University's Expulsion of Honor Student Brings Lawsuit

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) has a fight on its hands, and well it should, after expelling a masters student with a 3.91 GPA because she refused to accept a client whose issue concerned a homosexual relationship. Julea Ward a Christian student in the EMU counseling program had previously informed her supervisor that she would not counsel said client in affirmation of his homosexual relationship due to her religious convictions. She told her supervisor that she was willing to counsel the client on any other issues, but that she would not counsel him regarding his sexual lifestyle choice. Upon this decision, Ward was investigated by an academic committee and expelled from school, despite being an honors student just months from graduation. Ward has since filed a lawsuit against the University through the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom. Kudos to Ms. Ward for sticking to her convictions and not backing down in the face of overwhelming pressure. This will be a case to watch in the upcoming weeks. Prayers of support be with Ms. Ward.

An Abortion Gone Oh So Right.

Her medical record reads "born during a saline abortion." Her body has the "gift" (her words not mine) of cerebral palsy. She was born in an abortion clinic and raised as an orphan in a foster home, yet Gianna Jessen isn't going to complain. You are more likely to find Jessen running a marathon than complaining about her cerebral palsy. She just completed a 26.2 mile marathon in 7 hours. For all of us who sometimes think life can be overwhelming, Jessen is a swift dose of reality. For everyone who believes a woman's right to choose overshadows a child's right to live Jessen is God's answer.

Jessen was born with cerebral palsy as a result of a failed third trimester abortion attempt by her then 17 year old mother. For 18 hours Jessen's body was burned in the womb by the saline, but she survived and was born a 2 pound baby girl. Doctor's doubted whether she would ever hold her head up. When she began to walk she needed the aid of braces. And now, well now she runs marathons. If the story ended there, it would be remarkable and awe inspiring. It doesn't. You see Jessen is a devout Christian that now travels the world sharing her testimony and speaking to young people about the horrors of abortions. She has a pretty good perspective from which to speak.

I can find a myriad of excuses not to talk about the Lord. Ms. Jessen has the perfect excuse and instead uses it to her strength to reach people for Christ. Jessen is an inspiration, but I doubt she would see it that way. I think she would be quick to say that Jesus is the true inspiration. As a Christian Jessen lives life to the fullest in a way pleasing to God without excuses. Oh that the same could be said of each and every one of us.

Gianna Jessen was a guest speaker at the 13th Annual Banquet for the Hope Resource Center at the Christian Academy of Knoxville's Campus Center on Saturday April 24th.

How Amazing Is Our God?

Sometimes I stand in awe at God's power and might. What an amazing world he has created. Look at these pictures of volcanic eruptions in Iceland and Chile and let me know if you are not in awe of his might. The picture on the left is of a volcano in Chile that created an instant thunderstorm. The picture on the right is the current eruption in Iceland which is existing right along side the aurora borealis. Simply amazing!

What can FAITH do for you?

My favorite song at this moment is WHAT FAITH CAN DO by Kutless. I invite you to listen to the words to this song. The youtube video is one I thought was rather appropriate for the song.

Jesus fulfilled scripture, not replaced it.

A Casper Wyoming man is making headlines because he has painted his fence with a Bible verse that denounces homosexuality as a sin. Some are saying that this is hate speech. Where has the First Amendment gone? Perhaps the most frightening trend is the thought that his neighbor articulates in the article, mainly, that Jesus somehow came to contradict the Old Testament. This is not true. Jesus came to fulfill scripture. In fact in John 1:1 it states "In the beginning was the Word (notice the capital "W"), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." To contradict the Old Testament would require Jesus to contradict himself.

NCAA - No Christians Allowed Anymore?

As a huge sports fan I found it interesting over the weekend when I discovered that without so much as a whisper the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) sucker punched the First Amendment of the Constitution. Among the proposed rule changes rolled out by the NCAA for the upcoming year is a ban on messages that appear on eye-black. Eye-black is the gummy black tape like stuff that football players wear beneath their eyes to eliminate glare from light. It goes without saying that the most notorious player who adorned himself with eye-black was former all-world Florida Gator quarterback Tim Tebow who would always put a Bible scripture verse on his eye-black in hopes that he would - gasp - make a positive influence in someone's life. In fact in the 2009 National Title Game Tebow sported the infamous John 3:16 Bible Verse on his eye-black. The result, 90 million Google searches for the verse the next day. In fact, the University of Tennessee's starting quarterback this past year Jonathon Crompton was saved after getting interested in the Bible when he saw Tebow's eye-black. In a day and age when football players bellyache about having to be role models, Tim Tebow has embraced the roll. He used his eye-black as a way to promote a positive message. Congratulations to the NCAA for getting yet another rule change wrong and in the process of removing messages from eye-black, giving itself a black-eye.

Palin Draws a Line in the Sand

Sarah Palin stood up and declared that America is still a Christian country founded on Christian principals. This may come as a shock to President Obama who said that America is no longer a Christian country, but rather a country of many different religious beliefs. Kudos to Sarah Palin on this one.