"...every eye shall see Him"
Revelation 1:7
A City Transformation Youth Event
December 27-30, 2005
Blue Cross Arena
Rochester, NY
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
In NY for the week...
Sunday, December 11, 2005
The Most Popular - Most Misunderstood Bible Verse
I know what you’re thinking, John 3:16 has got to be the most popular. Wrong! It’s Matthew 7:1. This verse is probably quoted more often than any other passage in the Bible, by Christians and non-Christians alike. And what is this beloved passage? You’ll know it as soon as I begin…
“Judge not, that you be not judged.” See, I told you, you'd know it. And why is this passage the most beloved, most quoted verse in the entire Bible? Because it can be taken out of context and misused very easily to justify any and all sinful behavior. Christians will often quote it as soon as a fellow brother or sister in Christ confronts them about an area of sin in their life, and non-Christians will use it every time they’re confronted with the Biblical truth that they’re lost sinners needing salvation. “How dare you call me a sinner? How dare you try to judge me, you arrogant twit!?” That’s generally the response you get.
Basically, this boils down to Matt.7:1, becoming the end-all verse that stops dead in its tracks, any attempt to be a loving, caring, discerning, and yes… Biblical Christian. Is this really what Jesus meant? Did He really mean that we can never approach a brother or sister in Christ about sin in their life? If so, then why did He give instructions for doing it in Matt.18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5, and Galatians 6:1-5?
Did Jesus really mean that we can’t ever know who is really on God’s side and who is not? If so, then why did He say just a few verses later speaking of false teachers, “you will know them by their fruit.” Jesus, you mean, I’m to examine the fruit of a “professing” Christian’s life and compare to your Word to see if its real or not? But that’s making a judgment, Jesus? How could I ever tell another human being that they’re wrong?... that they’re life is not matching up with their "profession"? But even more important than that… Why would you ever want me to do such an unloving, supposedly “un-Christian” thing as pointing out the sin in another person’s life? Should I not be much more loving and kind and just take them for their word? Why in the world would you ever want me to do such a thing, Jesus?!
“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,… you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
(Ezekiel 33:1,7-9)
You see, in reality, the most loving, caring, and yes, Biblical thing we can do, as Christians, is to warn people regarding their sin and the terrible judgment and wrath to come. Matt.7:1 is not the end-all verse commanding us that it is never appropriate to be discerning, judging, and yes, even confronting from time to time. Jesus was simply warning us about having a harsh, condemning, and critical spirit that finds fault in everything and everyone, even to the point of trying to cast judgment on another person’s motives, which no man can do. As the Scriptures tell us, confronting those who are lost, and helping to bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters in Christ actually fulfills the “law of Christ,” which is the law of love.
“Judge not, that you be not judged.” See, I told you, you'd know it. And why is this passage the most beloved, most quoted verse in the entire Bible? Because it can be taken out of context and misused very easily to justify any and all sinful behavior. Christians will often quote it as soon as a fellow brother or sister in Christ confronts them about an area of sin in their life, and non-Christians will use it every time they’re confronted with the Biblical truth that they’re lost sinners needing salvation. “How dare you call me a sinner? How dare you try to judge me, you arrogant twit!?” That’s generally the response you get.
Basically, this boils down to Matt.7:1, becoming the end-all verse that stops dead in its tracks, any attempt to be a loving, caring, discerning, and yes… Biblical Christian. Is this really what Jesus meant? Did He really mean that we can never approach a brother or sister in Christ about sin in their life? If so, then why did He give instructions for doing it in Matt.18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5, and Galatians 6:1-5?
Did Jesus really mean that we can’t ever know who is really on God’s side and who is not? If so, then why did He say just a few verses later speaking of false teachers, “you will know them by their fruit.” Jesus, you mean, I’m to examine the fruit of a “professing” Christian’s life and compare to your Word to see if its real or not? But that’s making a judgment, Jesus? How could I ever tell another human being that they’re wrong?... that they’re life is not matching up with their "profession"? But even more important than that… Why would you ever want me to do such an unloving, supposedly “un-Christian” thing as pointing out the sin in another person’s life? Should I not be much more loving and kind and just take them for their word? Why in the world would you ever want me to do such a thing, Jesus?!
