Medvedev Shows Off Sample Coin of New ‘World Currency’ at G-8

Read about it here.

Any questions?

Addendum

Here's one more example of government intrusion into church business - and harassment/persecution.

We're a Church, Not a Lobby, Catholic Bishop Tells Ethics Probers

 

When Will They Ban Your Bible Study?

First it was San Diego. A neighborhood Bible study was banned by the government. Although the ban was retracted and a letter of apology sent, this was still harassment - and a warning shot. Why was the ban lifted? I don't suspect that it was out of a sense of doing what is right in the eyes of the law. Rather, I believe that it was because of the public outcry. We need more of that.

Now it's Tulsa. You can read the story here, but the summary is that Child Evangelism Fellowship has been told that they can no longer hold Bible studies in the housing projects. They've been there for decades, both leading Bible studies and helping children of the poor.

It's only two stories, but how many more Bible studies and Christian activities have been banned? How many cities of towns have said, "you can no longer do that in schools or public buildings"? How many church plants have received notice that they are no longer welcome in school auditoriums?

We live in an era in which it is not only fine to harass the Christians (while building new foot-washing basins, at public expense for Muslims), but the latent distrust for and anger at Christians is rising to the surface.

In 1 Corinthians 15:58 we read,"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Stand firm. We already know the outcome. Persecution may be on the horizon, but beyond the horizon is eternity.

Stand up. Name the Name of Christ. Be different. Let the pagan world KNOW that you are one of Christ's.

If you know of other incidents of harassment in "the land of the free," share them with us. Let us all be praying for our brothers and sisters.

Can I Get an "Amen"?

Brothers and Sisters,

Just Listen and enjoy.

Pray for Your Leaders

I had the opportunity to serve as Chaplain to the Maine Senate on Thursday, May 21. They bring in different pastors and otrher "religious leaders" to open their legislative sessions each day. I though that I would share with you what I presented to the Senators and how I prayed for them.

Maine State Senate May 21, 2009

Those of you who read the Bible may be familiar with the text found in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 13, verse 1. It reads as follows:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

What this says to me is that you legislators have been ordained by God to your task. You are here doing God’s work, by His authority. I know you already take your duties seriously, but this adds yet another dimension to both your authority and your responsibility.

On the other side of the coin is the statement of the Apostles Peter and John when told by the authorities of their day that they should not preach or teach in the name of Jesus. They replied (as recorded in the book of Acts, chapter 4, verse 19) "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.”

When Christian citizens are confronted with laws which are contrary to God’s Word, they can be expected to respond as did Peter and John.

So, we pray for you. My congregation and many other congregations across Maine pray for you regularly. We recognize that your responsibilities are great and that this is a very trying time for you as well as for the rest of our nation – and the world.

It is with these things in mind that I say to you this morning: Let us pray.

Almighty God, we give thanks for your great Providence in the establishing of this nation in which we still enjoy freedom of assembly and freedom of worship. We pray that we may continue in these great blessings.

We pray for this august body assembled here to do the business of the State of Maine. If there be those in our midst who are in ill health, we pray for their healing.

If there be some who are sick of heart or spirit, we pray that you grant them peace.

We ask that you grant forgiveness for our sins; for any lack of compassion for the sick and defenseless, for complacency in the face of need, for the waste of resources which you have bestowed upon us.

We ask that these legislators be of clear and open minds; that they act fairly; that they protect those who need protection; and that they use wisely the wealth of the citizens of this state.

God, we thank you for the opportunity that each of us has to serve, each in his or her own way, and we ask your blessing upon this legislature this day.

I pray in the Name of my Lord and Savior,

AMEN

I expected some flak for my use of the Name Jesus, for my reference to my Lord and Savior, and for my stating that we (Christians) may not always be obedient if legislation differs from God's Word. I saw no glares from the gallery, however. In fact, two senators made it a point to thank me for my words and my prayer.

Continue to pray for your leaders, local, state and federal. May God bless them with wisdom (real Wisdom).

