HIGHLIGHTS OF AN HISTORIC SAINT

I continue enjoying the study of church history. I am sure there have been many faithful people whom God used in their quiet, faithful service for the Kingdom of God over the millennia. Faithfulness and love both start with those closest to us, in the home and family, and go out from there to the church and then the community. While there are some people who really stood out and made a huge public difference, there are others who are less well known, but who nevertheless set ideas and relationships in motion and changed the course of history.

One such person is Philipp J. Spener, from the German Lutheran Church in the late 1600s. During a time when preaching was boring and focused on obscure theological details and often failed to inspire anyone in their faith, Spener described and lived out six principles that captured the imaginations of people and led to active evangelical communities of believers. To this day, we benefit from his ideas, which continue to be evident in modern American churches.

Spener's Ideas:

1. There needs to be more extensive use of the Word of God among believers. We need to know the Word, speak the Word, pray the Word, encourage with the Word, love the Word, live out the Word. The Bible must be the chief means by which each of us is continually reformed. Spener advocated using small groups that meet weekly in homes for Bible study and discussion of how to apply Scripture to their lives, along with prayer for one another. This was a radical idea at the time.

2. There must be a renewal of the "spiritual priesthood." In other words, lay people in the church must understand that they are called to minister and actively live out their faith just like the trained professional pastors. There cannot be some Christians who minister and others who simply observe. We must all be involved.

3. Christian faith must be expressed in authentic practice. Christianity cannot be simply mental assent to certain truths. The truth must be lived out and become real in our lives so that other people can observe what God is doing.

4. There should be restraint and charity in religious controversies - at least in the non-essentials. Certainly, we cannot compromise the essentials of our faith, but we all must recognize that there is room on the periphery for disagreement and we should be as united as possible in our core beliefs. We should love and pray for those opposed to us and maintain a spirit of grace and moderation in our speech.

5. Church pastors must be well educated. Their training should cover personal piety and devotion - training of the heart and spirit - not just the mind. Pastors should lead convincingly by example as well as by their words.

6. Ministers should preach edifying sermons, understandable to common people, rather than technical discourses. Ministers must preach as shepherds overseeing the flock, not as academics in an ivory tower.

These principles, from the late 1600s continue to inspire me today. May I model these principles in my life and ministry!

BREAKING FREE FROM OUR COMFORTABLE CHRISTIAN LIVES

When I was in Israel, our Jewish tour guide would always say goodbye with the words, "have sweet Christian dreams." Many of us try to live like that. We just want to stay in a sweet Christian dream until we get to heaven - not too bothered or disturbed.

In 1536, John Calvin had published the first volume of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was already a best seller. The printing press had just been invented around 1440, and Calvin was well known for his Protestant ideas. He decided that he should continue writing from the security and serenity of Strausbourg, a safe city for Protestants. He intended to lead a tranquil and comfortable Christian life, unbothered by the strife and filth of the world.

In order to get to Strausbourg, he needed to pass through and spend one night in Geneva. Unfortunately for his plans, but fortunately for the history of the church, he was recognized by Farel, a Protestant leader in Geneva. The Protestants had just secured control of local government in Geneva, but they were fairly uneducated and were without capable leaders. The Catholics were certain to retake leadership and possibly treat the Protestants harshly if the Protestants did not succeed in effectively directing the affairs of the city.

Farel did his best to gently persuade Calvin to stay in Geneva and provide leadership to the Protestants. Farel insisted that people were open to Protestant ideas and this was the time to guide them into clearly understanding the authority of the Scriptures. Calvin was unmoved and adamant on his need to move on to Strausbourg.

Finally, Farel called down curses on Calvin that went something like this: "may God curse your plans for study and comfort and security in Strausbourg if you don't stay here and help the church in its time of need." Calvin was shocked. He had always considered himself to be an academic and a thinker, not a leader and not someone who got his hands dirty in the practical details of moving the hearts and minds of people. Yet, he sensed that God Himself was speaking to him through the words of Farel. Calvin was so shaken that he felt that he could not go on to Strausbourg without holding God in contempt. He would stay in Geneva even if it cost him all of his comfortable plans and even his life.

Calvin's leadership of the Protestant church in Geneva became a foundation for reformed churches across Europe and the world. God blessed Calvin's surrender to His call and honored Farel for boldly speaking the truth.

We all need Farels in our lives - people who boldly and clearly speak God's truth to us so that we can't run or hide. We all need to daily consider how to leave our comfortable Christian lives behind and unreservedly serve the living God who has entrusted us with His truth and His grace for His glory. What will you do to follow His call?

DYING LIKE WE LIVE

I spent several hours this week visiting my 89 year old uncle in the hospital, where he is dying of pneumonia, with antibiotic-resistent infections in both lungs. We can all learn from watching death's relentless conquest in overcoming the physical body. We will all be there sooner than we think.

Both my uncle and the man in the adjacent room were desperately using some of their final breaths to cry out for help - but only miracles can help them now. It is too late for medicine.

My uncle has been in denial about the approach of death for several years. He could not comprehend that he would some day lose control over his mind and body. By the time that day came for him, or comes for any of us, it is too late to try to get right with God, it is too late to develop the relationship with Jesus Christ to which God has been calling you for your whole life. The chasm of self-consumed living and thinking is just too hard to overcome at the last moments with a dying mind and body.

All of us have just the briefest wisp of time in this body to use our gifts, talents and opportunities for either ourselves or for the glory of God. Time in the Word of God, time in prayerful communion with our Heavenly Father, and time praising and worshipping God the Son - Jesus Christ - develops relationship with the Almighty that gives peace and confidence and joy as the end of the physical body approaches. That lost time cannot be made up at the last second. It is too hard, too far, too wide, too foreign, too hopeless.

Thankfully, God sometimes intervenes to overcome even that hopelessness, as He did with the thief on the cross. That, however, appears to be the exception, not the rule, and it doesn't make up for a life of wasted time and wasted opportunity to know and love and live for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

For the saint who knows and loves God with all of his or her heart, the outcome is so much different. As Dwight L. Moody so famously said and lived:

Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.

I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.

Dwight L. Moody also said:

Preparation for old age should begin not later than one's teens. A life which is empty of purpose until 65 will not suddenly become filled on retirement.

The same can be said of living in such a way that we are prepared for death. Now is the time to chose our purpose, to really know our God and Savior, to live for and love Him with all of our heart, so that there is no real fear in death, because we know Whom we have believed and that He is faithful to complete what He began in our lives. How grateful I am for the absolute assurance of our eternal glory with God in His kingdom - a life without regrets.

THE GRACE OF GRATITUDE

Acts 2:46-47 - The saints in the infant church "received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God."

How often do we receive our food like that? How often are we glad and praising God for our heartbeat, for our breath, for water? If God inhabits the praises of His people, is He inhabiting your life? How should we live out "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"?

As I was reflecting on this, I recalled every time that Jesus broke bread, he thanked God the Father first. When we pray thankfully before we eat, we are following Jesus.

I never want to take God's goodness for granted. I never want to assume that I deserve anything. It is all a gift by His grace and He deserves the praise!

RUSSIA'S PURSUIT OF TRADITIONAL MORAL VALUES

I am pasting below an excerpt from an article in another blog on ethics issues. The article describes attempts by Russia to re-introduce common moral values in Russia and into the world debate - an effort rejected by the administration of our current President.

