Election 2012 #1

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you important articles which I believe show the importance of voting in the upcoming election.  These articles are dated articles, which deal with some issue related to that time, but as we know history repeats itself.  Therefore I believe these to be timely and worth our consideration.

You Are Wrong If You Do Not Vote

You are wrong if you do not vote.

You are to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.  Our Caesar [in the United States] is a government of the people by the people for the people.  One vote may make the difference.

In 1645 Oliver Cromwell gained control of England by one vote.

In 1649 Charles the First of England was executed because of one vote.

In 1776 one vote gave America the native language English rather than the German.  (humor insert: you ought to be glad for that because none of us speak German).  One vote!

In 1839 Marcus Morton was elected Governor of Massachusetts by one vote.

In 1845 one vote saved president Andrew Johnson from impeachment.

In 1876 One vote gave Rutherford B. Hays the presidency of the United States.

In 1923 ... one vote ... gave Adolph Hitler the leadership of the Nazi party.  One vote.

I'm only one but I am one.  I can't do everything but I can do something and what I can do I ought to do and that by the grace of God I will do.

Illustrationsbyemail (10/13/99): Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1999.

I urge you now to make plans to participate in the November elections.  It is vital that we the people VOTE!

40 Days of Prayer

40 Days of Prayer for Our Nation

“To change lives we must first be changed.  We must pray for and experience spiritual regeneration, then recognize and accept our responsibilities as Christians to be salt and light…if were going to have faith in practice, we’ve got to get the faith right first.”

-Richard Land

On Friday, September 28, I will begin an adventure, one that you might want to participate in as well.  It will be a soul cleansing, soul searching, and a soul reviving adventure that I believe will help me personally and will benefit me more than talking political points and bashing candidates.

As America heads toward the polls on November 6 there is much to pray for and the next 40 days could be the very thing to turn all of this around.  I am not praying for a particular candidate or party.  I still believe that God is not involved in partisan politics, therefore I am praying for God’s will and God’s plan in all things.  As God places His desires on the hearts of men and woman who will go to the polls God’s man will be the man that becomes president.

The Presidential election is not the only thing we need to be praying for because there is so much more.  We have troubles with all things right and just in America today.  Our Nation is experiencing a struggle that is sometimes beyond my ability to think or reason.  America is slowly pushing itself toward a point of no return.  We have factions attempting to destroy the Sanctity of Human Life, both by proclaiming abortion and dealing with the aged of society.  We have those who want to destroy traditional marriage, forsake Israel, give tax payer dollars to terrorist groups, and an economic situation some have referred to as “The Great Recession.”  My, how we need a spiritual intervention in the world today!

Before you forsake me, casting my thoughts aside, let me share with you the real thing my 40 Day Journey will seek.  I am seeking revival for our Nation.  As such, I believe that real revival will begin with me.  Someone once said, “If it is to be, it is up to me.”  With that being the case, then true revival in America will begin in the lives of those who call themselves Christians.  We will find ourselves praying, as God instructed the people many years ago.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)

            Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission wrote:

“God has given us a promise that can change America if enough of God’s people heed the call to live out the Gospel in our time, shining like stars against the darkness of our culture, reflecting the sunlight of God’s Son.  But that starts with our willingness to be humbled-to recognize that it’s God’s way or no way.  It’s not God and country; it’s God alone.  Only then can God use us-His people-for His purposes in our land.”

I read with great interest these words: “The United States is clearly a nation in trouble. A battered economy, political divisiveness, the culture wars, racial uneasiness, and a sidelined church, provide the dry tinder for an inflammatory national election in November of 2012. Many stake their hopes or fears on the outcome.  While believing in and encouraging the importance of exercising our right to vote, we also call the Christian Church in America to do that which is even more critical in these days . . . to pray. The seriousness of our day requires an intensity of prayer that is unprecedented.”

From www.40daysofprayer.net we realize that the call to prayer is “a call to fervent prayer for our elections. We are in desperate days as a nation as the spiritual, moral and financial fabric of our nation is disintegrating around us. Believers need to pray as never before.”  This is the reason that “America's National Prayer Committee and its member organizations are putting out a call to pray 40 days prior to the elections (September 28 - November 6).”  Additionally, they vow that their “intent is to stay far away from anything that looks like an endorsement or movement for any particular candidate or party. What we are asking for is the intervention of God on behalf of our nation.”

Through the North American Mission Board and the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission, Southern Baptist has issued a call to prayer, called 40/40.  The starting point for their initiative began on September 26, which will end two days before the election. 

