At the large church I used to attend, several times the pastor spoke against the people he saw on television protesting abortion doing corny things as an embarrassment to God. He lumped all protestors to the same standard and never attended an abortion clinic protest to see for himself – that would cost him a sacred ball game. And, though he claimed to be pro-life, he spent more time beating up those willing to stand for truth than those promoting “choice.”

Youth ministers are the largest group I have contended with in this argument of what embarrasses God. You would think the men whose primary job is to help young Christians rise up for God against peer pressure would be strong promoters of truth. But it seems they have the hardest time, themselves – personally – with peer pressure. They rely upon it heavily among their group and preach a conformity that is more in line with the world’s thought than it is with God’s. They promote their favorite teams and have their pictures taken with famous people, but they are quick to put down those who stand unashamed for God’s truth as arrogant and an embarrassment to God.

About a year ago, I was arguing with several youth pastors on Facebook who were promoting the film, “Jesus Save Us From Your Followers.” This is a movie promoting acceptance of homosexuality and other deviant lifestyles. The premise is Christians owe the homosexual community an apology for years of bigotry and hate. Where are the youth pastors who will raise up a generation of Christians to stand against sin? Does love trump truth? No, true love promotes truth – and warns against the evils of sin.

When Jesus was on earth, did He once apologize for the actions of John the Baptist? or any of the prophets? John the Baptist hung out in the desert clothed in animal skin, eating bugs and honey. He stood up against all the evils of the day – and he called people names! Isaiah preached naked for three years (Isa 20). While Ezekiel lay on his left side for 390 days, then lay on his right side for 40 days (Eze 4) – forcing others to feed him and clean up his urine and excrement! Yet, Christ praised these men – and quoted them – but never condemned their actions or apologized for them. Will somebody read the Scriptures, please, and point me to one verse where God complained of His people embarrassing Him.

Going back to John the Baptist: When Christ was confronted about John, He asked the people what they expected to find in the desert – “A reed swayed by the wind?” Or, in other words, a wimp, or an embarrassment. Then Christ set the record straight by commending John for his violence. Yes, his violence – standing up for the truth of God is violence among the principalities. Then Christ admonishes us all to become violent – not physically violent but violent against the thoughts and culture of the day (Mat 11:12).

The God of the Bible is a very big God. Not only is He the ONLY true God, He is bigger than our feeble, fallen minds can comprehend. Paul tells us in Romans chapter ten we cannot bring Christ down, nor can we raise Him up – that is, we cannot compare Him at our level, or bring Him to it. Our confession is to be “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Isaiah tells us God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Isa 55) and in Job 38 to 41 God gives an account of His greatness and rebukes those who would bring Him down to man’s level. There are many other Scriptures declaring God’s greatness – He does not need the counsel of man. If He needs no counsel, it follows He needs no approval of man. If He needs no approval, how can He be embarrassed?

It seems the majority of youth pastors are more concerned with being cool and favorite teams, these days. There are few who teach Christian youth to stand strong in the Lord. And this whole conversation about embarrassing God is to dumb us down and promote conformity with the rest of us – who are already conformed to the world’s standard of what a Christian should be. What does the Scripture say?

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. [Psa 1:1-2 NIV]

When we promote conformity with the world, when we speak of God to bring Him to our level, we sit in the seat of mockers. Bringing God down to our level will not bring one soul to Christ. Those who will reject God will reject Him on every level. If we teach our children not to be an embarrassment to God, they will be afraid to preach the truth to a fallen world.

It is true, Christians sometimes do embarrassing things; sometimes the purpose is malicious, sometimes just pure stupidity – we are fallen beings. But thank God, we are saved by grace and not by what we do. On the other hand, there are those who claim to be Christian but they exhibit few attributes of one who is saved by grace. Do any of these people embarrass God? How can God be embarrassed when Scriptures tell us He is glorified in ALL things? – the good, the evil and the embarrassing.

Rise up and get away from the seat of mockers. The young need to be educated to get into the Word of God and stand firm for the truth. Look up to God – don’t try to bring Him down.

Thanks to the explosion of child pornography, the demand for sex with minors and sexual materials featuring children is skyrocketing. The demand far outweighs the supply.

As a result, children and young teens are being kidnapped and forced to perform for money under threat of death.

As unbelievable as this may sound, this is happening in virtually every country and every state in the union, including at least five cities in Washington.

Buyers will pay hundreds–sometimes thousands–of dollars for a young child or teen. The market is unimaginably lucrative. To criminals, children and teens are expensive products that can be sold repeatedly, yet cost little or nothing to acquire and maintain. That’s the formula for modern day sex slavery.

