Special Events in the park like Church picnics give the church an enjoyable time of fellowship but can also serve as a valuable way to reach those who don’t attend church. Large community events like fireworks displays that draw crowds also provide excellent opportunities. Games and activities for adults and kids can attract those outside the church if the church is open to inviting and including them. A table with snacks or a picnic meal also may attract kids playing nearby and church kids can be encouraged to invite kids playing nearby. Church families can also invite their neighbors to come with them and members of neighborhood Bible Clubs will get a chance to meet the larger church. Pavilions often have electric outlets and the church can set up a screen and show children’s videos. If electric is not available, someone can do a chalk drawing or paint a picture while telling the story that goes with it. Be sure to have literature on hand telling about your church. As the people get to know church members, they may be willing to join in other activities the church has.
Sanctity of Life-F-E
Abortion supporters claim a woman has a right to control her own body and that is true. She can decide whether or not to have sex. If she decides to have sex, she must accept responsibility for any children that result. Once she is pregnant, it effects someone else besides her. The baby is also affected and that is not her body. It has a distinct DNA and often a different blood type. With rights come responsibility. As a product of her decision, she is responsible to protect the child from the moment of conception to the age of 18 when it becomes an adult and able to decide for itself. The child cannot protect itself. If the mother does not protect it, society has a responsibility to step in and protect it. If the mother claims that it has her DNA and so she can decide for it, then the husband should have just as much of a say as the mother because the child has as much of his DNA as it does of the mother’s. Abortion supporters say that it is different with cases of rape and incest because the mother does not consent. However all laws against abortion before Roe vs Wade allowed exceptions for rape and incest so it is no excuse for allowing abortion on demand up to and including birth, which is what abortion providers seek.
Sanctity of Life-F-D
Democrats state they support women’ reproductive rights. Women are rarely told about any problems that could arise from having an abortion. In fact, abortion providers try to rush the woman into a decision to have an abortion so that she will not consider alternatives. Abortion providers actually fight any attempt to require them to inform women about the dangers and possible consequences that can result from abortions. While they stress that a woman should have a right to choose to have an abortion, they do not want her to get information so she can make an informed choice. While laws require a woman be informed about the dangers and consequences of other medical procedures, abortion providers ignore the law and fight any attempt to enact laws that would specifically require them to inform women seeking abortions. While abortion providers claim that pro-life organizations are engaged in a war against women, it is the pro-life organizations that are providing women with information on alternatives and fighting to protect women from unscrupulous abortion providers.
Politics-A-H
President Biden continues to issue executive orders which violate federal law. First. he has no authority to authorize funding, that is the responsibility of the Congress. Second, he has authorized funds for abortion overseas in violation of federal law (Hatch Act) prohibiting funds to support abortion overseas and ordered State Medicaid programs to pay for abortions for those traveling to the State from States that do not allow abortions. Medicaid funds are State funds and are not to be used for non-residents. He has also reinstated President Obama’s mandate that employer provided health insurance must provide coverage for abortion in spite of the law authorizing Obamacare which prohibits insurance coverage from covering abortion. He has even included churches and religious organizations in spite of the Constitutional amendment prohibiting the government from interfering with the free expression of faith. Such open disregard for the rule of law is an afront to the American people. The people need to elect representatives to Congress who will uphold the law. The American people cannot be expected to obey the laws of this nation if its leaders do not.
Ninth Sunday of Pentecost-July 23
Movie Night-Few small towns these days have anything to draw them together. Some churches have started having movie night in the church parking lot during the summer. People may be drawn to visit the church by showing family friendly films and films demonstrating the faith, and allowing visitors to blend with members and get to know them, It isn’t as threatening as going inside and those passing who see the movie may stop to watch. Adding popcorn and drinks will increase the draw and provide a time of friendly socializing. The old movies used to show a newsreel or short film before the main film so those coming late wouldn’t miss the start of the film. By showing a short light Gospel film before the main film, such as a Vege-tale film, it provides a draw for families to bring kids and introduces unbelievers to the faith.
Immigration-III-C
President Obama and President Biden used unilateral executive authority to bypass Congress and ignore its laws when they ordered construction on the wall stopped and ordered border agents to look the other way when immigrants crossed the border. In addition, President Obama granted asylum to illegal immigrants. He doesn’t have the authority to change the law or ignore it when he doesn’t like it. He also ordered judges to free immigrants until their trial, allowing a lot of them to disappear into the country and never show up for their trial. As a result, we have large numbers of illegal immigrants in the country and no idea who or where they are. Being illegal, they cannot easily support themselves and many of them are forced to support themselves through illegal activity. Democrats also passed the House bill “American Dream and Promise Act” (HB-6) which would give permanent status to all illegal immigrants brought here illegally as kids or who are under the Temporary Protection Status regardless of if they are criminals, gang members, or even terrorists. Such blanket amnesty is insane. Such actions continue to encourage illegal immigrants to come here and bring their kids so their kids can become citizens. It also encourages families to send their children so they can get citizenship. Many of those who sneak into the U.S. and surrender to border patrol agents are children who show up without any adults. Once here, they are a burden on the U.S. to feed and care for them. At the least, they should have to work for citizenship like anyone seeking citizenship, and be barred for criminal or subversive activity. Giving them blanket citizenship for illegally crossing the border rewards them for breaking the law and encourages others to do the same. We saw a drastic drop in illegal immigrants trying to cross the border when President Trump ordered border patrol agents to round them up and send them back to Mexico. However, the flow has increased tremendously since President Biden ordered the border patrol to stop sending them back.
