us, and malign us.  They are mean and spiteful.  Yet, even in the very worst moment from another, it is nothing compared to what our sin caused Jesus to suffer.  The debt we owe Christ for His love toward us is unattainable.  It is beyond any work, any deed, any love we could possibly show another.  Yet our love for Jesus empowers us to forgive others as He forgave us.  His grace enables us to manifest His love as we reach beyond ourselves and embrace those who do not love us.  When we recognize our lostness without Christ's attoning sacrifice on our behalf, our hearts are filled with mercy for the mercy we have found.  If we have not mercy, can there be any redemptive work within us?  I ask you, can there? Jesus says,

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35  

DO WE?  CAN OTHERS SEE WE ARE HIS DISCIPLES BY THE LOVE WE SHOW ONE ANOTHER?  CAN THEY?

I don't know about you, but I feel more condemnation than love at times.  I feel more rejection, more insults, more repudiation.  I sense a peculiar disdain for who I am and what I understand is the love of God for the lost.  Sometimes, the weight of those things are more than I can bear; and I wonder.  Would anyone want what I have?  Would anyone hunger and thirst after the love others show me?  There was a time when people came to Jesus because of the love they saw exhibited towards me--and the love I exhibited towards the brethren. May that "time" be today once again. selahV

I ABHOR CONTROVERSY BUT

...BETTER CONTROVERSY THAN SURRENDER.

It is easy to sit behind a monitor, read the Word of God disseminated and dumb-downed and shout at the monitor, as if the writer who typed and posed information on the other side could actually hear our wails of protest.  We breathe out our threatenings and purge ourselves of righteous indignation we have for those who bring garbage into the sanctuary of God's forum of hearts, and who make a mockery of His holiness, purity and righteousness.  It is easy to do that in anonymity, behind closed doors, without a shred of proof that we take a stand where we stand.  It is easy to enjoy the comfort of a swim in lukewarm streams of blissful ignorance.  It is easy to wear sunglasses to deflect the glare of monitor enlightenment, and curb flashback blindness.

It is easy to forget all about controversy.  Let the rest of the world deal with it.  Let Peter, James, and John.  Let Tom, Dick, and Harry.  Let Lydia, Mary, and "Angelica".  Yeah...it's easy. 

It's easy to enter the fellowship hall of Believers and sit idly by watching mega-screens project up-close-and-personal scenes and replays of vehicles bumping tail-ends, nudging side-fenders, then crashing and flipping, burning and maiming any chance of God's drivers to stand and deliver His Word to the masses.

It's easy to cheer on our heroes and leave our seats, feeling defeated, when they lose their battle for first place.  No one sees our heads hanging down below our lapels, or our smiling faces in crest-fallen disappointment at the failure of heroes to champion our causes.  It is easy to sit and say nothing.

It is easy to avoid controversy and let others fight the battles that win the war and claim victory for the King.  We cheered.  We prayed.  We applauded and lauded from afar.  We knew they could do it.  We knew.  Why soil our hands?  Why get involved in something we neither understand nor consider a threat to our little world, behind our little monitor screen?  Why risk rejection, exclusion, and undiluted distortions of our integrity from our peers?  Why "choose this day whom I will serve"?  Why be a watchman at the door?

After all, the controversy is something I abhor.  Isn't it?

Or is it exposure I abhor?  Exposure?  Yes...of my own faithless position?  my own weak spirit?  my own inadequacies to articulate?  my own ignorance?  my own skeletons hanging in backroom closets?  my own position to protect?  my own battlefront to hold?  my own resume to censor? my own timidity?

Yes...I abhor controversy.  But sometimes...just sometimes, the ring is where I need to stand.  the center line of the race.  Why must we always be the puff or smoke leftover from in the bang of the starter's gun?

Should we not be a bullet on occasion?  Should we not start our engines and join the race?  I do not know the answer for others.  But...I do know the answer for me.

There are podiums in life, behind which I cannot stand.  There are theological streams too deep for me to balance myself within the currents and contend.  There are times when all I can do is close my prayer-closet doors, and lift my brothers and sisters in Christ before the throne of His mercy and grace.  However, there are times they need a cheerleader to get the fire started beneath the seats of those sitting on the benches.  Sometimes it is my responsibility when God so leads me to jump up, do back flips, and shout to the top of my lungs.

Go team; go!  We need to back the pro!

Go team; go!  People need to know!

Go team; go!  The vision needs to grow!

Go team; go!  This time we need to show,

Some people will say, "NO!"

Go team, go!

It behooves all women who believe in Biblical submission, and the phrase for which it is defined: "as unto the Lord", to take an in-depth look at the marital teachings of one, Mark Driscoll as written and exposed in his book, REAL MARRIAGE.  His misogynistic views of women are astounding.  Yet, men in high places find little to no fault in his instructions to women and empowerment to men.  Recently a Christian college, which defines itself as one which is "training champions for Christ", has come under fire for inviting a man from another "network" of faith to teach and usher in a new wave of thinking, and his misinterpretation of the Song of Solomon, to idealistic young people who have yet to have all the brain-power necessary to discern various logic and reason applications to life.  Champions like Tim Guthrie are coming to the ring of fire with his sword drawn.

