Understanding Denominational Chaos

The scripture tells us that it was in the springtime of the year when kings go out to battle that David stayed in Jerusalem. In America, it is also in the spring and early summer that most mainline denominations have their annual conventions and meetings. When you see and hear stories in the news about these convocations, it can be slightly confusing. In the midst of great madness, let me try to help clarify

The Southern Baptist Convention wrapped up the 2006 convention in Greensboro, North Carolina last week. The meeting closed with the SBC facing some struggles of cooperation; but, in general the meeting was a time to clarify and unify our focus on world evangelization. Other denominations who met this past week are facing problems. The Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church USA are deeply divided, but not over world evangelization. They are breaking apart over the ordination of openly homosexual priests and bishops, as well as an anti-biblical view of gender roles. Here is how Ruth Gledhill of The Times (London) reported the proceedings of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA: The Episcopal Church in America descended into chaos last night after leading bishops on both the liberal and conservative wings disassociated themselves from a last-gasp effort to avert a schism with the worldwide Anglican Communion. Just hours after its newly elected woman head preached a sermon in praise of "our mother Jesus," the Episcopal Church agreed to "exercise restraint" in appointing any more gay bishops after a tense day of debate and argument.

This is the kind of theological insanity and foolishness that has developed after a group, long ago, rejected God's Word as the absolute source of truth. We cannot allow our seminaries or colleges to slip into this well worn pattern of rejecting the truth of God's Word. In his new book, Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity, Dave Shiflett tells the story of one young seminary student, in a liberal denominational seminary, who found himself consistently at odds with his professors. Another student said to him, "We have figured out your problem. You're the only one here who believes in God."

Could this be why these same mainline denominations are in a decline nosedive? According to a 2000 study by the Glenmary Research Center, the Presbyterian Church USA declined 11.6% over the previous decade. The Episcopal Church lost 5.3% and the United Church of Christ watched as 14.8% of its members walked away. On the other side of the vast theological divide, most conservative denominations are growing. The Conservative Presbyterian Church of America [PCA} grew 42.4% in the same decade. The Christian Missionary Alliance grew 21.8%, Evangelical Free Church grew 57.2%, Assemblies of God increased 18.5%, and Southern Baptist grew 5%.

What lessons should we learn? First, God does not need denominations; denominations need God. The true church of the Lord Jesus Christ can be found in many different denominations and non-denominations. Denominations, at their best, are often wonderful examples of Christian unity in purpose. Together, we can do what few alone can accomplish in God's kingdom. Yet, we must guard our association with one another. We must be diligent to maintain fidelity to the inerrant Word of God. We must not allow ourselves to slip down the slope of theological liberalism.

Pray for our church to be “salt and light” in this decaying culture. Pray that we will offer hope to all people that can only be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ed Litton

Someone is Watching Us

It is called the Apology of Aristides.  It was written around 125 A.D., during the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian.   Aristide presented
this set of observations and defense of Christianity by giving a glimpse
of the lifestyle and behavior of early Christians.  The observations are clear and profound. 

"But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search,
have found the truth; and as we learned from their writings, they have
come nearer to truth and genuine knowledge than the rest of the
nations. For they know and trust in God, the Creator of heaven and of
earth, in whom and from whom are all things, to whom there is no other
god as companion, from whom they received commandments which they
engraved upon their minds and observe in hope and expectation of the
world which is to come. Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor
fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in
pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honour father and mother,
and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges,
they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of
man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them,
they do not to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols
they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease
(lit: comfort) and make them their friends; they do good to their
enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their
daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren
after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever
one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to
his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if
they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on
account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to
his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free.
And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have
no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the
needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah
with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God
commanded them. Every morning and every hour they give thanks and
praise to God for His loving-kindnesses toward them; and for their food
and their drink they offer thanksgiving to Him. And if any righteous
man among them passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to
God; and they escort his body as if he were setting out from one place
to another near. And when a child has been born to one of them, they
give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in childhood, they
give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through the
world without sins. And further if they see that any one of them dies
in his ungodliness or in his sins, for him they grieve bitterly, and
sorrow as for one who goes to meet his doom."

Our greatest Christian apologetic is our way of life.  May modern Christians impact our generation with such powerful evidence of the life changing power of Jesus Christ.

Ignoring the Will of the American People

This week, 48 U.S. Senators voted against giving the people of the United States the opportunity to express their will to limit the institution of marriage to one man and one woman.  The failure to get 60 votes to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution is evidence that there are many in Washington who choose to ignore the
will of the American people.  I would rather not have to amend our constitution to declare what has been obvious for thousands of years, however, I believe we should do so because of the far-reaching arm of the courts to force the will of a few upon the whole.

