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Note: best viewed in Explorer or FirefoxWelcome to Men's RoundtableJoin us this Tuesday night at 7 p.m. or Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. at Christ Memorial Church (West Wing newer addition) a block down from the Chevron station in Poulsbo and see why a lot of guys think this is the best hour and a half of the week! Take a few minutes to browse the thought-provoking items on our website and contact us at roundtableministries@gmail.comEach Saturday, in addition, other Roundtable fellowships have been started in Port Orchard and East Bremerton, WA (Sylvan Way Baptist); Yuma, AZ (approximately 30-50 men meet each Saturday morning there); Idaho, and Australia. Website updated Posted by Jim Daly on May 24, 2011 2:43:33 PM President and host of Focus on the Family The editors of FOXNews.com published the following editorial of mine on their website today. Why the Same-Sex Marriage Experiment Will Not Work Jim Daly Throughout its grand history, America has regularly been willing to reevaluate cultural norms, especially when the change that challenges the status quo promises to right a wrong or advance and improve the social welfare. Many of these watershed movements have delivered precisely and as powerfully as promised (woman’s suffrage and civil rights) while others have failed (prohibition and no-fault divorce). Historically, American voters have been blunt in evaluating the wisdom of social change. When a bad idea, which was originally considered to be good, slips through and into law, the American people haven’t been shy about fighting for its repeal and holding corresponding leaders to account. With the benefit of the new media and widespread access to endless streams of data, voters are now able to even more quickly discern fact from fiction and evidence from mere promise. It’s in part from this context that I’ve been following the ongoing marriage debate in the New York state legislature. Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared the legalization of same-sex marriage his number one priority. Supporters are waging a clever, celebrity-driven and well-funded campaign, suggesting that all they want is “marriage equality.” In fact, what they want to do is redefine this multi-millennial institution. I am, naturally, personally opposed to the legalization of same-sex marriage for the simple but profound reason that it violates and contradicts the sacred text of the Bible, which I believe to be true and inspired. But on what basis should I expect people who don’t believe as I do to likewise oppose same-sex marriage? On the basis of logic, reason, common sense and the fact that preservation of traditional marriage is in the best interest of the common good, as evidenced by any number of factors, including reams of social science data and thousands of years of history. Any discussion on the definition of marriage incites strong emotional reaction. And those of us within the orthodox Christian community understand that many in the culture see this issue very differently, and hold to very passionate views on the subject. We understand that on this matter, in some circles, that “never the twain shall meet.” Nevertheless, this difference of opinion does not preclude us the privilege of championing a principle we hold dear, especially since it’s our Christian faith that motivates us to support and defend what we believe to be God’s blueprint for human relationship. In the last half-century, progressives have exercised their own rights of cultural engagement, aggressively championing sweeping cultural changes on numerous levels. Although we may disagree with them, we certainly don’t begrudge them the right to engage the process. But in this pursuit to redefine marriage, wouldn’t it make sense to consider the outcomes of prior social reengineering efforts? In the late 1960s, no-fault divorce promised to simplify, streamline and decrease the contentiousness surrounding marital breakup. Instead, it only encouraged struggling spouses to throw in the towel. Fathers abandoned their families in droves. Poverty levels skyrocketed. Prison populations increased at dramatic levels, a consequence of kids now growing up without a father in the home. A few years later, in 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion in all 50 states. Supporters heralded a new era of responsibility, where every child would be a wanted child. Tragically, over 48 million babies have now been aborted and the beauty of life has been cheapened as a result, while child abuse has skyrocketed. The expansion of welfare promised to alleviate human suffering. While in some ways noble in intent, it disincentivized work, undermined the family unit and created a perpetual cycle of dependency and poverty. Fathers were no longer needed to be an integral part of the family. Cohabitation is yet another experiment which promised to liberate couples from the “burden” of marriage. The number of couples living together outside of marriage has increased ten-fold between 1960 and 2000. Over 12 million unmarried partners now live together in the United States. The result? Cohabitation not only decreases a person’s appetite for marriage, it also increases the risk of divorce, should the couple ever tie the knot. Further, a home with two unmarried partners has proven to be the most dangerous place for children in the U.S. Children who live with their mother and boyfriend are 11 times more likely to be sexually, physically, or emotionally abused than children living with their married