Going Dutch

Sandra and I are in Badhoevedorp, Netherlands this week. It is a small community just outside Amsterdam. We've been leading a few seminars on Christian family life and home education. The groups have been larger than we expected and the people have been responsive and interactive.

Our hosts have been marvelous and taken great care of us. All of our sessions have been in English and no interpretation has been necessary.

It has been a stretching time for us. We both like to have things well and truly organized. Here we have had a very fluid schedule and the talks we prepared have been cast aside as we find out more about the needs and desires of the folks here. It has been good for us. Yesterday we arrived at a book fair and found out that we were scheduled to speak for two hours! 

Serious discussion with the Christians here has been ongoing. Of particular interest to some of the men (we had a Men's Night Friday that lasted past midnight) was the discussion on a man's role in the family. One man was nearly astonished when I stated that a Biblical Christian man must be anti-feminist. It was  not that he disagreed, it was, as he said that, "nobody dares to say such things in the Netherlands." Long and fruitful discussion followed!

Today, however, we had some time off and went to the Keukenhof, a two-month long festival of my favorite flower - the TULIP. Now, I'm sitting in the garden, blogging, enjoying God's creation - and playing with the children. They accept me on their level and have been very patient with me as they try to teach me Dutch.

Good times.

Taxation Without Representation

On April 15, citizens around the nation will gather in "Tea Parties" to protest profligate spending of taxpayer money, by the elected "representatives" of the people. I will be among them. Let me first state that I am not against taxes. When they are used to meet the constitutionally-intended purposes for taxation, I am willing to put up my share. I am not willing to pay for unconstitutional activities. Nor am I willing to pay your share.

Many in the "movement" of tax protesters have stated that their complaint is not against taxation without representation as was the first Tea Party in Boston Harbor. That may be the case with those individuals. It is not my situation. I am unrepresented in Congress. Millions of others who wish to protect the Constitution of this country are also feeling disenfranchised.

I am certainly not represented by those who claim to represent me. This is the way of democracy, one might say. But the fact is that the"reps" do what they believe is right (or politically expedient) without regard to the beliefs and desires of those they allegedly represent.

In Congress I have one Representative, a liberal Democrat. I also have two allegedly-Republican Senators. All three voted in favor of the "Stimulus Bill." I sent emails to all three asking that they please vote against this bill. Two responded. Each defended her (yes, all three are female) reasons for voting this monstrosity of a liability onto the backs of my grandchildren. Here is the closing paragraph from the response I got from my friendly Representative.

I am confident that this package is a necessary first step towards jump-starting our struggling economy and putting people back to work in Maine and around the country - in jobs that will rebuild our infrastructure and expand information technology to rural areas, modernize our archaic health care system, strengthen our children's education and move America towards a sustainable energy future that breaks our dependence on foreign oil. I appreciate your thoughts on the recovery package, and I hope that this letter helps explain my decision to support it.

Please note that this is merely a first step. Both legislators and governors around the nation have promised to tax anything and everything. Combine this power of taxation with the general hatred of Christianity evident among the "elite" classes and we can expect churches to be taxed to the limit - and beyond in the near future.

We'll get socialized medicine, soon. I probably won't be able to afford the gas to get to any appointment my government deigns to assign me, though.

In 1776, the year of the birth of this nation, Adam Smith published his great tome, The Wealth of Nations. He had a lot to say about taxes. He listed four basic rules for taxation:

1. "The subject of every State ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the State." (Perhaps Mr. Timothy Franz Geithner should be reminded of this maxim).

2. "The tax each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain, and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, and the quantity to be paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contributor, and to ever other person." (How many pages are there in the IRS code?).

3. "Every tax ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it." (Convenient for me? Not likely).

4. "Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and to keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible, over and above what it brings into the public treasury of the State." (They don't take much out of the pockets of many of our government officials).

I'll be out on April 15. As I stated, I'm not against legitimate taxes. I'm against foolish, wasteful, non-productive, and confiscatory taxation.

Buy some tea today!