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Your Two Cents
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We want to know what you think — so, each week, we will open a new topic or discussion thread in our
Parsonage
message boards where you can express your opinions. This week's topic:
Give us your two cents on this question right now by visiting our Parsonage message boards.
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Spread the Word |
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Special Getaway
for Pastoral Couples
Griffin Gate Marriott
There's still time to register for the Pastor and Spouse Retreat in Lexington, Ky., June 17-19, at the beautiful Griffin Gate Marriott Resort. Speakers will include our own H.B. London, as well as Pastor Bob Russell, Kristen Sauder and Christian comedian Chonda Pierce. The early-bird price of $250 will be available only until April 9, so please call toll-free 866-542-1212 to register. For more information, visit our Web site at www.parsonage.org. |
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Featured Resource
of the Month |
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Pastor to Pastor Alert
Did you know that all of the newest editions of our 15-year-old audio series for
you and your family — Pastor
to Pastor — are now available online? We are trying to make this
and all of our resources available to you when and how you want them.
This audio
format allows you to listen online or download an entire edition or individual
interviews. Then, you can arrange them on your computer into an electronic library
or copy them to your mobile device or burn them to a CD. We even provide you
with a PDF file of the cover art that can be trimmed and inserted into
a CD case.
So, how will you know when a new edition of Pastor to Pastor is
available online for you to listen to or download? The answer is Pastor
to Pastor Alert — our new complimentary e-mail subscription that will be sent to you whenever a new edition is available online.
Sign up today! You'll be glad you did! |
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Pastor's Weekly Briefing
Staff
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Julie Locke
Editor
Jan Bird, Roger Charman, Teresa Marshall, Bonnie Fletcher
Staff Writers
Dan Davidson
Editorial Director
H.B. London
Vice President
Pastoral Ministries
James D. Daly
President
Focus on the Family
James C. Dobson
Chairman
Focus on the Family
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TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG
Are you a blogger? I am — sort of. I have a Pastoral Ministrie's blog that I post from time to time. It's not the most exciting blog in the world because I work at Focus on the Family.
There are a lot of observations I would like to make relative to the church, politics and my colleagues that I dare not attempt. I wouldn't be mean or anything, but I would be honest and maybe even a little bit funny.
So, we fill our blog full of helpful information — I mean "stuff" that you could use to change your life. It's still not very exciting, but it is pretty good.
The one thing I notice about blogs is that people use them a great deal to vent, expose, criticize or get even. I'm not sure I'm cut out for that kind of thing. I'm a pastor. My role is to be peaceful, forgiving — even, at times, overlooking something that should be addressed.
But — Wow! — my being a pastor does not stop folks from coming after me. Someone showed me a blog yesterday written by a guy who took me on for an interview I did with the Christian Science Monitor in 2005. I didn't even remember it. But, in his blog, he wrote three pages of criticism in a one-paragraph statement. Who has that kind of time?
Well, what do you do on your blog? Write about your family, your church experiences, the political scene or what?
If I could write about anything, I would make comments on the emergent church, the Republicans, the mega-church, and our responsibility to be united as a body rather than be so fragmented. There are a lot of things I could say. So could you. But, I guess, I'll just continue to inform you with "mind boggling" facts and information.
Oh, and before you jump to conclusions, you have no idea what I would say — nor do you probably care what I have to say about "said" subjects. But honest, I would like to know what you think about a lot of things. That guy who ripped me this week in his blog — if I helped him to feel better about himself, then that's a good thing, right?
Oh, by the way, our blog is available at www.hblondon.org. Check it out. Now, be nice. Come to think about it, this column kind of reads like a blog. Oh well.
Be blessed and be a blessing.
—HBL
Over 1,000 Gather to Support Oklahoma State Lawmaker
More than 1,000 people attended a "Rally for Sally" at the state capitol in Oklahoma City on Wednesday to show their support for state Rep. Sally Kern. Kern has been under attack since March 7 when an audio clip of comments she made in January regarding homosexuality was posted on YouTube.
In the clip, which was posted by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund after being secretly recorded at a Republican luncheon, Kern can be heard comparing the effect of the radical homosexual agenda to cancer's effect on the human body, saying, "I honestly think it's the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat." As a result of the YouTube posting, Kern has received over 30,000 emails, the majority of which she describes as "hate-mail — vile, vulgar and profane." The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation has been contacted since death threats have also been received.
Speaking at the rally this week, Kern said she stands by her statements from last month. "Let me tell you why I will not and cannot apologize for my comments. First, I believe God's Word. When God calls something a sin, then that tells us it's a sin." Kern's husband, Steve Kern, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, also spoke briefly at the rally. "We're not here to bash homosexuals," said Pastor Kern. "We love them."
Mike Jestes, executive director of the Oklahoma Family Policy Council, said the rally was successful in its effort to encourage Kern. "It was a chance for her to be with people who supported her and her freedom of speech," he said.
Planned Parenthood Profits from Killing
Planned Parenthood's 2006-07 annual report declares that profits have never been higher, due to the government's infusion of $336 million. Despite the rash of bad publicity, Planned Parenthood has surpassed the $1 billion mark because they were entrusted with a $31.4 million raise in taxpayer funds — a 10.8 percent increase in the "nonprofit's" government revenue.
In 2006, Planned Parenthood's clinics performed an extra 24,707 abortions, which is six times the number of casualties from the entire Iraq war. In 2006 alone, 289,650 babies were aborted. The group also makes a tidy profit from selling more than 1,400,000 "emergency" contraception kits — in many cases without even a medical exam.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, says, "The majority of Americans wouldn't invest in a company that conspires in sexual crimes against children, accepts racially-motivated donations, promotes pornography to kids, devotes millions to the election of pro-abortion leaders, and uses unsanitary equipment to treat patients. Unfortunately, through Title X and Medicaid, the federal government is forcing taxpayers to do just that."
