Birth Control or Self-Control

In the midst of 24 hour news cycles, with a cacophony of news stories, it is easy to overlook a very real battle that is going on right under our noses. There is a frontal assault against abstinence based education programs. These efforts to provide our children with a positive, affirming, and life-respecting option to modern sex indoctrination programs are welcomed by most parents. A recent Zogby poll of 1,000 parents indicated that 83% want their children to save sex until marriage. Who wouldn't want their child to receive the same life affirming message at school that they are given at home? What parent would rather their teenager play games with inflated condoms in school that promote methods of sexual experimentation?

In Deuteronomy 6, the Bible makes it clear that parents, fathers in particular, are to instruct their children in the commandments of the Lord. One of those commandments is that we shall not commit adultery. The Bible then commands fathers to conduct an ongoing, age appropriate conversation about God's law and the benefits of following God's law. This ongoing conversation sets the stage for one of the most powerful tools in the human experience: the conscience. When we treat children as animals and affirm the lie that they cannot delay or postpone urges, we demean them and set them up for a life of lower expectations and we make failure a certainty.

Obviously, not every person who has been prepared by godly, loving parents makes perfect choices. That reality does not diminish the need for loving leadership and that encourages our children to make wise and good choices in life. Deuteronomy 6:6 says, "These commandments that I give today are to be upon your hearts." In other words, a parent must have a vital conviction about the sexual ethics presented in scripture. Most parents today grew up in the sexually permissive 70's and 80's. I was not a math major in college, but I know that these years followed the 60's. This was a period of sexual revolution against the restraints of morality. If we are going to teach God's sexual ethic to our young, we must believe in that ethic with all of our hearts.

Regardless of your past failures, you still have a strong moral ground on which to stand. Stand firm in the truth of God and give your children the tools of self-control. A positive, affirming abstinence based message aids parents in their efforts to help their children mature by making choices based on moral convictions and not biological impulses.

The forces that are attacking abstinence programs are serious, because the idea of trusting kids to make wise choices is a threat to their agenda. That is why Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) and others are openly attacking abstinence programs and making their goal clear: to take the funding for such programs and hand them over to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion services in the country. Their push for birth control over self-control demeans young people, as incapable of making moral choices. This message is echoed in the entertainment media, as well as the prevailing press. We must encourage our congressmen to uphold abstinence based programs that promote healthy and self-respecting futures for our chlldren.

Ed Litton

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

The National Organization of Women seems to be roaring with great concern. They are concerned about the Opt-Out Moms. This is not group of fascist terrorist women, though I get the impression that NOW would actually defend their participation in terror for the sake of equality. No, when you go to the NOW website you will a great deal of editorial applied at "debunking" the Opt-Out Moms.

What is an Opt-Out Mom? The New York Times identifies this as a group of highly paid, well-educated professional women who are opting out of corporate America and going home to raise a family. This is not yet a "tsunami" movement that threatens to flood the landscape of America, but NOW definitely seems worried. What do they know that they are not sharing? Better yet, what does an organization dedicated to equal, reproductive (abortion) and gay rights have to be concerned about a few women who choose to leave the workplace for the home-front?

NOW's concern may be rooted in the fact that 26 percent of women at the cusp of the senior-most levels of management are “opting out” of the promotion. Fortune Magazine found that of the 108 women who have appeared on its list of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women over the years, at least 20 have chosen to leave the corporate world for something they deem more fulfilling. NOW's anxiety is fueled by some highly recognizable women who have stepped out of the limelight for the home-fires. President Bush's adviser Karen Hughes left the White House for the benefit of her teenage son. Brenda C. Barnes, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola left to go home to Illinois with her family. Wendy Chamberlin, ambassador to Pakistan resigned to spend time with her two young daughters. Why don't these women want to run the world? Maybe they have seen power and discovered where real power resides; not in the boardroom, but in the family room.

The NOW website lists several reasons its faithful followers need to debunk this "myth" of the Opt-Out Moms. They are pulling out all the guns to keep from losing ground. They use emotional appeals, deny the research that indicates a real trend is emerging, and seek to intimidate these women into submission. They do this by suggesting that if these women could be interviewed fifteen to forty years from now, they would be very sorry for their choices when they try to live on "skimpy retirement incomes." The NOW material says, "You might hear a more jaundiced view of their “choices.” (http://www.now.org/issues/mothers/070318opt-out_myth.html)

The perspective of the Opt-Out Moms is refreshing. These women who have actually been to the high places of Cooperate America are finding that they don’t want to take time from their family in pursuit of success. Instead, women are redefining success. And in doing so, they are redefining work." (http://www.montana.edu/wrt/opt_out_revolution.pdf

While I think this trend is promising, it is not altogether encouraging. I believe the church needs to challenge these Opt-Out-Moms to consider the claim of scripture in the 127th Psalm.

1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. 2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves. 3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Like these bright, well-educated and honorable women, we would do well to rediscover the truth that real power is found when the Lord builds a home.

Ed Litton

Would You Vote For An Atheist?