“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,… you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
(Ezekiel 33:1,7-9)
You see, in reality, the most loving, caring, and yes, Biblical thing we can do, as Christians, is to warn people regarding their sin and the terrible judgment and wrath to come. Matt.7:1 is not the end-all verse commanding us that it is never appropriate to be discerning, judging, and yes, even confronting from time to time. Jesus was simply warning us about having a harsh, condemning, and critical spirit that finds fault in everything and everyone, even to the point of trying to cast judgment on another person’s motives, which no man can do. As the Scriptures tell us, confronting those who are lost, and helping to bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters in Christ actually fulfills the “law of Christ,” which is the law of love.
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Training Kids to be KILLERS
This morning, I found a sobering and even frightening article written by Lt. Col. Dave Gossman. In this article, this man who helps to train numerous elite military and law enforcement organizations around the world, speaks about the "virus of violence" that is killing our society and documents his research with alarming statistics. Lt. Col. Gossman also illustrates very thoroughly how much of the violent media influence on our kids is very similar to, if not worse than the "killer training" being used in the military today; tactics and programs such as brutalization, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and role modeling. Gossman writes, "During World War II, we discovered that only 15-20 percent of the individual riflemen would fire at an exposed enemy soldier (because of the natural, internal resistance to killing one's own kind). When the military became aware of this, they systematically went about the process of "fixing" this "problem." And fix it they did. By Vietnam the firing rate rose to over 90 percent." The methods of instruction listed above that were used to "fix" this problem, are the same methods affecting our kids today.
(Click on any of these pictures to view the actual article)
Check out the article yourself... it is extremely sobering
(Click on any of these pictures to view the actual article)
Check out the article yourself... it is extremely sobering
Friday, December 2, 2005
Who's Afraid of the Truth?
This morning I read an article in World magazine entitled “Dover Disruption.” Evidently the citizens of Dover, Pa. didn’t want to wait for Judge John E. Jones III to rule in their present lawsuit regarding the statement mentioning Intelligent Design in their ninth-grade curriculum; they went ahead and took action for themselves. This past Nov.8th, the good citizens of the Dover Area School District narrowly voted to replace members of the board with a pro-evolution panel committed to keeping ID out of science classrooms.
A similar situation in another state also made headlines on Nov. 8th when the Kansas State Board of Education adopted a science curriculum that includes well-established challenges to the theory of evolution. These new standards will not propose alternate theories, such as ID, but will refrain from teaching Darwinism as an unchallenged fact.
What we see here are two very different approaches to the same issue. One is willing to teach true science, honestly telling students what we know and what we don’t know, unafraid of controversy, while the other would rather hide the truth, teach something as fact when it is not, and would rather brainwash young minds rather than educate them. So, my question is: who is really afraid of the truth in this on-going situation?
Born again Christians, who believe the Bible, are continuously portrayed by non-believers, as simple, ignorant, uneducated, and completely not up to par with the rest of our well-developed, well-informed society. We have obstinately refused to be enlightened, choosing rather to glory in our “ignorance” and our simplistic belief in God’s word. This is how we are portrayed.
So, naturally I find it very amusing and even satisfying when a blatant example as mentioned above illustrates in broad day-light just who are the ones who are really afraid of an honest look at all the evidence. Anyone who has studied this debate, and who was willing to take an honest, objective look at all the evidence has to admit that it takes a WHOLE lot more faith to believe that all of what we see around us could have just happened by chance, rather than even entertaining the idea that a master Craftsman and Creator intelligently designed it all.
If you want to blindly believe that all the wondrous variety and complexity of this universe happened from an explosion of space trash millions of years ago, then go right ahead. Just remember that the likelihood of that happening is the same as Webster’s dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop. People who have the truth are never afraid of it.
A similar situation in another state also made headlines on Nov. 8th when the Kansas State Board of Education adopted a science curriculum that includes well-established challenges to the theory of evolution. These new standards will not propose alternate theories, such as ID, but will refrain from teaching Darwinism as an unchallenged fact.
What we see here are two very different approaches to the same issue. One is willing to teach true science, honestly telling students what we know and what we don’t know, unafraid of controversy, while the other would rather hide the truth, teach something as fact when it is not, and would rather brainwash young minds rather than educate them. So, my question is: who is really afraid of the truth in this on-going situation?
Born again Christians, who believe the Bible, are continuously portrayed by non-believers, as simple, ignorant, uneducated, and completely not up to par with the rest of our well-developed, well-informed society. We have obstinately refused to be enlightened, choosing rather to glory in our “ignorance” and our simplistic belief in God’s word. This is how we are portrayed.