• Communication Preference
The leadership development organization Growing Leaders recently asked focus groups of young adults (ages 16-24) how they prefer to receive communication. Their order of preference: text messages, MySpace and/or Facebook, podcasts, instant messaging, cell phone, CDs and DVDs. Email finished off the list in last place.
• McDonald's Partners with Gays
McDonald's restaurants has signed onto a nationwide effort to promote "gay" and "lesbian" business ventures, according to worldnetdaily.com. McDonald's is now listed on the Web site of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as a "corporate partner and organization ally" for an undisclosed financial contribution. Their vice president of communications USA was recently elected to the special interest chamber board.
A list of other companies — like Motorola, IBM, Intel, American Airlines, etc. — included in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce can be found on their Web site at www.nglcc.org.
• Common Sense Prevails in California
The Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles, which disturbed many parents across America by banning homeschooling by any parent without a teaching license, announced Tuesday that it has vacated its decision. The court has agreed to rehear the case later this spring and is soliciting briefs from various state officials, teacher unions and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
• Librarian Receives an Award
On March 25, 2008, Brenda Biesterfeld was given the Gold Star Award — presented by the organization, Family Friendly Libraries — in appreciation for her action in reporting to police a library patron who was viewing child pornography. The Tulare County library officials — which operate the library located in Lindsay — had fired Biesterfeld for reporting the incidence to the police rather than letting the library handle the crime themselves.
• 9th Circuit Rules in Favor of Ten Commandments
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that a Ten Commandments monument in Everett, Wash., can stay. The monument is in a historical display erected in the '50s. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State sued on behalf of Jesse Card, who decided he couldn't take the sight of God's laws. Just three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an almost identical display in Texas was constitutional.
• San Diego Honors ACLU
When Members of the San Diego City Council named March 13 as "ACLU day," they claimed the American Civil Liberties Union had a rich history in the city. Rich is right, considering that the ACLU sued the city and won $900,000 in taxpayer money over a historic cross at the Mount Soledad Veterans' Memorial. They also pressured San Diego to evict the Boy Scouts from a city park.
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, stated that, "Any city that decides to give recognition to a radical, extremist organization who has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses against taxpayers of that city is unthinkable."
• Muslims Outnumber Catholics
The number of Muslims has overtaken the number of Roman Catholics in the world, a Vatican official said Sunday. Muslims make up 19.2 percent (est. 1.3 billion) of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 percent (est. 1.13 billion and growing), Reuters reported.
Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said that if all Christian groups were considered, including Orthodox churches, Anglicans and Protestants, then Christians make up 33 percent of the world's population — or about two billion people.
• Nebraska Bans State-Funded Human Cloning
Nebraska joins more than a dozen states with laws related to human cloning after the one-house Legislature this week gave unanimous support to a ban on state-funded cloning. The new law, which Republican Gov. Dave Heineman signed, prohibits state money from being used to create and destroy human life for cloning experiments. The pro-life community stuck together and worked six years to get this law passed.
• Pay-per-view Funerals Go Live
Mourners in Britain will now be given the opportunity to go online to pay their last respects, reports Reuters. Wesley Music will go "live" this week with its service, charging around $50 for access to a funeral webcast. Mourners use a password to access a live online broadcast of the funeral service captured by a small camera mounted in the chapel.
"Families are dispersed across the world these days and sometimes it's the case that someone cannot get home in time for a funeral," said Alan Jeffrey, director of Wesley Music. "For those who need it, this is a very important service. It means that rather than being excluded, they can at least witness and be a part of a funeral as it happens. In a time of stress, this is something that can ease the pain."
• Greeting Cards for Inmates
Attorney Terrye L. Cheathem searched without success for an appropriate greeting card to send to her incarcerated brother-in-law. After seeing a tremendous need that Hallmark wasn't filling — the market of loved ones in prison — she founded Three Squares Greeting, which provides cards for inmates. "There weren't any cards on the shelf that said anything like, 'Hey, you must make better choices,'" she says. According to the Associated Press, some express simple good wishes: "We are all praying for you while you do your time." A Christmas greeting partly reads: "You had the choice to be 'naughty or nice.' And you chose ... Oh well, now you have to do your time."
"This is one product no one wants to receive and no one wants to buy, but if you need it, it's there," Cheathem said.
by Tony Perkins
One of the common myths about marriage in America is that "50 percent of all marriages end in divorce." But that figure is derived, not from long-term analysis, but from the fact that the raw number of new divorces each year is roughly 50 percent of the raw number of new marriages. These numbers are distorted by the fact that people with successful marriages usually marry only once, while people with failed marriages have often married and divorced multiple times.
Fortunately, new data from pollster George Barna included a more meaningful statistic. Of all Americans who have ever married, only one-third have ever been divorced. This two-to-one ratio of marital success should encourage young people who may actually fear the "50-50" marriage myth.
Another misconception is that a person's religion and values have nothing to do with marital success. Barna found that the percentage of people who have been divorced after marrying is lower among Catholics, evangelicals and conservatives than it is among non-Christians and liberals. That's not to mention the fact that more born-again Christians (84%) have been married in the first place than atheists and agnostics (65%).
For those just embarking on the adventure of marriage, be encouraged — your chances of making it "until death do you part" may be better than you've been told.
(Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.)
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