Now there is an alternative form of care for these situations that can benefit Christians and non-Christians alike. Called Perinatal Hospice, it allows parents to deliver and care for their child for whatever short amount of time they will be on this earth. It not only allows parents to participate in God’s natural plans for birth, life and death, it allows mothers, fathers, and other family members the opportunity to properly participate in this child’s life and mourn their passing. It allows for the grieving process without the guilt of knowing that a life was terminated in violation of God’s law.

For more information I suggest you check out this article on Lifeissues.net. Fatal birth defects are a tragic situation, they do not also have to be a murderous one filled with guilt and shame.

Russ Bonchu

Public comments and opinions can be made at the link below, or you may reach me privately at: http://russbonchu.reachby.com

What he has done, as this article points out,  is make some changes to our foreign policy and apologize for prior US actions (neither of which he needs to do). He has embarrassed the office of President by showing weakness before countries that want to destroy us and our way of life.

Of course I do not think we should really be surprised. Why should we take serious an award given to Al Gore for making a movie about the environment that he later admitted used junk science?

The US Senate is currently considering new hate crimes legislation that would add sexual orientation into existing laws on hate crime. While some people think it is good to add these “enhancements” to the law I submit to you that it is not, and will explain why.

Hate is not a Crime Hate is an emotion,not an action. We can’t punish hate anymore than we can punish love (which we cannot by the way). Only actions are punishable, along with the intent that preceded them. But without action, intent is meaningless. So if we cannot punish emotion, what are we attempting to punish? Thought and speech.

Speech in the US is protected Almost all speech in this country, with the exception of sedition, is protected under The Constitution. Ten years ago the Ku Klux Klan held a small rally here in Cleveland, Ohio where they made racist speeches. Many people here thought our mayor, who at the time was black, should not have given them a permit. But the mayor did the right thing, allowing them to march and rally. While the Klan may be dispicible, they have a right to exist, a right to speak, and those opposed to their views have a right to condem them, which they did. Hate crime legislation would make it illegal for a Pastor of a church to read or expound upon the chapters of Leviticus and Romans in the Bible that condemn homosexuality as a sin. This would not only violate our right to free speech but but also our freedom of religion as well.

Hate crime is not justice The US Constitution guarantees equality under the law. Equal protection as a defendant, equal punishment as the convicted. Hate crime elevates certain crimes to a special status, requiring enhanced punishments. This is not justice it is revenge. What is worse, under the new hate crime bill the defendant is only charged with a hate crime. If he proves that he did not commit the crime based on hate, hw would be found not guilty, receiving no punishment.

No life is more valuable than another. If the victim of a crime is of a different ethnic group then the perpetrator, do they suffer more? Of course not.The Mathew Shepard murder was a despicable crime, but it is no worse than any other murder. Does Mathew Shepard’s mother miss him more than any other mother who has lost a child? No one in their right mind can say yes to this. Therefore this legislation is illogical and unnecessary.

Hate crimes legislation is not needed The only way this legislation would make sense is if someone who committed a hate crime today would not be punished under existing law. But the fact is that people are punished . In the previously mentioned Mathew Shepard case the two men were both given life sentences, one without the possibility of parole. Another good example of a punished crime involving hate is that of James Byrd, Jr. a black man from Jasper, Texas who was dragged to death by three white men in 1998. In this case two of the three men received death sentences, the other life in prison. What would hate crime legislation do? Can we kill them twice? Can we make the third defendant live long enough to serve two life sentences? Of course not. If that is not possible, then it is not possible for this legislation to do anything productive and is therefore unnecessary.

Men, if we want our rights to free speech and free exercise of religion protected we must stand up for them.  Thomas Jefferson said: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” I urge you to call the US Capitol switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask your Senators to not support this bad legislation (S. 909), lest it become bad law. If you do not know who your Senators are, you can simply tell the operator where you live and they will connect you.

I would also ask that you pray for God to grant our elceted officials wisdom in these troubling times, for mercy for our sins, and for repentance and revival to come to our troubled nation.

Amen

For me, I hear these stories all the time from other countries. My heart goes out to them, but then I usually think of how lucky I am to be able to not have to worry about such things. I guess I have been wrong.

Thomas Jefferson said: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” This fact is true in all times, but especially now. We need to stand strong for our rights, and oppose anyone who tries to take them away.

I think I have said this before, we need to pray for revival to come to our nation. For Jesus to be accepted as Lord and Savior, and for a return to our being a Christian nation.

Amen.