biological parents. In each example of social reengineering I’ve noted, progressives promised good things. Sadly, the exact opposite has happened. However well-meaning the motivation, reengineering what God has designed is not only unwise, but radical and dangerous, too. Without evidence of success to which to point, supporters of these ill-fated ventures are left with but one choice: If you can’t change unfavorable outcomes, you change the minds of people as to what is considered favorable and good. Here lies the last great frontier and the last gasp for those determined to re-engineer marriage. Those committed to this form of radicalism have systematically broken down the cultural barrier to same sex marriage by desensitizing people on the issue, stigmatizing those who oppose the movement and potentially criminalizing anyone who stands in opposition to them. The irony in our cultural discussion currently, is if you support traditional marriage, you are the one perceived by the cultural elite to be the radical. Consider the case of a New Mexico couple who own and operate a photography business. When they kindly refused to shoot a lesbian “marriage” ceremony, they were summarily brought up on human rights violations by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission. They were fined for not accepting the job. While on the other hand, Christian organizations are now being singled out and suppliers are threatening to no longer supply them with critical support functions like computer technology because of their stand in opposition to same-sex marriage. Those in favor of same-sex marriage do not see the contradiction in these two examples. One group must perform the services and is fined for not doing so (in the name of human rights); the other is allowed to default on their contract because of alleged bigoted behavior on the part of the religious organization (with no regard for religious expression). If religious liberty is lost in America, we will cease to be the nation our Founders intended us to be. Our rights will no longer be derived from God but from man, and therefore, dangerously beholden to political despots. I don’t think Thomas Jefferson intended that to be the outcome for our great nation when he wrote the famous Danbury Baptist Church letter which mentioned the separation of church and state. Contrary to conventional wisdom, President Jefferson was expressing a concern that the church needed to be protected from the state, not the state from the church. It appears his fears are now being realized. Jim Daly is president and host of "Focus on the Family." His daily posts are available at www.JimDalyBlog.com. Follow me on Twitter @Dalyfocus Follow me on Faceboook Powerful book recommendation: Radical - check it out! Quotes of Note: "If you say you don't believe in God and then say I should brake for animals, pay women equally or help the poor, on what basis are you making such an appeal? If no standard for objective truth, law, wisdom, justice, charity, kindness, compassion and fidelity exists in the universe, what you're asking me to accept is an idea that has taken hold in your head but has all of the moral compulsion of a bowl of cereal." Cal Thomas "Apart from God, nothing matters. We think that health matters, or knowledge, or art or civilization. And but for one insistent word, they would matter indeed. That word is eternity” – A.W. Tozer.
"Our Father will
refresh us with many pleasant inns on the journey, but He would not
encourage us to mistake them for home" – C.S. Lewis. “I must
keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not
find till after death. I
must make it the main objective of life to press on to that other
country and to help others to do the same” – C.S. Lewis. Tolerance, falsely defined as putting all propositions on an equal footing - as opposed to giving ideas an equal hearing - has replaced truth...["tolerance"] embraces another religion, a belief in some supreme value - perhaps in "tolerance" [itself]. - Colson Power-packed punch:"He said, 'I thirst,' ...but He made the river!" --Bev Lowry - "Mark Lowry on Broadway"MY TRUE IDENTITY IN CHRIST Christ freed me from sin’s controlling power. (Romans 6:7) I am neither condemned now or in the future. (Romans 8:1) I’m fully accepted in Christ. (Romans 15:7) I’m always in His triumph, despite appearances. (2 Cor. 12:14-16) My hardened mind has been removed. (2 Cor. 3:14) I’m a new creation; the old things “passed away”. (2 Cor. 5:17) I am the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21) I am a child of God and His heir. (Galatians 4:7) I am complete in Christ. (Colossians 2:10) Christ will express His life through me. (Colossians 3:3-4) I’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing. (Ephesians 1:3) The One who makes the rules says I’m forgiven. (Ephesians 1:7) My glorious future is set in spiritual concrete. (Ephesians 1:10-11) I’ve been sealed with the Spirit; I’m safe. (Ephesians 1:13) I’ve been brought near to God. (Ephesians 2:13) I have bold and confident access to God. (Ephesians 1:13) His peace guards my heart and mind. (Philippians 4:7) All of my needs (not greeds) are supplied. (Philippians 4:19) Gillham,
Bill, “What God Wishes Christians Knew About Christianity Put your name here When victims are gripped by panic and fear,
