Blessed in the U.S.A.

Sometimes we take for granted how blessed we are to be Americans. It is also easy during the current struggles where it seems that every aspect of Christian life is under attack to forget just how blessed we are to live in a country where we can get up and go to church without fear of being killed just because we are Christians. In Iraq, this is far from the case. That being said, it is encouraging that Iraq is yielding a great crop of new Christians and it is easy to see that God is working there as muslims are having visions that are causing them to convert to Christianity. How great is our God!

WSJ Confirms - New Health Plan = Taxpayer Funded Abortions

The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that the President Obama's new health care plan would open the way for taxpayer funded abortions. As Christians, when will we take a stand? Why do we stay silent?

Step Back New Hampshire! Are you kidding me?

New Hampshire Judges have decided that a 10 year old home-schooled girl with an "above average" intellect must attend public school because she is too adamant about her Christian beliefs and she should be exposed to "other possibilities." Wow! And people make jokes about southern folks. I am glad I live in Tennessee. Surely to goodness this gets overturned.

The Devil in the Details!

The A.C.L.U. which I believe secretly stands for the Anti-Christian Liberals Union lost in court this week. While it does my heart good to see the extreme liberal organization take this to the chin, I wonder if there should not be some sort of counter-suit against their lawyer for making what clearly seems to be a less than straight faced effort to besmirch Christianity.

An American Tale - making a black and white issue shades of gray.

America is a wonderful country. I am so blessed to live here and we have had God's hand on us as a country enabling us to become the most affluent nation in the world. Well sure, other countries may have higher per capita incomes, but no one has the income levels and the freedoms we enjoy in America. That being said, no one is better at pushing the envelope and blurring issues that should be black and white into mere shades of gray.

The church I belonged to in Memphis, TN, Kirby Woods Baptist Church and its former preacher brother Bob Pittman always said that you love the sinner and hate the sin. Homosexuality is a sin. It doesn't mean that we should hate homosexual people, but it does mean that they are living in sin while in the lifestyle. With this Biblical truth in hand I must admit that the Lutheran Church's decision to allow homosexual preachers has severely disappointed me. Now do not misunderstand, every preacher in America sins, but not every preacher in America lives their sin in blatant disobedience for all to see.

Some churches in the Lutheran faith need to examine whether their leadership has their best interest at heart, or if they are merely being transformed to the world instead of rising above it.

The Song of the Week.

The Song and Video of the week this week is from In Christ Alone - Adrienne Liesching and Geoff Moore.

Vacation Bible School Week - Children truly are gifts from God.

It is VBS week and I am teaching the kindergartners. I must admit, I had no idea what to expect, but after having had the group of kids for the week, I can truly say that children are gifts from God.

As John Greenleaf Whittier, the Quaker Poet, penned in "The Barefoot Boy" -

"Cheerily, then, my little man,Live and laugh, as boyhood can!Though the flinty slopes be hard,Stubble-speared the new-mown sward,Every morn shall lead thee through Fresh baptisms of the dew;Every evening from thy feet Shall the cool wind kiss the heat:All too soon these feet must hide In the prison cells of pride,Lose the freedom of the sod,Like a colt’s for work be shod,Made to tread the mills of toil,Up and down in ceaseless moil:Happy if their track be found Never on forbidden ground;Happy if they sink not in Quick and treacherous sands of sin.Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy,Ere it passes, barefoot boy!"

Children have such a wonderful view on life, they do not see the corruption and stress of life. They know only playing and enjoying life. Much too, is how man was designed I believe and if we would ever truly turn everything over to God so much freedom we would find. That, however, seems easier said than done. But for this VBS teacher, living intravenously through my kindergartners this week has been a blast. Surely there can be no question why Jesus loved children so much.