James 1:5-8
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Think About It

^{James 1:2-4
2} Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Time To Refocus Upon a PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH

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Attitudes of Faith for 2016

I shall add to these quotes throughout the year.  A blessed new year to all!

Robert Louis Stevenson, author,bedridden most of his life with tuberculosis. One day, his wife heard him hacking away and said, ?I suppose you still believe it is a wonderful day.? Turning toward a window filled with sunlight, Stevenson said, ?I do! I will never let a row of medicine bottles block my horizon.?

A life changing resolution for the new year

Resolution for the New Year  Click Here


As we wrap up 2015 in anticipation of 2016, Pastor Randy Beard delivers a timely resolution for the new year about integrating God's word into our lives.  Reading, meditating and living out the word God is a worthy goal for 2016.  I am asking you to stop the flurry of busyness for a few minutes to LISTEN to the message and digest what it says.  It is a simple step and life changing as we enter the new year.

Mall Incident -A Tear in the Social Fabric

On Saturday night LOUISVILLE area residents experienced first hand a tear in this nation's social fabric, the forces and influences and bind us as the USA.  These forces collectively hold the nation together include family, schools and churches.  Together they must be reaffirmed and strengthened.   Like the harmless feel of an earth tremor this seemingly isolated event cannot be ignored.  The following excerpt DESCRIBES THE MAKE UP OF SOCIAL FABRIC AND THREATS is a good beginning.  I have noted the source at the conclusion for additional references. 


The Breakdown of the Family
From 1901 to 1970, the divorce rate increased by 700%. In 1900 there were 56,000 divorces in America; in 1992 1.2 million, a 700% increase, adjusted for population growth (Insight 6/17/96, p. 14)






From 1970 to 1992, the divorce rate increased 279%; the number of children with a divorced parent increased 352%, the cohabitation population increased 533%, which means 2.7 million unmarried households, 40% of them containing children. (Stanton, pp. 2-3)






Within six months of their marriage, 50% of newlyweds begin to doubt the marriage will last, 39% report "big fights" at least once a week and 4% had already separated for at least one night. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 1994)


"Between 1970 and 1995, . . . the percentage of married couples with children dropped by a third, but single-parent families nearly doubled." (Larry Witham, "New data on American family offer few hopeful signs," WT National Edition, March 11-17, 1996, p. 1)






In 1960, 243,000 children were living with a single parent who had never married; by 1993 this figure had risen to 6.3 million.  1.2 million children per year are born into fatherless homes. America has 1.8 million "latchkey" kids. (Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper, p. 118)  20 years ago, 17% of American children grow up without a father; today, 36% do.






In 1960, 8 million children living only with their mother; in 1995, 23 million.  Three fastest growing forms of the family in the US, 1980-95: 1. Single mother families; 2. Blended families (step-parents); 3. Divorced families (the family left over after divorce). (Stanton, p. 1)


Family Breakdown and Society’s Major Problems
Furthermore, research has now established a clear link between the breakdown of the family and the major problems plaguing our society. Consider the following facts:

Divorce is the leading cause of childhood depression. (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

75% of adolescent patients at chemical abuse centers are from single-parent families. (Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA)

63% of youth suicides are single-parent children. (Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA)

70% of teen-age pregnancies are single-parent children. ("Children in Need: Investment Strategies for the Educationally Disadvantaged" - Committee for Economic Development )

75% of juveniles in youth correction facilities are from single-parent families. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1988)

Children of divorce are 5 times more likely to be suspended from school; 3 times as likely to need psychological counseling; 2 times as likely to repeat a grade; are absent from school more, late to school more often; show more health problems.( . Dr. Gene Brody - Study of Competence in Children and Families; Gormely, Newburgh, NY)

Judith S. Wallerstein, in "Children After Divorce: Wounds That Don't Heal" in Perspectives on Marriage reports her findings that:

Twelve to eighteen months after the divorce "we found family after family still in crisis, their wounds wide open. Their symptoms were worse than they had been immediately after the divorce."

After 5 years, 37% of the children had gone downhill: "It would be hard to find any other group of children - except, perhaps, the victims of a natural disaster - who suffered such a rate of sudden serious psychological problems."




After 10 years, 41% of the children of divorce were "worried, underachieving, self-depreciating and sometimes angry young men and women." By ages 19-23, 66% of the female children of divorce found that they were more haunted and scarred by the divorce in their earlier lives than either they or the researchers had realized. 40% of the boys were found to be floundering in their lives. "divorce was the single most important cause of enduring pain and anomie in their lives.




The young people told us time and again how much they needed a family structure, how much they wanted to be protected, and how much they yearned for clear guideline for moral behavior. An alarming number of teen-agers felt abandoned, physically and emotionally.


Family Breakdown: the Root Cause
Dr. Patrick Fagan, a family therapist and former deputy assistant secretary of Health and Human Services who is currently serving as William H. G. FitzGerald Fellow in family issues at The Heritage Foundation has done extensive research on the causes of crime in America.
In brief, Dr. Fagan’s conclusion is:

The root cause of violent crime thus is found in failed intimate relationships of love in marriage and in the family. The breakdown of stable communities … flows directly from this failure. In contrast, addressing the root causes … requires an understanding of the crucial elements of supportive family and community life.

First in importance and influence is the basic marriage commitment. Its vital importance is starkly evident in the catastrophic impact of its absence.

Second is the relationship of love between parents and children, a love expressed primarily in supervision.

Third, stemming from the first and second, is the child's ability to relate to other children.

Fourth, the backbone of strong neighborhoods, is friendship and cooperation between families.

