Sobering Words

Sobering words attributed to the oft-maligned Thomas Jefferson - for those of you living in either Miami-Dade County or Rio Linda, that's the old dead dude who helped found our nation and actually penned the Constitution, way back before the interweb or MTV chose our presidential candidates for us based on celebrity status - for those who want to elect politicians who will right all wrongs by bringing the imposing, majestic power of the state to bear on all and over all...

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.

He could not have been more prescient.

Proletariat Unite!

Certain individuals argue that they are supporting the good senator Barack Hussein "Kill 'Em All!" Obama because his is really the Pro-Life position {{insert blank stare here}} arguing that Marxist-Leninist redistribution of captial from the bourgeois to the downtrodden and exploited proletariat will actually reduce the number of infanticides, while seeking to protect the lives of children is in actual fact detrimental to those children.

Again: {{insert blank stare here}}

Ahem.

As something of a reality check (something neither political nor theological liberals much like to admit exists, even less interact with - reality, that is), this blogpost from Stand To Reason lends the lie to such Bolshevist fancies.

Darn those conservatives, confusing the issue with facts again...

Two Videos

...from the 2008 Midwest Conference:

 

This is what you are asking for

For those who support the good senator Barack Hussein "Kill 'Em All!" Obama, and still maintain a Pro-Life veneer, the Stand To Reason blog has just put up two superb blogposts which should give some pause - food for thought, regardless:

• Obama's Abortion Extremism - It Gets Worse
• Common Ground on Abortion?

If the polls are to be believed (and I'm not convinced that they are - sorry, there, Dr. Larry Taylor; the facts are again not very much in your favor here), Obama will ascend to the throne come January next...and should that be the case, a vastly increased accessibility to infanticide, forced on the public and funded by my {insert Mark Driscoll colorful language here} tax dollars will be the rule of the day.

The STR folks put it best:

Senator Obama just said in the presidential debate that he wants to unite around common ground in preventing unwanted pregnancies.  Frankly, I can never take that apparent olive branch seriously as long as the person offering it wants to expand federal funding of abortion, eliminate any existing restriction on abortion, and actually manufacture more nascent human beings only to be destroyed for their parts.

I just can't take seriously any social justice platform that doesn't include protecting the lives and rights of the tiniest, weakest, most innocent and vulnerable humans.  I'm willing to talk about a broader social justice platform if the 1.2 million unborn children slaughtered every year are included.  Surely, that is fundamental to social justice.

Not to these newbreed evangelicals, apparently.

"Social justice," for these guys, includes the death sentence for babies, to pay for the sins or socio-economic statuses of their parents.

Semi-Live Blogging the Midwest Pastors’ Conference: The Pretty Much Final Word

I love going to the "big" conference in California each year.  Love it, love it, love it.

But I love going to the Midwest Conference even more.

Two big reasons: First, though it's a pastors' conference, there are more than just pastors there.  The regional Calvaries use it as a yearly family reuinion - and it has that very feel and flavor to it.  There are whole families - including very young children - all sitting at the feet of Jesus, enjoying His Word and each other, for three glorious days.  Even more so than the Murrieta Conference, the Midwest Conference is a true retreat.

I love seeing so many old friends that I haven't seen since the previous year (or at least since Murrieta), who are ministering in my same neck of the woods; and I love seeing all the new faces, all the young people (as I begin the inevitable transition from not being quite as young as I was before to becoming one of the middle-aged).  I love the way the youngin's essentially take over the cabins and dorm foyers and worship together into the wee hours of the morning.  I love walking around (or, let's be a bit more realistic: sitting on the shore of) the lake, reading the Word, and watching hundreds of my brothers-in-arms doing the same as the sun breaks over the heavily forested horizon.  I love the discussions around breakfast, lunch, and dinner - from the deeply theological to the deeply practical.  I love sitting around the bonfire at night, eating fresh popcorn, homemade cookies, drinking hot spiced apple cider, and worshipping into the night to the sound of guitars and djembes and fiddles and such played more often than not by the children of my brothers-in-arms (this year a precious family who have several young daughters helped lead the bonfire worship - it was indescribably awesome). I love seeing and holding the new babies born to families young and not-so-young over the previous year, and meeting up with missionaries to the far corners of the earth who are based in the Midwest region and who come home on furlough for the conference.

Which leads into the second biggest reason I love the Midwest Conference - the emphasis on fellowship.

Even moreso than Murrieta, the focus of the MidCon is on enjoying each other & the Lord.

I cannot describe how very much I look forward to this conference each year, and how much of a charge it gives me to carry on for the remainder until we get to meet again, the second full week in October.

 

...and of course, what would a conference be without catching Chik Chikeles sleeping...?

The family from Carroll County...the Vassar group...the insane - and I mean insane posse from Iron River up in the UP...

Can't wait until next year, when we get to hook up again.

Semi-Live Blogging the Midwest Pastors’ Conference: Session 9 - Gayle Erwin

John 17

• "What is your ambition?" 'I just want to do God's will."
• God doesn't see us the way we see us.
  • God would say, "Yeah, but think of how bad you would be if it weren't for Me and what I did and do for you...!"
• "Is there any hope for me?" Yes, but not in myself.
• "The only real difference between the big-time TV jerks and me...is publicity."
• "His failure turned him into a gentle man."
• We can't manage perfection in our lives, that's given to us. We manage now confession.
  • I cannot boast in anything.
  • Except that I know Him.
• Whenever you talk about Jesus, He wins.
• True unity is around Jesus.