On the www.erlc.com website you find various issues listed which relate to America and the situations facing Christians, today.  I found the article by Dr. Barrett Duke (he serves as Vice President for Public Policy and Research for the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and also serves as Director of the Commission’s Research Institute of the ERLC) very interesting.  I have included it here for you:

In 1798, John Adams, our country’s second President, said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In 2012, the truth of those words is very evident.

Freedom that isn’t guided by a moral compass runs quickly to license. Today our nation is headed toward a moral abyss. The permissive attitudes that permeate popular culture have inserted themselves in individuals, families, and our nation’s policies.

While we can point to many causes for the current moral dilemma in which our country finds itself. The real problem is spiritual. The church is failing to reach this present generation with the gospel. Increasing secularism is the result.

Our nation needs a spiritual revival that will translate into a cultural renewal. That’s why the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention are sponsoring the 40/40 Prayer Vigil for Spiritual Revival and National Renewal. This 40 day prayer vigil is intended to help focus Christians’ attention on God as the true source of help. While much is at stake in the upcoming election, much more is at stake if the church does not arise from her spiritual slumber and take more seriously her callings as witnesses of Christ’s power to save and as culture’s moral compass.

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil addresses both of these callings. The Vigil begins with a week of prayer focusing us on own walk with God. Until we experience spiritual revival in our own lives, we can hardly engage in the kind of heaven shaking prayer we need to petition our God to be merciful to our nation and give us the leadership we need. After we invite God to search our own hearts for a week, we begin a process of intercession for our church, our community, the nation, and the nation’s leaders.

The Vigil can also be used for an intensive 40 hour period instead of 40 days. We urge you to consider adding this crucial spiritual activity to your and your church’s plans this Fall. While you could begin this period of intercession any time, let me encourage you to join with thousands of others across the nation by setting aside September 26 to November 4. In this way you can add your voice to a prayer crescendo calling on God to pour out His Spirit on His church and this nation as we prepare to elect our nation’s leaders.

We have prepared a special prayer guide for this prayer event. It is available for free here. If you would join us for this important time of prayer, I hope you will register your commitment at the website as well. It will encourage everyone else who is praying to know that there are thousands of others joining with them during that time.

Never before in our lifetimes has our nation been in a more desperate spiritual state. The place to start to address that is the throne of grace. May God be pleased to send us revival and national renewal in response to the poured out prayers of His people. 

            Therefore, it is imperative that we join our hearts together.  It is time we reach across the aisles, casting aside the walls and barriers that confine us and imprison us and pray to the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac.  May we fall upon our faces and cry out to God for America during these days before the elections.

            I ask that you join me in this journey and let our voices be heard.  If you will join me, leave a comment here on the blog or on my Facebook wall or email me.  I want to pray for you as we pray together.

            God bless America! 

It is estimated that between 20- 40% of evangelical Christians in this country are not registered to vote.

           

Tribute to a Fellow Hero

Mr. Tim (Rock) Wheeles

Date of Birth 01/09/1959

Date of Death 09/09/2012

The following is the obituary for Tim Wheeles, with a few updates:

Funeral services for Mr. Tim “Rock” Wheeles, 53, of Alexander City, were Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 2:00 pm at Sixth Street Baptist Church. Offciating the services were Rev. Jerry Wheeles, Rev. Wayne Cowhick, and Mrs. Joyful Walters.  Burial followed in the Hillview Memorial Park. Full Firefighter honors were observed for this solemn occasion.

Mr. Wheeles passed away on Sunday, September 9, 2012 at Russell Medical Center. He was born on January 9, 1959 in Tallapoosa County, Alabama to Terrell Wheeles and Barbara Jean Cooley Wheeles. He attended Sixth Street Baptist Church. Mr. Wheeles graduated from BRHS, Alabama Fire College, and the National Fire Academy and served the community for 31 years as a Firefighter. He was a member of the BASS Club and Ourtown/ Willow Point Fire Department. He enjoyed fishing, gardening, playing golf, his dogs, and was a great cook and avid Alabama football fan. Mr. Wheeles also loved traveling to the beach and the mountains. Mr. Wheeles was loved by his friends and family and will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Joan Martin Wheeles of Alexander City; daughter, Lindsey Kate Wheeles of Madison; son, Martin "Chad" Wheeles of Madison; father, Terrell Wheeles (Patricia) of Ourtown; grandmother, Katie Belle Wheeles of Cragford; sister, Jeanna Brewer (Jeff) of Alexander City; nieces, Joyful Walters (Josh) of Tallahassee, FL, Jolie Blythe of Alexander City, and Emma Hanna and Allison Hanna both of Birmingham; nephews, Justin Johns of Alexander City, Justin Mullinax (Allison) of Albertville, Evan Mullinax of Guntersville, and Dakota Blythe, Tyler Brewer, and Spencer Brewer all of Alexander City; great nieces, Addie Kate Mullinax and Ellie Mullinax both of Albertville and Julia Belle Walters of Tallahassee, FL; mother-in-law, Vivian Martin of Albertville; sister-in-law, Sharon Mullinax (Paul) of Guntersville; step-sister, Ronda Blythe (Derrick) of Alexander City; and step-brother, Kevin Hanna (Julianne) of Birmingham.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Barbara Jean Cooley Wheeles; brother, Brian Lee Wheeles; grandparents, Wilma Pender, Rev. Elmer Wheeles, and Fred Cooley; and father-in-law, J. T. Martin.