Where the rubber meets the road ATHEISM: The world embarrasses me, and I cannot think that this watch exists and has no Watchmaker. Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. Christianity is not just a mental assent that certain doctrines are true -- not even that the right doctrines are true. This is only the beginning. This would be rather like a starving man sitting in front of great heaps of food and saying, "I believe the food exists; I believe it is real," and yet never eating it. It is not enough merely to say, "I am a Christian," and then in practice to live as if present contact with the supernatural were something far off and strange. Many Christians I know seem to act as though they come in contact with the supernatural just twice -- once when they are justified and become a Christian and once when they die. The rest of the time they act as though they were sitting in the materialist's chair. Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 134 No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. Life and death are to him haunted grounds, filled with goblin forms of vague and shadowy dread. A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. Our twentieth century, far from being notable for scientific scepticism, is one of the most credulous eras in all history. It is not that people believe in nothing - which would be bad enough - but that they believe in anything - which is really terrible. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning. POWER: Genuine love is so contrary to human nature that its presence bears witness to an extraordinary power. The chief danger of the Church today is that it is trying to get on the same side as the world, instead of turning the world upside down. Our Master expects us to accomplish results, even if they bring opposition and conflict. Anything is better than compromise, apathy, and paralysis. God, give to us an intense cry for the old-time power of the Gospel and the Holy Ghost! If we fight the Lord's battles merely by duplicating the way the world does its work, we are like little boys playing with wooden swords pretending they are in the battle while their big brothers are away in some distant bloody land. Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 142 If Christ seldom makes offers without demands, He also seldom makes demands without offers. He offers His strength to enable us to meet His demands. What Christ Thinks of the Church: An Exposition of Revelation 1 - 3 (Grand Rapids, Baker: 2003) 43 JUDGMENT: God knows our situation; He will not judge us
as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the
sincerity and perseverance of our will I am convinced that many men who preach the gospel and love the Lord are really misunderstood. People make a "profession," but because they haven't understood the message, they are not really saved. They feel a psychological need and they want psychological relief, but they don't understand that the Christian message is not talking only about psychological relief (though it includes that) but is talking about true moral guilt in the presence of a holy God who exists. The real need is salvation from true moral guilt, not just relief from guilt feelings. And I am certain many men who make a profession go away still unsaved, having not heard one word of the real gospel because they have filtered the message through their own thought forms and their own intellectual framework in which the word "guilt" equals "guilt feelings." Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 93 SUFFERING: Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has. Suffering passes, but the fact of having suffered never leaves us. Joy in affliction is rooted in the hope of resurrection, but our experience of suffering also deepens the root of that hope. ...Sufferings must be the Churches most ordinary lot, and Christians indeed must be self-denying Cross-bearers, even where there are none but formal nominal Christians to be the Cross-makers... Christ was willing to suffer and be despised, and darest thou complain of anything? Where are the marks of the cross in your life? Are there any points of identification with your Lord? Alas, too many Christians wear medals but carry no scars. The Christians are unhappy men who are persuaded that they will survive death and live forever; in consequence, they despise death and are willing to sacrifice their lives to their faith. Christianity is a battle - not a dream. It requires more courage to suffer than to die. I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable. This is God's universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in the world. Truly it is a misery even to live upon the earth. The more spiritual a man desires to be, the more bitter does his present life become to him; because he sees more clearly and perceives more sensibly the defects of human corruption. Paul's sufferings complete Christ's afflictions not by adding anything to their worth, but by extending them to the people they were meant to save. God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them. How's that?? Read again the corrected version: PERFORMANCE: "The
biblical doctrine of the universal image of God leads Christians to
expect non-believers will be better than any of their mistaken beliefs
could make them. The biblical doctrine of universal sinfulness also
leads Christians to expect believers will be worse in practice than
their orthodox beliefs should make them....Christianity not only leads
its members to believe people of other faiths have goodness and wisdom
to offer, it also leads them to expect that many will live lives
morally superior to their own. Most people in our culture believe that,
if there is a God, we can relate to him and go to heaven through
leading a good life. Let's call this the "moral improvement view.