This is a clear case of social engineering on the part of some in the courts. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona has indicated that he thinks this is an issue for the states to decide.  Well, Senator, what good does it do for a state to make such a decision only to have a federal court override the will of the people?  In Lawrence vs. Texas the Supreme Court overrode the will of the people of Texas and, in doing so, struck down every sodomy law in every state.

When Senators go back home for reelection, they will not likely make legalizing same sex marriage their top priority.  The truth is that they read polls and they know the mood of the country.  The deeper problem is that  the U.S. Senate refuses to hold the court accountable. By not holding the court’s power in check, they allow our nation to slip away from a democratic republic and slide toward an oligarchy.  In our Constitutional government, the United States Senate is the first line of defense against a tyrannical judiciary.  Many U.S. Senators surrendered their responsibility a long time ago.  They have allowed the courts to gain power and take a great many messy social issues off of their backs.  In doing so, some Senators won reelection and grew in influence and power, but the will of the people paid the price.  Mr. Lincoln, I am afraid that government by the people, for the people, is fading away.

Nevertheless, our duty is to hold our representatives accountable. Keep expressing your opinions to your Senators, holding them accountable and demand that they fulfill their constitutional duty to hold the courts accountable.  If they refuse find people who will serve the greater good and replace them through the ballot box. We did not really expect to win the Marriage Amendment the first time it went to the floor of the Senate.  We will need to go back again and again until it passes and the people have a right to be heard.

Ed Litton

God is Love!

I was traveling on Interstate 65, heading into Mobile, when a car passed me with a thought-provoking bumper sticker.  It simply read "Love Wins!"  My first thought was, “That really depends on your definition of the first word.”  I wonder how the guy behind the wheel understands the word “love”.  In English, we have one well-worn word for love, while the Greeks had several words for it.  They had a word for the love between fiends, love for close family and love in the sexual sense.  Then they had the cu-de-graw of words for love, “agape”, God's kind of love.

I have been somewhat philosophical lately, so forgive my mental gymnastics.  I started talking to the guy in the car in front of me. "Hey, what do you mean by love?  How would you define the word love?" Do you define it like the Ancient Greeks, who saw love as eros, erotic sexual love, brotherly love or family love?  (I know most normal people don't talk to the automobiles passing them on the interstate. I actually feel better about doing this now that everyone uses cell phones, because if someone sees me they are less likely to think me insane.)

The definition of love is critical to the bumper sticker’s truth. If it is a definition of any kind of love except God's agape love, it fails.  God's kind of self-sacrificing love always wins.  I once heard that all forms of human love can and are abused.  The only love that cannot be abused is God's kind of love.  It is also the only love that heals the abuses of the other kinds of love.

1 John 4:16 states, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."  Notice that John says; "God is love." I wonder, does love define God or does God define love?   I was traveling another road earlier this year to a speaking engagement.  I passed a church sign with a statement that was so wrong.  It said: "God is Love and Love is God!"  This is wrong because love cannot define God.  That phrase is not theologically interchangeable.  By whatever definition of love you choose, you can define God as a sexual god or a god of certain emotions.  If love defines God, then you can make God into almost anything, even perverted things.   We would not have an objective standard love with all of its depth and intensity, were it not for God's demonstration of love.  God defines love. 

When you doubt if anyone loves you, look to the greatest expression of love for you, the cross.  Yes, God is love, and we know what love is and rely on it, because God demonstrated His love for us in this, Christ died for us. God is Love!  I would not know real love or understand what little I do were it not defined by my awesome God!  Yes, my bumper sticker friend, "Love (God's kind of love) Wins!"

Ed Litton

A Hard Altar

Why did the Old Testament patriarchs build altars from stones?  The stones were gathered and piled for a place of worship.  You could theorize that it was a readily available material, and that may be true, but there is a deeper reason.  God insisted that the only suitable material for building an altar of worship were made by God, not made by man.  Exodus 20:25 states, "If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it."

There is something else about stones that is important, they are hard. When Jacob went to bed on his journey away from home, he use a stone as a pillow.  It was the ultimate metaphor for Jacob's situation, he was between a rock and a hard place. Stones are symbols of the hard things in our lives; hard problems and hard circumstances. Sometimes they stack up, and when they do we seldom consider them to be something that helps us worship the Lord. Yet, that is exactly what the hard things in life do for us. 

Stack your hard problems as a place of offering and worship to the Lord. While this is not your first impulse when it comes to trials, the scripture shows us to do it nonetheless.  At that altar you will offer the sacrifice of praise.  You will call upon the name of your Lord in tears trusting that He is the God of hard things and the God who uses our most crushing moments to release His greatest power and glory.  Get honest before the Lord and get busy stacking up the hard things.   You will meet the Lord at that painful place.

