Merry Christmas 2009

After a long and crazy year for me, we should all rejoice in the Christ who came to save us, coming as a simple baby to remind us of His humanity and love for us. God bless your 2010.

Thanksgiving

I AM THANKFUL:

FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .



FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.



FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE


FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A lawn mower......


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDO M OF SPEECH.


FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.



FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.


FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.



FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE crazy people I work with
BECAUSE they make work interesting and fun!

Cell Phone Vs. the Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to our kids as a gift?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being 'disconnected' because of an unpaid bill.
Jesus already paid the bill in-full.
And just think--no dropped calls! God hears them all!

What this world needs...

Is a Savior who will rescue
A Spirit who will lead
A Father who will love them
In their time of need

For us to care more about the inside than the outside
Have we become so blind to see, that God's gotta change her heart before He changes her shirt,
is for us to stop hiding behind our relevance, blending in so well that people can't see the difference, and its the difference that sets the world eats.

Kali Moore Memorial Garden

Some of you may remember Creston's own Kali Moore, the daughter of a faithful and beloved Christian Denise Moore in our town. Denise is one that always has a good word and never a bad word for anyone or any situation. She is one of a kind, a real Barnabas. Kali, who was also faithful, was killed in a tragic accident last summer along with two of her friends. The fourth person survived but was injured.

Being a grant writer, I know of this program our local Des Moines news TV station has due each April 1, called the KCCI Project Mainstreet Grant. It is very competitive, but they like small projects that can be completed in a summer. They come out and interview the community before and after the project and put it on TV. Well, we applied via the church of Christ as a sponsor, and we were one of five projects selected for $3,000 for a perennial memorial garden. A summer that is going to be very busy as it is will now be even busier, as we design and build this thing to honor these youths and others that die so tragically. It will be a great project for the church to go out and do something in the public eye that makes a real lasting difference.

Thanks be to Denise and to my wife Angie for their help and for those that did support letters.

Be aware of some things..

The FCC is proposing a bunch of regulations to the airwaves that would cause a big rise in costs to radio stations on top of regulating what you can say on the air. You don’t have to believe in God or care about Christian radio because it will affect all freedoms on the air. When you go to the following website, it will have a link on the right that says ‘save Christian radio stations.’ You click on it and it will take you to the FCC website that gives you all the regulations that they are proposing. If you do not think it is okay for the government to massively sensor the airwaves, then you need to voice your opinion. The last date to do so is Monday, April 28th. www.klove.com is the website. Okay, so I missed this deadline, but we still can call our Congressperson and boldly but friendly request that the so-called "fairness doctrine" be stopped. It is only a cover to create all liberal radio.

The other thing is the movie Expelled: No intelligence allowed. This is a movie by Ben Stein concerning the hypocrisy of the science academia and other branches of academia that persecutes anyone that does not conform to believing hook, line, and sinker in Darwin ’s theory of evolution. It is being criticized strongly by the evolutionists that do not want you to see it. In this day of people preaching tolerance, thinking for yourself, etc. there is blatant efforts to stop investigation and criticism of the evolution theory; in other words, you can think for yourself, just as long as you think what we tell you. No "intelligent design" beside "Darwinism" even. Truth does not fear investigation. In all the debates I have ever seen no science facts have been given to support the theory, only the statements of what they believe to happen. Students in our universities and even high schools that question the science teacher about the holes in the evolution theory were made fun of and sure to get a bad grade. No matter what you believe, it shows the hypocrisy of our society. See it and form your own opinion. That is freedom.

This topic is very potent to me, as I am a graduate of Iowa State University. An astronomy professor there this past year was denied tenure because he, on the side, not using his university time and money, published a popular book, "The priviledged planet". An athiest religion studies teacher, NOW THATS AN OXYMORON, raised a stink and got some others on his side to protest the professor's tenure application, and it was denied. I emailed the college president last year, as an alumnus, and asked him for an explanation and demanded that his religious views that do not impact his scholarly work should not be a factor in his tenure. The president did actually write back but only stated that the reason was "Mr. Gonzales work was not to the trajectory of a tenured professor." In other words, we did not bring big grants and donors to the school. I replied back that his reasoning is a joke. This story is interviewed on the movie. I hope to go see it.

Creston Youth Rally 2008

Please attend out youth rally this year at the Creston Church of Christ at 510 South Poplar in Creston, Iowa. The date is April 12 from 10:30 to 3 PM. You will find friendly people, good worship songs, a skit, a quality message, free food, and activities for all ages. The speaker is William Pope. The message is entitled "Healthy Living."

God Bless.

