Another Sign of the Times

Americans Pick Obama as Personal Hero; Jesus Comes Second

And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor (Isa. 24:2, NKJV).

According to a new poll, President Barack Obama’s popularity overwhelms even that of Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa. This recent Harris Poll, shows Obama as the person Americans named as their number one hero.

American adults (age 18 and over) spontaneously named President Obama as the person they admire enough to call their hero in the poll that did not provide a list for respondents to choose from. What was truly fascinating where the multiple reasons given by respondents for their choice of heroes, including: doing what’s right regardless of personal consequences (89 percent); not giving up until the goal is accomplished (83 percent); doing more than what other people expect of them (82 percent); overcoming adversity (81 percent); and staying level-headed in a crisis (81 percent).

Unfortunately, only 14 percent of Americans said they admire either their mother or father enough to call them their hero. In contrast, nearly half (49 percent) said a public figure is someone they admire and consider a personal hero. This poll illustrates much of what ails our nation today. The only major surprise I found in it, if it truly reflects the attitudes of this largely post-Christian and secularized country, is that the Lord Jesus rated so high- particularly, when so many rappers and celebrity athletes and "entertainers", could have surpassed him.

What was particularly fascinating to me, is our newly inaugurated president's position atop the poll, considering that a hero by definition is to be a courageous person of valor, who has sacrificed and accomplished something great and unique- while as per the poll's own qualifications, remaining level-headed and stead-fast in adversity. I wonder just what has President Obama courageously accomplished in his first 45 days or so of office? Oh I've got it- if we consider Obama pushing forth and signing another $1 trillion government spending bill to bail out a nation and economy- drunk and hung-over from borrowing and lending money it never had, with more money that the government doesn't have, to be an act of courage, then we have our hero.

And here I thought the "borrower was servant to the lender" (Pro. 22:7). BTW, who's your hero and why?

What About Spiritual Puberty?

Poll: Only 3 Percent of Teens See Clergy as Role Models

Author Jeff Myers ("Hand Off") made a remarkable statement at NTBC last Sunday when he mentioned that his historical research seemed to indicate that most of the 12 apostles of Jesus may have been 14-18 year-old "young men,"or what we would call today teenagers.


That's a stunning revelation if true, indicating the gulf of spiritual and moral maturity that exists between youth today and in the time of Christ. Little wonder that according to a just released poll published in the Christian Post, only three out of 100 Amedrican teens are likely to say they see members of the clergy as role models. Scarcely any teens (those under age 18) view their pastors, priests, rabbis or imams as role models. Instead, many reported seeing their parents as role models (54 percent) according to the survey. Friends (13 percent), teachers or coaches (6 percent), and siblings (5 percent) also beat out clergies as role model figures. Just slightly more than one in ten (11 percent) say they don’t have any role models at all.

But the poll’s major finding is that although the overwhelming majority of teens (80 percent) believe they are ethically prepared to make moral business decisions, nearly 40 percent believe they need to “break the rules” in order to succeed. That attitude is not conducive to being one of the '12 ordinary young men' that would turn the world upside down would it? I'm pretty sure our Lord and King of the universe was not inclined to choose 'rule breakers' for disciples and future leaders. One remedy for the absence of youth leadership and spiritual growth today is the return of family-intergrated worship, discipleship and ministry. Myers was correct to point out by implication, that as per Deu. 6, Jewish tradition and classic and historic New Testament Christianity, youth were mentored, taught and discipled by mentors, teachers (Rabbis) and adults that would lead them from childhood to young ADULTHOOD.



The concept of teenager is another recent cultural phenomenon of western civilization that is foreign to scripture and biblical principles. What can we do about such poll results? Let's think about the role of youth ministers and parents today and whether or not our youth should be intentionally led to adulthood through the church or merely coddled, segregated, baby-sat and entertained, while "adults" are expected to grow in Christlikeness. If Myers was right and the Bible is true, what would Jesus do?

