Fourth Sunday of Advent-Dec 24
Protect-(Ezekiel 34:15-16, 22-28, & II Kings 6:15-18) The good shepherd will watch over His flock and protect them. He will drive the wild beasts from among them so the sheep may dwell in peace and not be afraid. In the same way, God promised to drive the evil ones from among His people so they might live in peace. More important, His love will drive the hatred and bitterness from our hearts, which create divisions among us. While not all hatred and bitterness will be wiped out until Christ comes, it should not exist within the church if we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. There should be no strife and bitterness among brothers and sisters in Christ who are filled with the love of Christ. Christmas should be a time when the church gathers to celebrate Christ’s love for us. As the result, the world will see the love we have for one another and desire that love. Unfortunately, few churches today exhibit that love openly.
Voting-I-AW
Many people are frustrated with the party politics and the poor quality candidates offered in the general election. A lot of that is due to voter apathy where voters in the primaries do not take the elections seriously. A reform is being suggested is to do away with party primaries and hold a general primary election. Everyone would vote for their top pick candidate. For instance, if there are ten candidates in the primary, the top four or five would be forwarded to the general election regardless of party affiliation. That would force candidates to appeal to a wider range of voters and not just to the party faithful. That would also require them as elected officials in strong blue or red States to compromise to satisfy the largest number of voters and not just the party faithful. It would also allow independents and non-committed voters to vote since they are barred from primaries where they have to declare themselves as supporting one party or the other. That might open the door to minority candidates who might not be well-known in their party but are more widely known by the public. That offers a promise of improving the elections. However, it might also force out candidates in minority parties who don’t have the broad support outside of their party or force out Republicans in a strong Democrat State or force out Democrats in a strong Republican State. We haven’t had enough experience with it yet to fully know the effects. While there is bipartisan support for it, there is also bipartisan opposition.
Voting-I-AV
While several Republicans have been vocal in highlighting voter fraud in general elections, the media and Democrat party leaders have downplayed them as fake news. They have also managed to prevent Democrat party members from speaking out on instances of voter fraud in Democrat primaries, where the largest number of cases have taken place. In addition, Democrats have often stonewalled or ignored cases of fraud in Democrat primaries. Democrat leaders have deprived Democrats of their vote through election engineering schemes in Democrat primaries to elect radical liberal candidates to the general elections. As a result, Democrat voters are forced to choose the radical candidate unless they are willing to vote Republican or independent, and so party leaders have succeeded in getting radical Democrats elected to Congress and even the White House. However, it has resulted in fewer Democrats reporting their intention vote, yet Democrat primaries often still report more votes cast than eligible voters. While prominent Democrats proclaim that voters approve their agenda, many Democrat voters as well as a majority of Republicans oppose them. Democrats have continued to push passage of laws opening loopholes that could be used to influence elections. Democrats have recently been pushing for non-citizens to vote in New York and other States in local elections but one has to wonder what steps they take to prevent them from voting for federal officials. In light of the increasing number of counties reporting more votes cast then eligible voters, it indicating that some of the ballots are not legal. Democrats have been preventing States they control from purging their rolls of those who have died or moved out of State and allowing voters to vote without presenting identification to verify they are who they claim to be, making them ripe for people who aren’t eligible to vote using the name of someone who is deceased or no longer living in the State, but whose names are still on the rolls.
Sanctity of Life-GD-A
Recent reports show that women today between the ages of 25 and 34 are dying at a higher rate than women baby boomers did at that age. The rate of homicides, suicides, and maternal related deaths in that age group are quite a bit higher now. While no study has been done on the exact causes of each, some facts are known. Baby boomers were born after the Second World War beginning in 1946 and the first ones reached 25 in 1970. Roe vs Wade in 1976 opened the doors to abortion. Increased pregnancies out of wedlock have occurred once women were told they could have sex without worrying about pregnancies. They had previously avoided sex due to fear of pregnancy but were assured they no longer had to worry about that and many began engaging in sex while single. Since contraceptives have a high failure rate, which girls were not told, it has resulted in a lot of unwanted pregnancies. Boyfriends and child molesters, upset by the prospect of being saddled with child support have killed the girls to avoid it or at least killed them I a fit of anger. That could be part of the cause in the higher homicide rates. In addition, sex education courses given by Planned Parenthood to middle school and even elementary school which teach children to engage in sex before they can handle it responsibly and assures them that contraceptives will prevent pregnancy, which is not true, contributes to girls getting pregnant at an early age, before their bodies are fully developed, which could result in serious complications. While working at a pro-life Pregnancy center during a short period while I was out of work, I saw three girls who were pregnant while only eleven years old. A pregnancy at that age could be quite difficult for the girl. In addition, while factors endangering the mother during pregnancy have been reduced to almost non-existent, the deaths from complications in pregnancy have risen. Planned Parenthood does their best to hide the fact that women are rushed to the hospital due to botched abortions, hasty abortions often result in a perforated uterus and numerous cases have been documented by pro-life sidewalk observers. In addition, women have been sent home with excess bleeding and told not to worry, it will stop. Some who experienced a perforated uterus during the abortion, have gone to the hospital on their own and some have been saved, but others have died, and others did not go to the hospital and died at home. Some coroners have tried to hide abortion deaths by listing them as simply complications in pregnancy. That could account for some rise in pregnancy related deaths. In addition, women having abortions often experience depression afterward. While depression often occurs after giving birth, it is more pronounced after an abortion once the girl realizes she killed a living baby and not just a blob of tissue as she was told. That could account for some of the increase in suicides in that age group. While these three factors could account for some of the rises in deaths, it is hard to tell how much since abortion providers do everything they can to hide the connection between abortions and deaths in women. Anything that can help reduce the death rate in young women should be explored and reducing the deaths from abortions is obviously one possibility.