The reason this article is so significant is that much of the moral debate in the US media and among US politicians tends to be in terms of keeping Christians from imposing their beliefs on others or in terms of throwing off the restraints that Christian ideals have traditionally created on conduct in the U.S. The fact that Russia and many of its allies are recognizing that there needs to be some type of restraint on traditionally immoral behavior is a clear aknowledgement that there are untoward secondary effects of traditionally immoral behavior that doom social order in any society. Thus, the issue is not so much about Christians trying to impose their beliefs on others as it is about what morals and values are best for the health of all of society. If what is best happens to coincide with the values of the Bible, that should not be a barrier to the promotion of those values.

From http://www.mercator.net/:

Russia champions ‘traditional values’

....

The Russian Federation’s demographic and social problems are notorious. Abuse of alcohol among Russians is possibly the worst in the world; levels of fatal injury and violence are extreme and life expectancy for men approaches third world level. As in the first world, family life is in decline but with worse consequences for children; fertility is well below replacement and the total population is in decline. If you re-aspire to Great Power status, you need people.
But the Russians, always slightly mysterious to westerners, are also capable of surprising us. In recent years the government has shown a certain realism about fundamental issues such as family life and demography that tends to be lacking in the West. It has introduced policies favouring marriage and fertility; at recent United Nations meetings it has promoted pro-natalism rather than population control and resisted attempts to get “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” language embedded in human rights instruments.
Why, though, would gay rights -- which is the only remaining gender issue for Russia -- trouble a nation that has used abortion as its main method of birth control for decades and seems to have largely forgotten the Ten Commandments? Does it have a moral scruple about homosexuality, or is it just a matter -- as the Mayor of Moscow has implied -- of containing the spread of HIV/Aids?

Piero Tozzi, a lawyer and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of C-FAM, a Catholic organisation that monitors the UN closely, suggests that Russia has genuine moral concerns as a result of its unique recent history. “Russia’s revolution occurred in 1917, not 1968. They basically missed out on the great social revolution that has turned western morality on its head. The left in Russia is the political left – former communists, ex-KGB – not the latex left.”

Politically, says Tozzi, Vladimir Putin and company see a benefit in aligning with the Russian Orthodox Church, “which remains a potent symbol of Russian nationalism and is serious about these moral issues.”

Earlier this year President Dmitry Medvedev met with the leaders of Russia's traditional religions and agreed that the history and culture of the country's main religions should be included in the core school curriculum. He also agreed that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation should have military priests. The dominant concern behind this deal was the spiritual, moral and physical health of the younger generation.

It is not quite so surprising, then, to find the Russian Federation at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council early this month sponsoring a resolution on “traditional values” that rattled the cage of the sexual liberation lobby represented by the European Union, the United States and their allies.
The resolution called for the UN Commissioner for Human Rights to convene a workshop next year “for an exchange of views on how a better understand of traditional values of humankind underpinning international human rights norms and standards can contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms…” It provided for a fully representative gathering of “interested States, regional organisations, national human rights institutions and civil society, as well as experts selected with due consideration given to the appropriate representation of different civilisations and legal systems.”

Now, this is quite a mouthful and seems to cover all the bases required for a reasonable and timely discussion of what has become a highly contentious issue both nationally and internationally: the philosophical basis for the new rights being promoted under the banner of gender equality. The representatives of 25 other developing/non-western nations, including heavyweights China and India supported Russia’s proposal and carried the vote, but 15 developed nations and fellow travellers voted against it -- and some were very annoyed about it.
Of the latter group, those who commented on the resolution confirmed that gender was the big issue. Steering clear of sexual orientation, they focussed on women and raised the spectre of genital mutilation and violence against women as well as other harmful practices violating the rights of women and children. Their technical objection was that the term “traditional values” was not defined in the resolution, leaving an opening for values and practices inconsistent with international human rights law.

But isn’t this precisely the sort of thing that would be debated at the workshop? Why be so scared of a dialogue that could deal with the underlying tensions between states and blocs over human rights unless the real game at the UN is ideological domination by the few over the many? As the Cuban representative (who supported the resolution) observed, values bearing on human rights such as respect, tolerance, good faith and dialogue had been missing in the negotiations preceding the vote.

The United States representative, Douglas M Griffiths, was in an awkward position. The Obama administration is trying to “reset” its relationship with Russia as an ally against Iran and although during her visit to Russia this month Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke publicly about human rights, they were rights touching on political freedoms rather than gay rights or other gender issues. In keeping with the new détente with Russia, Griffiths expressed US opposition to the Federation’s “traditional values” resolution almost apologetically, and only after thanking the sponsor for having conducted “open and transparent consultations.”

In any case, it looks as though Russia is going to get its workshop on values and human rights, with whatever outcomes it has at the UN. Perhaps there is some other, more political motive behind this initiative, but it could also be that the Russians, like some other states (those with Muslim majorities, for example), are simply fed up with the gay rights issue being pushed at every possible opportunity.

Says Piero Tozzi: “My impression is that they are genuinely puzzled about the whole thing. To them the gay agenda is self-evidently morally wrong and also irrelevant to such major concerns as the declining birthrate and its threat to national security.

“They wonder what has gotten into the Europeans, the Kiwis, Canadians and Blue State Americans when there are more serious things to worry about. I suppose they figure there must be something in the water – which is probably why, quite sensibly, they stick to their vodka.”

WHOLEHEARTED, ALL ENCOMPASSING, JOYOUS WORSHIP

The first place that the early church really began to take root outside of Israel was Egypt. The church rapidly developed an intellectual base in Alexandria, Egypt and the most ancient New Testament manuscripts come from that church.

For various reasons, the Egyptian desert gradually became a place for monastic individuals and communities. They desired to preserve the raw simplicity of the gospel, forsaking the world. God used those monastic people and communities in several powerful ways that I won't go into here, but out of those communities came awe-inspired worship, including the following hymn, which reflects the heart and character of the these people. As you read these words, you can imagine these simple, yet profound people, living in the rocks and crags of the desert, completely caught up in the glory and wonder of God and His creation:

May none of God's wonderful works

keep silence, night or morning

Bright stars, high mountains, the depths of the seas,

sources of rushing rivers:

May all these break into song as we sing

to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

May all the angels in the heavens reply:

Amen! Amen! Amen!

This is cited in Turning Points, 2nd Ed., by Mark A. Noll.

God used these simple people to preserve the fundamentals of the Christian faith at a time when the doctrine of the trinity was under severe attack. That, however, is a book length story. The question for us is how we can break away from the hustle and bustle and noise of life in order to learn to meditate and worship with the joy and confidence of these long forgotten saints whom God used to protect His church.

An Apprentice to Christ

Leading up to the legal acceptance of Christianity by Constantine in 312 was a period of intense persecution. Not only were Christians killed, but many were horribly tortured and survived. God used the persecutions of the church for good in many ways, but there was clearly a sense of relief, celebration and joy when the persecution was not only over, but the government officially accepted Christianity.

Very quickly, the government went from persecuting Christians to financially and otherwise supporting the church. As often happens when the power of government mixes with religion, some church leaders got caught up in pomp and circumstance and politics. Others reacted to this new experience of government support of the church by withdrawing in fear that this was Satan encroaching on the church. Monasticism developed from this fear. Many monastics simply lived by themselves or in small communities. This is a story about a church leader who ministered in the cities, but with a monastic attitude, and in the process helped keep the church closer to the Christ-like ideal.