Ed Litton

Jacob hears the voice of the Lord Artist: SANDYS, Anthony Frederick 1881

Jesus knows

Jesus preached what He practiced. I get to practice what I preach. To
be a preacher requires that, out of necessity, you preach truth that you
have not had the opportunity to fully live out. Like the prophets of
old, at times you say the truth and do not fully understand what you
are saying. Then there are rare and amazing moments when what you are
preaching is an echo of what you are living. You live with a constant
sense that Rod Serling will step out from around the corner and say:
"There is a place, beyond sight and sound, beyond imagination. Ed
Litton, a mild mannered preacher, is living a sermon he did not write.
Be careful as you pass the signpost up ahead, because this is the Grace
Zone."

Our family is going through a challenging time right now. A fear has
been realized and Satan has made an attempt to kill, steal and destroy.
Thanks be unto our Lord Jesus Christ for His grace that is supervising
our lives in these days. We are grateful for a wonderful church family
and friends who know what it means to love and be real. We are
learning that God's grace is truly amazing as we face one day at a
time. As a part of the consequences of our trial, my son and I need to
travel by airplane on short notice. I have enough frequent flyer miles
to get us there under normal circumstances. What are normal
circumstances for an airlines these days? We attempted several
different ways to get the tickets within two days of our travel date.
The price was astronomical and the number of required frequent flyer
points doubled. I called the airlines and the person on the other end
said that it would be impossible to reduce the required amount. I
understood, but I asked if I could speak to a supervisor.

A few minutes passed and then a sweet sounding voice announced that her name was Nina. "I need to travel with my son who is in a crisis, but I
only have the normal amount of flyer miles. Can you help?" There was a
long pause. "Mr. Litton, do you still live in Saraland, Alabama?"
"Yes Ma'am?" "Well, sir about seven years ago, I took my daughter to a
drug rehab facility in your community and her life was forever changed.
As a matter of fact, she came to know Christ as her savior in that
facility and was baptized in your church." I was stunned and I knew
that God's grace was at work. "Mr. Litton, this is a highly irregular
request and we seldom do this, but I have the authority to reduce the
requirement, so let me book your reservations now." I wept. I am holding back the emotion even now as I write this. I am amazed by His grace and I see it everywhere I turn.

When and if your nightmares become reality, or when you think the other
foot will drop, do not fear. God is faithful and will provide His all
sufficient grace to you. If you are His child, He knows what you need
before you know. The Bible says that Jesus needed no one to tell him
what was in man (John 2:25). He knows. In Matthew 6, Jesus asked why
we worry about food, drink and clothing. "For the pagans run after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."
(Matt. 6:32) The Lord knows what you will need and he knows how to make a way, even when there seems to be no way.

Trust His Grace!
Ed Litton

The End of Innocence

I am in no position to declare it for everyone, but I am convinced by the evidence before me that we are experiencing the end of innocence.  The gradual mainstreaming of adult-child sex, once unthinkable, is becoming acceptable in America.  How?  Beginning with Mary Kay Letourneau and followed by hundreds of cases from every part of the country, teacher-student sexual activity is now epidemic.  It seems that  more and more voices are calling for the decriminalization of sexual conduct between adults and minors. In one study there were 225 cases of teacher-student sex in New York.  Additionally, 159  coaches from the state of Washington were reprimanded for sexual misconduct.  A 2004 study shows that many school districts are making confidential agreements with abusers who agree to quietly resign.*  The "non-victimized" teen male leads the parade of double standards.  He is seen as a conquering male, not a victim of innocence theft.

Bruce Hornsby has written a masterful song that woefully laments the end of innocence.  His song raises many questions and offers a vagueness that requires your own imagination. Yet, his lyrics are painfully clear that the root of this epidemic which robs our children's innocence is in the home.
Remember when the days were long and rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world with mommy and daddy standin’ by
But happily ever after fails and we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details since daddy had to fly

I do not believe marriages that last “happily ever after" are the fairy tales by which we have been poisoned, but rather the idea that happiness is now found outside of marital faithfulness. I also believe that we have been poisoned by the fairy tale called the sexual revolution.  It's the strangest revolution I've ever studied.  All the rebels not only shoot their compatriots, but they shoot themselves as well.  They never lay siege on the real problem as they run rampant changing the definition of freedom into license, all the while calling it a revolution. 