Semi-Live Blogging the Midwest Pastors' Conference: Session 8 - Jack Abeelen

Nehemiah 2

• Most of the work is already done before you get there.
• People are following you as you follow the Lord.
• If I'm not going to lead by example, why should anybody follow me?
• Rewards are not a good motivator to serve the Lord - love is.
• My job as a pastor is to remind the people of what God has done.
• Knowledge is half the battle; obedience is the other half.

Semi-Live Blogging the Midwest Pastors’ Conference: Session 7 - Gayle Erwin

• The nature of Jesus - Others-centered.
  • You cannot find one place where Jesus was self-centered.
• "Church was not something to which we went; it was a lifestyle."
• The nature of Jesus is giving.
• "Keep me in Your nature, that I can glorify You."

Semi-Live Blogging the Midwest Pastors’ Conference: Session 2 - Joe Bruch

Acts 20

• Ephesus started out as a great church - with love for the Lord
  • But it somehow, subtly shifted to a love for ministry.
• Just preach Jesus - not so much temporary issues.
  • It is the Gospel of Jesus which changes lives.
• ''None of these things move me."
• There is a lot in Acts 20 for church leaders.
  • First of all, note that Paul took for granted that his life would serve as an example - a good example.
  • It wasn't just the power of his message, but the consistency & power of his life.
  • As pastors,our manner of living will either amplify or negate what we're teaching.
  • The people need an example. Not just a talking head.
  • A pastor who does not live his message is doing a grave disservice for his people.
    • Consistent living.
• {example of George Markey.}
• What the people need is an example of a man who loves Jesus and the sheep and live out the Word.
• Don't just preach the Word; live it.
• ''It is not so much great talents that God blesses as He does the image of Jesus in a man's life."
• What a privilege to serve the lord by serving His people.
• ''What are you doing? Who are you doing it for?"
• "God cannot find many men who can handle great blessing."
• Jesus always served the ''one."
  • No ministry was too small, no person too far away.
  • {the two- page letter}
• Sometimes, I must realize that I cannot be someone's pastor.
  • Just pastor,love, serve those God has given me.
• Perseverance in the ministry, is a very necessary thing.
• Trials come from within as well as without.
• No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is worthy of the Kingdom.
• Paul didn't just crowd, but also to the people - individually.
• Don't put things off - deal with it earlier than later.
  • The wall gets built higher and higher.
  • Address things early.
  • Nip things in the bud.
• Again: "none of these things move me."
  • Why? ''I don't count my life dear to me." It wasn't about Paul at all.
  • The Lord has given some to be captains over thousands, some over hundreds, some over tens.
• I have a long way to go - but I'm only going to get there as I Keep my eyes on & rest in Him.
  • What an honor it is. That he would entrust me with a flock.
  • Never belittle what the Lord is doing.
• What ismy relationship with Jesus?
  • If I'm not careful, I can neglect my relationship with my Lord?
  • With my wife?
  • In my private life?
• Watch over ALL the flock of God.
  • No favorites.
  • No cliques.
  • The unlovely as well as the lovely.
  • This is not a flippant, light thing; it is the call of God.
• ''I commend you to God, and the Word of His grace."

Semi-Live Blogging the Midwest Pastors' Conference: Session 1 - Jerry McAnulty

Luke 9

• Most of Luke's Gospel is about Jesus training His disciples
• Most of Jesus' training was simple - we try to complicate it
• Ministry is only effective when it is others-centered, not self-centered.
• "Who do you really work for - Calvary Chapel, or Jesus?"
• Our job description: (1) preach the Kingdom, and (2) heal the broken-hearted.
• Real ministry is not a title or a position - it is doing what Jesus did & for His sake.
• Real ministry is to heal the hurting.
• Minister to the broker, & you will never run out of opportunities.
• "Where God guides, God provides.
  • That's more important now, with a failing economy!
• God's provision for ministry is directly connected to our ministering to others - God provides for us as we provide for others.
• Jesus taught His disciples to have radical trust in Him
  • The fish & loaves
  • The stormy sea
• To see people through the eyes of Jesus is to see people with eyes of compassion.
• When we feed the sheep, He will multiply the provision (He will not do the latter if we are not doing the former, but only wanting it for ourselves or other reasons)
• A great ministry-killer: a spirit of condemnation.
  • Nothing will negate ministry quicker than a critical spirit towards other brothers & sisters
• Another wet blanket for ministry: sectarian exclusivity.
  • We can become entrapped in our local fellowship or group and miss what God's doing in the broader Body.
• Anger does not play well in ministry - especially when it's homicidal. ;)
  • Sometimes anger is justified
  • Staying angry is destructive & sin.
• Be open - wide open - to correction.
• Ministry is most fruitful when it begins with a position of resting in the Lord
  • Ministry done for us & in our effort is a life-killer.
• "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its problems - it robs today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom
• We don't start by resting - we start by serving.