There are groups of Americans who have a genuine fear. Their fear is that the "right wing" of the Republican party, namely Evangelical Christians, are in danger of "taking over." When you visit their websites and read their blogs, they seem to have one major argument for their brand of separation of church and state. They are fond of calling our chief document the Godless Constitution. Are they right? Their argument seems solid and factual; one needs only to read the U.S. Constitution and look for the word "God" to find that His name is not mentioned. Arthur Schlesinger Jr, gives a clear summation in a 2004 article for Los Angeles times. He states, "The founding fathers did not mention God in the Constitution, and the faithful often regarded our early presidents as insufficiently pious."
At the same time, there are great efforts being made to reconstruct the character of the founding generation. This historical strip-mining began in the late 19th century in the academic circles, and in the 20th century it became the parlor game of film makers. Most often the founding generation is held to a modern perspective with little or no consideration of the times in which they lived. Bold declarations are made about what the writers of the Constitution believed, as if the modern historians could mystically look beyond the vast amount of their personal writings and look straight into their secular souls.
In fact, the U.S. Constitution does not mention God. It neither mentions the sun, but it was written in the light of that vast shining orb. The founding generation assumed that certain things were in their own words "self-evident." They believed that anyone with common sense could see the sunshine and know that there is a God.
The early state constitutions of Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee all had some kind of religious test for potential government officials. One even required an expressed belief in the Trinity before one could serve in an elected office. There were doubtless political motivations behind some of these requirements. There was also a firm belief that if a person denied certain "self-evident" truths, they were not likely to be trusted as leaders. I am not arguing that these specific examples should have stood when the VI Amendment erased religious tests in the U.S. Constitution, but it is important not to erase the entire sunshine of the founding generation's awe, reverence and dependance upon almighty providence, yes, God.
The Secular Coalition for America is overjoyed to have found one single U.S. Congressman from a liberal district near San Francisco named Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) who is a professing atheist. They are celebrating his courage for coming out of the secular closet. A strange celebration? He is the only one out of all 534 of his colleagues who was willing to identify himself as a member of the Universalist church. It does appear that the Secular Coalition for America is really stretching to get a win. They had to coax him out of the closet. It seems that for most Americans, what people believe generally is still an important issue. I, for one, do not want religious tests, but I promise you as one voting and active citizen, I look at what the candidates in my voting booth believe about the existence of the sun and the existence of God. I want to know if a candidate has common sense and if they know that one day they will stand before the Judgement Seat and give an account of their actions. Voters can un-elect a politician, but God... Well, He is another story.
Ed Litton

A Battle of World Views

We are in a major battle between two world views.  One is shaped by the Bible and the other is shaped by "naturalistic science."  In a recent article in USA TODAY, Tom Krattenmaker calls for creationists to let “science be science, and let religion prevail in the vast areas where science has little or nothing to offer."  His argument sounds convincing until you question the premise of it.

For many years, Evangelical Christians have been willing to fight on what appears to be the front line of a battle between our world view and other opposing views.  We have been involved in one battle after another, all too often losing ground.  Krattenmaker suggests that we cannot win against the massive giant of empirical evidence called science.   Christians fight the decline in morals, the drifting of our once biblically based culture into paganism, the increased acceptance of perversion, the lowering of public morality and the skyrocketing of  legions of cultural problems.  If we are losing ground in the culture, it is because we are not attacking the real source of our battle.

I am convinced that while we must show up for the battle when a clear and present danger appears, we need to strategize to defeat other world views at the core of their belief.   For instance, instead of fighting the decline and redefinition of marriage, we need to attack the root of the problem - the origin of marriage.  The discussion of origins is the key battle.  If one accepts that man evolved, then there is no absolute truth and no ultimate judge of all mankind.  If, in fact, we are not uniquely created by God, then we have no intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose outside of ourselves.  Mr. Krattenmaker advises people of a biblical world view to go home and continue to privatize "religious beliefs" and leave the science to professionals with a naturalistic world view.  

Mr. Krattenmaker is asking Christians to do what all too many have
already done.  Sing hymns, preach sermons, hold meetings, but do not interrupt scientists as they shout down the evidence with bold declarations that  are, in fact, full of inconsistencies. Krattenmaker seems to believe that when evidence is lacking, the best answer is to tell those who are offering another opinion to go home.

Krattenmaker raises this question: "Do religious believers really want the truth of their faith wagered on an attempt to prove that countless scientists have somehow botched their reading of the fossil record?" Mr. Krattenmaker, you speak of these "countless scientists" as if they hold all empirical truth in their hands.  My world view teaches me that humans are quite capable of error when they are looking at evidence through the lens of a philosophical perspective.  What about men like German geneticist Richard Goldschmidt and famed evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould who promoted the theory of punctuated equilibrium.  This is the speculation that there were quantum leaps from one species to another.  Why would they theorize such things when there is no compelling evidence for evolution in the fossil record?

If we heed Krattenmaker’s counsel we will continue to lose important battles.  Most tragically, we will  continue to lose the hearts and minds of the next generation.  We will abandon them to a world view without God, and we will cower in the corner of irrelevance taking our place with the cowards of history.  No Thanks!

Ed Litton

The Trouble with Brothers

I read the Bible through each year.  It is a wonderful way to gain God's perspective on life.  I highly recommend it for anyone.  What I do not recommend is reading the Bible like a novel.  Read it intelligently by reading a couple of chapters from the Old Testament and a chapter or so in the New Testament each day.  In a year you will have read the entire Bible.  Our church website has a daily Bible reading plan (www.northmobile.org). 

Last week,  during my reading, a couple of passages came into amazing focus for me.  In Genesis 37, Joseph's brothers were fully involved with a three alarm jealous hatred for their younger and more favored brother.  So when he came with his multicolored coat and his account of yet another dream, they reached the end of their rope.  Gen. 37:19 -20 states that when he appeared, they said to each other, "Here comes that dreamer!" Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

The cruelty of these men toward their brother is hard to imagine even in our world where cruelty is displayed daily in high definition clarity.  They threw Joseph into a pit and sat around eating, drinking, and talking about killing him.  All the while, their  younger brother cried, moaned and pleaded.  Their hearts had grown so hard toward him that his suffering became inconsequential.  In the morning,  a caravan of Midian traders on their way to Egypt passed by.  One brother, maybe less blood thirsty or more fearful of God, convinced the others to sell Joseph for eight ounces of silver.  Currently, silver is trading at about $12 and ounce.  Life and brotherhood can be cheap.

