* His greatest sermon can be read in eight minutes (Matthew 5-7)
* He summarized prayer in five phrases (Matthew 6:9-13).
* He silenced accusers with one challenge (John 8:7).
* He rescued a soul with one sentence (Luke 23:43).
* He summarized the Law in three verses (Mark 12:29-31)
* He reduced all his teaching to one command (John 15:12)

He made his point and went home.

Kerianna on the other hand – now age 9 going on 10 soon enough, (ok so maybe its really 30 in her mind)  has come to the realization that hugs can be fast…

Is this something we passed on to her?   I hope not.

Since they have been in NJ now for a few weeks (Since June 4th) I have been missing them quite a bit… and It dawned on me how much I just crave their hugs and yes even the fighting.

Parenting Technique: "Hug Your Kids Until They Let Go"

I am for now on however refusing to be the one to give up when we hug… That’s right.  They will need to let go.

this might be a bit of a struggle for my aspergers diagnosed son – Ben – as he might just never let go – none-the-less they need to know that We – as parents are their rock.   I want my children to realize that we – my wife and I are a rich source for the assurance and comfort they need in life.

I wonder if this will work with my wife as well. . .   Time will tell.

Anyone want to join in with me on this new venture not to be the one that lets go?

I think this is Biblical -  God does not work by rushing us, bugging us, begging us…  so why should we do the same with the hugs – & God never lets go.

Perhaps this can be a great but simple example we as fathers (and parents) can give to our children and our spouses…

Why am I not successful at the many different things that I attempt,
Why am I not where I think I should be in my life – my faith, my marriage, my (fill in the blank)…

It has dawned on me however – When Jesus Christ said come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden – He already knew that we would become discouraged along the way.   We will grow weary – saddened, disheartened…

Christ knew that the pain – physical, emotional – be it a loss of a friendship, loneliness, a weary body – etc…   He knew that this pain would take everything out of our walk in faith – that our prayers at times would seem like they were not answered,  that we would feel comfortless at times…

Hebrews 4:15-16 we are told that we should have no fear in approaching the throne of Grace to receive mercy – and to find Grace when we are in need of help.    Why ?   Because the high priest Himself has been put to the test in the same way that we have been.

Grace tells us that we are accepted exactly like we are – Broken, torn, weary and heavily burdened. BUT – none of this matters to God.   He simply calls us to Love Him and each other.   How amazing is it that we are simply accepted by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords… and all we need to do is simply believe, repent and Love.

There is Grace when we are torn down,
There is Grace to help when we are in trouble,
There is Grace that allows us to forgive ourselves – because WE ARE ALREADY FORGIVEN

This is the Grace of Hebrews 4:15-16

Ministry is a synonym to Messy.
I learned after fighting for attention for a long time
after pushing to be noticed
pushing to be heard
aching to be loved
hurting from being insecure
that this is the way of the world – this is the hopeless of the world

but I was free to love

• I was free to keep no record of wrongs
• I was free to notice others
• I was free to listen to others
• I was free to love the aching
• I was free to secure those who were hurting
• I was free to give Hope to the Hopeless

I am Free in Christ

I am free in the everlasting love
I am free in being Drawn in by the Holy Spirit
There is freedom in being in a messy-less mess

I don’t have to fight to get in position
I don’t have to try to get Gods attention
I don’t have to try to get in the “church”
Through Christ – I am already in.

I have seen hopeless addicts find Christ and be FREE -

• Free to live
• Free to love
• Free to begin their lives over again.

I have seen respected leaders in the church strangled by the religiosity of the institution.

• Captive to the judgement of others
• Captive to the limited relationship they have by not being allowed to express freely their heart of hearts
• Captive unable to meet the expectations of the  “christian life”

There is freedom in working with the weeds in the wheat (Matthew 13)

I thank God that I learned the mission of the Church the Heartbeat of Christ is to Evangelize the World…  There is Freedom in Speaking Freedom

perhaps the problem with today’s churches are they are simply not messy…

That is a lesson I learned from my father, who abandoned me, who years later has accepted salvation through Christ.

that deafening silence of not pushing to be heard any longer – not aching to be loved to hurting from being insecure -  being part of something Bigger than anyone could imagine – not having to try to be part of the group – but being accepted as already part of the Church was used by Christ to transform a relationship

Was used by Christ to bring reconciliation.

I pray that perhaps this fathers day – you might reconcile with the father figure in your life and stop being a weed but rather Wheat in the harvest.

Alice Cooper was a guest on the Christian program “The Harvest Show” recently to talk about his Solid Rock Foundation — a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth and teens.

An amazing story about a preachers kid who ran from the faith – that has come back.