Immigration-III-B
The Democrats say there is no national emergency requiring the wall to be built. That is strange because former President Obama declared a national emergency due to the border crisis during his presidency and it was never rescinded so it is really still in effect. Since President Biden took office, we are seeing massive groups of thousands of immigrants who are being transported to our borders and sent against the border to overwhelm our border forces and enable many to enter the U.S. along with large amounts of drugs, many sex slaves, criminals, and terrorists who sneak in while the border patrol is busy trying to control the immigrants.. If that doesn’t constitute a national emergency, what does? President Obama never faced such massive waves of immigrants, yet he declared it a national emergency. In addition to those crossing the border, President Obama did everything he could to fast track refugees into the US with no regard for the danger. Isis has publicly boasted that it is using the flood of refugees to slip terrorists into the United States and other countries. Recent attacks in California, Brussels, and Pakistan show that they are not empty boasts. Republicans promoted a bill in the House of Representatives to stop the President from fast tracking the importing of refugees and require that those accepted are carefully screened first. It would also have returned power to the State and local government to allow State and local governments to restrict settlement of refugees within their borders. It would also require Congress to issue public reports showing what it is doing to protect the safety to the American people. Many of the immigrants are Muslims who are congregating in certain areas and imposing Islamic law in those areas. Many of those laws violate the U.S. Constitution and openly violate human rights. Women in those areas are being treated like second class citizens and rape of women in those areas has skyrocketed. In addition, they are forcing Christians to submit to their laws or leave solidifying their control over those areas. If they come to the U.S., they should respect our laws.
Immigration-III-A
Democrats state they want to provide a path for illegal immigrants to get citizenship. Democrats feel immigrants should not be hindered from crossing the border. The influx hurts border States the most since immigrants disperse in the area close to the border once they get into the U.S. Many coming into the country illegally escape capture and are not being screened. Many are criminals seeking to prey on Americans. Many also pay their way by bringing in drugs and weapons for the cartels. Without screening, we don’t know who is coming in. The wall would force them to come through immigration where they could be screened. Democrats hindered President Trump’s attempt to complete the border wall and President Biden has refused to protect our borders and has repeatedly ignored the cries for help from border States inundated with illegal immigrants. Texas and Arizona finally got the attention of liberals by busing a portion of the illegal immigrants to New York City and Washington D.C. Now the problem has ended up on Washington’s doorstep and they are finally having to deal with it. President Biden has finally consented to start work on the wall, though he has reassured his supporters that he won’t build any new wall, he will only reinforce existing wall, which means he will spend a lot of money but do nothing to fix the problem. People complain about how much the wall will cost but have no idea how much the influx of illegal immigrants is already costing them. We need to know the number convicted of crimes, and how many taxpayer funded programs are used by illegal immigrants. In addition, President Obama forced many communities to accept immigrants who were captured, in spite of opposition by residents. We need to return power to the States so communities can decide. Immigrants should not be forced on communities.
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost-July 16
Summer kid’s lunches-Kids from poor families can get free lunches at school and some schools even offer breakfast, however, there is no school in summer. Some parents don’t have sufficient funds for meals, though food stamps are usually readily available. Some parents might not want to apply or are not eligible for some reason. More often the reason is do to the parent not being able to plan good meals or is just lazy. The parent may work and children are left alone to fend for themselves and do not know how to prepare adequate meals, or do not want to bother. As a result, the children suffer. School meals provide their only truly nutritious meals. When school is out, they do not get adequate nutrition. The government has money for meal programs in the summer but needs someone to handle the program since the schools are closed. Community organizations can contract for the funds and provide the meals. Church can and often do contract to provide the meals but cannot include religious training during the meal because it uses government funds. However, there is nothing to stop the church from having the meal at noon and having a Children’s Bible Club at 1 PM and inviting the kids to stay, though they cannot be required to stay. Some churches have Children’s Bible Clubs on Wednesday evenings and provide a meal so parents aren’t rushed getting home and preparing a meal for the kids before the Bible Club.
Voting-I-AQ
Liberals are again facing embarrassment for their rhetoric. They made a big deal of the Georgia voting law passed just before the 2022 election requiring Voter ID claiming it was racist and would prevent many Blacks from voting. The media picked up the cry and openly broadcast their statements. Large corporations even pulled programs from Georgia hurting the State financially to force them to repeal it. Yet Georgia experienced a record number of voters in the 2022 election including more Blacks than before. While post-election surveys revealed no one who was hindered in voting, liberals have continued similar attacks on voter laws passed by other States after the election. Experience is showing an increase in voting, especially by Blacks, who express more confidence that their vote will count, yet neither liberals nor the media have apologized or admitted they were wrong. Many people I talk to still believe that conservatives that push election protection laws are trying to prevent people from voting so they can win. The only ones they are preventing from voting are those who are voting illegally. Voters must stand up and demand their legislators enact voter protection laws to prevent the many cases of election fraud which have occurred since liberal attemptsto break down safeguards to election safety.