ANOTHER KIND OF SEX PREDATOR

The youngest children are simply being kidnapped and moved from one part of the country to another. The older ones, generally age 12 to 17, are befriended by a good-looking young man or woman, who acts friendly and gives them expensive gifts.

After a reasonable period, the “friend” suggests a sleepover or weekend trip. The girl is then taken to secret location where the actual pimp takes possession of her. She is then drugged, raped and child sex trafficking.jpgbeaten regularly and forced into prostitution. She is threatened with death if she tries to escape. She is then moved from city to city and sold to an endless stream of strangers.

In an attempt to stem the tide of child sex trafficking in Washington, I have introduced a bill to help rescue these exploited children and severely punish those who take their innocence.

Senate Bill 6476 would dramatically increase penalties for recruiting, selling, transporting or purchasing underage children for sexual purposes.

SEVERE PENALTIES FOR SEX TRAFFICKING

The bill would raise the penalties for commercial sex abuse of a minor (“pimping”) to a Class A felony, carrying a 7- to 26-year prison sentence and a maximum $5,000 fine. Currently it’s a Class B felony, which carries a minimum sentence of just 1.75 years. The bill would elevate commercial sex abuse of a minor (buying) from a Class C felony with a $550 fine to a Class B felony, with a 1.75- to 12-year sentence and an additional $5,000 fine.

In the case of adult prostitution, law enforcement officers are trained to arrest and charge the prostitute, while only marginally addressing the seller and buyer. In the case of minors, or those who were kidnapped or coerced into prostitution as minors, police are dealing with victims.

As children and teens, they had no choice. These kids have been so abused they don’t know who to trust. They have no safe place to go. To treat them as criminals simply adds another bad dream to an already nightmarish existence.

CHILD VICTIMS NEED SAFETY

My bill would provide these exploited children with a safe haven, where they can be helped out of bondage and into a new life. It would also help focus law enforcement attention where it should be: on the recruiters, buyers and sellers.

The bill was heard by the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee and will likely move on to the full Senate for a vote. I’ll keep you posted on what happens.

Sincerely,

A quick definition of hate: standing up for the truth of God’s word is “hate.”

I argued with these pastors and leaders from the Scripture. They, in turned, argued back that I was narrow-minded and old-school and that I could never understand their ways. To them, it did not matter the multiple Scriptures condemning the practice and the participants; it did not matter to them Jesus’ example of praising the prophets for their hateful ways (modern definition) rather than condemning them as narrow-minded; nor did it matter to them these homosexuals were on the road to hell and their method would do nothing to turn them back. And, in the end, I refused to “agree to disagree.”

It is hard for the church – and especially youth pastors – to stand up for the truth because they are more interested in what the church looks like than what the message of the Gospel is. This is ironic, because these are the same people who are supposed to address the problem of peer pressure to our youth, yet they cannot handle the problem themselves.

Molotov Mitchell has a short video out that addresses this issue: What should be the Christian response to the homosexual? [scroll down to "My Gay Friends" - depending on when you read this, it might be a ways down the list.]

[movie deleted because of script conflict]

Are the homosexuals finally going to take control of our culture and push their depraved lifestyle on our children and families?

Ballots were mailed last week to over 3 million voters in Washington State asking them to either approve or reject Senate Bill 5688. Passed last spring in the legislature, SB5688 would strip away the protections of traditional marriage that were ensured with the passage of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) just a few short years ago.

What kept SB5688 from being signed into law by a very willing governor were a few courageous people who came together to file a referendum to allow the voters to make the final decision – to REJECT this bill.

Frankly, it was nothing short of a miracle that R-71 qualified for the ballot.

Amidst harassment and even death threats by the homosexual radicals pushing this into our faces, just enough signatures were gathered to give you the final say on the upcoming ballot.

And now, we need one more miracle to stay the course and ward off – what could be – the final assault on our families and American culture by the homosexuals.

You may just be that miracle…

Do you realize what is going on here? Consider the following:

- In 1970, (on the heels of a “free love” 60′s radical culture) sodomy laws were repealed in Washington State, with government turning a blind eye to a behavior commonly considered perversion – and still the case with a majority of Americans.

- Organizations, such as NAMBLA, (North American Man Boy Love Association) appeared on the horizon seeking to repeal “age of consent” laws (NAMBLA is still in business today).

- Various pro-homosexual websites (most now taken down) have shown that homosexuals’ real intent is to “normalize” homosexuality – which means pushing the lifestyle through public schools, beginning with elementary school-aged children. They will settle for nothing less than your full-scale acceptance – whether you like it or not!