In 335 A.D., Martin (of Tours) was born to pagan parents, but was drawn to Jesus Christ in his late teens. Martin was forced to enter the army by his father, who hoped that the military would crush faith out of him. Instead, he became a godly influence in the army. Without knowing it, we all celebrate Martin every time we use the words, “chapel” and “chaplain.” While Martin was in the army, he came across a naked, shivering beggar. At a time when soldiers were not known for compassion, Martin tore his own soldier’s cape in half and wrapped it around the beggar, quoting Jesus’ words: “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

Martin’s act of compassion and his humble, godly spirit, made a huge impact on the people around him. This story spread and people were drawn to imitate Martin’s submission to Christ. Eventually, a small church hung up a torn cloth that they said was Martin’s torn cape. The Latin word for cape – capella – came to be our word, chapel, in recognition of the size of the church where Martin’s cape was displayed. A “chaplain” became someone who served in that church. Thus, in using these words, we remind ourselves of Martin of Tours.

What moves me the most, however, about Martin, was his ability to minister in truth and grace and power, with godly humility and surrender, despite his popularity. Everyone loved Martin. He was generous and kind and faithful and gracious. He always found a way to help others. He lived poorly and humbly, often not caring about his poor dress and disheveled look. This was a huge contrast to the church leaders around him. Martin was eventually elected to be Bishop of Tours, but he continued to live by monastic values. God used him to do miraculous things and to bring great blessing to his region, “but he always refused to count himself as anything more than an apprentice in the Christian life.” (Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, p. 148.)

That last statement, about being nothing more than an apprentice in the Christian life, really got to me. For those of us who study and teach and are building our knowledge, there is a strong pull of self-righteousness, toward believing that we are doing pretty good. Comparison is always with those around us instead of with Christ. By Christ’s standard, we are always nothing more than an apprentice, a workman who is continuing to learn the trade of the master. There is nothing in us that is worthy apart from the presence of Jesus Christ. He alone is to be a our everlasting preoccupation and passion. May you and I become better apprentices of our Lord and Savior, forsaking anything that interferes with that holy calling.

SAY YES AND BE A DOER

I just attended the annual conference of the Christian Legal Society, which was held in La Jolla this year. There were about 150 law students there who are future leaders, passionate young followers of Christ who need our support, example and encouragement. CLS needs the support of Christian attorneys! CLS needs the involvement of more Christian attorneys. I would probably not know many of the Christian attorneys that I know if it wasn’t for CLS!

I wrote this from the CLS annual conference in San Diego. As usual, the conference has been inspirational, but the final night's speaker was extraordinarily incredible. The audience included many really bright, successful attorneys and many others. I can’t believe how many Harvard, Duke and UCLA attorneys are in this group. Yet, the speaker, Bob Goff, could not qualify for law school. He was rejected by seven law schools, and the only way he made it was to literally camp on the bench outside the dean’s office at USD for 2 months. It wasn’t until 5 days into the school year that the dean gave him the right to attend. He said he has never been a scholar, but he is a DOER!

He is a gregarious, complete optimist, constantly smiling contagiously, who sees everything positively. God blessed his law practice (primarily construction litigation with offices in San Diego and Seattle). His life motto is “YES!” So, he decided that however God leads him, wherever doors open, his answer is always “YES!” His presentation was hilarious – I mean really, really funny and my description will not do justice to his presentation. You will need to watch the video.

His family doesn’t have a television, so they were among the last to know about 9/11. When he discussed the issue with his wife and kids, his kids wanted to know what they could DO. He had each child come up with a one sentence statement of what they would like to do. Essentially, each child wanted to encourage world leaders and help them understand that they should be people of HOPE. So, they wrote letters and emails to the leader of each nation in the world and asked three things: (1) Will you come spend the night at our house so that we can talk about hope?; (2) If you won’t come to our house, can we come to your house and ask you questions about hope?; and (3) Can we videotape the interview?

Believe it or not, they received 29 yes responses from world leaders, including Bulgaria, Malaysia, Israel, Switzerland and other nations. So, as a family they went to these nations and interviewed these world leaders. At the end of each interview, they would ask if they could pray for the leader and they were always given permission to pray. The kids are now old enough to travel on their own and are continuing to complete these interviews. They provided a nice red box with the gift of a key to their home to each world leader whom they interviewed, along with an open invitation to come visit.

When Bob’s youngest son was 7 and had a bad cold, he called the White House for his son and asked if the President would speak to his son to encourage him because he wasn’t feeling well. His son spoke with an operator at the White House and felt better very quickly.

This man visited India with his family. They learned about sex trafficking of young girls and the family got involved in buying young girls to keep them out of sex trafficking. They developed a school and a fully staffed ministry to find and rescue these girls. They support staff in India who continue to track down and rescue such girls, placing them in a safe school environment.

Bob visited Uganda with his family and felt called to invest his life in that nation. He is a tall, blond/grey man with very fair skin. He learned of problems with the criminal justice system and of the multitude of issues with child soldiers, most of whom were abducted from their families and forced to kill. He felt that he could use his legal skills to help solve these problems. So, he read the Ugandan Constitution, read the key Ugandan laws, learned how the criminal justice system worked, and began trying to rescue kids lost in the criminal justice system. He is also helping with restoring former child soldiers back into society.

The Parliament of Uganda was so impressed by Bob’s work that they made him a Ugandan diplomat with full Ugandan diplomatic papers and diplomatic immunity (he had to get U.S. State Department approval to become a diplomat for another country). He then felt called to become a Ugandan justice in order to help with the backlog of criminal cases involving minors. They don’t have enough skilled judges to bring minors to trial within 3 years of their arrest!

The Parliament approved a resolution making him a Ugandan justice and he is expecting the President to sign that resolution this week. He is flying to Uganda this week to preside over the first graduating class of a school of almost 200 that he started in an area that was decimated by rebels and where thousands of children had been kidnapped to become child soldiers.

Several months ago he was driving in his jacked-up jeep in San Diego. The jeep is open-air with roll-bars. An 84-year old lady ran a red light and hit him, flipping the jeep. He was not wearing his seatbelt and as the car rolled, he went through the roof and landed on the street in a sitting position. The jeep kept rolling down the street.

He said that after realizing that he was unhurt, his first thought was, “that was thrilling, I want to do it again!” He had a hard time convincing the hysterical older lady that he was not hurt. He sent her flowers!

He ended up buying back the jeep from the insurance company after it was totaled. He still drives it as a reminder of God’s protection, but it is crushed on the driver’s side and pulls hard to the left. It leaks oil constantly.

His message was that all of us have been in wrecks in our life and because of the wrecks we leak oil. The oil is Jesus. Everywhere we go, we should be leaking Jesus – the oil of joy and gladness and mercy and grace that is Jesus working through us.

His challenge was to always be a doer, never a sitter or a contemplator. Do and leak and spread the life of Jesus as long as we have breath! What a great example. I will try to get the video and share this with others. What a tremendous encouragement to be Christ, filled with joy in a dark and hurting world.

So, what are you going to DO to let your life leak Jesus? How are you going to be a DOER? When and how are you going to say YES as Jesus calls. As Bob Goff said, when Jesus calls us we often say, “no way,” but God says “YAWAH!” What are you going to say?

JESUS' PERFECT TIMING

Galatians 4:4 – But when the time had fully come, God sent his son.

Let’s consider the timing of Jesus' coming to earth. The Greeks and Romans had opened the door for trade and travel and the mixing of languages and cultures. The Jewish nation was about to be dispersed as their nation was destroyed for their rebellion, so this was the last opportunity for Jesus to come while the temple was still present and testify to the Jews in Israel with the temple and the synagogues and the traditions still in place. By 70 A.D., that was all gone. The timing of Jesus' coming gave the church time to solidify and grow first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then in Samaria and then to the rest of the world.