The Power of Prayer

The Biology of Belief

Time magazine has come around this week- again, in publishing an article confirming the long-held relationship between prayer and healing. These secular purveyors of all stories that are fit to print found,"Here's what's surprising: a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that faith may indeed bring us health. People who attend religious services do have a lower risk of dying in any one year than people who don't attend. People who believe in a loving God fare better after a diagnosis of illness than people who believe in a punitive God. No less a killer than AIDS will back off at least a bit when it's hit with a double-barreled blast of belief. 'Even accounting for medications,' says Dr. Gail Ironson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Miami who studies HIV and religious belief, 'spirituality predicts for better disease control."

Surprising? Not to God's children, who know that while His common grace extends to all His human creatures- believer and non-believer alike ("the rain falls on the just and the unjust"), we realize that He will respond particularly to the prayers of the saints to bring healing- physical and spiritual. The book of James tells us that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). What may confuse some who read that passage in James, is the seeming guarantee of healing by prayer...you know like the ones helped along by cash contributions seen on certain TV networks. They quote the half-brother of Jesus verbatim; "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (Ja. 5:13-15).

What the Bible does teach is that a prayer of faith and perseverance are the keys to healing and the acknowledgment that the healing comes FROM God and at times THROUGH man and medicine. Furthermore, God may not heal our loved one or ourselves when sick or immediately, because He is sovereignly working another or better plan for His glory and our- your good.

LIFE and Liberty in the Coffee Shop

Medical board revokes license of Fla. doctor after live baby delivered during botched abortion
I was witnessing to an older agnostic man at a coffee shop recently who asked, "Why is it that so many of you Christians are pro-lifers, obsessed with the abortion issue?" Well if this man had half a conscience and heard about the recent case of another botched abortion in South Florida, in which a live baby was delivered, but ended up dead in a cardboard box, he might have begun to get a clue.

According to a Sun-Sentinel report, The Department of Health said a doctor was scheduled to perform an abortion on a teenager who was 23 weeks pregnant. According to a complaint, she gave birth at a Hialeah clinic after waiting hours for the doctor to arrive. The complaint said one of the clinic owners put the baby in a bag that was thrown away. Police found the infant's decomposing remains a week later. The doctor was reported to have left his home country to work and train in the United States. It was never his intention to do abortions, he said."That was not part of my goals when I came to Florida," he said. "But I had to do it to survive."

Isn't it ironic that our country allows some people- including licensed doctors, the right to take the lives of some people in order"to survive?" this case was such a barbaric display of infanticide that even spokesman in the pro-abortion crowd condemned it and one Florida Legislator from Miami said, "These events are nothing short of murder." Has our own newly elected President and other abortion rights supporters realized that legal and perfectly executed abortions at 23 weeks (before and after), result in the same death- same murder in our country every day?

Indeed it was a banner week for the enemy and the age of darkness that permeates health and education, as Dr. Death himself, Jack Kervorkian was actually paid by Nova University in Broward, to spew more garbage about the benefits of Euthanasia. Kevorkian pulled another stunt in front of an audience of thousands at NSU. "Let's all say the Pledge of Allegiance," he said, then flipped a U.S. flag to reveal a replica on the other side with a swastika where the blue and stars would have been. From cradle to grave the culture of death continues to run rampant in our society as thousands gathered to hear 'Dr. Jack', with many cheering for the man who has made a career of snuffing out largely older, suffering, sick and impressionable citizens. Yet, we've legalized (in two states so far) that agency of murder as well. When does it stop? When will we say enough is enough?

Yes mister coffee shop man who thinks all pro-lifers are 'Bible-thumping' wackadoos, yes mister President and members of congress who think Christians and pro-lifers are single-issue voters and advocates, we're weird that way. We believe that children- those who pass from being unborn to born within seconds, as early as 23 weeks of gestation and from conception, should have rights, should be protected, should not be murdered and thrown in the trash, should be given the opportunity to have "LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Should I have another opportunity to address mister coffee shop man, and his position that women and "doctors" such as in the above storty have the right to do with children as they wish, I might ask, "Sir, how does one defend the indefensible?"

The Subtle Surge of Socialism and Remembering Snow?

Two headlines and stories from today's news should give the discerning and biblical Christian pause, if not cause for concern -at least if you're a biblicist who believes the scriptures give justification to a market-driven, classic, capitalist economy and government such as the one this nation has been under for over two centuries.