The family has asked for memorial contributions to the Sixth Street Baptist Church Building Fund, 2324 Sixth Street Ext., Alexander City, AL 35010.

Tim was a fine man, with a wonderful family.  He came from a Firefighter family, as both his father and sister served as members of the Alexander City Fire Department.  Our prayers and support goes to that department, the Wheeles famile and to the Alex City Community.

Remembering 9/11

Back to Church at Rockford #6

Helpful honks

Each fall flocks of migrating geese stop at a meadow near our home.  For several weeks those birds fly in long, wavy V-formations over our house, honking as they go.  But then, as winter approaches, they are off again on their long flight south.

A student of mine furthered my education and my appreciation for these visitors from the north.  I learned that geese fly at speeds of 40 to 50 miles per hour.  They travel in formation because as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an updraft for the bird behind it.  They can go 70 percent farther in a group than they could if they flew alone...

Geese also honk at one another.  They are not critics but encouragers.  Those in the rear sound off to exhort those up front to stay on course and maintain their speeds.  We too move ahead much more easily if there is someone behind us encouraging us to stay on track and keep going.

Is there someone flying in formation with you today to whom you might give some "helpful honks?"  -- Haddon W. Robinson

MORE GEESE DATA:

1. As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow.  By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater range than if each bird flew alone.

2. When it goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag & resistance of flying alone.  It quickly moves back in formation to take advantage of lifting power of the bird in front of it.

3. When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose takes the point position.

4. The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those in front to keep up their speed.

5. When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it.  They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again.

From "Lessons from Geese," by Angeles Arrien, based on the research of Milton Olson.

Chick Fil A still under fire

This past weekend, I watched one of two of the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Games televised from the Georgia Dome.  My game of choice for the weekend was the Auburn Tigers, as they begin their 2012 season.  It was a full weekend for ardent football fans and for the Georgia Dome.

The two day event began with Tennessee and North Carolina State on Friday.  The weekend concluded with Auburn and Clemson on Saturday.  They had expected more than 145,000 fans for the two events combined; as of latest discovery, Auburn and Clemson gathered around 74,000 and some change.  That is a fairly good attendance for a weekend in Atlanta.

“This marks the first time in college football history where two games of this magnitude have been hosted in the same facility, by the same organizer on consecutive days,” stated the website.

Hosted by Chick-Fil-A, the game day weekend also included sponsors such as Coke and AT&T.  These are big names and have been such in football history for some time. 

Now, at the risk of being called names, I want to point out that Chick-Fil-A became the punching post recently for all those who reject the sanctity of the biblical definition of marriage.  These who protest Chick-Fil-A advocate same sex marriage and same sex partnerships.  These individuals have become so irate with a statement made by Dan Cathy, on a Christian broadcast, where he stated his belief in the biblical definition of marriage-one woman and one man-they have labeled his speech and his business as a “hate group.”

Cathy was doing what any red-blooded American is allowed to do.  He was exercising his right to FREE SPEECH.  By doing so, he was sharing what he believes to be the true, only form of marriage protected by the constitution, and I applaud him for his stand and yes, I agree with him.

While many, many people stood in line to show their support for Dan Cathy and Chick-Fil-A on an appreciation day in August of this year, many others decided their course of action was to condemn him.  The condemnation was loudest among those who labeled the man and his business as homophobic, Christian extremist and intolerant.  While I agree that you have your right to oppose us for our stand, I am heartbroken that you would condemn us for taking our stand.

I bring all of this up, because I wonder how many watched the game on Saturday or attended the game in Atlanta, yet you are of the group in the opposition of Chick-Fil-A.  Could it be that you could be labeled “hypocrites” in your decision?  Again, this is just an opinion, my opinion and an honest question.