Hornsby's song suggest we offer up our best defense. What is our best defense?  Get whatever help you can find and stay at the marriage until “happily ever after” returns.  It has proven to come back rather quickly to those who refuse to throw away their hope.  Show your kids that you've not been poisoned by a fairy tale, but invigorated by a dream that can still come true.

We must mount a defense against the madness of sexual perversion. We must put an end to our passivity with our leaders and demand that they are responsible partners with parents in the protection of the innocence of children.  They must adopt a creed similar to the Hippocratic Oath, "First, do no harm!"  Demand more of leaders who want to tolerate those who strip children of their innocence. Start by demanding tougher sentencing for child predators, and let’s not forget that female teachers who groom young boys and girls for sex are predators, not mentors.

Hornsby's lyrics wishfully claim, "I know a place we can go and wash away this sin.”  I have good news.  There is a place where sin can be washed away.  There are too many places where sin can be hidden, justified, excused and even encouraged, but only one where they can be washed away.  That place is at the foot of an old and rugged cross and the blood of Jesus has the power to wash the vilest sin and restore the sweetest innocence.

This is no fairy tale!
Ed Litton

*What's Behind Today's Epidemic of Teacher-Student Sex?  by David Kupelian, 2006, Whistleblower, March 2006.  WorldNetDaily.com  p.9

Art Work
Snap the Whip by Winslow Homer 1872
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Peace of God

If we are not vigilant, the Christian life can become little different
than a pragmatic experience.  God gives all of us powers of logic and reason, but we can easily slip into overconfidence of those proven tools.  Joshua and the men who led Israel are examples of such overconfidence.

Fresh on the heals of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat at Ai,
Joshua encountered a strange group of people.  They appeared to have
traveled a great distance.  Their clothing, worn-out packs, near
empty water-skins and dry and dusty food provisions proved their
claim.    Joshua and his men investigated them to the full extent of
human logic.  They even tasted their bread.   However, these men weren’t from a distant land, but were, in fact, from a very close location. God had forbidden Joshua from making a pack with any nearby residents.

Logic cleared all the warning lights from their minds.  These men
claimed to be from far away and wanted to make peace with Israel.
The subtle nature of this claim seemed to puff up the pride of the
leaders of Israel.  A distant people had heard of their greatness and
longed to make a peace accord.  (It is interesting how Satan spices his
deception with just enough ego-pleasing information that we are ready
to bite.)  Joshua 9:14 says: "The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD."

What distinguishes the child of God from others?  It is inquiring
of the LORD.  We have an intimate kinship with the LORD that allows and demands that we check with Him in the crucible of decision making.  Are you sampling the provisions of some claimant, testing them to the full extent of your logical powers, but stopping before you inquire of the LORD?  I do not know how God would have responded to Joshua's request had he prayed, but I am confident that He would have made Himself clear.  Sometimes God uses the simple lack of peace in a
situation to be a warning.  We cannot abandon the God-given tools of logic and reason, believing that God's will is more often reasonable than not.  However, we must not fail to inquire of the LORD.

Colossians 3:15 says:   "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be
thankful."  We get our English word “umpire” from this word for
"rule." 

Picture this:  there you are, standing on third base of a decision. You’re
reading the pitcher and the catcher.  The batter hits the ball to short
stop, and you bolt for the home plate.  As you run with all your might,
the ball is zinging through the air heading for the same place you’re heading.  You dive and your fingers slide across home plate the very moment the ball slaps the leather catcher’s mitt.  Who calls it?  The umpire! 

When you face a tough decision and you've sampled the provisions and read all the signs, remember you’re still not finished.  Pray and seek the LORD for His wisdom and will in the matter.  He can speak in any number of ways, but His voice is always accompanied by His peace.  Dissonance is a indication that either you are not ready or it is not God's will for you.  At that moment, you have to decide to trust His peace.

Phil. 4:7   And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Ed Litton

There Is An Arizona!

I am a sucker for a good country song. My son Tyler and I were eating in a restaurant while a country hit from a few years ago played above us. When we got home that evening, I downloaded the song onto my ipod.  The artist's name is Jamie O'Neal, and her song is called "There Is No Arizona". It is a woeful melody of a young woman left in the big city by a guy who made a lot of promises about a new life with him in Arizona. In fact, as the song warbles, she fears everything is a lie. She receives postcards, but the promises never become reality. There are so many lies that she could fill the Grand Canyon with them. As you can tell,the only thing setting this country hit apart from the standard format is the absence of a brief time of incarceration. Nevertheless, I have had a hard time getting that song out of my head. One reason is that I have spent a lot of time in the places mentioned in the song; places like Tombstone, the Painted Desert, and Sadona. I found myself talking back to the broken-hearted girl singing the song and saying  "Yes, there is an Arizona.  I have been to all of those places. They are usually hot, but they are real and they are beautiful. 
 