The Christian and Civic Life

The Christian is to live in harmony with God while living in this society. To live in harmony, we must live in subjection with the governing authorities. We have studied in church the role of Christian in the civic life. The Christian is told by God in Romans 13 to be in subjection to the governing authorities because they are 1) ordained by God, 2) given to be ministers of justice and righteousness, and 3) given a sword for a reason. We have learned much from studying this topic, even though it is challenging to accept that God is putting these governments in power, when they: 1) endorse homosexuality, 2) take away our religious freedoms, 3) endorse abortion, and 4) many leaders are corrupt. Remember, God uses the government to both lead and judge the people. They are a reflection of us. Therefore, we must live rightly, vote, and participate in government as much as God has given grace to us to do so.

If we pray only and do not vote, we are like the parable Jesus told about the man who said to the person in need, "hope you are are okay," (my paraphrase) but refuses to lift a finger to help the person in need. Pray, then participate in the process, then vote. In God we trust.

VBS this Summer

With warm days coming up, it makes me think of my favorite season, summer.

Soon it will be time to plan VBS and I really want us to have one here in our church this year. Any suggestions or stories of your VBS experience? We'd love to hear them.

Interesting Survey

We get a Parenting magazine that we do not even pay for. The magazine is usually quite left-leaning. I read to learn some good insight but mostly to see what the libs are saying. I found a survey in the mag I thought you should see. Over 300 responded to an online survey put on by the magazine. The question was, "Are dolls too sexy?"

I am encouraged that 82% said yes, but below is what disturbs me. Two of the three comments provided quite disturb me (these comments are probably representative of the whole lot):

"If today's 'girl' dolls are too sexy, then aren't 'boy' dolls like GI Joe and Spider-Man too macho?" Is this woman insane? The very thing our boys today need is "manly" role models, tough (yet gentle) guys, that take on the roles God calls them to take, to lead families and the church, to lead the society, to defend against harm. In a generation where schools are banning "cowboys and Indians" and many other wild, macho, or seemingly racist/sexist games, we need to make sure boys do "boy things". Put them in Boy Scouts, take them fishing, teach them about a proper way to love women in a Godly way, teach them as many sports as possible. Give them a chance to explore "manly" things. If they want to play with dolls after that, so be it, but I doubt they will prefer that.

"I noticed that the Bratz dolls of color are the only ones that actually have nonwhite facial features. I'd give my daughters a multicultural doll in a bra and miniskirt over a homogeneous-looking doll any day." WHAT!! Maybe we need to send her back to "diversity training" because she sure is going soft on us (tongue in cheek). This woman cannot possibly have a pulse or be breathing if she really things that the only problem with Bratz dolls or others is that they aren't "black" enough. Diversity is not a goal, but a fact of life. Let's celebrate our differences but love us for who we are. What a racist.

If you disagree, comment! Or if you agree.

Insightful Face of the Nation

From David Myers, reprinted in the book my sister Lynzie gave me, "Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters."

We are better paid, better fed, better housed, better educated, and healthier than ever before...yet for 30 years America slid into a deepening social recession...divorce doubled, teen suicide tripled, recorded violent crime quadrupled, prison population quintupled, percentage of babies born to unwed mothers has sextupled, cohabitation (a predictor of future divorce) has increased sevenfold, and depression has soared to ten times the pre-WWII level.

The book's author, Dick Staub, follows by saying: "Everyone serves someone, either the devil or the Lord. We make the choice not of whether we will serve by whom we will obey, and the fallout from the sixties (and since [my comment]) makes it pretty clear who most people are serving."

He later quotes Mark Twain: "It's not what I don't understand in the Bible that bothers me; it's what I do understand."

My comment: If we wish to stop the decay as a nation, we have to fight back against the dark forces in our society, workers of the devil, that wish to keep all religious expression from public life.

Memorial Service for the Unborn

Today my family and I attended the county's annual memorial service to remember the over 30 million unborn babies that have been slaughtered since 1973, when the US Supreme Court "legalized" abortion on demand on January 22. The annual service includes poems, short sermons and speaches, and music in a funeral format. Our county has some strong supporters of the cause, but we are too few it seems. Many just don't come up to stand. About 30 attended today's ceremony, and four people gave messages, including our evangelist at our church. If Christians are unwilling to stand for "the least of these", how do we expect to stand before our loving God and profess Him boldly.

Ways you can stand:
1. By all means, learn the issues and vote.
2. Write letters to the editor.
3. Donate and volunteer, if possible, to the causes that support life, like the National Right to Life PAC.
4. Join a local group concerned with the issue.
5. Pray, and again I say, pray (for good politicians, good judges, and women who are struggling with the pregancies)
6. Help people where you can. In the words of Casting Crowns, my favorite band, "love them like Jesus."