When the Jews were attacked by the Romans and their culture was destroyed, the Romans also attacked the church, probably because the Romans viewed Christians as a sect of the hated Jews – which it was at the time. The persecution was used to spread the Gospel. First, the Gospel was preached in Jerusalem and Judea, then in Samaria, then out to the known limits of the world.

The Gospel and the church spread very quickly. Traders and merchants and slaves took the gospel on the trade routes throughout the known world. The Pax Romana enabled unrestricted travel and proliferation of the Gospel.

In addition to political and geographic timing, Jesus coming was at a crucial philosophical time. The Jewish faith was reacting to the influence of Greek thought from Socrates and Plato and Stoic philosophers. Jews learned Greek and translated the Old Testament into Greek, creating a ready ability for gentile Christians to understand Old Testament principles and history. Greek thinkers explored the ideas of one true God, of a natural created order and of universal values. These were all ideas used by the early church to help gentiles come to understand the one holy almighty eternal God of the Gospel. Thus, in every sense, the coming of Jesus was exactly at the right confluence of events for the maximum spread of the Gospel and the maximum growth of the church.

LOOK AND LISTEN AND NOTICE GOD POWERFULLY AT WORK

I often hear people say that God doesn't work like He used to work. I see people trying to figure out how to live the Christian life in their own strength, and they get really frustrated. One of the many benefits of keeping up with what God is doing in other countries is that I am reminded that God is still powerfully working for those who are surrendered and dependent.

A ministry that I support in India started from scratch 40 years ago. They started in a state with almost no known Christians - just a handful of people out of millions. Within 40 years, there are now more Christians than any other religion. This growth was despite intense persecution, abuse and impossible conditions. This ministry now houses, feeds and educates thousands of orphans and abandoned kids, has nearly 1,000 students in a top notch college and runs a seminary and hundreds of outreaches in various communities. The ministry actively supports thousands of field workers and most of its college graduates and orphan home graduates go into some form of ministry. The ministry has high, American-style standards.

So, how have they done this? Obviously, there has been hard work, sacrifice, courage, and faith. Most of all, however, has been a ministry of prayer. Everything they do and every part of their daily lives is covered in prayer. Prayer is like breathing for them. There is no obstacle or difficulty that they can't face with prayer. Not quick prayer, but constant prayer, anguished, persevering prayer. Prayer in faith expecting God to work. In response, they see miracles, they see doors open, they see attacks dissipate. They are constantly praising God.

Through their ministry, millions (probably tens of millions) of people have come to Christ. The landscape of India and southeast Asia has been changed. They have gone from being the pariahs of society to welcomed and blessed. God's grace has abounded. And they started with nothing.

I see God work in that way in India and it reminds me that God can do the same thing again here. We don't have to accept retreat and defeat. We can pray and persevere and live by faith and see God work through us. He is always faithful, but He needs people to follow Him who are willing to live His way and pray in faith without ceasing. Will you be one of those people? Will I?

MISSING THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL

I attended a men's breakfast today at a large church. There were 500-600 men there for breakfast and a speaker. The church is doing a great job of organizing men's groups and getting people excited about trying to live out their faith.

There were two "testimonies" to start the morning. Both men testified to how small group times with other men changed their lives and helped them overcome serious addictions. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ was never mentioned, nor was the transforming power of the Word or prayer. The focus was more along the line of what we can accomplish to overcome our addictions and problems with the help of other men. The work and power of the Holy Spirit was not mentioned.

The speaker then gave a dynamic talk. He was extremely funny and entertaining and powerful in his delivery. He never mentioned Jesus Christ in any positive way. He never mentioned the power of the Word of God or the role of the Holy Spirit or the power of prayer. Instead, he blasted the old lady who led his young Sunday School class as a kid, he ripped the traditional church and he told the men that they were created by God with their passions, so their passions were good and they needed to accept that, because God accepts that. He encouraged them to live for "God," but with their passions.

He never mentioned any need to confess sin, repent, be conformed to the mind of Christ, be continually transformed or otherwise pursue the image of Christ. We are good enough because we are the way that God created us. Wow! Is that true? Is that what God's Word says?

What a contrast to the following quote, provided by a friend, from a godly pastor:

"The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone." - Tim Keller, "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism" p. 181.

The Gospel (the great news of what Jesus did for us) is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (in the message of the Gospel). (Romans 1:16-17.) We are not called to be conformed to the world, but "transformed" (metamorphed) by the renewing of our minds through the presence and power of Jesus Christ in our lives. (See Romans 11:33-12:2.) We are not our own. We were bought with a price. We are called to glorify Christ with our minds and our bodies. (See 1 Corin. 6:18-20.)

Entertaining human wisdom is never a substitute for the power of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I left the meeting grieved that so many eager men never heard the power of the Gospel and were not challenged to be transformed, but were told they can get along by being conformed. May the speaker learn to use his god-given communication gifts to communicate the whole truth of God. May I never fail to communicate all of God's truth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as I have opportunity.

RE-THINKING GOD

The linked article states that Christianity is plummeting in the U.S., while the number of non-believers is rapidly increasing. The survey in question, however, doesn't clearly define what it means to be a "Christian" and doesn't even try to define God.

What is more likely to be the case is that traditional Protestant denominations are suffering dramatic memembership decline and thus the number of people who "traditionally" identify themselves by the "Christian" brand are declining. This is a good thing, because a little of the wrong idea of God is worse than no idea of God.

Many Protestant denominations have lost their way, denying the truth and inerrancy of the Bible, denying our sinful nature, denying the need for a savior, and denying hell and even heaven. They have, essentially, created a new idea of God in their own image, destroying any basis for hope and any reason for people to be part of such a "religion." Why would anyone want to give their life to such a pointless belief system when they can go their own way and do their own thing without that encumbrance?

Thus, there is now a more understandable contrast between unbelief (as opposed to the "blurred belief" described above) and true belief in a personal, almighty, holy, creator God. The message of hope, purpose and truth, based on the God of the Bible and the work of Jesus Christ is usually more readily received by the unbeliever than the person lost in "religion."

So, Who is this God in Whom we believe? As people who trust the inerrancy of God's Word, we see two bases for understanding God: (1) what God has revealed about Himself in the creation, including both the micro, macro, intellectual and social elements that are part of that created order; (2) God's Word as something that is from God's heart and mind to receptive people who co-authored this book of truth, which contains various literary elements, but which is primarily a consistent narrative revelation of Who God is and what He has called us to as His children. The first basis is called general revelation and God has called us to study His creation through science, philosophy and every manner of study that opens our minds and hearts to Who He is and what He has done. The second basis is called special revelation and it is fully contained in the 66 books that we refer to as the Bible.

The first 39 books of the Bible are known as the Old Testament/Covenant with the people of Israel - the Jews. The 27 books of the New Testament/Covenant tell us that Jesus Christ satisfied and completed the requirements of the Old Covenant and opened the door for a new covenant between God and all people everywhere - to the Jew first, but also to every manner of Gentile.

Thus, the Old Testament gives us insight into God's character and His personal interaction with real people who struggled to follow His call to holiness. The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ was the person of God come to earth as a man in order to satisfy and do away with the Old Covenant and offer us the free gift of his forgiveness and righteousness. This was so that we can know God and know for certain that we have eternal life with Him. We can't "work" our way to heaven, but we can receive assurance of heaven through surrendering to Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

So, Who is this God? Is he loving? The Bible says absolutely. Will everyone go to heaven? The Bible says no, because God is holy and can't allow sin or sinful people in His holy presence. What do we have to do to be saved? The Bible says that we have all fallen short of the standard of holiness - we have a sinful nature - and we all need forgiven. The Bible says that perfect forgiveness can only come through the sacrifice the Jesus Christ offered for us - we can't be forgiven without Jesus. Jesus conquered the penalty of death and has opened up opportunity for daily relationship with the living God without the barrier of sin clouding our access to Him.

