Cal Thomas: Howard Dean 'finds' Jesus
December 30, 2003

"Democrats have been trying hard in recent years to squeeze God into their politics, perceiving that Republicans have an edge on invoking the Creator to bless their policies. Democrats worry they suffer from a "God gap."

Bill Clinton and Al Gore, with their Southern Baptist backgrounds, were fluent in the language of religion, though not always in its personal application. Who can forget Easter Sunday 1996, when President Clinton emerged from church flashing a Bible for the cameras and later returning to the White House, where Monica Lewinsky got down on her knees to perform an act that did not resemble prayer?

Clinton and Gore often quoted what they said were verses of Scripture, which turned out to be incorrect and/or misapplied. And now Howard Dean will rush in where political angels have feared to tread and try to advance the theological ball down the field to see if he can score votes for his candidacy.

In an interview with the Boston Globe (Dec. 25), Dean announced that he is a "committed believer in Jesus Christ." He told writer Sarah Schweitzer that he plans to include references to Jesus and God in his speeches as he campaigns down South. That's the land of Confederate battle flags and pickup trucks Dean so recently disparaged. In the Globe interview, he said Southerners understand religious talk better than his fellow New Englanders...

Dean is from a Congregationalist background, a liberal denomination that does not believe in ministerial authority or church hierarchy. Each Congregationalist believes he is in direct contact with God and is entitled to sort out truth for himself. Dean's wife is Jewish and his two children are being raised Jewish, which is strange at best, considering the two faiths take a distinctly different view of Jesus..."

It's pretty clear that Mr. Dean knows not what fire it is he is playing with. ~ The Billy Goat ~

The Preacher's Mandate

Pray as though nothing of eternal value is going to happen unless God does it.

Prepare as giving "my utmost for His highest."

Seek not to "get a message" from the scripture, but seek "the message" of the scripture.

Be satisfied not with producing good content, put with producing good people.

Attend carefully to private and public walk with God, knowing the congregation never rises to a standard higher then that being lived by the preacher.

Be "persuaded that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation."

"Preach the word" - not about the word, not from the word, not with the word - affirming it is only proclamations of God's word that carry God's authority and His promise to bless.

Exalt Christ preeminently, trusting He will then draw people to Himself.

Balance declarations of "salvation by faith alone" with declarations describing the life Christ produces when He sees saving faith: transformed heart, desire to serve the Lord not self, growing affection for His word, increasing obedience, fruit of the Spirit, saltiness in society, maturing Christlikeness.

Depend solely upon God for the translation of spiritual truth into life.

Preach Christ's word in Christ-like demeanor.

Agree it is impossible at one and the same time to impress people with Christ and with oneself.

Allow the preaching to exude the fruit of the Spirit, lest the preaching fail to produce Christ-like lives.

Preach with humble gratitude, as one privileged to be an oracle of God.

Trust God to produce in the hearers His chosen purposes - irrespective of whether the results are readily visible.

(Published by The Cornerstone Trust, Box 1906, Cave Creek, AZ 85327)

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: 'Excavating Jesus': Some sites mentioned in Gospels yield clues
By Bill Broadway, The Washington Post, Saturday, December 27, 2003

"Many Christians were upset when Israeli antiquities experts recently declared a first-century inscription bearing Jesus' name a fake, seemingly depriving them of the earliest archaeological proof of Jesus' existence.

Those who take such a view misunderstand the point of biblical archaeology, said Craig Evans, professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia and an expert on ossuaries, the small burial boxes like the one on which was carved in Aramaic: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

"Archaeology isn't so much about proving the Bible," said Evans, an evangelical Christian who said he thinks the James inscription ultimately could be proved authentic. The importance of archaeology is that it "clarifies and contextualizes the story of the Bible."

What many people don't realize, Evans and other scholars said, is that archaeologists in recent years have been searching for — and finding — contextual clues to the world inhabited by Jesus and his followers..."

"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

It is Christmas Day. I am getting some much needed time off of work. Things at work have been very hectic this past month, and the pace will not let up soon. It is a time to be quiet and just listen, to listen for that still small voice, to let thoughts and ideas sort themselves out, to ponder the meaning of the events and happenings of this past year.