- After 27 years of relentless pursuit, homosexuals finally received protected class status from the Washington State Legislature in 2006, making it illegal for you to refuse to rent them a house, or hire them on account of their homosexuality.

- Canada already has laws making it illegal to speak against homosexuality on the streets. Bills exist presently in the U.S. Congress to do the same. In the last few weeks a Canadian church pastor was arrested for speaking against homosexuality.

Now do you see what’s happening? Like the proverbial frog who ends up paralyzed and unable to get out of the water as he waits too long and the temperature reaches boiling – the homosexuals have been winning incrementally, taking their time, while we’ve been asleep at the wheel.

But it’s still not too late … and I want this to be a wake up call.

And I hope you will put up a clarion call to your friends and family and let them know that we are on the verge of losing the battle of our lifetimes if we don’t stand up now!

Or … if we do stand up now … we’re on the verge of victory. It’s up to us.

This is a fight we cannot afford to lose – but one we can win now. And the only thing standing in the way of an easy victory on November 3rd is a few miserable dollars to reach the voters with the truth – that silent majority of people who, for whatever reason, won’t stand and fight.

To date (you can look it up your self on the Public Disclosure Commission website) the homosexuals have amassed over $1 million to sell this re-invention of marriage to an unwitting population.

That $1 million is in stark contrast to the paltry $60,000 we have raised.

Meanwhile, if we lose on November 3rd, people will approach me on the street and ask me how it happened!?

My reply? “How big was the check you wrote?” (Most will have given nothing… )

We don’t have to lose. Every piece of research says that a large majority of people want to see our traditional definition of marriage remain intact. If the election were held before the media began, the homosexuals would lose by 7 to 8 points. That’s why they are raising so much money to sell this as something it is not and overcome the deficit.

That’s also why it is so very important that we raise enough money to reach voters with the real story and to combat the following:

- Ads cloaking this as a “fairness” bill – not being about marriage. (Senator Murray, one of the bill’s homosexual sponsors said marriage is the end game. It is a Trojan horse from homosexuals who seek to overturn thousands of years of sacred family tradition).

- Ads showing homosexual couples with children trying to appear as normal American families. (The sociological effects of fatherless homes are clear from every study, and from experience as we see the devastation in Scandinavian countries where this is rampant. It also continues the objective of the feminization of the male in our society).

- Ads showing older couples in support of SB5688. (Citizens aged 62 and older were included in the bill only to help the homosexual community garner their support. Yet, there is little of consequence in SB-5688 that heterosexual domestic partners 62+ cannot get now from a simple power of attorney. Seniors are being used.)

WILL YOU STAND UP NOW AND COME TO THE AID OF MARRIAGE?

Larry Stickney, who is leading our effort, has put his life on hold to fight this fight on our behalf. His household bills have at times gone unpaid, while he has remained faithful to this cause. Now it’s our turn.

As a long time sitting State Senator, I’m asking you to join this fight – a fight easily winnable if we can just reach more people with the message you’re reading now. So far, we cannot even afford to buy TV ads at all.

Perhaps you’re a miracle person who can give many thousands of dollars for our TV ad campaign. Or, if you’re like a lot of us, you can only afford to give $1,000, $500 or less. No matter where you are, or what you can give, every amount large and small will help us save the sacred institution of marriage we hold so dear.

We have faced several defeats on this front in recent years. This is one we can win and set the homosexual agenda back. Will you help us?

Sincerely,

Val Stevens, State Senator

P.S. With just two weeks until Election Day, time is running out. Can you stop right now and send your most generous contribution? When you’re finished, will you commit to calling at least two friends and asking them to help? The homosexuals are betting you won’t. I’m hoping you will. Thank you!

Protect Marriage Washington PAC
PO Box 501
Arlington, WA 98223
http://www.protectmarriagewa.com/index.php/donate-online

Instead, I want to talk to Christians who are inclined to vote to give marriage benefits to same-sex partners despite moral concerns about homosexuality. You know who you are.

You believe in grace, redemption, forgiveness and the need to love your neighbor as yourself. You believe that homosexuality is sin, but you have a hard time opposing homosexual rights measures because you feel it would be forcing people to abide by your personal moral code. You do not dislike gay people. In fact, you like your gay friends more than some Christians you know.

You are inclined to vote in favor of benefits for homosexuals simply to avoid association attitudes you have seen from fellow Christians. After all, you believe fervently in the command to love your neighbor.

However, you may fail to recognize the distinction between loving your neighbor and being liked. Many people make this mistake. In fact many believe the test of whether or not you love your neighbor is whether or not they like you. Therefore, in an effort to prove their love by being liked, they purge their lives of all controversy.