So, we know that God is holy, but He loves us so much He will forgive, if we accept His forgiveness. He doesn't force anyone to accept Him or love Him or to come into His heaven. People are free to choose hell, which is the natural place that the eternal souls of people go when they are separated from God.

So, we know that God has a plan for people: to know Him and be part of His family. We know that God allows sin, because he gives all of us a choice. We can say whatever we want about God, we can ignore Him, we can pretend that He doesn't exist, but ultimately, we don't have any excuse, because He has made His character and nature clear to us.

As someone who accepts God's Word as true, I want to make it my daily goal to honor Him, please Him and bless Him and live joyfully and thankfully because of what He has done for me. I don't want to be deceived into thinking that this glorious life is about me - it is for His glory. As we live for His glory, our priorties change, we start to learn how to think like Jesus, how to love like Jesus, how to call evil what it is and how to promote and encourage what is good and honorable and true. We have purpose, because God has given up purpose. We have value, because God calls us His children and because He makes us part of His family. He offers the same hope and purpose to everyone.

This is why people who love God are all over the world sacrificing and serving to help people understand the great God who loves and calls them and gives them hope. This is the message that transformed culture and civilizations from the filth and hurt and cheapness of life that characterized the pre-Christian world (and that still characterizes much of the world without Christian influence) and that continues to transform people in every culture. The message is real and real people respond to it in order to embrace God with all of their heart every day! May it be so with us as well.

DIVERSE WORLDVIEW QUESTIONS

Watching The Truth Project, Lesson 3, prompted the following questions:

1. Why did the founders of the United States develop so many checks and balances in government?

2. If people can choose a worldview that allows them to live however they want (do what feels good) or a worldview that admits of the need to follow standards for right and wrong, and the government and educational system and media are all telling them to choose option one, which option are they likely to choose? Why? Is option one the option that seems the most consistent with truth?

3. If evil/bad is the result of societal factors, and is not due to the internal nature of people (i.e., a fallen or sinful nature), why do we have to train our kids how to be good and not to be evil/bad?

4. If we are the product of random, purposeless evolutionary forces, where did we develop the idea of good and evil - aren't things just there and everything is neutral? Aren't we no more evil or good than a knat or a frog?

5. If we are the product of random, purposeless evolutionary forces, how do we ever have the right to condemn "human rights" violations or misconduct of people who are not subject to our laws? What does the answer tell us about whether there is a higher standard of conduct beyond actions of a government?

6. What is the "scientific" reason for the conclusion that people are inherently good? Does that conclusion comport with the reality of what we see in the world around us?

7. If it is assumed that the highest purpose of individuals is to be "self-actualized," what is the role of a government that is trying to see people fulfill that purpose?

8. If people believe that they don't live up to a transcendent standard of goodness, where does that thought come from?

9. Would you rather live in a country where people and their government understand that people have a "fallen" nature (we don't live and act and speak as we should) or in a country where people and their government assume that everyone is basically good and everyone needs to be self-actualized? Why?

10. Why has almost every diverse culture in the world developed a concept of falling short of the standards of a God or the gods and of the parallel need to appease God or the gods for the failure to comply with such standards?

For those who don't understand the Christian worldview, it can be summarized like this:

1. God created people with a knowledge of God. The Bible says that we were made to reflect God's image/qualities - Imageo Deo. The first people (Adam and Eve) chose to disobey God - they didn't trust that what God said was true and they chose to believe a lie instead. As a result, they entered a fallen condition known as "sin." They fell short of the glory/image of God in their lives. The Bible says that people in that fallen condition are separated from God and will spend eternity in that fallen state of separation from a loving, glorious God unless their sins are forgiven and they are given the righteousness needed to be with their loving Creator.

2. Every person since Adam and Eve has inherited that fallen condition, except for one person - Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ eternally existed as God the Son (part of the three part nature of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Jesus came into the world as a baby, in extremely humble conditions, without the sin nature. He came in order to offer himself as a sacrifice in our place - so that we would not have to bear the spiritual penalty of eternal separation from the God who loves us, because of our fallen nature.

3. Jesus offered a perfect sacrifice - so that no more sacrifices are ever necessary. He offered up himself, allowing Romans to brutally torture and crucify him at the request of Jewish religious leaders. He was not only tortured and then crucified, but stabbed in the heart by a spear. H death was witnessed by many people in Jerusalem. He was wrapped in burial cloths and laid in a tomb for two nights, with a large stone rolled over the entrance of the tomb and Roman soldiers standing guard at the tomb. On the morning of the third day after his crucifixion (early Sunday morning), he raised from the dead. His resurrected body was witnessed by more than 500 people. He ate with the disciples and showed up in both Jerusalem and Galilee after his resurrection.

4. After Jesus' resurrection and ascension to Heaven, his uneducated and backwoods disciples and brothers were transformed from cowardly followers into bold, courageous followers. They entered a world that hated them (both Jews and Gentiles) and that was hostile to them in every way. They were martyred and persecuted every step of the way. Yet, within 300 years, Christianity had become the dominant religious influence in the Roman culture. How did that happen?

5. Even today, in the "second" and "third world," Christianity is growing rapidly among diverse people groups. People of every language, culture and ethnicity relate to and respond to the claims of Jesus Christ. More people were martyred for the Christian faith in the "modern" 20th Century than in any previous century and the persecution is continuing to rage. Yet, people continue to give up everything to follow this first century carpenter whose public ministry only lasted three years in a remote part of the world. How is that possible?

6. Even our world-wide dating system is structured around the approximate date of his birth. Many major world holy days involved remembering some aspect of his birth, life, death or resurrection. His life has inspired works of art, masterpieces of music, architecture and scientific discoveries. Some of the greatest thinkers, scientists and writers in the world have professed to be inspired by Jesus Christ. Why?

7. Christians believe that Jesus' primary purpose was to offer everyone eternal life - so that we can know for certain we are in a right relationship with God, that our sins have been forgiven and that we have been covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He makes that offer to everyone, but that free gift must be accepted through faith in the person of Jesus Christ to forgive us and cleanse us and make us right with God. He doesn't create bondage to religious ritual or mindless tradition, but instead offers life in a daily relationship with the Living God!

8. Faith in Jesus Christ starts with a confession before others - telling someone that you have chosen to accept God's free gift and follow Jesus. Faith is more than a one-time confession, however, it is something that is proved by a transformed life. When we choose to follow Jesus, we choose to leave the things in our life that keep us from living holy, that keep us from honoring and blessing God with our lives. We also choose to pursue those things that are on God's heart, the things that matter to him. The Holy Spirit, God's Word, and other Christians help us to this - it would be impossible otherwise. These things are described in more detail in the Bible, and especially in the New Testament (the new covenant created by Jesus sacrifice for us). Thus, it is important to read the Bible for yourself and to pray, asking God to help us become more like Jesus in the way we think and speak and live.

9. The Christian recognizes that no one in this world is perfect and that for that reason we all need accountability and encouragement to follow Jesus with all of our heart. We need to be involved with other Christians in fellowship and worship and shared teaching from God's Word.

10. God promises to give everyone who trusts Jesus as their Savior the Holy Spirit to convict us and help transform us and direct our hearts and minds in godly ways.

