In an interview with a Chicago newspaper yesterday, Marine General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, "Homosexual acts between individuals is immoral." In addition, he stated that adultery is immoral.
His comments have stirred up a mild controversy. Some people have demanded an apology from him. However, General Pace was correct. Homosexual activity and adultery are immoral.
Jesus Christ taught, "Surely, you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, 'he made them male and female.' And God said, 'So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.' So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should seperate them" (Matthew 19:4-6, NCV). He taught that God intended for sex to be enjoyed within the boundaries of a marriage between a man and a woman, where the two would become "one body." That is the definition of sexual morality.
When the apostle Paul was describing humanity's rebellion against God, he mentioned, "Women stopped having natural sex and started having sex with other women. In the same way, men stopped having natural sex and began wanting each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrongs" (Romans 1:26-27, NCV).
In his first letter to the church of God in Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote, "Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not inherit God's kingdom. Do not be fooled. Those who sin sexually, worship idols, take part in adultery, those who are male prostitutes, or men who have sexual relations with other men, those who steal, are greedy, get drunk, lie about others, or rob---these people will not inherit God's kingdom. In the past, some of you were like that, but you were washed clean. You were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NCV). Thankfully, God still washes sinners clean, makes sinners holy, and makes sinners right with himself. Otherwise, each of us would lead hopeless lives in addiction to our sins and in opposition to God.
God still saves and changes lives.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The Logsdons and Urban Ministry
"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" (Proverbs 12:18, NIV).
Our friends Bob and Sarah Logsdon have just started a blog at http://urbanlogfamily.blogspot.com. Bob is our youth minister in the Contact Church of Christ. He and his wife are a great couple of devoted Christians.
In Bob's first post, he writes about an incident in which one of our youth threatened to shoot another of our youth. In his account, you will see Bob's courage, wisdom, and love. You will see the heart of an outstanding youth minister.
If anyone would like to support him and his family in their work, please click on the link to the Contact Church of Christ at the bottom of this page. You should find the church's phone number and mailing address.
Our friends Bob and Sarah Logsdon have just started a blog at http://urbanlogfamily.blogspot.com. Bob is our youth minister in the Contact Church of Christ. He and his wife are a great couple of devoted Christians.
In Bob's first post, he writes about an incident in which one of our youth threatened to shoot another of our youth. In his account, you will see Bob's courage, wisdom, and love. You will see the heart of an outstanding youth minister.
If anyone would like to support him and his family in their work, please click on the link to the Contact Church of Christ at the bottom of this page. You should find the church's phone number and mailing address.
Friday, March 09, 2007
John Perkins and Urban Ministry
"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:16-20, NIV).
Today, I read an article about John Perkins on the Christianity Today website (http://christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/35.48.html). It brought back memories of meeting Dr. Perkins almost 5 years ago at the Urban Ministry Conference of the Churches of Christ. He was a famous and impressive speaker, but many of us did not know who he was until he spoke that evening. (In fact, he was getting some food and coffee from the kitchen when Evelyn Jennings met him. She told me that she thought that he was just a man who had wandered in from the streets for some food. It happens often at the Contact Church of Christ.) Dr. Perkins was a preacher, a former labor union organizer, a civil rights activist, an advocate for the poor and hungry, a pro-life advocate, and a former advisor to President Reagan, but he was a humble and unassuming man at the same time.
After reading the article from Christianity Today, I thought that I would post an article that I wrote for our former congregation. This is a portion of an article from the November 2002 newsletter of Jenks Church:
URBAN MINISTRY LEADERS GATHER AT CONTACT CHURCH
By Terry Laudett
Urban ministry leaders gathered in Tulsa from October 24-26 at the Contact Church of Christ for the national Urban Ministry Conference of the Churches of Christ. The annual meeting provides a forum for Christians to share ideas, information, and encouragement in sharing God's love and message of grace with people in urban surroundings, especially those living in poverty...
On Friday, Dr. John Perkins, chairman of the Christian Community Development Association, built upon the conference theme of developing holistic Christian community within urban churches. He taught that the whole gospel is the love of God demonstrated to the whole world. "Don't overlook anyone," Dr. Perkins warned. Everyone needs reconciliation with God and with other people. Christians must reach across racial, economic, and cultural barriers as God's ambassadors to bring the message of reconciliation. Dr. Perkins noted, "To receive the grace of God, but not to be a reconciler, is to receive the grace of God in vain."