So, naturally I find it very amusing and even satisfying when a blatant example as mentioned above illustrates in broad day-light just who are the ones who are really afraid of an honest look at all the evidence. Anyone who has studied this debate, and who was willing to take an honest, objective look at all the evidence has to admit that it takes a WHOLE lot more faith to believe that all of what we see around us could have just happened by chance, rather than even entertaining the idea that a master Craftsman and Creator intelligently designed it all.
If you want to blindly believe that all the wondrous variety and complexity of this universe happened from an explosion of space trash millions of years ago, then go right ahead. Just remember that the likelihood of that happening is the same as Webster’s dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop. People who have the truth are never afraid of it.
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Testing out Hello Program
Our Family Christmas
2004.
Just testing my new hello program.
Look how tiny Caleb is... 4 mnths old. :)
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Teens and the Issue of Privacy
Yesterday I was reading an article from http://www.albertmohler.com/ (“The Teen Code – A Wake Up Call for Parents”). It is about a 17 year old young man named Rhett Godfrey who had written a book entitled, The Teen Code. In this book written for parents, Godfrey tries to give advice to parents in order to help them relate and communicate better with their teens. One of the issues that he tackled was the issue of privacy. Allow me to quote straight from the article:
In discussing teenagers and the issue of privacy, Rhett counsels parents to prove their trust by granting their teenage children a wide swath of privacy, even when they suspect wrongful or dangerous behavior. Privacy, he offers, "is a sacred thing to teenagers."
Rhett tells the story of "Jessica," a sixteen-year-old girl in Akron, Ohio. As Jessica relates, "My mom came to me one day with pictures of me and my friends drinking and smoking (and not just cigarettes). I got in sooo much trouble. But I also was so [outraged] that she went through my purse. She told me that she was looking for makeup and she just saw them. I know that is [nonsense]; why would she want any of my makeup? We have totally different tastes. I felt really betrayed, and we didn't talk for awhile."
Here we have a sixteen-year-old girl whose experiments in drinking and smoking marijuana have gotten her in trouble, though the consequences of that trouble, if any, are not provided. The main function of Jessica's story, however, is to warn parents against snooping.
This little segment really got me to thinking about the whole issue of teens and privacy. I agree whole-heartedly with Godfrey’s opinion that privacy is a “sacred thing to teenagers,” however my question is: should we be overly concerned about it; i.e. should our kids privacy be a high priority on our list as parents. Personally, I do not think so.
As parents who are under the authority of Almighty God, who have been given the command to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and who will one day be held accountable for how we carried out that charge, the issue of privacy just doesn’t seem to be necessary, required, or all that beneficial. Now, please understand I am not talking about a teenager not being able to change his clothes or take a shower without someone watching. I’m talking about teenagers keeping much of their lives private and secretive from their parents, like who their friends are, what they’re doing, what music their listening to, who they’re emailing, so on and so forth. I simply do not believe that teenagers who are living under the protection, provision, and guidance of their parents have any inalienable rights to privacy. If walking through my teenager’s room every now and then, or checking their internet history, or even looking through closets when suspicions are aroused, helps me to keep my children safe and on the right path, then that is what I’m going to do… and as my Dad use to tell us, “If you don’t like, tough…this is my house.” The only complete and total privacy that I personally would respect would be a diary or journal, but everything else is fair game.
So, why is the issue of privacy so important to teens? In the above article, why was “Jessica” keeping the pictures of her and her friends secret? Because she was doing things she shouldn’t have been doing in the first place! There’s really only one of two reasons that I can think of why a young person would demand such privacy: 1) either their doing things that are wrong in the first place, or 2) they are just completely rebellious to the whole issue of parental authority, oversight, and discipline… and most of the time, its probably both. As I think about this, I’m reminded of something Jesus said in John 3, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Is this why most teens demand privacy, so they may carry on practicing evil without scrutiny or consequences? I’m also reminded, that God, as my heavenly Father, does not grant me privacy of any kind. Every thing I do, say, or even think in my heart is wide open for Him to see and know, and one day judge.
