The National Day of Prayer: Censored!!

Today, May 7, 2009 is the annual National Day of Prayer. Now I don't have the time nor the energy to find the origins of this tradition, nor do I care how it started, I just like it.
Of course the Bible tells us many times to pray. Paul said to "Pray constantly" and similar statements, but this day is set aside, much like Sunday is set aside, as a day to stop what we are doing and take a little extra time to pray.
Our new President has decided that this "public display of prayer" is not befitting of his White House and so yesterday he declared that the day would not be observed "publicly" but instead, he would be in "private" prayer.
Now I am just fine with private prayer, in fact the best praying time I have is in my "prayer closet", but this is the direction our fearless "leader" is taking us. Slowly but surely his TRUE inner thoughts are being exposed, not by anyone but himself.
He says we are "not a Christian nation" and with his Chicago church and political background I could see where he gets that from.

All this to say, of course we don't care what this buffoon says, we will pray anyway and we will pray most assuredly for him.


I, however am taken back to the many times I observed the dear older, gray haired saints of my church. They pray like no one else I know. They pray humbly, deeply and most emphatically from their hearts. I praise and thank God for this simple means of communication that He allows between his creation and the Creator Himself. What an awesome God.

Pray today, pray everyday, pray "unceasingly"!

Christians: What are you Hiding?

I was struck recently by some of the passages of scripture I was reading, that we as Christians probably "hide" a lot of our behavior, habits and activities from others, but we can't hide them from God.
This of course brings us into the "what's moral for you is not moral for me" argument, but I am challenged to think, "will it cause my brother" or perhaps a non-believer who looks up to me (for whatever reason) to miss seeing the Cross due to my behavior?
The easy ones are drinking, smoking, overeating, but what "hidden" things might there be?
Now I am not calling out any of these things as "sin". I am looking for discussion on how does our behavior, habits or activities, might be construed as "immoral" to our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those who KNOW we call ourselves Christians, yet they might be confused by our outward appearance.
This is a discussion post today, so, DISCUSS!

Post Election Comments on our President Elect

First of all, congratulations to Senator Barack Obama. Well done.
Now, to all of the Christians who have bombarded my emails, phone etc with various notes, I have a few comments.

I am not in a "bad place" spiritually. I am adjusting to this change in our country. Let me tell you what I am seeing and hearing.

First of all: STOP WITH THE "GOD IS IN CONTROL" STUFF!!
Why do I say that? BECAUSE I KNOW HE IS! Sheesh, give me a little credit.
Christians are in one or two different modes here in the first days after the election.

1 - They are running in the streets screaming and crying hoping Jesus comes to get them today.
2 - They are "super spiritual" and laying all kinds of words of wisdom and keep chanting "God is In Control" or some sort of line.

I, on the other hand, now that I have had a day to think things over, am here to help my spiritually weaker brothers and sisters to see the light.

We got our butts handed to us and that TICKS ME OFF!!! I have only lost ONE Presidential election before this, and I HATE LOSING!

Just like when my football teams lose, I get ticked. That is not a BAD thing, much as some would like to think.

Nehemiah teaches us that "righteous anger" is a good thing. Jesus had some "righteous anger" going on at the temple one day too.
I am ANGRY that Conservatism was defeated, and defeated soundly. Not just by Obama but by Republicans.
We can only blame the idiots in the Republican party for foisting this LIBERAL candidate on us in John McCain.

I am sick and tired of voting for the "lesser of two evils". I want to vote for the GUY WHO I WANT TO WIN!!


Let's look at the Presidential elections in my adult lifetime:

1980 - Ronald Reagan. Pretty easy pick, top notch conservative, no problemo!

1984 - Same as above.

1988 - Now things get a bit sticky. George H.W. Bush, no conservative, a bit liberal actually, but he is the Vice President and it is Micheal Dukakis he is running against, so I hold my nose as the diaper bag is starting to get a bit stinky, and pull the lever for Bush.

1992 - Interesting, I, as well as MANY conservatives are just flat cheesed off at Bush over the "read my lips" thing. This bozo from Arkansas, "surely can't win can he?" So, I am here to let you know, I voted for Bill Clinton. Ya, Ya I know, beat me up, but I thought the guy had something that we were lacking. Whatever.

1996 - Ok so I learned my lesson and now Clinton's out in my book, but, who to vote for? Bob Dole? Nice man, great American, not conservative. The diaper bag is starting to smell really ripe, I pull the lever for Dole, I have my first loss.

2000 - George W. Bush seems like a guy after Reagan's own heart, not like his daddy so I enthusiastically vote for him, back in the winner's column.

2004 - Now after 4 years I see that ol' GWB sold me a bill of goods, he is a liberal and he is spending MY money like a drunk sailor, but, am I gonna vote for Herman Munster (also known as John Kerry)? No, now the diaper bag is full of poop flies and so I really hold my nose and pull the lever for Bush.


2008 - What a dilemma. I can't vote for the Commie, Muslim, Anti-American, chain smoking freak from Chicago, but who am I stuck with? An angry little old white man who's biggest claim is he stayed in a POW camp for 5 years. Admirable, great American, cruddy Presidential material, he is almost as liberal as Hillary Clinton. This is where I am stuck this election, and the diaper bag is falling apart with baby poop falling out of it, I pull the lever for Big John and alas, Loss #2!