It was an honor to have met and talked with Dr. John Perkins.
Today, I read an article about John Perkins on the Christianity Today website (http://christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/35.48.html). It brought back memories of meeting Dr. Perkins almost 5 years ago at the Urban Ministry Conference of the Churches of Christ. He was a famous and impressive speaker, but many of us did not know who he was until he spoke that evening. (In fact, he was getting some food and coffee from the kitchen when Evelyn Jennings met him. She told me that she thought that he was just a man who had wandered in from the streets for some food. It happens often at the Contact Church of Christ.) Dr. Perkins was a preacher, a former labor union organizer, a civil rights activist, an advocate for the poor and hungry, a pro-life advocate, and a former advisor to President Reagan, but he was a humble and unassuming man at the same time.
After reading the article from Christianity Today, I thought that I would post an article that I wrote for our former congregation. This is a portion of an article from the November 2002 newsletter of Jenks Church:
URBAN MINISTRY LEADERS GATHER AT CONTACT CHURCH
By Terry Laudett
Urban ministry leaders gathered in Tulsa from October 24-26 at the Contact Church of Christ for the national Urban Ministry Conference of the Churches of Christ. The annual meeting provides a forum for Christians to share ideas, information, and encouragement in sharing God's love and message of grace with people in urban surroundings, especially those living in poverty...
On Friday, Dr. John Perkins, chairman of the Christian Community Development Association, built upon the conference theme of developing holistic Christian community within urban churches. He taught that the whole gospel is the love of God demonstrated to the whole world. "Don't overlook anyone," Dr. Perkins warned. Everyone needs reconciliation with God and with other people. Christians must reach across racial, economic, and cultural barriers as God's ambassadors to bring the message of reconciliation. Dr. Perkins noted, "To receive the grace of God, but not to be a reconciler, is to receive the grace of God in vain."
It was an honor to have met and talked with Dr. John Perkins.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
God's Favorite Music
"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:19-20, NIV).
In January, I mentioned that my favorite music was Randy Travis' Rise and Shine. Since then, I have been thinking abour God's favorite music. I find it interesting that God is interested in music at all. I'm not sure how many other religions' gods are worshiped with music, but I'm glad that the God of the Bible enjoys it.
I may not know exactly which psalm, hymn, or spiritual song would be God's favorite, but I know that He loves the music that comes from a thankful heart.
Whenever I have asked Frank Lott (one of our ministers in the Contact Church of Christ), "How are you doing?", he has responded with, "Better than I deserve." I could answer the same way. God has been very good to me, better than I deserve. Realizing that, I can sing God's favorite music, the music of a thankful heart.
In January, I mentioned that my favorite music was Randy Travis' Rise and Shine. Since then, I have been thinking abour God's favorite music. I find it interesting that God is interested in music at all. I'm not sure how many other religions' gods are worshiped with music, but I'm glad that the God of the Bible enjoys it.
I may not know exactly which psalm, hymn, or spiritual song would be God's favorite, but I know that He loves the music that comes from a thankful heart.
Whenever I have asked Frank Lott (one of our ministers in the Contact Church of Christ), "How are you doing?", he has responded with, "Better than I deserve." I could answer the same way. God has been very good to me, better than I deserve. Realizing that, I can sing God's favorite music, the music of a thankful heart.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Who Cares About the Pygmies?
"For 'whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!'"(Romans 10:13-15, NASB).
On a Saturday morning 4 years ago, I was reading the local newspaper when I came across a story about a representative from the United Nations who had come to Tulsa to bring attention to the horrors of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In that article, the woman from the UN mentioned how the Pygmies of the region were being murdered by soldiers on all sides of the conflict. She also mentioned that hundreds of thousands of Pygmies lived in the region, but that no church of any kind had reached the Pygmies at any time in history. That story has haunted me since I first read it.
Jesus has done something that deserves attention, but nobody has told the Pygmies. They need to know that they do not need to live with the guilt of their sins. They need to know that Jesus gave His life so that they would not need to suffer for their sins. He suffered for them, but they have not heard about it and cannot take advantage of the offer of forgiveness. How can we live with ourselves if we do nothing to help them know Christ? We would be betraying our mission. Jesus Christ deserves to be known, and everyone needs to have the opportunity to know Him.