I sincerely believe that too many parents today are trying to be their kids’ friend, rather than being the authoritative, God-ordained parent that they have been called to be. And I believe we’re seeing the fruit of this wrongful thinking in our culture today. Parents, love your kids enough to be in their lives and to be fully aware of what and with whom they’re doing things, and love them enough to hold them accountable and discipline when necessary! “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.” (Proverbs 23:13-14)
In discussing teenagers and the issue of privacy, Rhett counsels parents to prove their trust by granting their teenage children a wide swath of privacy, even when they suspect wrongful or dangerous behavior. Privacy, he offers, "is a sacred thing to teenagers."
Rhett tells the story of "Jessica," a sixteen-year-old girl in Akron, Ohio. As Jessica relates, "My mom came to me one day with pictures of me and my friends drinking and smoking (and not just cigarettes). I got in sooo much trouble. But I also was so [outraged] that she went through my purse. She told me that she was looking for makeup and she just saw them. I know that is [nonsense]; why would she want any of my makeup? We have totally different tastes. I felt really betrayed, and we didn't talk for awhile."
Here we have a sixteen-year-old girl whose experiments in drinking and smoking marijuana have gotten her in trouble, though the consequences of that trouble, if any, are not provided. The main function of Jessica's story, however, is to warn parents against snooping.
This little segment really got me to thinking about the whole issue of teens and privacy. I agree whole-heartedly with Godfrey’s opinion that privacy is a “sacred thing to teenagers,” however my question is: should we be overly concerned about it; i.e. should our kids privacy be a high priority on our list as parents. Personally, I do not think so.
As parents who are under the authority of Almighty God, who have been given the command to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and who will one day be held accountable for how we carried out that charge, the issue of privacy just doesn’t seem to be necessary, required, or all that beneficial. Now, please understand I am not talking about a teenager not being able to change his clothes or take a shower without someone watching. I’m talking about teenagers keeping much of their lives private and secretive from their parents, like who their friends are, what they’re doing, what music their listening to, who they’re emailing, so on and so forth. I simply do not believe that teenagers who are living under the protection, provision, and guidance of their parents have any inalienable rights to privacy. If walking through my teenager’s room every now and then, or checking their internet history, or even looking through closets when suspicions are aroused, helps me to keep my children safe and on the right path, then that is what I’m going to do… and as my Dad use to tell us, “If you don’t like, tough…this is my house.” The only complete and total privacy that I personally would respect would be a diary or journal, but everything else is fair game.
So, why is the issue of privacy so important to teens? In the above article, why was “Jessica” keeping the pictures of her and her friends secret? Because she was doing things she shouldn’t have been doing in the first place! There’s really only one of two reasons that I can think of why a young person would demand such privacy: 1) either their doing things that are wrong in the first place, or 2) they are just completely rebellious to the whole issue of parental authority, oversight, and discipline… and most of the time, its probably both. As I think about this, I’m reminded of something Jesus said in John 3, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Is this why most teens demand privacy, so they may carry on practicing evil without scrutiny or consequences? I’m also reminded, that God, as my heavenly Father, does not grant me privacy of any kind. Every thing I do, say, or even think in my heart is wide open for Him to see and know, and one day judge.
I sincerely believe that too many parents today are trying to be their kids’ friend, rather than being the authoritative, God-ordained parent that they have been called to be. And I believe we’re seeing the fruit of this wrongful thinking in our culture today. Parents, love your kids enough to be in their lives and to be fully aware of what and with whom they’re doing things, and love them enough to hold them accountable and discipline when necessary! “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.” (Proverbs 23:13-14)
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Thank you, Sweetheart... I love you!
I wanted to dedicate my first blog entry to my most beautiful and sweet wife, Andrea, who just happened to be the one who designed this blog for me. I can honestly say that God has truly blessed me by giving Andrea to be my wife. Not only is she a computer wiz... but she is a great wife and wonderful mother to our son. And the thing that I love most about Andrea is the fact that she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She' s one of a kind, and I love her with all my heart.
So, Sweetheart... thank you... not for just designing this really cool blog, but thank you for being a great wife and companion to me, and a wonderful mother to Caleb.
Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
(Proverbs 31:10-12, 30)
So, Sweetheart... thank you... not for just designing this really cool blog, but thank you for being a great wife and companion to me, and a wonderful mother to Caleb.
Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
(Proverbs 31:10-12, 30)
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Learning how to blog...
Trying to figure out this blogging stuff. My wife blogs so I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. Give me some time to set things up. 
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