When a choice is to be made, they spend far more time pondering what other people are going to think than they do wondering whether or not it is right. Individuals will bite their tongue. Churches will avoid certain passages of scripture for decades at a time-all in the name of love.

The idea that Christians should try to be well liked is somewhat ironic when you consider the fact that Jesus was murdered. Moreover, He promised his disciples that they would be hated for obedience to him. (John 15:18; Matt 10:21-23). So where did we get the idea that being like Jesus means everybody is going to like us?

Christian charity is frequently looked upon favorably. Christian holiness, however, is not. Still, the goal for the Christian is not to be like or hated, political or apolitical, popular or unpopular. The goal is to be biblical.

Referendum 71 presents a dilemma for many Christians. They understand that God does not believe homosexual relationships are the equivalent of heterosexual marriages. They certainly don’t want their children being taught in school that they are morally the same. But is it kind if it will make someone angry?

It presents an even bigger dilemma for pastors. They have a tremendous opportunity for influence. But should they risk the potential fallout of addressing the biblical perspective on this issue?

While I have opinions, I cannot answer these questions for you. I will simply say that whatever decision is made, I hope it comes more from a desire to be faithful and less from a need to be liked.

Joseph Backholm
http://fpiw.org/mondayminute

Lake Oswego, Oregon – Once again, the social engineers on the left, led this time by the Ninth Circuit’s most radical judge, chose to cover up Oregon’s Election Division scandal rather than recognize the legitimate Constitutional claims of unlawfully rejected petition signers.

By ‘All Means,’ Cover Elections Division Corruption – Even if it means denying the rights of the People!

Yesterday, The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – led by one of America’s most disrespected and distrusted activist Judges – ruled that Oregon’s Election Division procedures for counting petition signatures were ‘Constitutional’, inspite of the fact that the elections division ignored clear Oregon law requiring them to validate signatures within the 30 day window for signature validation, a law they themselves had requested and which was clearly proven they did not follow in the February 1, District Court case.

Judge Ted Goodwin, the infamous judge who wrote the opinion on removing God from the Pledge of Allegiance wrote for the three-judge panel – and in spite of the facts – that, “Oregon’s signature verification standards are uniform and specific enough to ensure equal treatment of voters.” Even Judge Mossman in the District Court Hearing did not agree with that.

The new top down ‘dictators’ in America

The issue of the Oregon Elections Division formula for deciding if a petition campaign has met the mandatory number of signatures for placement on the ballot has again been swept under the carpet, out of sight, out of mind, and given tacit approval rather than the scrutiny it deserves and the people are entitled to.

Oregon’s citizens have lost again to a corrupt and partisan political agenda that extends into State and Federal Judiciary; a political machine that harkens back to the well known Chicago model led by the now deceased Mayor “Boss” Daley.

Liberal activist ‘boss’ judges, under the cover and art of ‘law’ have become the new culture gods, lording it over the people, a prescription for disaster for Constitutional government of, by, and for the people.

Michael Newdow, you’d be proud!

The Barbasol style signs along the country road announced another fortieth birthday. A few days later, I came across a similar display at the other end of the county. “This appears to be getting rather popular,” I thought as I began to mull over in my mind this fascination with the 40th birthday.

Suddenly it dawned on me: This generation that celebrates being over the hill, is the same one that refused to trust anyone over thirty years old. Now we are grown. We are forty-something. But the “Baby Boomers” are still a generation of rebels. Think about it, excepting John Carlson, there are relatively few Harley owners under the age of fifty. Our fifty and sixty year old men are wearing pony tails and our young men are wearing earrings.

Remember, in the sixties, we revolted against authority and demanded self-gratification without responsibility. We would not stand for that male hypocrisy, either. So, we freed our women from the chains of morality – but we bound them to single-parent families, loneliness, frustration and poverty.

What few fathers our immorality has left us, the welfare state has tried to drive away – and the cost in lives is high. We do not have a standard for families anymore. Children raised in divided homes or single parent families, see little distinction of roles between mother and father. The seed society has planted has grown into weeds: We have homosexuals parading their perversion in the streets, demanding to be recognized as “family” and radical feminists demand special rights over men.

We have all but abolished morality and are horrified that education has decayed. We have abdicated responsibility and are perplexed that parents have lost their authority. Our children waste away on the streets and in the shopping malls but we resent the state’s latest efforts to manipulate their career selection.

Look at our society. We have willingly fallen into the hands of the behavior controllers and the social architects. We cannot parent – and we need civil government to parent us. We are dependent upon our encounter groups. We want pastors who will make us feel good and build our self-esteem. Our repentance and our religion is one of warm feelings and charity, not one of obedience and responsibility.

