Merry early Christmas to the ACLU!

Yes, Christmas cards! This is coming early (really early) so that you can get ready to include an important address to your list:

What a GREAT idea! Fun with the ACLU...... Wanna have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year. As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN, card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world. Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it. Here's the Address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's Not the Christian Way):

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor New York, NY 10004

Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 39 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . It's a Christmas Tree even in the fields!!

(this was a forward, but i have edited it for great content and a great suggestion for all of us to share Christ even with the ACLU)

Senator Jim DeMint

When I travel home mid-October, I intend on voting absentee. Over the past year I have some, though very little, correspondence with South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint. First, I contacted his office about the hostility by India's government and Hindu leaders concerning the Emmanuel Ministries in Kota, India. A bill was put before the senate and Demint gave his approval for the bill. Second, I learned that DeMint would be speaking to the South Carolina Baptist Convention in November and I emailed his office letting DeMint know I was praying for him, as he would be giving his testimonty to the SCBC messengers.
I am an avid reader of the Baptist Press webpage and the following was released at this page concerning Senator DeMint:

Sen. Jim DeMint, R.-S.C., has blocked a confirmation vote on President Bush’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration unless he acts to suspend the sale of the abortion drug RU 486.

I know where I stand and vote when it comes to S.Carolina Senator Jim DeMint!

It makes me "feel good"? well not really

Over the past couple of years, the preacher/speaker of Joel Osteen has made me cringe. Concerning the following two articles found on this page, it is very evident to me that Joel Osteen does NOT preach the whole counsel of God's Word. He is picking and choosing the feel-good and inspirational parts of the Bible.

Maybe this could be an open conversation between us in the coming days. But the following found on the weblink above really makes me skeptical on the "preacher" of Joel Osteen:

[Joel Ostee] was at a Boston bookstore signing books when he was asked his opinion about "gay marriage," which has been legal in Massachusetts since 2004. According to the Boston Herald, Osteen "suddenly got sheepish." "I don't think it's God's best," Osteen said, according to the Sept. 2 edition of the Herald. "I never feel like homosexuality is God's best." Pressed further, Osteen added, "I don't feel like that's my thrust ... you know, some of the issues that divide us, and I'm here to let people know that God is for them and He's on their side."

Writing in his weblog, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said Osteen's answer fell short."Put that alongside the fact that Stephen Green was recently arrested in Great Britain for passing out pamphlets that included Bible verses clearly declaring homosexuality to be a sin," Mohler wrote. "Christians in many parts of the world now risk arrest for declaring openly what the Bible clearly teaches. Mr. Osteen can be assured that his weak and evasive non-answer to this reporter's question will put him at very little risk for arrest. But then, pandering prophets are rarely at much of a risk from the public anyway."There was no conviction in his answer; no clear declaration of biblical truth; no Gospel, no judgment, and no promise. Just a non-answer with a smile. Pathetic ... simply pathetic."

It is not the first time Osteen has given a somewhat evasive answer to a moral question. In June 2005, during an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live," Osteen was asked about his positions on "gay marriage" and abortion."You know what, Larry? I don't go there. I just ...," he said, according to a transcript. "... I just, you know, I don't think that a same-sex marriage is the way God intended it to be. I don't think abortion is the best. I think there are other, you know, a better way to live your life. But I'm not going to condemn those people. I tell them all the time our church is open for everybody."

"You don't call them sinners?" King asked."I don't," Osteen said."Is that a word you don't use?" King asked."I don't use it," Osteen responded. "I never thought about it. But I probably don't. But most people already know what they're doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change. There can be a difference in your life. So I don't go down the road of condemning."

Got Tracts?

Here is the story from a week ago and now this is what I am thinking:

As many of you know I faithfully work at Lifeway Christian Store in Raleigh on Capitol Boulevard between 10-20 hours a week. Our store has it's own unique customers granted, but there are some worth blogging about! A lady has come in like two visits out of the last three weeks I have worked. Noting at the checkout counter, " you need some more tracts, do you know when you'll get some more in." And on the way out after she paid her ten bucks worth of 'gospel' tracts, imperatively noting something to the effect of, "how can i tell these kids if i can't get tracts here."

