Archive for the ‘religion’ Tag
Was the Tim Tebow ad good?
Filed under: abortion | Tags: abortion, football, religion, sports, superbowl, television
Leave a Comment Last Sunday at the Superbowl one of the biggest controversies was not a call by an official (I thought the refereeing was fine), but an ad by Focus on the Family. The ad, which featured University of Florida Quarterback and Heissman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his Mom, was billed as a pro-life ad. This drew a lot of fiery protests from pro-death groups such as NOW and Planned Parenthood. CBS has never featured controversial ads dealing with politics or social issues, so this ad gained a lot of press during the week leading up to the big game.
But was the hype, and the $2.5 Million worth it? The ad was extremely vague, not using words like “life” or “abortion.” Tim’s Mom merely said that there were complications and Tim was a “miracle baby.” At the end of the ad was a link to the FotF site to get their full story. After watching this ad I was personally left asking whether or not this was really a pro-life ad, as nothing was explicitly said.
So I am writing this article to ask several questions. Do you think this was a pro-life ad? Was it worth it to spend the money? Should their have been a stronger, more definitive pro-life message or did Focus on the Family do a good job by putting out a commercial and letting the media sell the ad for them (the amount of discussion leading up to the Superbowl was huge). Do you have any other thoughts about this ad? Write your thoughts in the comments and I will discuss them with you.
Logical Conclusions: Temple Prostitution
Filed under: Christian, politics, religion | Tags: Christian, church, homosexuality, men, ministry, religion
Leave a Comment I do not normally link to blog posts from others but this time I simply have to make an exception. I first found this post linked at Chris Roseborough’s blog Extreme Theology, which he had linked to the original article. The basic premise here follows the logical conclusion that if liberal churches can accept homosexuality as a viable part of Christianity and not call it sin, why not do the same thing with temple prostitution? I think it is a brilliant piece and absolutely worth reading. If you have any comments, please leave so that we can have a discussion.
Perinatal Hospice: An Alternative to Abortion
Filed under: abortion | Tags: abortion, Christian, faith, politics, religion
Leave a Comment One of the questions many people ask about abortion is: “What if the baby has a terminal birth defect, shouldn’t he or she be aborted?” In the world’s view, this is usually the first and only choice. But for Christians, as painful a situation as this is, it is still a violation of the sixth commandment prohibiting murder.
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
Persecution of Christians in San Diego
Filed under: bible, Christian, family, government, religion | Tags: bible, Christian, government, ministry, politics, religion
Leave a Comment I just found this story about a Christian family in San Diego County being persecuted by the government for holding a home Bible study. I think this is absolutely outrageous. This flies in the face of the rights we take for granted: reasonably doing what we want in our homes, freely getting together with others, and most importantly freely practicing our religion.
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.
Proposition 8 Upheld in California
Filed under: Christian, religion, sex | Tags: Christian, gay, homosexual, marriage, religion
Comments (1) Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of California upheld Proposition 8 as a true Constitutional Amendment. In case you have been living under a rock for the last year, and your laptop and Internet card just arrived, you should know that prop. 8 was a Constitutional Amendment to the CA constitution defining marriage as one man and one woman. The referendum passed with a 53 percent majority. This is the second time CA voters have made this decision, passing a similar resolution in 2000 that was only a law and found to be unconstitutional last year. After the 2008 election, gay activists challenged the amendment in court, claiming it was somehow not a constitutional amendment.
Now that everyone is on the same page, let’s move on. I am thankful for two things. First, that the people of CA, or at least 53% of the voters, have either recognized the will of God for marriage, or understand the disasterous consequences that gay marriage can have on the family. I have stated before that the Bible only recognizes one type of marriage, and that breaking this commandment could not only lead to his wrath but could lead to legalized incest, pederasty, and even polygamy.
Second, as a proud American, I am grateful that the will of the majority of the people of CA has been heard and allowed to stand. I recognize the purpose of the courts in our system to interpret what the Founding Fathers intendend when they wrote the Constitution, when compared to new laws. But we must do everything we can, including Judicial Impeachment, to prevent our courts from legislating from the bench. When the will of the people and the intent of the Constitution are both ignored, tyranny will reign.