11. The Christian recognizes that there must be checks and balances in government, because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even Christian leaders can fall into temptation and abuse of power. Thus, everyone must be accountable, including church leaders and government and government leaders and judges. We are all susceptible to falling back into the old way of thinking and acting that is part of the fallen nature. Transformation is a daily process.

12. For the Christian, there is the absolute assurance that we will leave this body some day and be in the presence of God. This is not on a cloud playing a harp, but in a new creation where sin and evil are not undermining the holiness and beauty and blessing that God has for us. For the Christian, eternal life starts when they place their faith in Jesus Christ and it never stops, even though the body will one day wear out. In the mean time, we daily communicate with Jesus by reading the Bible and by prayer (listening to and speaking with God). As we walk with him, we see God daily work in our lives and help us through issues, problems and blessings.

13. Great and insignificant men and women, educated and illiterate, rich and poor, continue to find a right relationship with Jesus Christ every day. A fallen angel, known as the devil or Lucifer (an "angel of light" - deception) is trying to keep people from finding Jesus. God is allowing him a limited time within which to try to deceive people, but his end will eventually come and God will set up a new heaven and a new earth for those who chose to truth Jesus Christ.

14. Perhaps this is a great day for you to choose to place your faith in Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and to help you become holy in the way that you think and speak and live. If so, call a friend, tell them what you have done. Get a Bible and start carefully reading through Mark and then John - two of the "Gospel" (good news) messages about Jesus' life. There are two other Gospels (Matthew and Luke - all written from different perspectives and for different audiences) and many letters from Paul, Peter and others in the New Testament that are intended to help the churches and Christians understand how to live the Christian life. Then, find a church where people love and follow Jesus Christ and live according to the precepts of the Bible. May God wonderfully bless you in following Jesus.

UNPRECEDENTED INFLUED OF ISLAM ON AMERICAN LIFE

FROM THE MINISTRY OF WALLBUILDERS:

Calling Muslims to the Capitol?

As nations such as Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands (and many others in Europe) have become more secular, they have demonstrated a willingness to embrace virtually anything – anything except their traditional Christian foundations. In fact, they now regularly repudiate those foundations, promoting abortion, legalizing homosexual marriage, and changing their traditional legal codes. And accepting the falsehood that all beliefs are equal and that truth is relative, they have even been willing to incorporate Islamic Sharia law into their legal codes in order to protect the special practices of some Muslims living among them. This has energized many Muslims in those countries and they are displaying a new boldness that is vocal, visible, and demonstrably assertive.

Each year, nearly 5,000 Muslim "honor killings" occur across the world (a practice whereby parents kill children who allegedly bring "dishonor" on Islam by dating non- Muslims, wearing western garb, converting to another religion, etc.). Dozens of those murders are committed in Europe, but in many of these formerly Christian nations, those who commit the "honor killings" (i.e., the murder of their own children) often go unpunished since the death of their child was "required" by Islamic law (now included in the legal law of the land). Additionally, many public personalities across Europe who criticized Islam have been murdered, causing Parliaments in the Netherlands and other European countries to forbid criticism of Islam in an effort to prevent further murders. These nations, having given up precious ground, are now having difficulty retaking it.

Historically, on this continent Christian America adopted an open free-market approach to all religions from the beginning. American Christians then (and now) were not fearful of other religions. They were confident that Christianity would prevail on its own merits and they therefore followed the Biblical precedent set forth in both the Old and New Testaments of simply presenting God's word in a straightforward manner, expecting that the Holy Spirit will confirm His word in the hearts of hearers. Christians believe that on a level playing field, Christianity will always prevail through the voluntary choice of the people. As a result, Christian America welcomed all religions, with Muslims arriving here by 1619, Jews establishing their first synagogue in 1654, and Buddhists, Hindus, and others also being present from the early days. Significantly, only America extended (and continues to extend) a free-market religious tolerance to others while still preserving the core societal values of our Christian heritage.

But the culture has begun to shift. The level playing field is being eroded. As in Europe, Christianity is being knocked down and Islam elevated.For example, a federal court of appeals ruled that public schools in nine western states can require a three week indoctrination to the Islamic faith in which all junior high students must pretend they are Muslims and offer prayers to Allah (students are further encouraged to take Islamic names, call each other by those names, wear Islamic garb, participate in Jihad games, and read the Koran during those three weeks). Yet that very court also ruled that it was unconstitutional for those same students to voluntarily mention "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Likewise, a federal court on the east coast ruled that public schools may display Islamic holiday symbols but not Christian ones. And the University of Michigan recently spent $25,000 of taxpayer money to install foot-washing facilities to accommodate the religious practices of Muslim students but made no similar expenditure on behalf of students from any other religion.As a result of such actions, many Muslims are exercising a new boldness in America. In fact, Muslim "honor killings" have now arrived in the United States (most recently in Texas); and just a few weeks ago, direct action was taken to prevent the honor-killing of a 17-year old Muslim girl in Ohio who converted to Christianity and, in fear of her life, fled from her parents to Florida.

American Muslims have also enjoyed the direct support of President Obama. In April, he traveled to Egypt where he told the Muslim world that America no longer considers itself a Christian nation. He later traveled to Turkey and announced that America was one of the largest Muslim nations in the world (despite the fact that 78% of Americans claim to be Christians but only 1% claim to be Muslims). Then in May, President Obama refused to invite Christian and Jewish leaders to the White House to participate in the National Day of Prayer (as former presidents have done), but in September, he did invite Muslim leaders to the White House for a special Muslim Ramadan celebration to commemorate Allah delivering the Koran to his prophet Mohammed.

Heartened by this new encouragement, Muslim leaders have called 50,000 observant Muslims to come to the Capitol this Friday, September 25, for a day of Jummah (Friday congregational prayer). The sponsors promise that from 4AM to 7PM, "the Athan [the call given five times each day for Muslims to participate in mandatory prayer] will be chanted on Capitol Hill, echoing off of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill." The goal of this event is that "the peace, beauty and solidarity of Islam will shine through America's capitol." In fact, their website for this unprecedented event proudly and unabashedly declares, "Our Time Has Come!"

As Bible-believing people, let's also make this Friday a day of prayer – and please encourage others to participate with you. We know that our contest is with spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12), and we firmly believe that He Who is within us is greater than any other god or force (1 John 4:4), so I encourage you to fill America with prayer to the True God this coming Friday. God Bless!

David Barton

P. S. This call for Christians to pray this Friday is not a prayer "competition" between Christianity and Islam, nor is it a spiritual Christian "jihad" or "holy war" (what an oxymoronic term – a holy war!). After all, in I Kings 18, Elijah encouraged the prophets of the god Baal to take more time in their praying; he didn't object to their prayers, he just wanted to make sure that he was able to make his own prayers to the True God. This Friday offers a similar opportunity for those who fear God and believe His Scriptures to offer up their own prayers to Him.


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MORE ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF RIGHT AND WRONG

A man in Australia held his own daughter as a sex slave for 30 years, raping her repeatedly and fathering four children by her. A man in California kidnapped an 11 year old girl, held her as a prisoner for 17 years and fathered two children by her. Are these acts wrong only because they are against the law or are these acts wrong even if they are not against the law? Do people know that these acts are wrong only because the government says they are wrong, or do people know these acts are wrong without hearing from the government?

If we know these acts are wrong, how do we know that? It is something we have been trained to know or does the knowledge of the wrongfulness of these acts run far deeper than our training? If our knowledge that this is wrong in inherent and is not based on how we have been trained, what is the source of that inherent knowledge? Where does that basic sense of right and wrong come from?

