Minister to members-A Ministry to members going through trials-The minister must be free to concentrate extensive time to members going through trials (seriously ill or dying family member, job loss, financial crisis, etc). Unfortunately, most pastors aren’t trained to do such work, even if they have time. Most schools training pastor provide extensive training in theology but little training in actually ministering to their people. Pastors need to get such training and begin training mature Christians in the congregation to assist them, because there is too much need for the pastor to be able to do it all himself. Jesus recognized that He would need to concentrate His efforts on training the twelve to take over when He left and pastors need to train lay leaders to help them carry on their ministry when the church becomes too large for them to do it adequately themselves. In the past, members knew each and when a member was in need. In addition, they helped the pastor in meeting the need. Church members today are often so caught up in their own lives that they have little interaction with other members outside church and interaction in church is often superficial. Most members do not know other members well enough to know when they are going through trials. In addition, members do not know each other well enough to confide in other members when they are going through trials. The result is that most members feel isolated and alone in handling trials. They often feel defeated and do not experience victory over trials. As a result, their worship is merely show and no substance. The church needs to provide regular supervision of its members to enable it to recognize and minister to members in need.
Sanctity of Life-4-III-B
The worst provision of the new law is the provision which prevents interference with access to an abortion. The provision poses a serious threat to babies and their mothers. The provision would block the State from preventing abortions when the physician determines it is necessary to protect the life or health of the mother. That would overrule laws that would prevent parents from interfering with a child getting an abortion and block the legislature or the people from passing laws to limit abortions. When I worked as an office manager for a pro-life crisis pregnancy center for a while, a woman brought in three high school girls. The girls were unrelated and the woman did not act like the mother of any of the girls. The woman acted like a professional woman and I got the impression she might be a school nurse. It is a good possibility that none of the girl’s parents knew they were there. A school nurse or even a child molester could take girls for abortions and the amendment would bar the parents from preventing them, in spite of the laws of every State which ban minors from getting non-emergency medical treatment without their parent’s consent. The way the amendment is written, it could possibly bar the mother from preventing it also since it states that the State cannot prevent it if the physician determines it is necessary. It does not include any provision requiring the patient’s consent and could be used by a rapist or sex trafficker to force a victim to get an abortion against her will. It could possibly be used to block attempts to license abortionists and abortion facilities since abortion providers claim they make it more difficult for them to conduct business which interferes with women’s access to abortions.
Sanctity of Life-4-III-A
Abortion providers in Ohio are pushing an amendment to the Constitution to expand abortion in Ohio. They have continued to spew forth a pack of lies to get support. It is important for voters to understand the law in order to vote intelligently. It restricts abortion after the child is viable, which many people support, but allows the doctor to determine when it is viable and that depends on the doctor. A doctor pushing abortion could say a baby isn’t viable until it is born. Many mothers who want their baby have been told it would probably have a deformity and not be viable, yet when the baby was born, it was perfectly healthy. It is hard to determine exact conditions before birth. The amendment also allows for when the mother’s life is in jeopardy, which is also determined by the doctor, which many people support. Those are already included in Ohio’s law so that is no change. The change is in the little phrase they add including a threat to her health in the determination. Since abortion doctors feel that an unwanted pregnancy puts stress on the mother, they feel that jeopardizes her mental health and so feel that allows them to perform abortions for any reason and at any time up until birth. It is a phrase they have added to State Constitutions to open the door to unlimited abortion. They have been running numerous ads saying that there are no current provisions in the Constitution to allow for cases of rape which many would agree is needed, but that is a total lie since the law already contains such a provision.
Schools & Education-1-AA
Ohio and other States are proposing legislation to outlaw the sexually explicit performances being conducted for children in schools and libraries. Laws in every State outlaw such performances for children but Gay Rights advocates say the laws don’t apply to them because they are homosexual performances, not performances of men and women. Therefore States are having to pass laws explicitly stating they apply to homosexual performances. Liberals feel laws don’t apply to them. Nowhere do the laws state they only relate to heterosexual performances. They are designed to protect children from adult content and apply to all adult content. It is the same argument abortion providers use to evade laws designed to protect women who get abortions. All States have laws protecting those who receive medical procedures such as licensing medical clinics and personnel, providing information on procedures so they can made informed decisions, and parental consent for minors. The argument that they don’t apply in the case of abortions is ridiculous. They apply to all medical procedures and abortions are medical procedures. They can claim the laws protecting the baby don’t apply because we don’t know when life begins but that is ridiculous because we now know when life begins and that has nothing to do with laws protecting the mother because the mother is legally recognized as a person. However, liberal judges and prosecutors refuse to prosecute offenders allowing children to be exposed to explicitly adult performances, just as they refuse to prosecute offenders who violate laws protecting women getting abortions. It is necessary to elect judges that uphold the law and prosecute offenders when they can and elect officials that will appoint judges that will uphold the law. States should not have to go through the cumbersome process of enacting new laws when the necessary laws are already on the books. It is time we begin prosecuting judges and prosecutors that refuse to uphold the law.
Eighth Sunday of Kingdomtide Oct 22
Small Group ministry-part-B witness to those around them
As they learn to identify needs and how to minister to those in need in the small groups, they begin to develop a concern for those around them. As they begin reaching out to those around them to get to know them, they begin to see the needs of those outside the church and can begin to minister to them also, demonstrating the love of Christ to unbelievers. As unbelievers see the love of Christ they begin to desire that love and are attracted to the small group. People are more willing to join a small group where they know the person that brought them than to walk into a large church where they don’t know anyone. As they get to know the members of the group, they are more willing to attend church since they know the people from their group. Many churches are often built away from residential areas. In addition, churches no longer have neighborhood activities where unbelievers get to know those in the church. The small group can be the church present in the neighborhood and reach out to the neighbors through neighborhood Bible studies and children’s activities.
Politics-AB-AI
While Democrats claim that the American people support their programs, the vast majority do not. They vote consistently for programs that support unions, abortion, and Gay privileges because those are the programs that are promoted by the organizations that contribute to their political campaigns. One Senator claimed in his financial report that he got over one million dollars for his Senate campaign in one campaign. With the costs of political campaigns, it is hard to ignore that kind of money. When Obamacare was being debated, several Democrat candidates promised their constituents that they would oppose pro-abortion mandates. Just before the vote, President Obama called them into his office for a talk. Shortly afterward, all of them voted for abortion mandates. I can imagine that the President probably reminded them how much they would lose if they didn’t comply. Republicans have no such large donors. They rely primarily on small donations from a large number of people which means they have to be responsive to the will of the people to get support. Some of them have corporations which support their campaigns but Democrats usually raise three to ten times the money that Republicans do, and the majority is from labor unions and abortion and Gay rights organizations. That is why they consistently vote to support the wishes of those groups. That reason, plus their control of the media and social media, is why they are able to dominate the news with their message. It is known that if you say something long enough and often enough, and do not hear any opposing information, many people are led to believe it is true, however that doesn’t mean it is true. It is very important to get the facts and decide for yourself rather than allowing yourself to be talked into something that might not be wise. .