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Think about it...

• I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bibles like we treat our cell phone.
• What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
• What if we flipped through it several times a day?
• What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
• What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
• What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
• What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?
• What if we used it when we traveled?
• What if we used it in case of emergency

This is something to make you go....hmmmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry
about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think "Where are my priorities?"

And no dropped calls!

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

Tags: cell phone, bible
Categories: General

Army Spc. Jeremy Hall wants to sue the U.S. Army for "unconstitutional" discrimination.  What in the heck is "unconstitutional" discrimination?  Well, he claims that he gets told to go elsewhere during Thanksgiving prayers.  When I was in the service, Christians were called out for being "Bible Thumpers" and told to go elsewhere if he/she didn't like the swearing.  I never heard of a Christian whining and threatening to sue the military. 

The problem is that these left wing loons have victim mentality. 

Dude, deal with it!!!

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

Tags: atheist, army
Categories: Military

Please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world...

Lord, please hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. In Jesus name... Amen.

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

 

 

Tags: troops, military, prayer
Categories: Military | Prayer

The video is kind of long, but well worth the time to watch it.  It should confirm who your vote should go for.  You can view it here...

http://www.rightwingsquadron.com/post/2008/07/After-watching-Obama-on-the-media2c-its-nice-to-take-some-time-to-watch-this-video-about-Senator-John-McCain.aspx

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

Tags: john mccain, pow
Categories: Politics

Before meals at the Naval Academy there is a little prayer or invocation.  Due to the diversity of the cadet's religious backaground at the Academy, the invocation is pretty generic.  However, each midshipman can take the time to thank the Lord for all his/her blessings during this time.

Now the ACLU wants to stop this traditional practice at the Naval Academy.  By the way, they were successful at doing this at the Air Force Academy.  The ACLU is again attacking our Christian principles.  The very Christian principles that this great nation was founded upon.  They always bring up the rights of the Atheists.  Well, how about our rights as Christians!

Why do these things happen in this great country?  Well, it's because evil fights heartily. 

We are in a spiritual battle and we need to fight back.  We can't just sit back and complain about it.  Put on your spiritual armor and fight for our Christian principles.  That doesn't mean you have to break out an automatic weapon and run amuck.  However, you can voice your opinion.  I have no problem telling others about practices that go against our Christian values.  I also write to a couple of blogs where I am able to get the word out, albeit in a small way.  If we can all do our bit to promote our Christian values, even if it is in a small way, collectively we can fight this battle. 

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

 

Tags: aclu, naval academy
Categories: General

Tony Perkins, President of FRC, is featured in an ad that was broadcast yesterday (June 26th) in Ohio.  In it he addresses Obama's Father's Day speech and relates it to his stand on abortion.

Take a look... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCm8a5e47Kw

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

Tags: obama
Categories: Abortion | Parenting

How many times have we looked at our children and thought this.  "I have raised you the best way that I know how but you act this way anyway?"  You do not have to be a Christian parent to have that thought.  My wife and I have been married now for 18 years and for several of those years we home schooled our children.  Due to the scope of this short article I can not go into the many reasons why we would not want our children in a public school.  What I can say is that our decision to home school included the desire for our children to get a good education minus the garbage that children in public schools are exposed to.  I will write a book on that later. 

We are encouraged by the word of God in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. Does that mean if you train them according to the word of God in the way that they are to live that they wont make mistakes or sometimes disappoint us?  Of course not, our children will drive us crazy sometimes because of their choices which are either made out of rebellion, ignorance or peer pressure. 

I have four children.  My oldest son Jeremy is 21 and lives in Ohio.  My oldest daughter Jessica went to be with the Lord when she was 10 years old.  Had she lived she would be 17.  Kristina who is now 16 and Justin who is now 13 both live with their mom and I.  I love my children with all my being but I have to say that there is nothing more challenging than raising a teenage daughter.  My princess loves me in her own way but sometimes it is not very easy to communicate with her in such a way that fosters peace in our home. 

As I have learned how to be a father I am reminded many times of my relationship with my heavenly father.  God loves me unconditionally and gives me the grace that I need for living each day.  On many occasions I can see how it is necessary for me to emulate grace , mercy, longsuffering, meekness, gentleness, patience with my children no matter what it is they have done.  I know that because I am reminded of how often my father in heaven has done the same thing with me.  How many times have I made stupid decisions or rebelled against his word knowing full well that I was not doing the right thing?  Did my heavenly father reach down from heaven and scream at me or lose his temper with me and severly punish me?  At times he has had to chastise me and set me back on the straight and narrow but once the discipline was over I always knew that he loved me and that his plan for my life is perfect.  