1. Pray:   Let’s think about it…  God created the platypus, the kangaroo – the Rocky Mountains,  the Grand Canyon, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico…  stop me when you get the point that God is a God of Creativity…  The North Pole, the eagle, ….
2. Take a Shower:   I know it sounds crazy but some of the better ideas I have had come to me as the warm water drums into the skull.
3. Work Out:  Some of the better ideas I have had lately have come while on the rowing machine @ the YMCA in Washington Court House OH
4. BRAINSTORM:   Just mention a topic – ask a question and then write everything down that someone comes up with in the meeting… Awesome method -  groups of people will feed off each other and give awesome answers and feed off of each other until the ultimate idea comes up…. keep writing… some of those ideas will work for later
5. Listen.  God speaks through many people – listening to others will only help your creativity.   I have an idea for an entire sermon series … all from something a child said the other day.
6. REST -  when your tired – your not on your A Game… thats a given – but your ability to be creative is diminished as well.   the saying No Rest for the weary is better said No Creativity for the Weary… in this regard.
7. Conferences -    Go to different conferences and learn.   If you don’t learn while there don’t go back… its a waste of time… find those that you do and stretch yourself.
8. Get out of the office:   You can’t be creative behind your desk… (even if your a cartoonist…)   You need to get out and about – see what is happening around the world – around the church and outside of the church…

What do you do to help with creativity?

Palm Monday….

The donkey awakened, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride.

He walked into town and found a group of people by the well. “I’ll show myself to them,” he thought.

But they didn’t notice him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind.

“Throw your garments down,” he said crossly. “Don’t you know who I am?” They just looked at him in amazement.

Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move. “Miserable heathens!” he muttered to himself. “I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They will remember me.”

But the same thing happened. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the marketplace.

“The palm branches! Where are the palm branches!” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!”

Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother.

“Foolish child,” she said gently. “Don’t you realize that without him, you are just an ordinary donkey?”

— Author Unknown

What concerns me is the answer to this question:

Has there been a religious medical institution that simply walks away from the debtors and forgives them their debts?

• Catholic Hospitals?
• Methodist Hospitals?
• Presbyterian Hospitals?
• _________state the denomination here ____ hospitals?

Sadly – the Church has simply forgotten its job – which is to be the hands and Feet of the Living God.

I personally believe this so called health care bill is the death of Freedom.   Many churches believe that the compromise of these freedoms is the answer to fixing health care…

Galatians 5:   Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith(fullness), Meekness, Self Control…

1Tim 6:11:  Faithfulness, Meekness, Righteousness, Godliness, Endurance

II Tim 2:22 – Love, Peace, Faith(fullness) and Righteousness

These are what – if followed, the Church should exude… and If we did Health Care would not be an issue because the church would be to busy being the hands and Feet of the Living, Breathing, All Powerful God – Creator of the Heavens and the Earth – Who is and Who was and Who will always be…

Who came into the world not to condemn it – but to save it – and to allow those in it to live a life more abundantly.

When the church forgot its role – Satan is only to happy to step in as a wolf in sheeps clothing…

Truth is – Doctrine should Guide Life as well as the protection of Life.

This compromise is far from acceptable.   If the Sanctity of Life had been stood up for – and real meaningful reform had been done – We could say Well done our Good and Faithful servant to those whom we have elected…

Right now – many are turning away saying I never knew you…

Bottom line really for me is this.

No system that is based on the foundation other than Christian Morals and principles will provide what is best for all involved.

We simply traded lifes of those who are “living longer” for those who have not had the chance.

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This is a copy of his blog posting:

The AP news just published the results of a new poll (pdf) conducted by the PCUSA saying  that one in three members of the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination believe that Jesus Christ is not the only way to get into heaven. (AP)

To learn where this belief comes from, you need only look at their pastors. Their numbers are even lower. Only 35 percent of surveyed pastors agreed with the statement that “only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved.” So, almost two-thirds of the pastors in the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States seem to believe that there are ways to heaven apart from  Jesus Christ.

These numbers have been the same in PCUSA internal polling since 1996, so they have reflected the Presbyterian (USA) experience for awhile. On July 29, 2000, the Rev. Dirk Ficca, keynote speaker at a Presbyterian Church (USA) peacemaking conference, declared that much of the discord that fractures humanity is fomented by groups that hold exclusive religious convictions. His solution was to declare an equivalency among many faiths.

“If God is at work in our lives, whether we’re Christian or not, what’s the big deal about Jesus?” Rev. Dirk Ficca

The Presbyterian Layman reported that, after a lengthy debate, the best the 2001 General Assembly, the denomination’s highest governing body, could say about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ was that He was “unique.”

Other recent PCUSA internal polling data has shown that, among members, only 43 percent disagree or strongly disagree that “all the world’s religions are equally good ways of helping a person find ultimate truth.” The majority of members (60 percent), elders (68 percent), and pastors (66 percent) at least agree that “the only absolute truth for humankind is in Jesus Christ.”

Forty-six percent of members and 61 percent of pastors say the Bible is the word of God, to be interpreted in the light of its historical and cultural context. Around one in three lay people and pastors say the Bible is the word of God, to be interpreted in the light of its historical context and Church teachings.