Third Sunday of Advent-Dec 17
Lead-(Psalm 23:3b)The Lord will lead us in the path of righteousness. He came to show us the way to live in peace with each other and will lead us like a shepherd leads his sheep. The good shepherd does not drive the sheep in front of Him but goes before them and they follow because they know His voice. In the same way, the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of the believer and Christ speaks through the Spirit. . If we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, He will lead us in the way that Christ would have us go and we will follow because we recognize His voice. Before Christ came, God sent the Prophets and the Scripture writers to show people how to live but man could not understand because he did not understand what love was, so Christ came to earth as a man to show us the way to live. By the same token, if we follow Christ, others will see His love in us and desire that love. You cannot force people to love each other but you can gently lead them and show them the way.
Reaching The Lost-C
Providing Entry Points Worship doesn’t have the draw like it once did. Many people have no idea what church is and see no reason to attend. Until people get to know Christ, worship is just entertainment and there are lots of different kinds of entertainment out there which are more professional and have more resources than the average church has. Vacation Bible School once attracted unbelievers but rarely does today. Entry points, like the ministries I have described on my blog under church ministry, not only minister to people where they are, they often provide opportunities for people to get to know you and find a reason to become a part of your church. For entry points to be effective, the church must follow up on visitors, but few do, so very few visitors return. Visiting those that visit the church often leads them to visit the church again. As they attend church, they can get to know Christ. Once they get to know Christ, worship will take on a whole new meaning for them. However, worship alone will not hold them. Unless there is fellowship and members are being ministered to, they will not stay. However, keeping them in the church is not the final goal. They need to grow in Christ and learn what it means to serve Christ and very few churches today have active programs to train members to become disciples. Once members are trained as disciples, they can become points of light leading unbelievers to Christ.
Reaching the Lost-B
In the past people either had a church background or someone close who attended church and when they had problems, they turned to the church. Evangelists like Billy Graham also led people to seek out a church. In addition, many parents who went to church as kids, but no longer go, sent their kids to Sunday School to learn how to live a good life. Some people also attended special programs that provided entertainment, like Gospel groups, or fellowship, like dinners and study groups. That is no longer the case. Many people today have never had a church connection and there are no longer any great evangelists. They see no reason to contact a church, let alone attend one. As a result, the church now has to go out and search for them. However, few churches make the effort and so see very few new people. The ones who they see are usually those formerly active in church who just moved into their area and are seeking a church. Since people no longer seek out a church, the church must develop entry points to attract people.
Reaching The Lost-A
Lately, God has been impressing me with our need to expand our work in reaching the lost and making disciples. I have had a burden for the lost ever since God called me to serve Him but lately it has become a heavy burden as I see people struggling to survive in our increasingly secular society with reaching out to help them. I reach far more people than the average pastor, outside of radio and television preachers, yet it is mostly with pastors and the number of unbelievers I have contact with is only a small number when compared to the number of those who don’t know Christ and it isn’t the close personal contact needed to bring someone to conversion and nurture new believers. With the changes in our society, many pastors don’t have the close personal contact with unbelievers to bring them to conversion or the personal contact with their members to nurture them in the faith. That is why I wrote the three courses in the “Church That Transforms” series that details the changes in our society and how it has affected the church, how the church has dealt with similar problems in the past, and how it can become more effective in reaching the lost and making disciples. But it will take more than just church leaders. Christ calls all believers to reach out and touch those around them. That is why I am looking for churches who are willing to reach their neighborhoods and believers who are willing to gather their family, friends, and neighbors to study the Gospel.