The Bible says that the truth about God (his nature and character) and the truth about basic issues of right and wrong (how we ought to live) is plain/obvious to us. That is why ignorance of the law is not a defense for someone who violates the law. There is an assumption by government and by all of us that everyone has a natural, basic understanding of right and wrong. The Bible says that we suppress the truth about God and about what is right and wrong, because we choose to live for our selfish desires. Our suppression of the truth eventually results in depravity and destructive lifestyles. (See Romans 1:18-32.)

Darwinian logic leads people to believe that there is no absolute right and wrong. There are no transcendent values. Everything is arbitrary and can be explained by random, naturalistic, purposeless processes. Truth is what they make it. Satisfaction in life is by doing what you want, even if it hurts others. In the Darwinian world, truth is only an expediency shaped by those in power. Science is always true. In the Darwinian world, science can be manipulated. In the Darwinian world, science can be used to help people or destroy people, because there is no absolute truth by which to judge any act. Might makes right, because there is nothing else by which right can beevaluated. There are no oughts in the world, only what is, and what is is always changing.

The Bible gives us purpose and hope through Jesus Christ. The message of the Bible is that the world is lost and destructive without God himself intervening to give us answers and life and peace. The sins that separate us from a just and loving God can be forgiven. We can be transformed. We can live with joy and peace that is not based on our circumstances. This is not wishful thinking, but is proven by the lives of saints over several thousand years - saints who made a difference in this world and who were a force for the transformation of people from darkness and depravity to truth and hope. Choose this day which truth you will serve.

TRUTH: SELF-EVIDENT OR GOVERNMENT CREATED

Ultimately, the role that government plays in life comes down to one's understanding of the ultimate source of law and human rights. Is law and human rights only from government or is there a higher, more transcendent source of right and wrong on basic issues?

This issue is crucial, especially in the age of big, pervasive government. A Canadian court in Quebec just issued a judicial decision stating that parents do not have ultimate authority over the moral and religious education of their children - that is the exclusive right of the government! Thus, even children educated in private Christian schools must be taught the government's mandated moral and religious education and nothing else!

This is exactly what many liberal educators and liberal politicians would like to see here in the United States (as quoted in the book, What's So Great About Christianity?). If they can control dogma and the education of children, they can absolutely dominate the hearts and minds of people. Of course, this is no different than any totalitarian government, whether it is communist, facist, Islamic or simply evil.

Our Amerian liberties are supposed to guard us against such excesses of government, but such liberties are only as strong as the judges who interpret them. Thus, the advent of judges who no longer feel bound by the intentions of the framers of our Constitution and our government is a threat to the foundation of our nation and the liberties that we have long enjoyed. Without a sense of transcendent right and wrong, human rights become products of government edict that can be given or taken away, rather than immutable rights.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence recognized that in order to justify revolt against government, they had a right to appeal to a higher authority: "we recognize these truths to be self-evident (i.e., obvious to everyone), that all men (mankind generally) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights (rights not subject to the whims or authority of the government) . . . ."

The preface to the U.S. Constitution likewise states that a purpose of the Constitution is to "secure the Blessings of Liberty (i.e., not the government's beneficient grant of liberty)." The preface to the Bill of Rights emphasizes that a purpose of those rights is to prevent the "unconstitutional abuse of its powers" by the federal government.

We are unfortunately in an age where the clear rule of law set forth at the beginning of this nation and long protected by American courts is subject to the political agenda of our leaders and their judges. No longer can we be certain that the basic freedoms we have enjoyed (such as the freedom to educate our children as we choose, to worship as we choose, to advocate for causes that we choose, to criticize and hold accountable those in power) will continue. This requires vigilence. We cannot assume that those in power will do what is constitutional. When those in power can act to preserve their authority by violating consitutional rights, we can expect power to be abused.

In trial courts, when witnesses were sworn, they used to be required (there were exceptions for people of other religious persuasions) to place a hand on a Bible in order to swear by something higher than themselves to tell the truth. The thinking was that the Bible reminded people of a greater/ultimate accountability and of a greater/higher need to tell the truth. We have lost that custom and court oaths now are almost meaningless.

Similarly, our government and political leaders have lost any sense of a transcendent God and transcendent right and wrong. Instead, the mindset now is that right and wrong is only determined by government. This is a natural consequence of Darwinian thinking. This is the same mindset of any authoritarian government. In China, violation of any law, no matter how immoral the law or how violative of basic rights, is cause for severe punishment, because the government is the only source of law - there is no higher law, there is no such thing as basic human rights.

Without any understanding or appreciation of a higher law, there is NO BASIS for the United States to criticize human rights in any other nation, there is NO BASIS to criticize ethnic cleansing or any other monumental destruction of people and rights, because the only ultimate authority is the government itself. Thus, the United States government does not have any "right" to tell others how to live beyond its borders.

Inherently, for government anywhere to have ligitimacy, it must follow historic, commonly accepted human rights, including a basic understanding of the rights of families (including childrearing and education), rights of speech, press, voting, religion (including rights of conversion to other religious faiths), judical recourse, and the following of a rule of law that applies equally to those in power. Thankfully, the framers of our government clearly understood this. Hopefully, our present government and judicial officers will continue to understand this, unlike our Canadian neighbors who have lost their way.

REPORT NO. 9 FROM PETRA

Petra, September 4, 2009:

Miles and I got to the entrance to Petra a little after 8 a.m. this morning. The entrance fee was about $30 each. It was a 20 minute walk to the narrow, serpentine canyon that winds through the steep cliffs. The walk was all down hill. The canyon was spectacular. The width is probably 20-100 feet most of the way. There is an ancient aqueduct carved into the edge of the canyon walls, similar to what we saw at Masada. Herod, who built Masada, was related to the Nabateans who built Petra. They knew that the water needed to be captured in aqueduct channels in the walls before it touched the sand.

The walls are shades of red, yellow and orange – really striking. Most of the ground has been paved for several thousand years. We reached the Treasury building – the first great building of Petra – in about 40 minutes. The “buildings” are primarily large facades cut into the rock. Inside, there are large square rooms, sometimes connected to other rooms, but not usually going very deep into the mountain.

At the Treasury, the valley intersects another, wider valley. Going to the right, there are many other impressive buildings cut into the rock walls. The valley then opens up and moves to the left, where there is a large amphitheatre cut into the walls, followed by a large temple area (perhaps 10,000 square feet of marble floors) surrounded by large columns. The street was colonnaded in the Roman style. There are various temples and high places where they performed various sacrifices.

All along the way, there were Bedouin street vendors and little 5-8 year old children selling various wares – and sometimes just colorful rocks that they found. All of the Bedouins spoke excellent English, including the raggedy little kids. The little kids would say things like, “I have a business proposition for you.” Many of the Bedouin girls and women would invite us for Bedouin tea. The most interesting items they were selling were various oil lamps, coins and other items supposedly found by the Bedouins in the area. Some were authentic and some were good fakes – others were bad fakes. We paid a few Jordanian Dinars for an oil lamp and Roman and Nabatean coins that looked much more authentic – they looked like old corroded, partially damaged coins that had been dug up. I really like the Roman coin, because it has the image and name of Caesar and reminded me of the question that Jesus answered about giving to Caesar or giving to God. The oil lamp has Nabatean images on it.