I then turned to the New Testament and found myself in Matthew, chapter twelve.  Jesus was in a synagogue with a hostile group of religious leaders who were all about entrapment.  They were combing through Jesus' words looking for any reason to discredit or destroy Him. John spoke of these men in John chapter one, verse eleven, when he said,   "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (NKJV).  These religious leaders found a man in the congregation with an arm that was either defective from birth or badly damaged in an accident.  They asked Jesus if it would be lawful to heal him on the Sabbath.  Jesus replied; “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? (NKJV). 

The light came on in my head.  I saw a similarity between Joseph's brothers sitting around a pit and these religious leaders sitting around a different kind of pit.  Joseph's brothers had no compassion for him.  These leaders had no compassion for the man with the withered arm.  Both passages deal with the value of people verses possessions.  The trouble with brothers is that often the people who should care do not do so.  Well, they care, but the problem is that they care about the wrong things.  Jesus came to do many things, not the least of which was to challenge our status quo in life; to make us realize that people matter more than things.  How easy it is to allow priorities to get out of perspective. 

Matthew then quoted Isaiah in describing the characteristics of the coming Messiah.  "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory."  The trouble with brothers is that we are all too human.  The religious-type or the family-type or even the near neighbor do not value people for very long.  We can treat people like material things, like reeds and candles, but when they are bruised, we find it quicker and easier to break them off and cast them aside.  When they are already on the smoldering end of their career, we find it more expedient to snuff them out.  Jesus is just the opposite.  He gently strengthens the bruised reed.  He cups his hands around the smoldering wick and softly blows new wind, and a fresh fire once again emerges.  No wonder Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Ed Litton

Jesus Hates Clutter

At the beginning of the New Year, there are plenty of tips in magazines to help you with your resolutions.  Weight loss tips abound, but it now seems that there is a lot of information on helping you to organize your workspace and get rid of clutter in your life.   True anti-clutter freaks pride themselves on having open, clean, and organized lives.  It is rare to find two married people who both hate clutter.  Usually one is as neat and clean as like Felix Unger of the Odd Couple, while the other is like Oscar Madison. 

I have come to the conclusion that Jesus is a bona fide clutter-hater.  Now, I do not like to identify Jesus with the word hate, although we know God hates sin.  I think I stand on solid ground to suggest that Jesus hates clutter.  In the opening chapters of his gospel, John relates a story that proves my point.  Notice as you read this passage that Jesus is very politically incorrect.  He exhibits anger (righteous anger), he violates several peoples’ personal space, he makes judgments, and actually throws people out of a religious place.

John 2:14-17   In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep
and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15  So he
made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both
sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables. 16   To those who sold doves he said, “Get
these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!
17   His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house
will consume me.”

Jesus clearly despises the religious clutter that accumulates in our lives
and churches.  He found His Father's house filled with people who
were making a financial killing selling sacrifices to out-of-towners and to  frankly lazy worshippers.  This sale of sacrifices destroys the very concept of a personal sacrifice to the Lord. We also see that there were money changers.  Anyone who has ever traveled out of this country knows that if you exchange money, you stand a good chance of being cheated.  The same was true then.  There was a third, grievous action taking place daily in God's temple.  It seems that because the temple was the center of life in Jerusalem, working people carrying burdens and heavy loads had to maneuver around the Temple area.   Someone relaxed the rules and maybe for a small fee allowed them to save time and carry their loads right through the Temple area.  Jesus was outraged.  Zeal for the house of God consumed Him.

Zeal for His Father's House still consumes Jesus.  It no doubt grieves the LORD when His church places things, even good things, in the way of people meeting God.  2007 is a great time to get organized, uncluttered and start taking worship seriously.

Let me make a few simple suggestions:
1. Get ready for church on Saturday.  Prepare clothes and meals, and make a plan for how the LORD's day will be spent.
2. Arrive at church on time.  Be ready and anticipate that Jesus will be there.
3. Come ready to be used to encourage, admonish, lift up and share what God is doing in your life to be a blessing to others.
4. Don't come to church alone.  Pray, invite and let God use your influence for His glory.

Let’s be like John the Baptist, another clutter-hater.  Matthew 3:3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  "A voice of one calling in the desert,  'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "

Ed Litton

Festivus For The Rest of Us

Since Bill O'Reilly proclaimed that there is a war on Christmas, Randy Kennedy of the New York Times wondered if and how an atheist would celebrate Christmas.  So he contacted two of the most influential Atheists, Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation, and Richard Dawkins, the Oxford professor who opposes all belief in God as “dangerous.”   What Kennedy discovered is that both men do celebrate Christmas.  Harris has a Christmas tree in his house with ornaments and decorations.  Dawkins reasons that Christmas has been so divorced from any religious significance, that it ceases to be a "religious" experience.  Dawkins adds,  "I unhesitatingly wish everyone a Merry Christmas."

I guess I expected Dawkins and Harris to be consistent with their belief system and do what Cosmo Kramer and Frank Costanza did on Seinfeld.  Those two created their own un-Christmas-like seasonal celebration and called it "Festivus.” Instead, Dawkins simply reduces Christmas to a post-Christian observance and recognizes the times in which we live.  Ironically, Professor Dawkins complains that the holidays are over-commercialized and secularized to the degree that they no longer have significant religious meaning.  Dawkins shares this same opinion with many Christians who also find that the holiday has lost its spiritual significance in part or in whole. 