Christianity teaches the very opposite. In the Christian understanding,
Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation. Rather,
he comes to forgive and save us through his life and death in our
place. God's grace does not come to people who morally outperform
others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who
acknowledge their need for a Savior. Christians, then, should expect to
find nonbelievers who are much nicer, kinder, wiser and better than
they are. Why? Christian believers are not accepted by God because of
their moral performance, wisdom, or virtue, but because of
Christ's work on their behalf. Most religions and philosophies of life
assume that one's spiritual status depends on your religious
attainments. This naturally leads adherents to feel superior to those
who don't believe and behave as they do. The Christian gospel, in any
case, should not have that effect." See more Crucial Truths arranged alphabetically here
Judging others is perhaps the most watched, most criticized, most wrongly used and most misunderstood - by unbelievers and believers alike Good reading! I
just finished the book THINK ON THESE
THINGS
by JOHN C. MAXWELL. CLICK HERE What a great book for someone who is wanting to relate to other people and very encouraging in your challenge in ministries and life. He states "how you think determines who you are." Another statement that he makes to his dad Melvin Maxwell, in his book is "An example of holy living, a builder of God's kingdom, an organizer of churches, a positive thinker and a wonderful father". This book has helped me in these areas. Good
reading
Gary Silberman
More? Read The Shack CLICK HERE - a suspenseful novel presenting a startling and life-changing way to think about God
Kids' say the
darndest things How to make
this a An awesome
introduction to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Quote of note: In your discussions with the lost, "Pull no punches, but spare no grace." Men's Retreat: What happened? Two excellent new books!!!!!The Apologetics Study Bible - download the sample pages and Look at this amazing clock - it provides just a glimpse of what God may see as he takes note of abortions, deaths and the increasing population of souls: Check this out: Creation's voice As we remember - today or any day - let's remember our military men and women in prayer - those who are fighting in our stead. Here's a Marine's gripping tribute to the fallen: Morning Cheer SOBERING: Are You Jesus? How do I meditate on God's Word? Do you lead a transformed life? Click here Something missing? Check our Archives "The
most amazing truth - you gotta get this."
FROM
DAVE YENDRALL: OUR CORE VALUES We are an organization of men serving our Lord Jesus Christ by giving hope and encouragement among the entire spectrum of men - men who are, or who want to be successful in the Kingdom of God; men who are, or who want to be a friend of God - a child of God - and who want to be part of a band of brothers. Men of the Roundtable come in every description: those who triumphed in business and those who failed in business; men who seek to learn more about God; men who are hungry, looking for male fellowship, seeking direction, who are downtrodden, discouraged, overwhelmed and who think they are alone, as well as men who laugh, love, cry, love sports, hate sports, welcome challenges or are buried by them. The Good News is that God loves you and wants a relationship with you. And part of that connection with God comes from connecting with other men. No one understands you quite like another man - and God. Jesus Christ thinks the world of you. He's up all night praying for you. Since He created you, He knows you best and wants the best for you. Of all the friends in the world, His intent is to be your best friend. Of all the care-givers in history, He's the most competent. Of all the mechanics, accountants, attorneys, carpenters, plumbers, custodians, physicians, counselors, farmers, electricians, teachers, transportation practitioners, soldiers, sailors, pilots, ecologists, biologists, ministers, salespersons, public servants, firefighters, law enforcement officers, chefs, nutritionists, handymen, foresters, dentists, chemists, musicians, engineers or physicists, no one is more of an expert than Jesus Christ. And He wants more than anything to be your friend and share His knowledge and power as a fellow revolutionary. (For more information on what it means to be a fellow revolutionary, click here.) Join us this Tuesday night at 7 p.m. or Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. at Christ Memorial Church (West Wing newer addition) a block down from the Chevron station in Poulsbo and see why a lot of guys think this is the best hour and a half of the week! Each Saturday, in addition, other Roundtable fellowships have been started in Port Orchard and East Bremerton, WA (Sylvan Way Baptist); Yuma, AZ (approximately 30-50 men meet each Saturday morning there); Idaho, and Australia. You are visitor
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