My brothers, we need to thank God for upholding this good law, and we must pray for our friends and neighbors that have chosen the homosexual lifestyle. We must have the strength to gently but firmly bring the law of God down upon them, convicting them of their sin, and then give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Is America a Christian Nation?
Filed under: bible, Christian, religion | Tags: bible, Christian, politics, religion
Comments (4) Last month, President Obama visited several Asian and Middle Eastern nations, meeting with other heads of state During a press conference on April 6th the President said that the US was not a Christian nation, but a nation of citizens. Now the second half of that statement is obviously correct. All countries are nations of citizens. But are we a Christian nation? Many non-believers would agree with that statement, espousing the false belief that we have some sort of separation of church and state that does not allow us to be a Christian nation, only a nation that contains Christians. Tonight I am going to show you just how ridiculous that statement is.
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.
The Myth about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Filed under: bible, Christian, men, religion | Tags: Christian, homosexuality, military, religion
Comments (6) A lot of people think that President Clinton changed the law by allowing homosexuals to serve in the millitary by instituting a law called “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” stating that homosexuals were allowed to serve in the millitary as long as they kept their sexual deviance in private. Today I want to set the record straight and give you a status update on this issue.
In 1993 President Clinton attempted to get Congress to lift the ban on Homosexuals in the military. After numerous hearings Congress passed what is officially known as Section 654, Title 10 which clarifies the law that was in place as Pentagon policy even before the Clinton administration, which states that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military. Since that time, the law has been held up in federal court numerous times as being constitutional. For confirmation of this and more detailed information, check out the testimony before Congress from Elaine Donnelly from the Center for Millitary Readiness.
Now why do I bring this up on this blog, which is was created to deal with Men growing closer to God? On the surface, this issue probably sounds totally irrelevent. I do it because as Christians we live in the world, and hear about issues like this all the time. It is neccesary for us to be able to stand up and defend the faith to others.
To that end we need to remind people that the Bible clearly says, in both Testaments, that homosexuality is a sin, abhorent to God. It goes directly against God’s plan for sex in marriage. I was going to place Bible references to these points in this post as I normally do, but in my search for them I found an article which does a much better job outlining this entire subject, and is worth reading in it’s entirety.
I hope you will check out the article from CMR for information on homosexuals in the millitary, as well as the article on Homosexuality and the Bible. If you have any questions or need more resources feel free to either leave a comment or use my contact form. And pray for those who are gripped in the sin of homosexuality to repent of their sin and believe the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Have a great Palm Sunday!
Difficulties in Leaving the Cult of Islam
Filed under: Christian | Tags: christianity, courts, cult, international, islam, politics, religion
Leave a Comment 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.
The Right of Conscience
Filed under: Christian, religion | Tags: abortion, conscience, constitution, religion
Comments (1) The Right of Conscience is a right given by God, who commands us to follow His law, and is acknowledged by the US Constitution in our First Amendment Right to practice our religion. If you were to ask people to list rights that they were concerned about protecting, this would probably be at the bottom of the list, as it is usually considered a given.
But now that right is being threatened in a rather frightening way. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering regulations that would require an Obstetric Gynecologist (ObGyn) to perform an abortion even if he is morally opposed to this procedure. Just imagine, you are a born-again Christian, who goes through all those years of training, intending to help women with their reproductive health, only to be forced to commit an act that your Holy God says is murder. That, or face your other choice of losing your job or going to jail or facing steep fines for not performing the procedure. This is a decision I would never want to be faced with. Not because I would have difficulty making the right choice. I simply would not want to deal with those kinds of consequences.
Well we now have a chance to have our voices heard, and to stand in the gap for our beliefs. Michael Levitt, Secretary of HHS, has posted an entry on this very issue on his blog, and has invited people to comment on it. I would implore all Christians the world over to please politely ask the Secretary to make sure the right of a doctor to say “performing an abortion is against my religion” is protected. Thank you.
Dark Times in CA III-Some Good, Some Bad
Filed under: bible, men | Tags: california, election, marriage, politics, religion
Leave a Comment As promised, I have a third installment on the unChristian (Firefox doesn’t think that’s a word) moral state in California. In this third installment, I have been intending to write about some good news in California, and I will. But there is also another story of bad news and great concern. More on that later.
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.