The dilemma for Christians is more significant than it is for an Atheist.   As Christians, are we living inconsistent with our belief system?  Are we going through motions out of tradition and missing the significance of the incarnation of Jesus Christ?  Has the birth of our Savior become more aesthetic than significant?  Is there any difference between how an Atheist celebrates Christmas and how you and I celebrate Christmas? 

We celebrate not just the Advent of Christ, but we use this time to refocus our lives on why He came.  "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."  Matthew 1:21 NIV.

Ed Litton

A Crisis of Confidence

The number of unmarried couples living together has increased tenfold from 1960 to 2000 in America.  The U.S. Census estimates that about 10 million people are living with someone of the opposite sex.  That totals about 8% of U.S. coupled households.  Most unmarried partners who live together are between 25 and 34 years of age.  It was once stigmatized as "living in sin," or "shacking up," but now cohabitation has replaced dating.  It has become mainstream as a way to discover if
a person is a suitable partner for life.  While marriage as an ideal is not dead, it does seem to be staggering and falling into the ropes. According to USA Today, more than two-thirds of married couples in the USA now say they lived together before marriage.  The number of unmarried, opposite-sex households is rising dramatically.

A crisis of confidence exists among younger Americans, not just in the institution of marriage, but in the process of finding a suitable life mate.  The most divorced generation in history is struggling to trust the traditional courting process, choosing instead to dive right into the most intimate aspects of a relationship.  Thus, logic states that since divorce is a reality, it makes sense to measure compatibility, and what better way to discover compatibility than to do a trial run at marriage.  There is great confidence today in this new found process, but the question is, does it work?

In a groundbreaking study that examines the effects of cohabitation on the long-term quality of marriage, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) conducted a study of more than 1,300 married couples.  The results are eye opening.  The study shows that the longer a couple cohabits before marriage, the less satisfied they are with their marriage.  Dr. John Hill, API's Director of Research, states, "Specifically, couples who cohabit before marriage tend to be more depressed, more dependent and
are more likely to believe their relationship will end as compared with married couples who did not cohabit."  In times of stress and conflict, the API study indicates that they are more likely to handle their conflicts with heated arguing, hitting and throwing.  According to USA TODAY, couples live together about two years and then either marry or break up.

Marriage is more than who you sleep next to and with whom you may shares expenses.  It is the deepest sharing of the most intimate part of your life.  This is not easy to graph on a chart,  but every human soul longs for it.  God created us for intimacy and He  built an environment in which we can experience it.  Cohabitation has all the powerful elements that make up intimacy but lacks one major ingredient -  commitment.  Commitment is the fence that protects, the lock that guarantees, and the alarm system that insures that vulnerability is not easily compromised.  Marriage is a covenant of mutual protection,
devotion, sacrifice and love.  It is binding for this very reason.  It is not only safe for our most vulnerable moments but also for the most vulnerable people in the world - children.

When we remember what marriage was designed to do and who designed it, the contorted, sophomoric logic of those who conclude that living together is a good choice evaporates. It is not inconsequential that the loss of confidence in marriage coincides with a loss in confidence in God and the Bible.  The children and grandchildren of the sexual revolution need to examine what that revolution has caused:  a skyrocketing divorce rate and a frustrating loss of intimacy.    The best experiment may be to experiment with the ancient writings of a timeless God who loved us enough to construct a safe place called marriage in which to flourish.

Ed Litton

Thankful for a Nation Under God

This thanksgiving I am thankful for our nation.  It was founded and is sustained by God.  Our waywardness, while deserving of divine rejection, has been met with mercy and grace, even in our most troubled hours. We have always been a nation under God.  Some will respond to that statement with hostility while others will respond with embarrassed uneasiness, yet, the statement stands. 

We live in a time when hostility toward our founding faith is high. Wired magazine, in this month's issue, highlights "The New Atheism." Editor Gary Wolf explains that the New Atheists are not content to merely disbelieve in God.  They want to make belief in God socially disreputable - to make belief in God an embarrassment.  It seems that they are getting their wish.  Our culture and courts seem to be on a mission to remove God from the public view. 

On Thanksgiving, I think it is fitting to recall two significant events that remind us why we can be thankful and to whom our gratitude is directed.  Our Pilgrim founders expressed their reason and purpose in coming to this land with crystal clarity in the Mayflower Compact of 1620. "We whose names are underwritten...by the grace of God...having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith...a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience."

In summing up the national response to a quagmire of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address. "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

America's greatness can be traced to America's acknowledgment of our Creator as the source of our rights, well being and providential protection.  We must arouse our memory of our history.  We must teach the truth to our children and we will remain the most blessed nation in history.  I, for one, am very grateful!

Difficult Choices in a Brave New World

Parents are soon to face yet another choice that will involve a serious moral dilemma.  A vaccination for the human papilloma virus is expected to be available in late 2006 from Merck & Company. The virus called HPV causes genital warts and cervical cancer.  It can also be passed to babies and can cause serious life threatening problems.  The American Academy of Pediatrics is pushing for a nationwide vaccination program among teens to fight the virus.  At first glance, protecting our children from disease seems like a good thing.  However, it’s worth looking at it from a different angle. 

Any vaccination has risks associated with it.   By inoculating every child, we are assuming that every teenager will be immoral and therefore must be vaccinated.  Isn’t there way to protect our children from HPV that doesn’t involve a risk?   Wait a minute, there is!   It is teaching, encouraging and promoting abstinence on the grounds that it can and will save your life. 