Jennifer Marshall and Katherine Bradley of the Heritage Foundation have written a fantastic article on the first quarter of the Obama administration and the 111th Congress. This article list 12 policies that either have been or may soon be implemented that will have a detrimental impact on our nation by reducing our freedom, compromising our morals, and weakening our country. I am not going to name or comment on the individual points of the article here unless someone requests it. Suffice it to say that I agree with the authors that every one of these policies are bad for America. Please check out this report, and let me know in the comments of this post if you agree or disagree with them.

Men, we need to pray like never before for the revival of this once great nation, and for the turning of the hearts of our elected officials. I believe the path we are heading down will end in great suffering and anguish, if we do not change our course.

Amen.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/wm2389.cfm

On May 4th members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus introduced Hourse Resolution 397 which affirms our heritage as a Christian nation. Here are some facts from this document:

• The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that we are a religious people.
• During the Founding Era, the most frequently cited source was The Bible.
• The first act of the first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with a word of prayer and read from The Bible.
• Congress has appropriated money for missionaries and religious instruction, even after the ratification of the First Amendment.
• The Declaration of Independence identifies God as Creator, Law Giver, Judge, and Protector.
• Congress paid to import Bibles in 1777 and authorize the printing of a Bible for schools in 1782.
• The Treaty of Paris begins with: “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity.”
• Congress not only has paid Chaplains, the military has over 4500 chaplains in it’s ranks.
• The United States Supreme Court has declared
  throughout the course of our Nation’s history that the
  United States is ‘‘a Christian country’’, ‘‘a Christian nation’’,
  ‘‘a Christian people’’, ‘‘a religious people whose institutions
  presuppose a Supreme Being’’, and that ‘‘we
• cannot read into the Bill of Rights a philosophy of hostility
  to religion.’”

These are just some of the many facts of this document that disprove the President’s opinion. Men of God, I urge you to check out this inspiring resolution, call your Congressman and ask him or her to co-sponsor it, and pray not only for it’s passage, but also for the revival of the Christian heritage of our great nation.

Chairman Obama, in his effort to advance the pro-death agenda, has nominated Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) to the office of Health and Human Services Secretary. Governor Sebelius is one of the leading proponents for abortion on demand at the state level. One of her biggest supporters is Dr. George Tiller, one of the worst abortionists in the country, currently on trial for violating laws restricting late-term abortions.

Clearly, this is not the kind of person that should be in charge of the health of the country. I do not think that someone who does not respect life, especially a life that cannot defend itself, should be in charge of the welfare and well being of the country. Well right now, there is something we can do about it. You can call the capital switchboard at 1 202 224 3121, ask for your Senator, and ask the to vote no on Governor Sibelius’ confirmation. If you do not know who your Senator is, just tell the operator where you live and they will look it up and connect you.

Please prayerfully consider doing this today. Even if Sebelius never did anything as HHS Secretary to change laws regarding abortion, we can send a clear message to our representatives about the will of the people on this important issue. Thank you.

With the election of President Obama, the most Pro-Death President in history, and such a liberal Congress, the threat to life has not been this great since the 1970′s. As Christians, we acknowledge that life is the most precious gift given by God, and that He commands us not to commit murder. But we are in a time where life has become cheap. From Obabma threatening to repeal Pro-Life laws across the country, to a growing threat from Euthanasia, we must do what we can to protect life.

In the midst of all this doom and gloom, we must keep in mind that the war is not over, and there are things that we can do to help protect those who cannot protect themselves. 2008 saw a new concept in pro-life policy known as Personhood. First attempted in Colorado during the 2008 election, Personhood seeks to pass laws at the state level which acknowledge the unborn to be persons, extending them the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness afforded by the US Constitution. This type of law circumvents Roe v. Wade by identifying a fetus as a person. Not only could this make abortion illegal in a state that passes this legislation, it could also ban embryonic stem-cell research in that state, as it would make it illegal to destroy the zygote once created.

For many years I thought that the fight for life was only relegated to preventing abortions through peaceful protest, offering alternatives to pregant women considering abortion, and teaching abstinence. While I was grateful to have these means, I was always sad that we could not fix this problem by changing the law. I was under the impression that the Roe decission was unsermountable.

This new tact fills me with hope, that the American people, who are largely opposed to abortion and embryonic stem-cell research. I urge everyone who reads this and has a respect for life to go to the PersonhoodUSA site, read their information, and consider donating and joinging the group for their state. Together as Christians and with God’s help, we can make this attrocity right and end the Holocaust of the Unborn. Thank you.