Now excuse me for a moment, when was the last time you needed a tract to tell someone about Salvation in Christ? People may respond to tracts. People may throw the tract on the ground. People may even pass the tract on to some other more likely tract reader. But when did having a tract become the only way to tell someone about Salvation in Christ?

If this is the mind-set we have given about tracts, we have failed. Man can not live by bread alone, and I would substitute the word tract for bread. Man cannot live on tract alone! Take the life-changing Gospel to the hard places, to the hard peoples, not only living it but telling it as you go along. Don't rely on on the tracts, rely on the Father who came and dwelt among us...Who embraced a cross on our behalf so that we could become the righteousness of God!

Mid-September

Sorry for the eleven day gap in this post and the last one, I have been catching up on some school work.

First off, let me share with you some books I have read since August that you may want to read for yourself (Title of the book, Author, and Publisher):

1. Bible Study Methods (Rick Warren, Zondervan)
2. When God Builds a Church (Bob Russell, Howard)
3. Real Teens (Barna, Regal)
4. Darwin on Trial (Phillip Johnson, Intervarsity)

Second, I hope for you as the autumn days begin very soon, that your relationship with Christ will continue to grow and you will remain steadfast in your faith.

Third, let us all remember to pray for the upcoming November election. I hope that we all do our homework and prayerfully consider those whom are running for office. We need leaders with a Biblical world-view that will help shape and form our society to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

My Favorite Chapel preacher

To quote a hebrew expression: "WOW"

This has to be the most famous quote of Dr. Charles "Chuck" Kelley, President of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Thursday, September 7th, Dr. Kelley addressed, preached, and everything else to our chapel audience at Southeastern Baptist Seminary. Speaking from his heart and his shattered life in the past year, Dr. Kelley expounded on a familiar passage found in Isaiah 43:1-2.

Here is a link to the message found on the SEBTS webpage to hear this incredible message by a powerful preacher and communicator of God's Word: click here

Not your normal post :

I recently wrote the following to the Richard Furman Scholarship Committee of the South Carolina Baptist Convention,

"I am grateful and honored to be a recipient of the Richard Furman Scholarship I received on May 26, 2006, which will assist my seminary education at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I recognize this letter of thanks is overdue, but I received the scholarship letter while serving for ten weeks this summer with the Intracoastal Outreach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After overcoming a move from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary due to Hurricane Katrina just one year ago, I have seen the power, provision, and love of God in amazing ways. I will graduate from SEBTS on December 15 this year with a Masters of Divinity degree in the area of Christian Education. Furthermore, I will be obtaining a Youth Ministry Certificate from the New Orleans Seminary. I know my parents share in appreciation with me in this special financial gift. I am personally thankful for the people of the South Carolina Baptist Convention who are giving through the Cooperative Program as they seek to help and train men and women of God for Kingdom work by giving sacrificially in this way. The Cooperative Program is making education a reality for me!"

Labor Day 2006

So I just returned from a wonderful and relaxing vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Yes, a little trip back to memory lane and to the Intracoastal Outreach refuge on 4th Avenue North! It was a great adventure where I got to see some former summer staffers (kyle young, amanda raymer, and alissa), my US2 friend Amanda Smith, and all of five minutes with my summer supervisor Todd Wodd. It was also a blessing to spend some time with Richard Jenkins, chaplain at Apache Family Campground and play some putt-putt with him (definitely our summer competitive-activity). Sunday morning I had the chance to preach to his Apache congregation on the pier over the Atlantic Ocean. Saturday night was spent in Pawley's Island with my friend Keith Wall and his family over dinner (Keith and I served on church staff together when I was at Charleston Southern University). I hope your Labor Day and your Labor Day weekend was a blessing from the Father of Lights!

Chapel Comments

The most commented post has been the chapel requirement I wrote about early on in this blog. Currently 5 comments have been made, and I have responded to one directly, and the other one to the overall reason I put the post on my blog. FEEL FREE to comment, because I wonder and anticipate where this will lead us all. By the way, I have attended chapel a couple of times this semester for those who want to know. This Thursday, I anticipate Dr. Charles "Chuck" Kelley of the New Orleans Seminary as he will be preaching in Binkley Chapel to our student body for chapel. I would conclude by saying that Dr. Kelley is by far the most exciting preacher who sings with all his heart and you know he means it by the way he sings it.