Our awesome God has set moral limits because He loves us and wants us to live full and meaningful lives.  Honesty and candor concerning sexual decisions have never been more necessary among parents and teenagers. 
The brave thing is taking the time to talk and inform our kids, not taking a chance on a vaccination.  If we continue to assume animal-like behavior,  our children will not know the power they have to
choose to live moral lives.  They will miss an essential struggle in
the human growth process called maturity.
- Reference: Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2005

Manliness

In his book, Manliness, Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield makes a compelling case that our society should stop looking at manliness as a curse and start embracing it as a virtue.  It did not take long for the liberal media to begin howling at this rising moon with a clamor of protest.  According to Mansfield, manliness "seeks and welcomes drama, and prefers times of war, conflict and risk."  Manliness asserts itself, craves adventure, loves action and power in a distinctively different way than women.  Manliness desires the heart of a woman and seeks to protect and provide for her.  It is this manliness that benefits and protects our culture especially in times of danger and war.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported that schools, parks and clubs across the nation that are removing diving boards from pools, and children are stopped from playing the game of tag.  Why?  The fear of someone getting hurt and filing lawsuits.  This may be what therapists call a presenting problem.  In fact, the culture is growing increasingly weary and suspicious of manliness.  Boys are full of recklessness on
playgrounds and this frightens leaders in our litigious environment.

Where will the lack of manliness lead us?  My guess is that it leads to a growing insecurity among males who find it confusing to even define “maleness” much less “manliness.” It leads to extreme expressions by males who have no role models of responsible masculinity. All too many males are acting in violence and predatory sexual nature both in reality television and reality. It leads to a timidity in leadership and a willingness to place an increasing burden on women to provide and protect themselves.

The ultimate expression of masculinity is Jesus Christ.  He refused to be passive, accepted responsibility and awaited a greater reward.  For the men who followed him, Jesus modeled what a man was to do in the face of violent opposition, and how a man was to stand firm in the face of overwhelming opposition.  He elevated and honored women like no man in history.  Jesus was and is the ultimate model of manliness for what He did when He died a shameful death in my place.  You can trust him as your Savior, and you can also trust him to show you how to be genuinely manly.

Ed Litton

The Impact of a Wedding Band

In an article entitled, “Marriage Gap Could Sway Elections,” USA Today reported that the wedding band could have the greatest impact upon congressional elections this fall. According to the 2005 Census, House districts held by Republicans are full of married people; Democratic districts are stacked with people who have never married. The article also sited the 2004 Presidential election as more evidence of this divide. According to exit polls conducted by national news organizations, President Bush beat John Kerry by 15 percentage points among married people and lost by 18 percentage points among unmarried people.

The most interesting part of this finding is not political, but what this says about the world view of Americans. What conclusions can be made from these findings? First, the impact of your family is greater than you tend to think. The health and survival of your marriage is critical to the nation, as a whole. Your belief about marriage and family impacts not only your family, but our entire culture. Second, those who are married with children tend to vote differently, because they see life differently. Due to their concern for their legacy to their children, they tend to be cautious about social experiments, such as gay marriage. When done right, parenthood is a self-sacrificing experience. The overwhelming experience of sacrificial love drives people to think less about their rights and more about future generations’ survivability. Third, I think we should find encouragement in this report. It says that living according to a biblical world view, though often lampooned in the popular culture, has a profound effect. (Remember from where the popular culture is broadcast. New York and Hollywood tend to be the most liberal and hostile toward the core values of the Bible.)

We can make a difference in the fly-over zone, as it is often called. We can impact the vast fruited plain of this nation, where normal people live, by living our lives according to biblical truth and love. If we will lead our families and vote, guided by our deepest convictions, we can make a difference.

I am encouraged by a recent report card on marriage in Alabama, published by the Alabama Policy Institute, which reported that we are making progress against the rising tide of divorce in our state. I am convinced we will see even greater progress in the culture, as pastors and people work together to develop strong biblical marriages and stronger biblical world views in our families.


Ed Litton

VeggieTales Meets the NBC Slice and Dicer

NBC executives have made a decision that reveals, yet again, their belief system. They bought the rights to the popular VeggieTales series, which is filled with distinctively God-centered content, and are now editing references to God out of the show. They have replaced Bob the Tomato's sign-off line: "God made you special and He loves you very much," with "Thanks for coming over to my house, kids. See you next week." After first insisting that the cuts were made to meet time constraints, the network finally admitted that they made the cuts, "because the network did not want to appear to be advocating any religion." VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer said, "Trying to change the show's Christian message runs counter to the show's expressed mission. It's a mistake to pitch VeggieTales as just values, because fundamentally it's about God."

According to The Los Angeles Times, Mr. Wurtzel said NBC did not believe it had deleted the show's religious message. He said the network had bought the rights to VeggieTales because of its positive religious themes; however, they asked for changes to comply with their standards. "We are not a religious broadcaster," he said. "There are universally accepted religious values that we do think are appropriate,” but “the promotion of any particular religion or a particular denomination" is not allowed. "Clearly the show has religious themes," Mr. Wurtzel said. "It puts forth some very specific religious values. We had to make a decision about where it went further than we considered appropriate."

Wow! What a shocking revelation: NBC is not a religious broadcaster. Help me understand exactly what particular religion and or denomination is helped by a simple reference to God. Most parents, like me, view VeggieTales as a fun, positive alternative to the kind of children's programming typically offered by the major media outlets. We have never viewed the content as a systematic theology. Positive themes and recognition of God is, at best, a mere support of what we teach our children. Bob the Tomato is not a kid's version of Billy Graham. LarryBoy is not a door-to-door apologist for the Christian faith.
This story reveals that NBC is willing to slice and dice some Christian vegetables and values for their own agenda. In fact, NBC is a religious broadcaster. They broadcast a brand of religion sometimes known as secularism, otherwise known as liberalism. Make no mistake; they are very religious. The same people, who want to puree VeggieTales, defend the network’s decision to run a "special" featuring Madonna mocking the crucifixion and sexualizing the holiest doctrine of the Christian faith, thus proving that Ann Coulter is right. In her new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, Coulter maintains that liberalism contains all the attributes of what is generally known as "religion.” The religion of the liberal elitist is their secular world view. Make no mistake about it. It is a religion and this move proves that it is a godless one.
NBC thinks we need vegetables in our diet; they just have to be godless vegetables. Even though this story is set in the trappings of childish things, it reveals once again the "values" of those who still believe that they control the media.