In the broader part of the valley, there are many, many donkeys and camels (the camels don’t go up the steps) and Bedouins selling rides across the sandy terrain and up the 800 steps to the Monastery. By the way, the 800 steps are primarily grooves cut into the rock walls and trail and some of them take more than a “step” to navigate. We were warned not to take the donkey ride to the top, because many injuries occur. Nevertheless, there are many people who would not make the climb without the donkey ride. I had to push away one aggressive donkey that tried to pin me against the rock wall.

We climbed the steps, greeting various child vendors along the way. We finally reached the Monastery about 110 minutes after we started into Petra, and about 40 minutes after we started the climb up the steps. The Monastery was apparently recently used in the filming of the newest Transformers movie. We climbed up into the cavern and took many photos. We then hiked further up the mountain to get the views of the “Grand Canyon” behind it. The canyon was beautiful. According to the signs, we should have been able to see to the Negev desert in Israel from there, but the cloud cover in the distance prevented us from seeing too far. After resting a while, we began our descent back down the mountain. On the way back, we stopped often to explore caves and the structures of Petra.

On the way up, the child vendors (some of whom were quite cute), would use a line like, “will you promise to buy something on the way back down?” We obviously didn’t promise anything, but on the way down, the kids would say, “you promised.” Others would say, “I haven’t had a sale in three days and I need to make a deal.” American sales professionals should probably come to Petra to study Bedouin sales techniques.

We were thankful that we hiked to the top in the morning, before the heat was too intense. On the way out, we observed many tour groups with people who were ill-equipped to climb anything as they wondered into Petra in the heat of the day.

Several interesting things: there is great cell phone reception in Petra – which is hard to believe. There must be several transmission stations, because the Bedouins didn’t seem to have any trouble using their cell phones and we even heard an American talking about a business deal on his iphone. Several of the buildings were turned into churches as the early church saw people come to Christ in this area. One of the churches had a baptismal along the main street so that the declaration of faith would be very public. This is the second city we saw on this trip (the first was Bet Shean) where a pagan city became predominantly Christian before all of the people disappeared. The people apparently disappeared from Petra because the trade routes changed business dried up.

After hiking uphill out of Petra, we were drenched in sweat – every piece of clothing on our bodies was soaked – we stopped at the Movenpick Hotel next to the entrance in order to have Movenpick ice cream. We are now back at the hotel, showered and recovering from the long hike. As I write, Miles is sound asleep.

Our car almost didn’t make it back up the hill from Petra to the hotel. The transmission is shot and doesn’t shift on its own. We were manually shifting, but even at that it doesn’t go uphill well in low gear. Once it gets up speed on a straight away it is fine. We are praying that we make it to the Amman Airport Avis office.

We will enjoy a quiet evening at the Marriott and then drive to Amman in the morning. We will hopefully meet up with the Kohls by noon or so. Thank you again for praying for us.

Tim and Miles

REPORT NO. 8 FROM PETRA

Petra, September 3, 2009:

We didn’t know the best way to get to Petra from Jerusalem. We needed to go to the southern tip of Israel, at Eilat on the Red Sea. Busses are slow, dirty, and awkward to Eilat. Taxis are incredibly expensive. We ended up renting a car for $133. It was a little more than a 4 hour drive, going past the Dead Sea and the same sights we saw yesterday.

We passed an exit just south of the Dead Sea where we could go to find the pillar of salt that is reported to be Lot’s wife. The exit sign said, “Lot’s Wife.” Kind of interesting. It was near the exit for Mt. Sodom. Given that the area is where minerals have been mined for cosmetics for thousands of years, perhaps Sodom and Gomorrah were also involved in that industry.

While the area west of the Dead Sea – the Judean Wilderness – is certainly desert, the area south of the Dead Sea – including the area in which the people of Israel wondered, is really desert. I believe this is the Negev desert. There is nothingness for as far as one can see in every direction. We could imagine what it was like to wonder there with nothing tangible on the horizon other than a vague promise that there was a promised land somewhere. Perhaps the people were allowed to get the report from the spies early on so that during the rest of their wondering they would know that there was indeed a land of milk and honey.

It was surreal driving through the land where the people of Israel wondered. It was especially weird coming across a new McDonalds in the middle of the desert, many miles from anything. The McDonalds was roughly half way between the Dead Sea and Eilat. The people of Israel would have definitely stopped at the McDonalds. We could have driven much faster, but the road to Eilat is packed with trucks heading to and from the Red Sea.

Eilat is a small resort town on the Red Sea. Much of the city is built around a Marina for beautiful boats. The temperature was around 105 degrees, with a hot breeze. The Red Sea was probably very warm. We dropped off the rental car and walked to a café with free internet access. We used the internet to make a reservation with Avis in Aqaba.

As an aside, we were surprised to see so many black Jews in Israel, primarily Ethiopians. They are everywhere, in the military, working in construction, working in restaurants, etc. From what we understand, there are also many of them who are Christians. It is interesting to see the diversity in a place like Israel. For the most part, we saw Muslims and Jews working peacefully side by side in Israel. There were many Ethiopians in Eilat.

After a fruit smoothie at the café, we took a cab to the Jordanian border. We had to pay an exit fee of about $30 each in order to leave Israel. We also got Jordanian dinars. The border crossing was surreal, but painless. There was almost no one there. There were guard towers and machine guns on each side, but it was almost a pleasant atmosphere, with long walks under the sun from one processing station to another. It was probably much better than crossing near Amman.

We had expected the Jordanian city of Aqaba to be immediately on the other side of the border, but it was just desert, with a few waiting taxis. We asked to go to the Avis in Aqaba. That was a mistake. We should have asked to go to the Avis at the airport. Aqaba is a pretty resort town that is also on the Red Sea. It is the Jordanian version of Eilat. The problem is that the Avis in Aqaba had cars that were a mess. Our reservation was at that Avis. The car that we ended up getting had probably been totaled and pieced back together for use as a rental car. It a previously exploded passenger airbag that was taped to the dash, the driver’s airbag was missing, the horn didn’t work, it had a shattered rear view mirror, the cruise control was ripped out, it had a multitude of scratches and dents, it was filthy and had an empty gas tank. After taking photos of everything, documenting the issues and being assured that we could return it empty, we took the car. We were obviously concerned about the reliability of the car as we drove through the Jordanian desert, but it proved reliable enough to get us to Petra. We don’t know yet about Amman.

We first stopped at a sketchy gas station where we paid in Jordanian dinars, because I didn’t want to give the guy my credit card. He indicated that he was starving and dying of thirst because he couldn’t eat or drink until sundown.

We then started the drive to Petra. The roads were surprisingly new and nice – probably nicer than the highways in Israel. However, people were broken down frequently on both sides of the road, and people were constantly walking across the highway, sometimes with animals in tow. There were also speed bumps on the highway every time we neared a town.

We drove a couple hours northeast before taking an exit for Petra. The road to Petra is very small and windy. The views along the mountain ridges and winding down into the valley, however, were spectacular. We had to be careful not to hit wondering camels, donkeys, sheep or goats. There were also many small children along the road. Every person we saw looked eager to break their fast for a Ramadan feast, because the sun was getting lower. We made it to the Marriott in time to see the sunset over the incredible mountains on the other side of the valley from Petra – quite beautiful. The Marriott is on the side of a cliff with a tremendous view of the valley.

This is the nicest hotel we have seen on the trip and it was a blessing to be here after our other adventures. The food is excellent as well. Everything here is to American standards – again better than the run down, dirty tourist hotels where we stayed in Greece and Israel. The main problem yesterday was that a hinge on my glasses broke, leaving me without prescription regular glasses – I have sunglasses that will get me through. I will need tape or superglue or something for a temporary fix.