Mark Driscoll, teaches by vision, counsels by what he describes as a "television screen" from God with pictures of all kinds of pornographic abuse and physical disgust.  He uses his visions to help guide young women to go back and bend down and do far more than wash the toes on their husbands' feet, in the name of Christ and for His glory.  Driscoll has his submissive wife, Grace, to share, and make public, her past indiscretions and sin to add flavor and impetus to his grand and glorious wisdom of marital bliss in the bedroom.  He is making thousands, if not millions of dollars, on his book tour around the country.  From "The View" to the various news outlets.  And now, if you live in Lynchburg, Virginia, he is coming to a theatre near you, for 35.00 a pop.  At the request and formal invitation of Johnnie Moore and the oversight of Jerry Falwell, Jr., on April 20th, Liberty University is turning over the microphone to, and providing the platform for Mark Driscoll to share his book and views with young Christian ladies and gentlemen under their watchcare.

I am appalled. I am disgusted.  I am a woman who finds Mark Driscoll's views on sodomy beyond the pale of filth and debauchery.  I am a woman who joins Tim Guthrie in his estimations.  Liberty's own approved invitation to this one man, does far more damage to the credibilty of Liberty University than any blogger's intent to relate what he understands as the truth of trustees who allegedly voted in secrecy that Driscoll is unwelcome--and trustees who also enjoy anonymity for protection of their privacy, and their loyalty (or not) to the school--(one not run or controlled by Southern Baptist but associated to SBC).

BE IT RESOLVED THAT: Liberty University (a school known for its fundamentalist views of Christian faith), has already done damage to their own good name by inviting a man who is propagandizing his unorthodox sexual preferences to a body of believers who are peer-pressured into sitting through his diatribe of "seeing things"  I see things too.  But it isn't on a magic television screen.  And if folks don't wake up and clean the gunk out of their eyes soon, the institutions we have with time-honored fidelity to the Word of God will be no more.  No more.

Poll the trustees...ask them to share how they voted.  Was it unanimous or was it one abstaining?  You don't have to name names or have them all come out to the public microphone.  Just give us the details of the vote on Driscoll's coming.  Was it just discussion?  Was it flap-doodle over cups of green-tea and honey?  Was the meeting even a meeting?  Were they just having pizza in the lobby?  Facts Liberty, give us some facts.  If Peter Lumpkins was informed improperly, spoke out of turn, and without your consent, then whoever told him what they did, is either mistaken over the vote and what went on, is lying to get Peter to write about it so as to discredit him, or is himself or herself being set up to find the "mole" beneath the foundation of LU's private sessions regarding this matter.

Any way we look at this, it wreaks of guile.  I prayerfully hope that the matter is resolved with sunlight...not just behind shaded windows to obscure the outcome, and bolted doors braced to withstand the controversy we all abhor and find distasteful to discuss.

I hate controversy.  I abhor controversy, BUT...better controversy than surrender to things which we find contrary to the fundamental truth of God's purity and righteousness.  selahV

Sometimes I Wonder About the SBC

Well, truthfully, I wonder about the cyber SBC.  I wonder why so few bloggers I encounter in the SBC circles share the same view on faith, ministry and missions.  Even when they claim to hold the same doctrinal views, they heatedly debate those doctrines and how they should be applied and implemented within the church body.

I wonder why I can write a positive post about positive things going on in the lives of others, and when I solicit similar stories, I get slammed with all the negativity in another's church problems.  Does God not work in the lives of the churches?  Can we not smell the fragrance of the rose?  Must we always focus on the thorn pricks when we gather the bouquet?  The World-Wide-Web is a big mission field.  Can they see the gospel from our blogs and writing?  I wonder.

I wonder about the young seminarians and young tech savvy minsters in churches, who surf, twitter and friend one another. Do they have any mentors?  I wonder.

My husband pastored for 23 years in Kentucky.  There were many difficulties we dealt with in ministry.  However, the blessings and progress far outweighed the trials and blockades.  Through the difficulties and mistakes we made, we gained an insight akin to the grandfathers of everyday life today.  People like to mow grampa's lawn, stuff themselves with grama's Sunday dinner.  But they have no need to inquire or solicit their 6 to 7 decades of wisdom.  Just like the adolescent teenager who rebels against a parent who just don't understand, they go their own way.

There are so many God-led, wise ministers who have weathered the difficulties of ministry--have learned from mistakes. Do the young and struggling ministers seek wisdom from these God-called, seasoned ministers?  Or are they content to have their ears tickled, teased, and taught by their peers who are young and struggling and, toying with making church relevant.  Many of whom have not even finished seminary, let alone served more than a couple of years in a church.  Do any of the young ministers have older, wiser mentors as Paul was to Timothy?  I'm not talking about someone ten or fifteen years older.  I'm talking about men who have been in ministry for 20 or 30 years.  So much wisdom.  So little tapping into it.

I wonder why most conversations deal with what is relevant.  Never mind making church "relevant", worship "relevant", Bible study "relevant".  Who makes Jesus relevant?  Where are all the posts on Jesus?  Where are all the discussions of how marvelous and mind-altering the words of Christ were to the pharisees?  Where is the encouragement?  How has Jesus manifested His presence in your life this week?  Last week?  Today.  Where is the love?  What are you doing others know you are Christians by the love you show the brethren?  Where is the grace so many write about yet fail to reveal in words or attitude when conversing?  I just wonder sometimes.  Do you?  selahV