At this point it would be really easy to jump all over the Presbyterians, but the truth is that these beliefs are common in many Christian denominations. In fact, a different survey taken last year by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 57 percent of evangelical Christians in the U.S. believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life.”

How far have we gotten from the basics of the Christian faith? In John 14:6, Jesus told us the following….

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is no other way to salvation. Just think about it for a minute. If there was any other way for our sins to be forgiven, then why did Jesus need to die on the cross? Jesus could have simply come down to earth, pointed out a bunch of other ways to get to heaven, and then could have gone back up to heaven without ever having to deal with the cross.

The truth is that there was no other way for our sins to be paid for…(Solus Christus) Jesus Christ is our only Savior, who mediates the rupture our rebellion (sin) has placed within us, between us, and which has separated us from God. Through his life, death, and resurrection, God reveals divine love to us and upholds divine justice for us, removing our guilt, and saving us from spiritual death. Christ’s mediation frees us to be reconciled to God, to each other, and within ourselves.  All other religions reject this, and most of them involve jumping through “hoops” and doing good works of some kind or another in order to try to obtain the favor of a deity. But, the reality is this, without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ there is no way into heaven. Without Jesus to pay for our sins we are all still guilty. The truth is that the church in America is struggling.

2 Timothy 4:3 tells us this…..for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine, instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Thankfully, traditional Christian beliefs are still around.

Insurance companies that provide abortion who participate in this new tax exchange are not – and cannot be decreed to prevent payment for abortion via executive order… It is simply not legal in the American Republic.

Since legislation itself is what is “passed”,  an executive order simply put – CANNOT overturn legislation – Only legislation can.  Furthermore – an executive order is simply worthless – because it can be rescinded at any time – or once the President is out of office – simply be overwritten.

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- – - – - – -

ENSURING ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ABORTION RESTRICTIONS IN THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (approved March ¬¬__, 2010), I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Policy.

Following the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“the Act”), it is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), consistent with a longstanding Federal statutory restriction that is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment. The purpose of this Executive Order is to establish a comprehensive, government-wide set of policies and procedures to achieve this goal and to make certain that all relevant actors—Federal officials, state officials (including insurance regulators) and health care providers—are aware of their responsibilities, new and old.

The Act maintains current Hyde Amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those restrictions to the newly-created health insurance exchanges. Under the Act, longstanding Federal laws to protect conscience (such as the Church Amendment, 42 U.S.C. §300a-7, and the Weldon Amendment, Pub. L. No. 111-8, §508(d)(1) (2009)) remain intact and new protections prohibit discrimination against health care facilities and health care providers because of an unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.

Numerous executive agencies have a role in ensuring that these restrictions are enforced, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Section 2. Strict Compliance with Prohibitions on Abortion Funding in Health Insurance Exchanges. The Act specifically prohibits the use of tax credits and cost-sharing reduction payments to pay for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered) in the health insurance exchanges that will be operational in 2014. The Act also imposes strict payment and accounting requirements to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services in exchange plans (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered) and requires state health insurance commissioners to ensure that exchange plan funds are segregated by insurance companies in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, OMB funds management circulars, and accounting guidance provided by the Government Accountability Office.

I hereby direct the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS to develop, within 180 days of the date of this Executive Order, a model set of segregation guidelines for state health insurance commissioners to use when determining whether exchange plans are complying with the Act’s segregation requirements, established in Section 1303 of the Act, for enrollees receiving Federal financial assistance. The guidelines shall also offer technical information that states should follow to conduct independent regular audits of insurance companies that participate in the health insurance exchanges. In developing these model guidelines, the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS shall consult with executive agencies and offices that have relevant expertise in accounting principles, including, but not limited to, the Department of the Treasury, and with the Government Accountability Office. Upon completion of those model guidelines, the Secretary of HHS should promptly initiate a rulemaking to issue regulations, which will have the force of law, to interpret the Act’s segregation requirements, and shall provide guidance to state health insurance commissioners on how to comply with the model guidelines.

Section 3. Community Health Center Program.

The Act establishes a new Community Health Center (CHC) Fund within HHS, which provides additional Federal funds for the community health center program. Existing law prohibits these centers from using federal funds to provide abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), as a result of both the Hyde Amendment and longstanding regulations containing the Hyde language. Under the Act, the Hyde language shall apply to the authorization and appropriations of funds for Community Health Centers under section 10503 and all other relevant provisions. I hereby direct the Secretary of HHS to ensure that program administrators and recipients of Federal funds are aware of and comply with the limitations on abortion services imposed on CHCs by existing law. Such actions should include, but are not limited to, updating Grant Policy Statements that accompany CHC grants and issuing new interpretive rules.

Section 4. General Provisions.

(a) Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law or presidential directive to an agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This Executive Order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This Executive Order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.