A creed we can all get behind...and push (over the cliff)

I believe in God who once was Almighty,
but sovereignly chose not to be sovereign;
and in Jesus, my personal Lord and Savior,
who loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life.
Who came into my heart when I asked him to,
and is now seated at the right ventricle of my belief in Him.
Who walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way,
and tells me I am His own.
Who shall come again in secrecy to rapture us out of here,
whose Kingdom shall last exactly one thousand years;
And in the Holy Ghost, who did some weird stuff at Pentecost,
but doesn’t do much anymore except speak secretly
to the hearts of individual believers.
And I believe in this local, independent, and powerless church,
insofar as it is in line with my personal interpretation of the Bible,
and like, ya know... does stuff!
In believer’s baptism for the public display of my decision for Christ,
and in giving my personal testimony for soul winning.
And I look for the identity of the Antichrist in the daily news,
and know that the Last Days are now (obviously!) upon us.

(I found this somewhere years ago, and added a tich here, and a tich there to spruce it up a bit.)

Leaders Who Last

I went up to Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho this last weekend with a friend of mine to attend a conference entitled “Leaders Who Last” by Dave Kraft out of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It was excellent and very illuminating for me as a husband/father and someone laboring toward the pastorate.

I’d encourage anyone who is a leader in your home or church to pick up his book and read it. It is chocked full of 40+ years of practical wisdom. I’d prefer a bit more Biblical thoroughness in the book, still though, it is a gem and a wonderful aid for Christian leaders.  Check it out.

Where is the American republic at?

     "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.
     The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage."

Penned by Professor Alexander Tytler over 200 years ago

A movie review in 199 words (more or less)

As it is in Heaven
     Racheal and I watched this movie last night and enjoyed it very much.  It is a Swedish drama, with English subtitles, telling the story of the character Daniel Dareus, who grew up loving music and living in a tiny village where he was harassed for his musicality.  He eventually leaves with his widowed mother and becomes a famous conductor throughout Europe.
    His intense emotional life in music begins to effect his health in his 40's, and strangely drives him back to the place of his youth where he buys an old elementary school to live in and to hopefully recover and relax.
    He's soon asked though to lead the local church choir (not his forte) which is a cornucopia full of differing personalities and backgrounds: the pastor's wife, the local hardware store owner, an abused wife, an overly prudish single woman, and a younger, kind-hearted "party girl".
    The film gloriously shows forth a group of Adam's descendants that grow close and personal through candid honesty, song and patience with one anothers foibles and sins.  For Rach and I, it was a beautiful portrayal of what local congregations should look like, but often are not.  Sadly, throughout the film, the story lucidly reveals the Church to actually be the stumbling block to such a life -- again, not without warrant and certainly true enough much of the time -- and not in any way the means to it.  Hence, the film shows a community disconnected from Christ's Church here on Earth, but as they imagine it to be in Heaven. 
     The film doesn't have a rating...thanks Sweden.  It did have a few "cuss" words ("What the cuss!") and there is a brief skinny-dipping scene, and a few "wife being abused scenes".  All in all, to play it safe, I'd probably give it a soft R rating.