The company and its leadership uses their profits to help so many people in ways that are too numerous to list.  Several years ago I read an interview in a Christian magazine, where Truett Cathy-founder and father of Dan Cathy-spoke candidly of his faith, family and the future of his business.  He was open about his belief in the Lordship of Christ, the importance of family and his goals for leading a business based on biblical principles and biblical concepts.  In the interview he also openly discussed his support of the local church and missions around the world.

No one questioned his freedom of relating these things then.  No one even fired back on his thoughts and beliefs regarding his speaking out about his success in business being based on his biblical approach to living a life pleasing to God.  As a matter of fact, no where did I see or hear opposition.  His words were clear, his thoughts Christ-like and his feelings clear.

Yet, now there are individuals and groups taking aim at this Christian based business and even in light of their support for college athletics.  It seems there is a small effort to continue to use this business and its owners as a “punching post,” as they satisfy their desire for those things which do not reflect their way of thinking.  There was a call for a boycott at the game on Saturday and a drive in place to petition the removal of Chick-Fil-A as a sponsor of the Kickoff Game.  These are things we have not heard much about, and I only found them by Googling the phrase “Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game.”         

            While the war continues to rage and opposition comes against our brothers and sisters, we as God’s people must continue to stand strong and serve as light in a dark, despairing world.  We are to pray and seek God’s help and show support to those who stand for freedom of speech and liberty in this land. 

Back to Church at Rockford #5

The Lost Members of the Church

Baptists are a peculiar people.  We insist that one make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  We insist that they be baptized before they can join our church.  And, yet, some of us insist upon nothing else once they're members.

Equally peculiar is the fact that we Baptists claim to be a "people of the book," putting the Bible before all else when it comes to defining and defending our faith.  Yet, we ignore its teaching on church membership.

The writer of Hebrews paints a clear picture of what God expects of His children in His church.

"And let us be concerned one about another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Notice the three privileges/benefits that we enjoy as members of the church.

1) We are to promote love among ourselves.  When we promote love among ourselves, love flourishes in the church, and we are loved ourselves.  Jesus said that it is by our love for one another that the world would know that we are His disciples.

2) We are to promote good works.  When we do this, the church's ministries prosper and we may be blessed by someone else's good works.  Again, Jesus said you will know His people by their fruits, that is, their good works.

3) We are to encourage one another.  We are to lift one another up and to be their support system in a hostile, sinful world.  Sometimes we lift others up.  Sometimes we are lifted up.

So far, so good.  No Baptist would question the value of such benefits.  However, here's where it gets interesting.  To receive the benefits of church membership, one must not only be on the rolls but also in the pews.  We are not to be "staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do" (Hebrews 10:25).  Doing so does not just limit our exposure to those benefits mentioned, it is a sin.

Christians who stay away from church for any reason other than health or travel are living in outright rebellion against the revealed will of God.  They are out of communion with each other.  They are out of communion with Christ.  Worse, their absence may in fact suggest that they're not really children of God after all.

Rather than accepting the fact that several million Baptists will be AWOL next Sunday, we ought to be alarmed.  We have on our church rolls so-called members who don't act like members and, as evidenced by this ongoing pattern of sin, they don't act like believers, either.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15).  Those who rebel against the most basic of commandments concerning church membership reveal a dysfunctional relationship with Christ.  It's time we start treating those people like lost people, not lost children who've meandered a little too far into the woods.  These people may never come out of the woods.  We need to stop waiting for them to return, stop treating them like members, and start treating them like unbelievers.  We need to share something more than good memories with them.  We need to share the Gospel.

Join your church leadership in reaching out to "members" who are living like the world.  Share your love and, more importantly, share your faith.

From Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.org); 10/23/06: Peter Beck (pastor of Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky)

Back to Church at Rockford #4

It's the Law!

A few laws to enforce proper church behavior...

§         Young girls are never allowed to walk a tightrope in Wheeler, Mississippi, unless it's in a church.

§         In Blackwater, Kentucky, tickling a woman under her chin with a feather duster while she's in church service carries a penalty of $10.00 and one day in jail.

§         No one can eat unshelled, roasted peanuts while attending church in Idanha, Oregon.

§         In Honey Creek, Iowa, no one is permitted to carry a slingshot to church except police.

§         No citizen in Leecreek, Arkansas, is allowed to attend church in any red-colored garment.

§         Swinging a yo-yo in church or anywhere in public on the Sabbath is prohibited in Studley, Virginia.

§         Turtle races are not permitted within 100 yards of a local church at any time in Slaughter, Louisiana.

[From a www.sermoncentral.com newsletter; 6/19/06; Robert W. Pelton; Contributed by A. Todd Coget

Originally in Odd Laws Still on the Books, Citation: Robert W. Pelton in "The Door."  Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 5.]