Afternoons

noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Jeff) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:55:00 +0000

What does the Little House on the Prairie series of books have to do with our world today? It seems that it doesn't have much--the worlds are so totally different. But each week I set aside time to sit with my seven year old daughter and read to her Laura Ingalls Wilder's classics. What do I learn from these wonderful true stories?

I learn that there was no whining. Everyone worked hard. Ma, Pa, the girls. They worked hard from before the crack of dawn to sundown (or beyond). And no one whined. They all knew that life is hard, but rewarding. They all stayed busy to survive, but they also had time for recreation. And their moments of self-made entertainment were infinitely rich and rewarding.

The family valued their independence; their liberty. At no time do you ever hear from their lips, "I wish the Government would do more for me. I wish the Government would give me a job, health care, more benefits."

They had discipline in the home. When Pa cleaned his gun, the girls were made to watch and tell him if he made a mistake. He did this to teach them. Then, he loaded the musket and left it loaded on the wall. Why is it that no child dared to touch the gun? Because they were all trained and disciplined from their earliest memories to respect the authority of the parents. You never see Pa and Ma chasing after a bunch of out of control children.

Pa Ingalls is a tower of strength. He is the one who provides strength, safety, and wisdom. Compare this image of fatherhood with entertainment on TV today. The father is usually portrayed as an idiot. But Pa Ingalls is good. He's humorous, hard-working, responsible, intelligent and loves his wife and daughters.

Read the Little House books again, or for the first time. It'll do you and your family a world of good.

noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Jeff) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:18:00 +0000

Are you as perplexed and frustrated with the current primaries and candidates as I am? As I look around and see and hear plenty of things that make no sense at all. Just when I thought I have seen it all, I come across some VERY interesting information about John McCain. From an article on WorldNetDaily.com, dated Feb 12, 2008 the journalist Jerome Corsi writes this:

"As Sen. John McCain assumes the GOP front-runner mantle, his long-standing, but little-noticed association with donors such as George Soros and Theresa Heinz Kerry is receiving newe attention among his Republican critics. . ." Whoah!!!!!! You mean THE George Soros who is the creator of the ultra leftist "MoveOn.com" crowd??? Yep, the same guy. And zillionaire Theresa Heinz Kerry, liberal wife of John Kerry is a big time McCain backer too. As the article goes on, it also names Arriana Huffington, new-age leftist, as a backer of McCain.

Mr. Corsi continues to write: "In 2001 McCain founded the Alexandria, Va-based Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros' Open Society Institute and Theresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Foundation and several other prominent non-profit organizations.

Why would leftists such as Soros, Kerry, and Huffington be backing McCain with their money? Generally you fund the people you believe in. We know these people have been backing Clinton and Obama. It must be that they are backing McCain because he is promising to do what they believe in. How interesting. What you do with this information is your business, but I think it's important to have this information available.

For more information about the leftists who are backing both political parties, please look up on the web The New York Times article from March 8, 2005 entitled, "MCain Allies Want Reform (And Money) by Carl Hulse and Anne E. Kornblut.

On to other (somewhat related) items: Have you seen the recent ads on TV around here for Obama and Hillary Clinton? They both promise "universal health care." That's translated, "The Federal Government will take over all health care in this country."

I have several questions for this issue.

Do you believe I should have the freedom to select my own doctor or doctors and pay for their treatment out of my own pocket? (This is America after all). I believe everyone should have this freedom. However, under Hillary Clinton's Health Care Bill of 1993, it would be a CRIME under Federal Penalty to choose your own doctor and pay for the treatment yourself! That's right! Furthermore, you and your doctor would be fined and/or IMPRISONED if you went outside your own "health care alliance" and tried to get your own treatment without Federal "approval." Sounds orwellian to me.

Is Federal health care supposed to save us money? Yeah, right. They said this back in the 1960's when Lyndon Johnson said that the Fed. Gov't could eliminate poverty with all the Gov't programs. Forty years later, and 4 or 5 TRILLION dollars later, with Medicare/medicaid and all the gov't sponsored programs we still have just as poverty if not more.
If you think health care is expensive now, wait till it's "free!" You will see lines of people coming in for free health care for every little hang nail and sniffle. Don't believe me? Go to numerous ER's in major metropolitan hospitals and you'll see I'm telling the truth.

If something goes wrong with my treatment, whom could I sue? You can't sue the Federal government!!!! If the Federal Government owns my health care, and they mess up in my treatment, oops, too bad, I'm stuck. There is no recourse. Check out what happens in the paradise of the Canadian and British health care systems.

Remember, if the Federal Gov't controls your health care, they control YOU. From now on, if you do not "toe the mark" with their marching orders, the gov't will have the capability to deny you access to health care. Is this what free citizens want?

Tell me what you think,

Pastor Jeff

noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Jeff) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:31:00 +0000

O.K. folks--here comes a new threat to our freedom. You can google this and find all the additional info you need. But apparently the Archbishop of Canterbury--the highest ranking clergyman of the Church of England believes that Great Britain should incorporate or accomodate their law system with Islamic Sharia law. I'm looking at the article right now on www.thisislondon.co.uk. You can find it from there.

Apparently the Muslims have infiltrated British life to the point where some in England believe it's O.K. to let them try their fellow Muslims according to Sharia law, and not according to the laws of the land. At first glance this may seem harmless enough. This would free up British law courts from dealing with certain technicalities over Islamic marriage rites, customs, dowries, and so forth. However, what many are beginning to realize is that Sharia covers ALL matters of life in all of society.

