Some New Year's Resolutions

From Jonathan Edwards' 70 resolutions, the following would be a great way to begin 2009:

1. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,-and wherein I have denied myself;-also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722. (Resolution 37).
2. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be. (Resolution 56).
3.Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can. (Resolution 5).
4. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. (Resolution 7).

Following these simple suggestions would bring in 2009 with a renewed quest for personal holiness. We need to be a holy people so that the world can see the true body of Christ. It is a time to cease having one foot in the world and one foot in the body of Christ. May 2009 be the year that we all become holy fanatics for Jesus Christ! May next year be blessed and prosperous for us that are disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Green Bible

Below is a clip promoting the Green Bible. This is an environmentally friendly Bible that encourages us to take care of the earth. While I recycle and believe that we should not intentionally harm our environment, this project seems to direct the focus of its followers away from evangelism toward environmental issues. The supporters of the work include a leader of the Emergent Church and others that candidly are not ones normally associated with reaching the lost. This project appears to me to be a distraction from the true purpose of the church. I would recommend one be very careful of getting trapped into this movement. It looks very "New Age" to me.

A Call For Christians To Abandon Public Schools

A new movement has begun entitled, "The Call to Dunkirk." The video below explains the connection to the WWII miracle rescue. In essence, Christians are being called to rescue our children from the godless heathen public school system. The government school denies God, teaches evolution and will attempt to destroy the faith values of your children. The church needs to fight for the youth. Do you think one hour on Sunday morning will counter thirty hours of humanistic instruction during the week. Look at the video and visit the site and get involved.

Living in the Shadow of Eternity

I preached a message today that included some resolutions from Jonathan Edwards. Edwards understood the connection between eternity and now. The following three resolutions would radically change the walk of most Christians and I encourage us all to live them:

1.Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can. (Resolution 5).
2.Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. (Resolution 7).
3.Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump. (Resolution 19).

How would it impact our lives if we lived every moment as if we would face Jesus Christ within 60 minutes? For most, personal holiness is not even a concern. However, it should be. Let us commit to live our lives in the shadow of eternity. We are to strive for holiness that we might see the Lord.

We Should Support Israel

The latest attacks on the Gaza Strip will bring a multitude of criticisms against Israel. Ask yourself, would America have stood by for years if civilians were being killed by rockets without doing anything? The Hamas have not cared about Israeli civilians in their rocket attacks, yet they cry foul now that some civilians have been hurt. Perhaps they should have thought about that before they launched their attacks. I say, support Israel in their protection of their people. We would do the same. Watch Washington to see their response. I pray it is a Godly one; if it isn't, prepare for a major crisis in our land.

Focus on the Family Removes Morman Interview

WorldNetDaily reports the following:

Focus on the Family, the evangelical organization founded by Dr. James Dobson, has removed from its website an interview with former CNN host Glenn Beck following complaints over the politically conservative TV personality's Mormon faith.

The original article about Beck's best-selling new book, "The Christmas Sweater," appeared on the ministry's CitizenLink website on Dec. 19, but three days later an article published on ChristianNewsWire criticized Focus for promoting a Mormon "as a Christian."

"While Glenn's social views are compatible with many Christian views, his beliefs in Mormonism are not," writes Steve McConkey of Underground Apologetics on ChristianNewsWire. "The CitizenLink story does not mention Beck's Mormon faith, however the story makes it look as if Beck is a Christian who believes in the essential doctrines of the faith."

The article has since been pulled from the CitizenLink website.

Joel Campbell of Mormon Times reports he called Focus for an explanation and was read the following prepared statement by a receptionist:

"You are correct to note that Mr. Beck is a member of the Mormon church, and that we did not make mention of this fact in our interview with him," the receptionist said. "We do recognize the deep theological difference between evangelical theology and Mormon theology, and it would have been prudent for us at least to have pointed out these differences. Because of the confusion, we have removed the interview from CitizenLink."

Focus on the Family did the right thing. I learned a long time ago that while you can't go back and correct some mistakes, you can do the right thing once the mistake is uncovered. Focus on the Family did the right thing and for that, they deserve our support. They made a mistake, admitted it and then corrected it to the best of their ability.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We will return after Christmas!