My desire has always been to break the generational curse that I grew up under.  My parents raised me the way they did because their parents and grand parents raised them that way.  Some of what they did was good and I benefited from it greatly.  However there were some things that they did that I would not dare to do with my children today.  My parents took us out of an orphanage in Aschofenburg Germany when we were 1 and 2 years old.  They provided for us the medical benefits that we did not have in that orphanage.  On the other hand there was not a lot of love and encouragement when we needed it the most. 

Hopefully my words have stirred up your heart as a parent and you will take the time to share your stories with the rest of us.  God bless

Tags: parenting
Categories: Parenting

I have noticed that Evangelicals are questioning their support for John McCain.  Have they also been hypnotized by Mr. Slick?  Barack Obama's dynamic, yet non-substantive, personality has attracted a lot of people who tend to only see him on a surface level.  Obama supports partial birth abortion!  For this reason alone, Evangelicals should not be supporting Obama at all.  Why would they even consider voting for a liberal who supports abortion.  I mean, even if you don't agree with John McCain on every issue, as a Christian, you have got to weigh his moral values over the Democrat alternative.

There is a great site for Evagelicals (Evangelicals for McCain) that support John McCain.  On the homepage (as of this writing) is says...

"Senator John McCain is pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-America. He is pro-Israel, anti-terror, supports secure borders and sensible fiscal and environmental policy. As Christians, Families and Patriots we stand United in Purpose: Senator John McCain for President '08!"

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

 

Tags: mccain, obama, abortion
Categories: Evangelism | Politics

On my "Conservative Blog", Right Wing Squadron, I wrote an article about a student who received a zero on his artwork because it contained a cross and a biblical verse.  You can read about it here to catch up.

Anyway, the ADF (Alliance Defense Fund), an organization that defends Christian rights and often finds themselves going head to head with the ACLU, has successfully defended the rights of the student mentioned above. 

Check out this video explaining the victory...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hukqx3wRTeI

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Boomer
Right Wing Squadron

Note: Boomer is a guest poster for JesusConnect.  For more on Boomer's views, please visit the Right Wing Squadron.