Christianity Under Intensified Fire

The spiritual strategy against Christianity is not merely found on the pages of C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. We are watching a hellish belching of verbal, visual and physical assaults against biblical Christianity. Last week on the television program The View, Rosie O'Donnell made the bold claim that; "...radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America." In response to many Christians’ outrage toward Rosie's statements, ABC News felt compelled to show a film from a church summer youth camp in Oregon, whose theme was spiritual warfare, as an example of the militarization of Christian youth. Another assault occurred last week when a liberal guest on MSNBC’s The Situation (hosted by Tucker Carlson) made a similar statement; guest Sam Seder, co-host of Air America's Majority Report, announced that Jerry Falwell was “just as dangerous as Osama bin Laden.” Beyond this, NBC has decided to join in bashing the Christian faith by airing a Madonna special in November that depicts the "Material Girl" in a mock crown of thorns hanging on a crucifix, while she frees a saint from his sexual repression by seducing him. Madonna considers mocking the crucifixion of Jesus the highlight of her show and NBC agrees.

These American pop-culture attacks upon of our faith converge on the same week that many in the Islamic world took to the streets protesting, rioting, and burning churches, as well as the murder of a Catholic nun over Pope Benedict XVI comments on Islam. In a scholarly lecture given in Germany, the Pope referenced a 13th century quote about Mohammed. The quote set tempers flaming to the point that sharpshooters had to man the rooftops this week in Rome to guard the Pope from threatened assassination, during his weekly blessing.

What are we to make of these compelling news items? First, the spiritual war in our land and in our world is real. The lines are becoming clearly defined. It will be increasingly difficult for Christians to remain passive, ignorant and disengaged, in the world we inhabit. Secondly, the message of biblical Christianity is that Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost. We cannot draw back from our mission to reach people in our community and the world with the liberating love and exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. Lastly, our Savior modeled how we are to handle hostility: we are to face it and confront it with love and truth. A Catholic nun named, Sister Leonella, who devoted her life to helping the sick in volatile regions of Africa, was likely murdered in reaction to Pope Benedict's comments. She whispered as she died, "I forgive, I forgive" and proved once again the clear distinction between a faith based in sacrificial love and a religion based upon fascism.

Bold Moves from Ford Motor Company

I’m not sure which message I am supposed to take from the Ford Motor Company “Bold Moves” advertising campaign. The ad shows a family of four and their dog on an outing for the day. They seem happy and well-adjusted. The narrator announces that the new Ford Freestyle, Crossover edition, will travel over 500 miles on a tank of gas. Nothing confusing yet; that is important news for potential automobile buyers. Then the Freestyle stops and the father gets out, hugs his kids and thanks his ex-wife for allowing him to share this time. She benevolently smiles and says, "Sure," and drives away, leaving the father behind. 

Beyond the clear presentation of a divorced family, I cannot, for the life of me, imagine what Ford is trying to say. The ad ends with this statement, "Bold moves happen every day." What is the bold move? It must be the bold message Ford is sending. Listen to the response of John Felice, the general marketing manager at Ford. ''It's a true reflection of the world today,'' adding that the company was not ''making any type of social statement.'' On the contrary, Mr. Felice; Ford is making a mighty big social statement.

The first social statement made reflects the marginalizing of males! A father is dropped off at a dumpy little apartment, while his family drives away. The dog is getting better treatment, as his tail wags all the way home. Mom is in the driver’s seat, while the father is simply along for the ride. This ad says that men are marginal at best, troublesome at worst, but necessary donors for the human race. Perhaps this arrangement is the father’s idea. If so, it represents self-centered masculinity at its worst.

My next problem with the ad is the glamorization of a lie! The myth of the good divorce is not new to Hollywood; but, it is pretty much ignored as a joke by anyone who has ever had to file for one. The only truly realistic part of the commercial is the uncertain look on the children's faces, as their father goes to his home alone. Once again, the myth of the well-adjusted child is portrayed to the hilt. The message is clear: kids are as durable as a Ford and they will make it through this “freestyle" and this "crossover."

In a really strained rationale, John Felice then defends Ford's "better ad idea," by suggesting that it is a "celebration of family" and a tribute to "the versatility of life itself, as well as the versatility of the Freestyle." Mr. Felice, you cannot be serious in suggesting that an answer to the divorce issue is a brand new Ford Freestyle. If you want to celebrate the family, then celebrate the couple who went to the brink of divorce and turned back--the couple who found help and strength to work through their issues and provide a better life for their family, not just a better vehicle in which to pass through life. 

Divorce is a painful reality all across this nation. Don't insult the tragedy of millions of Americans, by suggesting that a new Ford is a way to make the best out of a bad situation. Let me suggest that Ford should stick to engineering engines, drive trains, and body styles and resign as engineers of social change.