Love covers a multitude of sins – and our sins we cover. We are positive, but we are lost. People who stand for the truth are considered to be excessive and extreme. Biblical fundamentalism is decried as the agent of guilt, discontent and misery – it is negative.

What will remedy the problem? What will bring strong families to be the norm in our society again? Hosea 4:6 tells us that when we ignore God, He will ignore our children. His word is true and we have seen the fruit of our immorality, lack of repentance and the transfer of our worship to the state. We have lost a generation of our children to drugs, immorality and aimlessness.

Can we change our god back from the state to the One God, the Almighty, our Creator and Savior? That is really going to take a leap of faith because many people, including professing Christians, believe we need the civil government to help us with our dysfunctional families and dysfunctional lives.

Maybe it is time that we realize that ALL families are dysfunctional. God made us with flaws. If we were perfect, we would not need God. If we rely upon Him, we will make our families whole. Conversely, if we rebel, we will disarray accordingly. We need to build a plan to bring our families back together:

1. The Bible is clear that Godly fathers are necessary for strong, moral families. Fathers must stand up for Christ in their families and in society. Joshua said as for him and his family, “we will serve the Lord.” [Jos. 24:15].

2. We must teach our children the ways of the Lord. (Deu 4:9-10, 6:7, 11:19-20).

3. We must live in obedience to the Lord and we must teach our children to do the same. God’s law is not idle words – it is our life. (Deu 32:46-47, 1Ki 2:3, Ecc 12:13).

4. Recognizing Christ’s authority, we must get civil government out of the family business. (1Sa 1:21, 3:13, 22:14-21, 1Ki 18:17-18, Isa 60:1-3, Jer 35:12-19, Mic 6:8, Mat 28:18, 1Ti 5:3-16, Jam 1:27).

It is a sad commentary that more than half the American families are broken. Point number one is not possible in families that have been ravished by the lowered standards of society. God, however, does not call us to accomplish more than He has made us able. (Dan 3:17-18, 1Co 10:11-14, 2Co 9:8). If we repent and rely upon Him, He will carry us and give us the ability to live in obedience to Him. (Isa 26:3-4, 7, Joe 2:11, 25). God has promised to be a Father to those who walk in obedience. (2Co 6:18).

Many Christians will give lip-service to these four elements. But few have thought them through to the point they are willing to live Godly lives. We say that we serve the Lord, but do our careers come first? maybe our toys? or our leisure? Are we ready for principle number four?

Val Stevens has been traveling across the State, exposing the excesses of DSHS and the destruction that they are wreaking havoc upon our families. People are naturally incensed and many people want to do away with the department altogether. Although Rep. Stevens is a proponent of this solution, she asks her audience a poignant question: Are Christians ready to assume the responsibility for the truly needy if we are successful in getting the state out of the family and compassion business?

Consider the question well. We may be willing to settle for government intrusion if that frees us to spend our time on our careers, our toys and our leisure. We may be willing to continue to purchase the evasion of our responsibilities, through taxes. We may be willing to accept the destruction of our families and society to accomplish our personal comfort.

Or, maybe we will be willing to pick up the ball and accept God’s command to stand in the gap for the family, the poor, the needy and the children. (Pro 29:7, Eze 22:29-30, Jam 1:27). Will we spend our time, money and talent helping those who need to see the face of God? The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Mat 11:12).

Quote of the year – Read and Learn:

“The arguments in favor of sensitivity have moral weight and they deserve to be taken seriously. but I think the nature and tragedy of this sort of therapeutic politics, victim politics, is that it takes these legitimate concerns and it distorts them for self indulgent ends. Because the real canker is the insistence that its is not enough to behave correctly; one must be attuned to the feelings of others and adapt oneself to the kaleidoscopic shades of grievance, injuries and ego that make up subjective sensibilities of the victim. So the relationship between individuals and groups is not mediated by neutral respect or by principles of justice, but must now be cast solely in therapeutic terms. By that I mean the only thing that matters is the avoidance of hurt, injury and offense. You need to sacrifice for the self-esteem of others.

“Now, superficially, this resembles Christian charity. But I think that as a series of mandatory attitudes it’s something else altogether. And it really comes down to our understanding of naked egotism. Naked egotism is the imposing of one’s likes and dislikes and subtle prejudices and whiny annoyances of the self on others. It’s my saying, because I want something, you must want it as well. If I am hypersensitive about something, my feelings should govern your behavior.”

- Charles Sykes, Ideology of Sensitivity