As part of our church's Christmas Cantata, we sang a song that included the tune and words to an old, and perhaps for many, a forgotten chorus based on the words "Be still and know that I am God." There is a time to be still, a time to listen. How often we are so busy we don't take time to be still and just listen.

We're so busy with the everyday details of life. We think we have to have all the answers instead of humbly admitting we don't. How often the reason we don't have the answer is because we do not stop and listen, but rush headlong down the path of our own agenda instead of waiting to hear what God's agenda is.

Thank you Lord for giving us this time of the year when we can pause, catch our breath, and take time to just listen, not to men's words about You, but Your words to each of us individually as we seek that unique path You have for us personally. Thank You for the baby Jesus, that He grew to be a man, that He pictured You and Your love to us, and died for us that in Him we might live, that He arose from the grave and is now seated at Your right hand and will one day return in glory. We praise and worship You this day with heart's of gratitude and joy. In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

~ The Billy Goat ~

Christian Digest Magazine On-Line
- Families Where Grace Is In Place
Getting free from the burden of pressuring, controlling and manipulating your spouse and children
By Jeff Van Vonderen



Editors comment: When people spend their lives trying to transform or fix their spouses and their kids, the natural result is exhaustion, depression and the hopeless sense of wanting to bail out of it all. Here’s a message about how God’s grace can transform relationships within a marriage and family. The first step is learning the simple difference between God’s job and ours. God’s part is to fix and change. Our responsibility is to depend on the holy Spirit, serve our families and to help equip them to be all they can be. The Christian family’s ultimate goals of harmony, obedience and full potential can be arrived at without using legalistic and manipulative methods. No wonder Bill Hybels called it, "The single best book on the family that I’ve read in recent years."

"Mark was one of the most dedicated Christian men I'd ever met. In the community, he had a sterling reputation as a business and civic leader; in his church, he was a hard working deacon and an excellent Sunday school teacher. In large part, his apparent success at everything he put his hand to came from a "can do" attitude. He often sacrificed his own comfort and needs to help someone else or to work for some higher goal. When problems came up for his wife and kids, Mark directed them to what he always did: "Quit complaining-when you focus on a problem, you become a problem. Just do the right thing. It doesn't matter whether you like it or not. The kingdom of God is not a democracy."

One day, reality gave Mark an alarming wake up call. His wife, Karin, began to suffer symptoms of a breakdown and checked herself into a local health clinic. Mark received the emergency call at work. He rushed to her bedside and, holding her hand, tried to offer comfort. "You can lick this, hon. I don't know what's happening here, but if you'll just call on the Lord"

Karin exploded. "Look at me, Mark! Look at me. Do you see what's happening to me? Have you ever really seen me or what I need? Do you really know the kids, or what they need? I didn’t marry you to have an 'answer man.' And if you tell me one more time, 'Just pray about it,' I'll go over the edge. Stop giving us your mechanical answers, and love us." Tears of frustration that had been building for years-finally choked off her plea.

Two of their three children had come to the clinic with Karin. Their eyes, full of tears, met his-and all Mark could see, suddenly, belatedly, was the depth of pain they carried, pain he'd stifled in them. All he could hear in his mind were the years of Christian principles he'd cited to his family-the standards Christians were supposed to live up to in order to be good Christians. Had he been wrong somehow, even while he was speaking the "right" words? On the other hand, maybe this was just some kind of spiritual attack.

Mark's twelve-year-old daughter was sobbing too hard to speak. But his teenaged son looked him in the eye and, in the most impassioned voice Mark had ever heard, pleaded with him. "Dad, we love you. But you make us feel like we're never going to be good enough. Please listen to what Mom's saying. Help her!"....."

Panel: Religious freedom report shows need for more action - (BP)
Dec 19, 2003, By Tom Strode

"WASHINGTON (BP)--The new U.S. State Department report on international religious freedom demonstrates why a non-partisan commission has been calling on Secretary of State Colin Powell to declare additional countries as severe violators of religious liberty, the panel's chairman said.