Ed Litton

The Devil Wears Prada

The church in America is susceptible to different illnesses and diseases.  Near the top of the list is an infection that strikes the heart of her leadership.  God calls men to lead His church and He gives these men as gifts to the church.  These men are called pastors and must be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might.  Since the church is God's witness in the world, it makes sense that our enemy the Devil will attack it by attacking God's shepherds.  The scriptures tell us to honor them, pray for them, love them and submit to their leadership.  All too many people feel the need to humble their pastors and criticize them, expose their every fault, and in general, make their lives and ministry a burden.  This kind of behavior weakens the church in her mission and is of no advantage.  This common malady is encouraged by worldly men and women who seek power and control.  Hebrews 13:17 says: "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." 

There are additional internal diseases that strike at the heart of leadership.  It seems to me that lately many pastors have forgotten that we fight a threefold battle with the world, our flesh and the Devil. It is our fleshly desire that often takes a greater toll and inflicts the greatest damage to the Kingdom of God.  In many cases, success has led us to adapt leadership styles that mirror the corporate world more than the model of Jesus.  In the film The Devil Wears Prada, the viewer is served a view of the ugly underbelly of the cutthroat, mean-spirited, and overbearing world of the fashion industry.  In that world, it seems that heavy handed, abusive leadership is common.

The model for leadership in God's kingdom is Jesus Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom.The pastor of the New Testament church is to be strong in the Lord. He is to be respected, but he must build safeguards against his own evil nature.  Money, sex and fame are all powerful temptations.  They require leaders who are fully armed for the battle against their abuse.  Our model of leadership is not on the big screen, but in the Good Book.  It is Jesus who came to both serve and lead at the same time.  His leadership is marked not by the latest fashion but by a servant's towel. 

There are other glimpses of glorious Christlike leaders in scripture.  David led mighty and courageous men into battle.  On one occasion, three of those men so honored David that they risked their lives to get their leader what they overheard him wishing for in a passing comment.  They brought him a drink from a spring in his hometown.  Men died and lives were risked to accomplish this task. This was an epic test, not so much of these men, but of David's character as a leader.  Would he drink it and graciously say, "Thanks guys!"  or would he look at the water and say, "What, no ice?"  No, David held it as if it were too holy to touch and poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord.

In the past few weeks, I have been heartsick at the news of several prominent pastors who have been caught in a snare revealing an abuse of power and trust.  Friends may justify this behavior, some will even excuse it. One thing is certain. We are in an all-out spiritual war and the souls of people are at stake.  Pray for your pastor, for God's grace and His protection.  If you are a pastor, seek the Lord and renew your focus on our biblical requirements.  First Timothy 3:2 states, "An overseer, then, must be above reproach."  Walk humbly before God and men.  And remember, the best perks of success in ministry are those given by the Lord when He says, "Well done!"

The Devil may very well wear Prada, but the pastor must wear the servant's towel.

Ed Litton
Painting by Ford Madox Brown 1852-56

Courageous Pastor or Bad Theology?

I first heard of Greg Boyd a couple of weeks ago when it was reported over the internet that the Minnesota pastor had taken a courageous stand against the "narrow-minded" types in his church who were demanding his leadership and participation in the political system. His refusal to bow to their pressure cost him as he watched over one thousand of his members walk out, never to return.  As a pastor who takes tough stands, I was struck with an odd mixture of curiosity. Part of me wanted the challenge of hearing a view of civil activity very different from my own, while a part of me was drawn to what appeared to be raw courage. He is being championed as a hero by the media for his refusal to hand out voter guides, hang the American flag in support of our troops, or encourage participation in defending the sacredness of marriage against an onslaught of the same sex marriage movement.  He preached a series of sermons that have been published in a book entitled The Myth of a Christian Nation.   My curiosity demanded that I find out more about Greg Boyd. 

So I began an investigation of what defense this man offers for his convictions.  It seems that Boyd believes Christians should exclude themselves from political activity and are to give themselves only to "Christlike" service.  His argument sounds very biblical and even inviting.  We all know that political action is not the ultimate solution for the world's troubles; that neither the Republican nor the Democratic nor even the Socialist party  will bring about salvation; salvation through Jesus Christ alone is the solution.  Greg Boyd boldly asserts that it is a myth to state that America is a Christian nation.  He skillfully cloaks his argument in biblical terms, ignoring a clear command in scripture for believers to be like salt and light in decay and darkness. 

At this point I must assert a different perspective.  America was founded by people with a distinctly Christian world view who were not trying to bring in the Kingdom of God but were trying to work out a more perfect union based upon a Reformation view of the fallen nature of man and the value of the human soul and conscience.  Biblical Christianity has been the most dramatic influence in the course of the Western world. 

Upon further investigation I learned that Greg Boyd is a pastor of a large church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is a professor of theology at Bethel College.  He is a proponent of Open Theism.  Open Theists insist that true human freedom requires that God cannot know human decisions in advance. This view asserts a new way of understanding God's knowledge.  In other words, Open Theism is a belief that states that God cannot know all things actual or possible in the future.  God is just as open to changes in plans and human will as we are.  God learns and grows and yes, even makes mistakes in judgment, but He is a learning, growing and developing God.  Boyd's core beliefs strike at the very heart of the omniscience of God; the affirmation that God knows all things, past, present and future.  This doctrine of omniscience has been held dear by all branches of the Christian church throughout the centuries. 

All pastors must struggle with their role and the role of their flock in the world in which we find ourselves.  How Christians bring salt and light to bear upon that culture is not simple or easy,  nevertheless it is a worthy struggle.  As one pastor who has seen some small advances (and many setbacks) in the battle for the hearts and minds of people in my culture, I am comforted by the reality of an all knowing God who holds all things together by the word of His power.   Benjamin Franklin counseled the framers of our constitution to remember; "...the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”   Any involvement in bringing Christ’s love to my culture is comforted and guided by an omniscient God who knows how it all ends.