Just take a look at any Islamic country. Even the more moderate ones (like Turkey or Indonesia). Even if they do not govern specifically by Sharia, their culture continues to operate under Sharia's influence. And what do you have in these countries?

Well, there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of conscience, no freedom of association--especially for women and girls. Under Sharia you have "honor killings"--this is becoming a huge problem in Britain and other "western nations" where there is a sizable Islamic population. If a woman acts too "western" (such as dating outside the faith, not wearing a headscarf, or trying to run away from an abusive husband) she is murdered by her family. Folks, this is true--I'm not making this up. Just google "honor killings" and see what you come up with.

Under the tyranny of Sharia law, if a Muslim converts to ANY religion, they are subject to the death penalty. Under Sharia, minorities (such as Christians) in Islamic lands are subject to "dhimmi" status. That is, a subservient, permanent status in which Muslims have rights, but Christians have very few. Some Islamic nations may be more moderate in this than others, but usually the Christians are not allowed to build or repair churches, and they are certainly not allowed to evangelize Muslims. They death penalty is carried out on Christians if they dare to preach the gospel openly.

Well anyway, the Archbiship of Canterbury must not believe that Christianity is worth defending, or that English Common Law is worth much, or he must believe that Sharia is just another nice cuddly form of law that will stay put and not harm anyone. He is sadly deluded. Sharia law is savage, ruthless, and extremely dangerous to all that we as a free people hold dear.

Fortunately, many in the U.K. are calling for the Archbishop to step down. Also, many in Europe are awakening to the severe threat posed by Islam. I would not be surprised to find out that even many Muslims are sick and tired of the tyranny of Sharia and much of the oppression that is in Islam.

Solution? How about Christian missionaries raised up to take the Gospel to these people who are enslaved in Islam? And you don't even have to go to England, France, or Germany. Or Iraq or Iran. Just go to Columbus Ohio--over 40, 000 Sunni Muslims who are from Somalia have taken up residence there. Or go to Dearborn Michigan or New York City or Atlanta Georgia or Washington, D.C. Who will go?

Want more information about Islam and a Christian approach? Go to www.TruthforMuslims.com.

Let me know what you think of this update!

noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Jeff) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:44:00 +0000

If you want to watch a very good, tear-jerking, truthful video with a great spiritual lesson, take a look at this youtube. Make sure you have plenty of kleenex handy. Our teens are going to put on this skit at our church soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEUVSbD9NF8

Also, have you heard about this thing called "The Emerging Church" movement? It's also called "the Emergent Church" movement. Either way, it seems to be a serious and dangerous attempt to water down the Gospel and the authority of God's Word the Bible. Take a look at John MacArthur's comments on this in an interview with Answers in Genesis ministry:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n4/emerging-church.

I love great quotations. Hope you enjoy some of these:

"The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love for perishing sinners and His blessed Master, will be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others. . .
If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, British 19th century preacher

"Because God came to me in grace when He could have come to me in wrath--
Because He showed me light, while I was walking in darkness,
How can I refuse this same grace to people who have hurt me so?
God bridged the gap for me--
How can I refuse to give this true story to the people who at one time abused me?

St. Patrick, missionary to Ireland, 5th century

"A Republic once equally poised must either preserve its virtue or lose its liberty."

John Witherspoon, 18th century Presbyterian minister and the only preacher to sign the Declaration of Independence

"Men having often abandoned what was visible for the sake of what was uncertain, have not got what they expected, and have lost what they had. . ."

Athenaeus, 2nd century A.D. Greek writer

"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. . ."

Winston Churchill, 20th century Prime Minister of Great Britain, and probably the greatest statesman of the 20th century

noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Jeff) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:37:00 +0000

O.K. Here is one of my favorite youtube videos. This is titled "Martial Arts Functional Training Exercises." Try to do just half this stuff. Love it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDmMVNxtHm2k

Tell me what you think of it. Pastor Jeffro

Links to a few of my favorite websites!

noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Jeff) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:06:00 +0000

Howdy! This is Pastor Jeffro here. Here are links to a few of my favorite websites. Some you'll recognize right away (like my church's). By the way, if you suffer from insomnia, you may go to my church's website and click on to the sermons and listen. The website for the American Policy Roundtable will take you to my other radio program I produce with Dave Zanotti--"The Public Square"--30 Minute Version. It's a whole lot of fun discussing all the social, religious, and political events of the day. Hope you log on and enjoy.

www.gracefamilyfellowship.us (Pastor Jeff's church)

www.aproundtable.org (website for the American Policy Roundtable--an organization to bring Judeo-Christian principles back to American public policy)

www.goarmy.com

www.navy.com

www.marines.com

www.airforce.com

I love these guys! Support them and pray for them all the time. Their websites are a lot of fun to go to. I especially love the marines with their history lessons (go figure).

Here's one more website that is hysterically funny! My boys and I just split a gut watching this guy. Go to www.askaninja.com and die laughing. I wish I had thought of this. Anyway, I'll be adding all kinds of neat things to this in the near future (photos, political ranting & raving, recipes for nuclear hot sauce for chili, favorite youtube videos, you name it. Let me know what you think. See ya,

Pastor Jeffy

New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:32:00 +0000

Welcome to the new blog for Pastor Jeff in the Afternoons