First, Obama signs into law expansion of SCHIP health-care program for children... "President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday to expand publicly funded health insurance for children, marking a historic shift in Washington's political landscape and providing the White House its biggest victory since Obama took office." Less than 18 months ago, President George W. Bush had blocked similar bills by congressional Democrats, labeling the proposed expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program as a step toward government-run health care.

While on the surface it sounds like a wonderful thing to expand health-care to uninsured kids (who hates that idea?), one may ask, 'who will pay for that expansion (you will- it's the people's taxpayer dollars)?' 'Where will the accountability come from?' 'What will such a program do to private enterprise- the backbone of our economic system?'

Then, Obama to restrict pay of bailout firms' execs.. Reflecting widespread outrage over bonuses and perks at firms that already have received bailout money, the new rules would limit executive pay at the most distressed institutions to $500,000 in annual salary.

Now, should the president hold big business accountable for the government bail-out money (again courtesy of the tax-payer) it's receiving? Absolutely. Should the White House even in difficult circumstances order wage controls on corporate executives- the people that make decisions on business and economic growth? That's a different question all together. Who should be running this economy or exerting the greatest influence on it? Our 3rd president and architect of our Declararation of Independence, Thomas Jefferson said, "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government…"

Jefferson allegedly a Deist, not a Christian, made a profound statement that seemingly echoes the author of 1 Sam. 8, who in response to God's chosen nation of Israel demanding a King (read President today) so they could be "like all the other nations," said, "He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ...He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves (1 Sam. 8:15, 17)." Hmmmmm.

C. S. Lewis, that great Christian apologist peered behind the “compassionate” actions of government and discovered instead threads of tyranny. He notes that the most benevolent ideas imposed on others through the rule of law can often result in the exact opposite of what is intended. He wrote, "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." Food for thought...

How about the frosty weather we're experiencing in South Florida over the last day or so? Has it ever been colder? Well, if you visit this video link you'll see and some of you will remember, the day it "snowed" around here just over 22 years ago. That's right, the real white stuff made a visit to the Sunshine State in 1977 ( http://www.miamiherald.com/video/index.html?media_id=3025144/t_blank ) . Thanks to sister Alina, our fine kids Bible Study teacher for this story.

Pop Goes the Bible!

Churches Urged to Utilize Pop Songs to Boost Bible Reading ...

What's next in the worship wars? A "Christianized" cover of Wully Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharohs? According to a Christian Post story, "With Bible illiteracy plaguing Christians in areas even where Scriptures are in abundance, one bishop is urging churches to use hits by bands such as U2 and the Beatles to help their congregants connect with the teachings contained in the Bible. 'For many people the language of the Bible has become inaccessible," says the Rt. Rev. Nick Baines, bishop of Croydon in South London, “and yet pop song writers can make a connection with people because their language is fresh. They are able to open our imagination to a way of thinking about God that we've become deaf to in church language.”

In his latest book, Finding Faith, Baines argues that Christian themed pop music can convey deep theological concepts in a way that is more accessible to the younger generation.
"Songs get more into the soul than simply reading an ancient book,” he told the Telegraph. A simple "ancient book?" I've heard some churches are plaing Pink Floyd's classic, "Money" during the ofeeratory. Without getting into musical forms, and the pre-evangelistic nature of some secular pop, let's not lose sight of what worship music in the house of God is to be about. Eph. 5:18-19 and Col. 3:16 remind us that we are "to let the word of Christ dwell (make its home) in us richly by singing psalms, hymns and spritual songs, making melody to the Lord in our hearts." That means that those various forms of song are to Bible-saturated and therefore theologically rich. That means God is to be glorified and the body of Christ (church) is to be edified or built-up musically, and we are to be filled or led by the Spirit biblically.

Does the Christian music you listen to fit that mold? Anyone who knows me understands that I've been the biggest Beach Boys fan that ever lived and while I can try to justify my listening pleasures with classics like God Only Knows, nothing can replace the musical Word of the living God to nourish the soul.