Ed Litton

How the World Sees Us

I consider myself fortunate to have several American friends who live in foreign countries.  Three of them live in areas that are predominantly Muslim.  Recently, my friends have enlightened me to a very real problem.  They tell me that in their respective countries, Americans have a poor reputation.  That reputation is largely, if not entirely, due to the influence of American television and, more importantly, the images of American women and American religion.  In Islam, women are considered to be the more spiritual and holy in the family.  That is why their dress must be beyond modest.  (I am not ignoring the obvious reality of female subjugation in many of these countries.  Nevertheless, the ideal of womanhood is honored even if the systems themselves are repressive and even abusive.)  The problem is the perception of American women.  Far from seeing us as liberators, they fear us as corruptors.  The images of women dressing and behaving immodestly leads many Muslims to believe that all American women are like this.

The second media-induced image that my friends are concerned about are a few high profile Christian denominations that have embraced homosexuality.  Once again, the impression left is one of generalization and the belief that all Christians embrace this lifestyle and approve of  same sex marriage.   The truth is that most Americans reject the wholesale redefinition of marriage.  

If American Christians hope to impact the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we had better realize that our culture here impacts the work of missions there.  We need to be concerned about the endless stream of profanity, nudity and lude behavior that represents us around the world.  We need to realize how it plays into the hands of radical Islamafacists who use our corruption as an excuse to kill our people.  We also need to wake up to the reality that standing firm on the redefinition of biblical marriage is impacting more than our culture; it is impacting the gospel around the world.  Never has a spiritual awakening mattered so much.  Our War on Terror could be won by God's people getting serious about sharing God's truth across the street and around the world.

Ed Litton

The Problem with Men

We now live in a culture that has managed to make  the masculine role model the most ridiculous character on the face of the earth.   When you watch television,  the hapless idiot is usually the father.  When you read the transcript of the California State Senate, you find that the word "father" is now a shameful word that must be stricken from public textbooks.  When you read a recent edition of Newsweek, you learn that today’s boys are dangerous and out of control.  The truth is that our culture is having an agenda rammed down its throat.  A small, self-appointed few believe that men are dangerous for a civil society. The truth is that this is a deadly strategy to remove the first line of defense for a healthy home, family and nation.

In fact, good men are essential for a civil society.  The problem with men is that they are far more vulnerable to these attacks than we imagined. Note these painful statistics which have led Dr. William Pollack of the Harvard Medical School Center for Men to state that the general health of American males is in a state of serious crisis:
         *The suicide rate for boys, young fathers and older men range from four to ten times higher than for their female counterparts.
         *Men, whose average life expectancy was formerly on a par with women, are now dying ten years earlier.
         *Boys have inferior reading and comprehension scores and lower graduation rates than girls.
     *In child custody cases fathers only get their children 10 percent of the time in uncontested cases and 15 percent of
the time in contested cases.  (This might make sense in a workforce dominated by men, but the number of men and
women in the workforce is almost evenly split.)

God gave the world the gift of manhood and fatherhood.  Masculine men are His creation.  In our fallen condition we have undeniable problems, but nothing that the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot fix. So what is the problem with men? They are expected to be something that they are not. And when they are what they were made to be, adventuresome, wild and strong they are castigated. Recently, someone told me "to get in touch with my feminine side." I laughed and responded, "I don't have a feminine side! I have my wife, she is God's gift of femininity to me, and I'll get in touch with her anytime!"

Ed Litton

The Godless Constitution?

Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore have written a popular "textbook" entitled The Godless Constitution.  It is based on the idea that America was founded by Secular Humanists, Deists and Agnostics,  and not by people whose minds were shaped by the Reformation and scripture.  So widely accepted is this idea that most people embrace this proposed mindset of our forefathers without question.  Last Sunday, I posed the following question to my congregation:  "Of the men who made up the founding generation, who was the most atheistic, agnostic and deistic?"  Without hesitation, they answered, “Jefferson and Franklin.”  Amazing!

I am not declaring that Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson were Evangelical Christians by modern definition.  However, I will assert that upon reading their words, there are obvious indications that these two minds were shaped by the Reformation as profoundly as any peer in the founding generation.  Like Jefferson, Franklin struggled with organized religion.  Yet while his very own words indicate an influence from the Enlightenment, their foundation was based on the Reformation. 

On June 28, 1787, as the Constitutional Convention was locked in a power struggle over how large and small states would share this national government, a dark cloud covered the proceedings.  Franklin, the elder statesmen rose to his feet and read from a paper he had been writing on most of the day.  His words revealed a man convinced not that human reason would prevail, but as he put it, "...our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding."  What he requested from the fifty-five delegates was that they should pray.

"In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.

To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?

We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 'except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.

I therefore beg leave to move-that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning."

If Benjamin Franklin was a Deist, this call to prayer of our founding generation was a serious lapse in his theology.  His clear statement that "God governs in the affairs of men," is deistic heresy.  Maybe, just maybe, history is a little more complex than some would have us believe.  Maybe Mr. Franklin deserves closer reevaluation.

The minds that gave us such an amazing document as the U.S. Constitution were more profoundly shaped by scripture than the Enlightenment.  Today, some point out that our Constitution never references God or Jesus Christ.  While this is true, this point is an undeniable oversimplification.  The Bible itself does not spend much time defending the existence of God.  It simply says that fools deny His existence.  In the founders way of thinking, some ideas are "self-evident."  It is possible that like those who wrote the Bible, the founding generation never dreamed that there would be a time when foolish men would be so bold as to openly deny the very God who they were convinced governs in the affairs of men and without whom we would not exist as free people.

Ed Litton