In an executive summary of its annual report released Dec. 18, the State Department classified countries where religious adherents and groups are suppressed, discriminated against or discouraged. Few changes were made in the five categories from last year's report.

The report said enough to convince the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom it was correct previously in recommending Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam as "countries of particular concern." CPCs, as designated by the State Department, are regimes that participate in or permit severe and ongoing violations of religious liberty..."

[Copied from the memorial bulletin for the worship service in honor of God and in celebration of the life of Gladys N. McCully, held on Saturday, December 20, AD 2003, at the First Baptist Church in Saginaw, Michigan.]

Gladys N. McCully
February 26, 1908- December 18, 2003

"Gladys Newcomer McCully was born to the late Guy and Sadie (Gray) Newcomer in Wauseon, Ohio. She married Nathan J. McCully on June 19, 1932 in Waldron, Michigan. He preceded her in death on November 19, 1988.

Gladys was a member of the First Baptist Church of Saginaw, Michigan for over 50 years, a member of the Church Reading Circle, the Ames Retirees and Flint Travel Club, the Historical Society and Museum of Saginaw County, a charter member of Saginaw Bowmen and bowled for many years with the Friday Owls. She received the Life Teacher Certificate from Michigan State Normal College now Eastern Michigan University. She then received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Central Michigan University. She was employed as a teacher with Saginaw High School, retiring in 1973 after 23 years of service.

Gladys spent numerous hours crocheting and knitting for the less fortunate. She enjoyed reading, playing euchre and Tiger Baseball.

Surviving are four daughters: Kay (Larry) Mertz, Saginaw; Doris (Fen) Hicks, Roscoe, 111; Norma Kracko, Clio, Michigan; and Ginny Huff, Saginaw; 12 grandchildren; 26 great grandchildren; one brother, Rex Newcomer and many nieces, nephews and cherished friends. She was preceded in death by three sisters."

We who knew and loved her will miss her... ~ The Billy Goat ~

Reflections on finally seeing "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

If a theater release is so awesome, what will the extended version be like? After seeing such an epic movie like this, how will any other movies even come close? They can not but pale in comparison. "If Return of the King" doesn't get a whole bunch of Oscar's, the Academy Award judges will forfeit any credibility and respect they might yet retain. "Return of the King" is simply the best movie I've seen in my life. Kudos and thanks to Peter Jackson and all involved.

~ The Billy Goat ~

Book Review - Mark Dever, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church
Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2000. pp. 255.
Reviewed by Michael J. Vlach

"In his book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., sets forth what he believes to be the marks of a healthy church. The book, itself, is based on a series of sermons that Dever, a Southern Baptist minister, preached to his church....

...Mark one of a healthy church is expositional preaching. According to Dever, expositional preaching is "that preaching which takes for the point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture" (26). Dever believes that expositional preaching is "far and away the most important" of all the marks (25). In fact, he asserts that if churches would get this first mark right, all of the other marks he mentions would naturally follow..."

"..the point of a particular passage of Scripture"... Instead of ones own agenda or scholastic pet peeve? YES! AMEN! Such expositional preaching would hedge the preacher in to the Word Itself; a safe place for preacher and congregation to be. Let the passage speak for itself instead of bringing your egotistical self-serving agenda to it. Now I understand why some preachers don't like the constraints of expostional preaching... It cramps their abusive gentile leadership style!
~ The Billy Goat ~

Complicit Guilt, Explicit Healing - Christianity Today Magazine
Men involved in abortion are starting to find help.
By John W. Kennedy | posted 10/27/2003

"...Although pregnancy care centers began providing post-abortion syndrome counseling for women soon after Roe v. Wade became law, spiritual and psychological healing for men remains rare. Warren L. Williams has counseled 250 post-abortive men in the past 25 years as founder of Fathers & Brothers Ministries International in Boulder, Colorado. Williams estimates that only 4,000 American men in the past decade have gone through any kind of study about how abortion has affected them.

"Culturally, it has been swept under the rug," Williams said..."

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