Tags: adf, christian rights
Categories: General

Relationship Evangelism

How do we reach people for Christ and fulfill the great commission?  I submit to you that we do it through relationship evangelism.  In years past our mentality has been that if we build it they will come.  We build the church building and the church programs and then open the church doors and the masses will come to us.  Over the centuries that thinking has been forced to evolve.  The problem with that thinking is that going to church is no longer an activity that is as important to the family unit as it once was. 
One of the reasons for that is because as time has marched on there has been a continual erosion of the family unit and an increasingly dangerous trend to redefine what the family unit really is.  Over the years technology has increased and the ability for our being entertained has increased as well.  In other words there are many more distractions in this day and age.  There are more fun things to do than to go to church. 
There are several ways to attract people to church.  One way is to market the programs that you have created in the hopes that they will come and that you can provide them with whatever it is that they are looking for.  Different people and different families have different needs.  It is almost impossible to provide for all of those needs.  Some mega churches who have lots of members and ample funds for these programs are more successful than some smaller churches.  It is almost impossible for smaller churches to compete with the mega churches due to the lack of funding it takes to run them. 
Some would argue that the job of the church is not intended to be that of an entertainment source for the family.  I would agree with that thought process.  The church or body of Christ is not there to provide programs that are for the soul purpose of entertaining people and keeping them interested.  You can certainly attract large numbers of people by doing this but I am not sure that it will keep them around for any length of time. 
Maybe we have lost sight of the great commission and perhaps too much of the business practices of the corporate world and Hollywood have started to water down the intent and purpose of the founders of the original church.  If you remember Christ was crucified and the 12 disciples who went on to become apostles were killed for their faith.  That means that proclaiming to be a Christian back then nor now is a popular thing. 
The purpose of the church is to bring people to a spiritual awakening and to remind them that Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary so that we might have abundant life.  The Bible says that our righteousness is like filthy rags in the nostrils of God.  In other words we are not able to earn our place in heaven.  Jesus Christ had to become the perfect sacrificial lamb and die for the sins of man past present and future.  Our salvation was the gift of grace or unmerited favor.  Our service to God through our works is not to earn religious credits to get into heaven but rather our way of showing our appreciation to God for his loving us.
Another important role or purpose of the church (local body of believers) is to provide an environment where people can be discipled on how to live a life of a disciple as well as provide any counseling or spiritual healing that might be needed.  
I have always said that our enemy satan has used organized religion and denominationalism as the cornerstone for his master design to destroy as many people as possible.  Satan wants us to get all wrapped up in man-made agendas and cultural preferences when it comes to church.  Jesus did not die on the cross so that we could establish man made religion.  Jesus died on the cross so that we can experience eternal life with our creator in heaven through all eternity.  The bible says that God does not desire that any should perish and miss out on what he has planned for his creation. 
The problem with programs and having a entertainment mentality in church is that we are missing the point in our purpose.  Our purpose is not to entertain people or to fool them into a false sense of eternal security.  Our purpose is to introduce them to a creator that loves them so much that he sent his only son to the cross to die for their sins.  Yes, God is a god of love but he is also a righteous and holy God who requires that we love him and obey him. 
If you are a member of a local congregation who does not have a large enough membership to fund fancy programs you are going to be forced to get back to the basics with regards to evangelism.  That is where relationship evangelism comes in.  How do we attract people to become interested in church or our faith in Christ?  We do this by developing relationships with the people around us.  We may be the only Jesus that some people may ever see.
If you think about it you may remember that someone in your immediate family or a friend might have shared their faith with you.  The earliest memories I have of hearing about Jesus Christ was my grandmother.  My grandmother was a woman of great faith and on several occasions she would share with us children what Christ meant to her.  My grandmother took the time to spend time with us when she could and told us about Jesus and showed us the love of God by walking the walk and not just talking the talk.
There are many ways to share with people what the bible says about God and becoming a Christian or a disciple of Christ.  The bible itself has not changed and the message has not changed.  What has to change is how we deliver that message.  People are not interested in empty religion nor are they interested in being preached at.  The same fire and brimstone messages of yesteryear that were designed to scare people into a relationship with Christ does not work today.  People are not interested in being beat up or yelled at.  People need to know that the only thing that will fill the spiritual void in their lives is a real relationship with Christ. 
All through the bible we see a loving God who pursues his creation.  God desires to fellowship with us and he desires that we experience the abundant life that he has in store for us.  This is where relationship evangelism comes in.  The great commission says that we are to go out into the highways and byway’s and to beckon people to the marriage supper of the lamb.  We are to entice them to come sit with Christ and to have fellowship with Him.  We are to be his ambassadors and we are to share the love of God with them.  How can we do that effectively?  We do that by pursuing a relationship with the people that we rub elbows with on a daily basis.  It is said that we spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our own families.  I firmly believe that God has placed each one of us in a unique community of people that we are privileged to fellowship with. 
Our relationships with other people will become our legacy to a large degree.  How we interact with other people, and the type of influence we have upon them, will be affected largely by the things that we say and do.  God allows people to come into our lives for a season.  Sometimes people enter into our lives and leave footprints that we never will forget.  Sometimes those relationships last a lifetime and then some times they are short lived.
If we enter into the lives of people and we beat them up with hellfire brimstone messages then our message will fall upon deaf ears.  Our job is not to convert people or to make them into the image of what we think a Christian should be but rather our job is to live the type of life that will glorify God and that people will know that we are Christians because they experience the love of God in our lives.  We must walk the walk and not just talk the talk.  If we preach Christ crucified in one breath but we live our lives and no one can tell the difference between us and the world then we become hypocrites.  The bible tells us that Gods people are his sheep and they know his voice.  The bible also says that if you love me you will keep my commandments. 
The difference between the religions of this world and Christianity is that Christians enter into a relationship with Christ and they pursue a personal relationship with their creator on a daily basis.  Christians do not perform religious activities in an effort to gain access to a loving god but rather they serve God because they love him and have a personal relationship with him. 
The key to effective relationship evangelism is compassion.  Chuck Swindoll coined a phrase in his book on compassion that says “people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care”.  If you want to interest someone in Jesus Christ you need to show genuine concern for them.  One of the ways that you can do this is to do what I like to call bridge building.  Find things that you have in common with people and build a relationship on those things as long as those things do not compromise the integrity of your core faith or beliefs. 
I have always said that we are real people in a real world faced with real world problems.  As believers in Christ and disciples our faith in God is our hope.  We know because of our relationship with our redeemer that He is alive and well within our lives and capable of providing us with real world solutions to our problems.  All we have to do is get into a position to be still and know he is God.  Knowing how to be still and listening for the still quiet voice in our hearts is easier said than done with all of the many distractions we face.  It is possible to do but you have to purpose in your heart to spend time with God and get to know him.  In order to tell people about Jesus we first need to have a real relationship with our redeemer.  The most effective witness that we can have for Christ is for the world around us to see his redeeming work happening to us from the inside out. 

 

Tags: relationship, evangelism, bridges, people, god, love
Categories: Evangelism