This story doesn’t deal directly with men in ministry, but it does deal with an interesting part of religious culture I have recently learned about. Apparently some countries put your religion on your identity card and other papers. if you live in one of these predominantly Muslim countries and you are blessed enough to learn about Christ and convert to Christianity, you have to go to court to petition to get your religious identity changed. I have seen several stories of this nature in the last several months, the current one about a woman from Malaysia.

Now here in the US people petition the courts for things like name changes all the time without any problem. But in these cases of Muslim countries, they do not want to see their citizens converting to Christianity. So in most cases the converts are given the run around or simply flat out denied their request. Some of these countries have both civil courts and Muslim Sharia courts. The civil courts will say the decision is out of their jurisdiction, while the Sharia courts will claim the conversion illegal or impossible. If this is not the case, Even worse, some countries only have Sharia courts.

At first I found these stories surprising, one because I never even considered the need to have my religious preference on my ID, and then because if there is a need to have this information on there, it should be a matter of filling out paperwork. But after some consideration I realized how much these hassles makes sense. Christians are the avowed enemies of Islam. Their religion teaches (despite what you hear in the mainstream media) that they are to convert the world or destroy it. So having someone convert in their home country is like having someone choose to defect, or commit treason. Allowing the light of Christ into their hearts is like living in darkness, thinking it’s the only way to live, and have someone come through with a bright beacon of light, and rejecting it as something strange and frightening.

I think we need to pray for these converts, that God will show them favor in the eyes of the Jurists in their community. That they will recognize their citizen’s right to choose their religion, and that Christ will continue to work in the hearts of these people, slowly working His way into every part of the world.

Amen.

Homeschooling in CA wins judicial approval-for now

For many Christians, homeschooling is a very important part of their faith. It allows them to have control over the moral lessons kids learn in school, avoiding the Homosexual agenda. It also allows them to teach kids at their own pace, and to show them how religion has played such an important role in history. Back in March, homeschooling suffered one of it’s worst attacks in decades when a three judge panel ruled that only parents who had teaching credentials from the state of California could teach their children at home. This means that ninety percent of homeschooling parents would have to send their children to public or private school, or go back to school for a teaching degree.

After a number of legal groups such as the Home School Legal Defense Fund, Alliance Defense Fund, and Liberty Counsel got involved, the court agreed to vacate its original verdict and reconsider it’s position. Yesterday, the court ruled that parents have a constitutional right to teach their own children, and that requiring a credential or adding any other restriction would be judged unconstitutional. If you would like to read the full story, you may click here.

This is a great victory for Christian families and therefore Christian men, as it affirms our right to teach our children in the way we see fit, and in the way our founding fathers intended. The Bible was meant to be used to teach moral lessons, not be kept out and feared. For more information on this issue, check out the resources available at Wall Builders.

Now the Bad News: California Marriage Amendment under Attack

This issue merits a brief history lesson. Four years ago, on the same ballot as the last Presidential Election, California voters were given the opportunity to vote on a law defining marriage in California being between one man and one woman. This was partially in response to San Francisco’s Mayor, Gavin Newsome, attempting to illegally marry same sex couples. The law passed by an overwhelming margin. You would expect that this would decide the issue, as the people of California had clearly spoken.

Not so fast, says the Supreme Court of California. Earlier this year the court ruled the law the citizens overwhelmingly approved unconstitutional. Thirty days after this decision, in mid-June, city and county governments began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

I was very disappointed when I heard this decision. Not only did the court negate the will of their own people, they symbolically thumbed their noses at God, as if they truly believed that marriage was an invention of man, and not God as it clearly states in Genesis 2:24.

Now we have a new opportunity to put things right. Pro-Family and Christian organizations acquired enough signatures to put a measure on this year’s ballot for a California Constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. This is a great opportunity not only for Christian and Pro-Family Californians to finally have their wishes respected, but to protect one of the great gifts of God.

So what’s the problem, you ask? The California Attorney General has changed the wording of the amendment from a simple unbiased statement (only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California) to one that is very biased, stating that the measure would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Pro-family organizations took this issue to court, where the judge ruled that the AG had the right to change the wording, and that since the courts struck down the previous law, same-sex couples did indeed have the right to marry. (Story)

Now, it would be silly for me to say that the opposition is trying to politicize the issue, as it clearly is a political issue. But when it comes to the ballot itself, the language should be unbiased. Save the rhetoric for the commercials that I’m sure will be running in California.

Men of California, this is your opportunity to stand up as the High Priest of your household. To lead your family in the fight for God’s Word and his plan for our lives. It is time to take a stand for the fundamentals of our faith. I will be praying for you and your wives to vote in favor of this critical amendment to your constitution. And I will pray that all California voters to see the light on this issue.