Unfortunately, the Pygmies are not alone in their ignorance of Christ. More than a third of the world's population has not been exposed to the gospel of what Jesus has done for them. This needs to change.
Please pray for the unreached ethnic groups of the world. Please pray that God will raise up missionaries willing to sacrifice everything in order to tell these people the good news about Jesus. Please consider what you can do to take the good news to those people. Finally, please support missionaries who are doing it.
At the bottom of this page, you may link to Pioneer Bible Translators, a group of missionaries who are translating the Bible into the common languages of some of these people who have never been reached with the message before. You may consider supporting them with prayer and finances. (They have not reached the Pygmies yet, but they are working with other people groups who had not been reached before.) If you are a federal employee (either civilian or military), you may designate a portion of your paycheck to be given to Pioneer Bible Translators through the Combined Federal Campaign.
On a Saturday morning 4 years ago, I was reading the local newspaper when I came across a story about a representative from the United Nations who had come to Tulsa to bring attention to the horrors of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In that article, the woman from the UN mentioned how the Pygmies of the region were being murdered by soldiers on all sides of the conflict. She also mentioned that hundreds of thousands of Pygmies lived in the region, but that no church of any kind had reached the Pygmies at any time in history. That story has haunted me since I first read it.
Jesus has done something that deserves attention, but nobody has told the Pygmies. They need to know that they do not need to live with the guilt of their sins. They need to know that Jesus gave His life so that they would not need to suffer for their sins. He suffered for them, but they have not heard about it and cannot take advantage of the offer of forgiveness. How can we live with ourselves if we do nothing to help them know Christ? We would be betraying our mission. Jesus Christ deserves to be known, and everyone needs to have the opportunity to know Him.
Unfortunately, the Pygmies are not alone in their ignorance of Christ. More than a third of the world's population has not been exposed to the gospel of what Jesus has done for them. This needs to change.
Please pray for the unreached ethnic groups of the world. Please pray that God will raise up missionaries willing to sacrifice everything in order to tell these people the good news about Jesus. Please consider what you can do to take the good news to those people. Finally, please support missionaries who are doing it.
At the bottom of this page, you may link to Pioneer Bible Translators, a group of missionaries who are translating the Bible into the common languages of some of these people who have never been reached with the message before. You may consider supporting them with prayer and finances. (They have not reached the Pygmies yet, but they are working with other people groups who had not been reached before.) If you are a federal employee (either civilian or military), you may designate a portion of your paycheck to be given to Pioneer Bible Translators through the Combined Federal Campaign.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Alabama Tornado Victim
I read an article by Tamie Ross at the Christian Chronicle (http://www.christianchronicle.org) about the death of 16-year old Katie Strunk in a tornado that hit her high school yesterday. If anyone would like to contribute to help with funeral expenses, you may send money to:
Katie Strunk Fund
College Avenue Church of Christ
P.O. Box 311740
Enterprise, AL 36331
I'm sure that the family would appreciate prayer, also. This has to be a hard time for everyone connected to her.
Katie Strunk Fund
College Avenue Church of Christ
P.O. Box 311740
Enterprise, AL 36331
I'm sure that the family would appreciate prayer, also. This has to be a hard time for everyone connected to her.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Jesus' Family Tomb?
Contrary to popular perception, the Easter season does not begin with Ash Wednesday. Actually, it begins with the annual rite of unbelieving scholars (who also may be theologians at times) trying to discredit the foundations of Christianity. We usually see it on the covers of the weekly news magazines, but this year, the Discovery Channel is leading the pack. Check out http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/februaryweb-only/109-33.0.html
You will learn more about the latest hoax concerning the discovery of the bones of Jesus Christ. I'm sure that they found the bones of a man named Jesus, but not the Jesus who was raised from death and ascended into heaven in His resurrected physical body.
You will learn more about the latest hoax concerning the discovery of the bones of Jesus Christ. I'm sure that they found the bones of a man named Jesus, but not the Jesus who was raised from death and ascended into heaven in His resurrected physical body.
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