So, kids, what have we learned? Conservatism is dead. We must resurrect it.
I am actually able to separate my spiritualism and my politics as well as integrate them when necessary.
We MUST get back on the bus and start kicking butt and taking prisoners.
Get rid of the soft Republicans, root out the weak kneed Christians, destroy the limp wristed Democrats and start rebuilding this great land.
Yes we will need God!
Yes we must be in His Word daily, but shouldn't we have done that a long time ago?
NOW you are calling for it because you are skeeerrreed of the big bad Obama?
"Oh no, he's the Anti-Christ Bill!"
STOP!
Toughen up. Get right. Move on! Stop telling me "but Bill, he isn't a citizen" or some other stupid internet garbage. And don't you DARE tell me "God is working even now". No duh Maynard!! GEEZ LOUIZE. God IS working, but we AREN'T and that is stupid on our parts. Stop compromising. Stop making every freaking election about one subject. Open your eyes Christians, this country is crumbing in more ways than I can count. Does that mean I am scared? NO! Does that mean I am in despair? NO!
Does it mean I am ready to ramp it up a whole bunch? YES!!!!
End of election rant.

Why The Church?

I have been studying Ephesians 3:10-11 this week. God has revealed something to me that perhaps is not new to the reader here, but I feel compelled to share anyway in case someone finds this to be new as well.

(NIV) (italics mine) Eph. 3:10-11: "His intent was that NOW, through the Church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the Heavenly Realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You have to go back to verse 9 to see a bit more into this: "and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things."
1 -What Mystery? Romans 11:33 - "Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" I Corinthians 2:7 - "No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory".
The mystery is, SALVATION! There are many more verses, but basically even the prophets did not know about this salvation, it was only revealed THROUGH THE CHURCH!

2 - God use ONE way to reveal his mystery: THE CHURCH! Look at 1 Peter 1:12 in refernence to the "heavenly realms" in the scripture written above: "when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the Gospel toyou by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. Even ANGELS long to look into these things." !!! ANGELS long to look into these things! Do you understand what that means? EVEN the heavenly beings, Angels, long to know what WE know, if we are Christians, THE CHURCH!

Praise God for The Church, and His People! May we understand the responsibility and the joy that He has given to us!

China confiscates Bibles from American Christians

THIS PHOTO JUST ADDED, THIS IS WHAT NBC DOES NOT WANT US TO SEE!

I have been railing for weeks about the persecution of Christians in China, now this story from the Associated Press:

BEIJING - Chinese customs officials confiscated more than 300 Bibles on Sunday from four American Christians who arrived in a southwestern city with plans to distribute them, the group's leader said.

The Bibles were taken from the group's checked luggage after they landed at the airport in the city of Kunming, said Pat Klein, head of Vision Beyond Borders. The group, based in Sheridan, Wyoming, distributes Bibles and Christian teaching materials around the world to "strengthen the persecuted church," according to its Web site.

The group arrived in China on Sunday and had intended to distribute the Bibles to people in the city, Klein told the AP in a telephone interview while still at the airport.
"I heard that there's freedom of religion in China, so why is there a problem for us to bring Bibles?" Klein said. "We had over 300 copies and customs took all of them from us."

The move comes as China hosts the Olympics in Beijing, where false media reports last year claimed Bibles would be banned from the games. The state-run China Daily reported last month that 10,000 bilingual copies of the Bible would be distributed in the Olympic Village, which houses athletes and media.

Bibles are printed under the supervision of the Communist government. The officially atheistic country only allows them to be used in government-sanctioned churches and in some big hotels catering to foreigners.

A woman who was on duty at Kunming airport's customs office confirmed over the telephone that 315 Bibles were found in the passengers' checked baggage.

The officer, who would only give her last name, Xiao, denied confiscating the Bibles. She said authorities were just "taking care" of them and provided no further details. She later said she was not authorized to speak to the media and referred questions to the national customs headquarters in Beijing, which did not answer phones on Sunday.
"We're not selling them; we give them free to the people," Klein said. "We didn't come to cause trouble, we just came to bring Bibles to help out the Chinese Christians."

The Bibles were printed in Chinese, he said.
Klein said the customs officers had told him that they could each have one Bible for personal use and not more than that. He said the officers had videotaped them and were insisting that they leave the airport.

"We don't want to go without taking those books. It cost us a lot of money to bring them here," Klein said. "They're saying that it's illegal to bring the Bibles in and that if we wanted to, we had to apply ahead of time for permission."

China faces routine criticism for its human rights violations and its repression of religious freedom. Religious practice is heavily regulated by the Communist Party, with worship allowed only in party-controlled churches, temples and mosques, while those gathering outside face harassment, arrest and terms in labor camps or prison.

A Chinese Christian activist was detained Aug. 10, the opening weekend of the Olympics, on his way to a church service attended by President Bush in Beijing. A rights group said later that the activist, Hua Huiqi, a leader of the unofficial Protestant church in Beijing, had escaped from police and was in hiding.

Police have denied any involvement in Hua's disappearance.


Still want to support the Olympics, Christians????