(The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: the Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community by Patrick Fagan, The Heritage Foundation)

The Positive Impact of Faith and Traditional Morals
Dr. Fagan also notes the positive effect of religious faith and practice on morals, character and the formation of strong families and offers this advice:

It is no coincidence that one of the central rules in the traditional moral codes of all communities at all times, in all places, and in all cultures is the prohibition against giving birth to children outside of marriage. Societies all over the world have recognized that this prohibition is essential to social stability and to raising members of each new generation with the proper respect for their community and their peers. Unfortunately, and with disastrous consequences, this prohibition is ignored today in American society at all levels …

Whenever there is too high a concentration of such broken families in any community, that community will disintegrate. Only so many dysfunctional families can be sustained before the moral and social fabric of the community itself breaks down. Re-establishment of the basic community code of children within marriage is necessary both for the future happiness of American families and for a reduction in violent crime.

(The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: the Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community by Patrick Fagan, The Heritage Foundation)

Ideas Have Consequences
Ideas have consequences. People act the way that they do because they think in certain ways, because they hold certain beliefs. This is true for individuals and it is also true for a society or culture. In the modern world, certain institutions - the universities, schools, the media and the entertainment industry - have a major influence in shaping our understanding of ourselves and the world. The ideas and images which are communicated not only influence the actions of individuals; they have a profound influence on public policy which in turn further affects our life and our decisions.



Secular "Modern" Ideas



The following ideas in combination have been particularly harmful:

Man is a highly evolved animal.

There are no absolute standards; values are relative.

The nuclear family is a product of social evolution and is just one of a number of possible forms of social organization.

Societies problems can be solved by technology and the social sciences with a particular emphasis on the role of the state in social engineering. 

There is no doubt that the science has provided incredible benefits for mankind. Transportation and communications are bringing the world together. Technology has created a wealth of material comforts. But what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world but loses his soul.


The social sciences in their turn have provided us with a vast amount of information and insight into human nature and valuable techniques with which to study the economy, society, and even the human mind. Yet at the same time the flawed secular and relativist bias of modern secularism has undermined the very principles which are necessary for the maintenance of a stable society.






At the root of such flaws are the notions that God either does not exist or is irrelevant to society, that man is nothing more than a highly evolved animal, and that moral values are all relative.





America Needs a new Faith-Based Perspective
Harvey Cox, the Harvard theologian who in the 1960’s had written The Secular City, published a new book entitled Fire From Heaven in 1995. The book was the result of several years spent traveling across the United States and to four continents studying the growth of the Pentecostal movement. In his introduction Cox states

Nearly three decades ago I wrote a book, The Secular City, in which I tried to work out a theology for the "postreligious" age that many sociologists had confidently assured us was coming. Since then, however, religion… seems to have gained a new lease on life. Today, it is secularity, not spirituality, that may be headed for extinction….

The prognosticators had written that the technological pace and urban bustle of the twentieth century would increasingly shove religion to the margin where, deprived of roots, it would shrivel…

This did not happen. Instead, before the academic forecasters could even draw their pensions, a religious renaissance is under way all over the globe…. We are definitely in a period of renewed religious vitality, another "great awakening" …with all the promise and peril religious revivals always bring with them, but this time on a world scale.

In the concluding chapter of the book, Dr. Cox states

For the past three centuries, two principle contenders - scientific modernity and traditional religion have clashed over the privilege of being the ultimate source of meaning and value. Now like tired boxers who have slugged away too long, the two have reached an exhausted stalemate. As British rock singer Sting laments in one of his most popular songs, many have now lost faith in "science and progress" and in "the holy church." People are still willing to rely on science for the limited things it has proven it can do, but they no longer believe it will answer their deepest questions. They remain vaguely intrigued with the traditional religions, but not with the conventional churches… But the loss of direction Sting sings about also has a positive side. Increasing numbers of people appear ready to move on, and are looking for a more promising map of the life-world.

To provide such a "life-map" is the challenge that faces us as we approach the new millennium. It is our responsibility to articulate an understanding which affirms the sacred truths revealed in the scriptures at the same time that it embraces the proven and useful principles of science.


We need to dispel the fallacies of secularism and empower the conscience of our nation with a clear concept of a healthy society with loving God-centered families as the foundation - a God-centered ideal empowered by a love that transcends race, national origin, denomination, profession, or economic status.




If we are to restore the family we must clarify what a true family is and how it functions in the society. Armed with such an understanding, we can then tackle the task of reversing the destructive social trends which are plaguing our society and work toward the realization of a peaceful and loving society, nation, and world.


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
http://www.tparents.org/library/unification/talks/colvin/secular.htm

God is Redeemer and Ever Present in My Life 1985-2015

It was exactly 30 years ago that I had my first operation.  The medical procedure which was nearly 6 hrs. long involved the removal of my thyroid gland.  I spent a week in the hospital for recovery.  The night before the procedure was sleepless and around 4 am. the cardiologist came in and began asking questions about my heart  It seems they were concerned about my weakened and informed my that I would be on life support during the procedure.


After the doctor left I took out my Bible, read scripture and declared to God, while lying face down on the hospital bed that if it was his will I was ready.  Well the day came to leave the hospital, the air seemed fresh and all was anew.  My post operation visit to the cardiologist revealed that I had made a full recovery. 


So with a broken family situation a set out to begin a new life.  It was a month later that  I met Cindy.  We dated for 5 years where she had just returned from that state of Arizona and began a temporary job in Frankfort.  We were married in December 1991.  Cindy went to be with the Lord in JANUARY 2013.


30 years have passed, I have celebrated a life with beloved Cindy and am facing another health crisis.  I will continue to serve HIM and appreciate life as it unfolds according to GOD'S will.