The reality is that we live and work with people who are broken hearted. Sometimes they cover it well, and sometimes they wear it like a country song. We all know people who say they don't believe there is a place called heaven or that there is a God who truly loves. Their fear is that they could fill the Grand Canyon with perceived lies and broken promises. Sometimes they tear up the postcards of the gospel sent to them, but in truth, they really want to believe, but they are afraid. They are afraid that God might not love them because He knows what they've done.  

Pray for them and keep sending the postcards of the gospel. Keep telling them about a God who keeps His promises and who, as Paul the Apostle said, cannot lie. When Paul wrote a postcard to a man named Titus he said that his faith was based upon a knowledge and hope of eternal life... "...which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time." (Titus 1:2) 
 
Yes, Jamie there is an Arizona with a painted desert, Grand Canyon and Sadona, but greater still, there is a Heaven.  Most  importantly, there is a God who cannot lie, and He has a life planned for you. If you know this reality, send someone a postcard today! 
 
Ed Litton 

Why are Liberals Sweating?

Even though global warming seems to garner almost unending press coverage, that’s not what makes social liberals sweat.  What is making them sweat with worry?  Two events took place last week that could make liberals afraid, very afraid.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, more than 25,000 evangelical youth gathered in San Francisco for a rally to resist popular culture. Battle Cry for a Generation is led by 44 year old Ron Luce, founder of Teen Mania, a Christian Student Ministry.  Luce wants the Bible to guide young people away from the corrupting influence of popular culture. With very little national media attention, the group was met by protesters dressed in drag, demanding that the group leave the city. In an unprecedented move, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning the teen gathering as an "act of provocation" by what it termed "anti-gay, anti-choice" organizations that aimed to "negatively influence the politics of America's most tolerant and progressive city."  Stop the press!  Did you catch that?  “... the most tolerant city in America?“  They are tolerant of every form of perversion, but not tolerant of a group of teenagers in love with Jesus.  The young people were met by protesters at a City Hall rally earlier last week.  The two groups were separated by barricades and six feet of neutral sidewalk in front of the City Hall that was the backdrop of gay marriages a year earlier.  On one side of the barricade was girl carrying a sign that said, "Instead of porn, show us Godly relationships." On the other, a woman held a sign that said, "I moved here to get away from people like you."

The second sign that liberals may be sweating like Richard Nixon's upper lip also took place in San Francisco.  Famed film producer George Lucas was in town to receive the "Global Vision Award" by the World Affairs Council.  In his acceptance speech, Lucas called for a "more worldly Hollywood."  (You've got to be kidding!)  Lucas was encouraging a new generation of film makers to produce films that reflect world values more than America's "provincial" values.   Lucas said: "An onus is on film makers to be careful with the messages they send, because they speak "with a very loud voice."   George is right.  The onus is on film makers to understand the power of film in influencing entire generations and cultures.

We need filmmakers to make movies that bring a compelling message of hope to their generation.  We need young people to take a stand and show the world that they will not tolerate the sick and perverted tactics of the proceeding generation.   We need people who will fight for their generation in order to save themselves from the self-serving clutch of their predecessors.  We need more than 25,000 Christian teen, but it’s a good start.

While these stories may have escaped mainstream media attention, I think they have not escaped the liberals. The response of the Board of Supervisors and Lucas may indicate the first signs of liberal perspiration.  They may have miscalculated a new generation of Americans and their willingness to resist popular culture.  Rise up, youth, and fight for your generation!  Do not be shouted down by those who see themselves as the most progressive and tolerant people in America.  They are neither and in their hypocrisy, they know it.

Ed Litton

Whose Party Is It?

It has to be one of the most compelling stories ever told. It is often called the story of the “Prodigal Son,” but Jesus never called it that. In its context, it is much more than a story about a lost boy who finds his way back home. Jesus told this story in response to a group of Pharisees and religious leaders who were murmuring about the fact that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. The religious leaders loved having control over the dinner invitation list. They were very picky about those with whom they ate and had fellowship.

You know the story; it’s pretty familiar to all of us. At its conclusion, Jesus told how the Father hired a band and killed the fatted calf in celebration of the return of his younger son. The older son returned from working in the fields, heard the celebration and smelled the barbecue. He soon learned that his sinful brother had not only returned, but was restored by the father. The party was in celebration of this fact. He was indignant and refused to go in. To some, grace is not amazing, it's irritating.

The Father went to the angry son and pleaded with him, but he refused to join the celebration. The older son then offered the Father a detailed laundry list of all of the younger son’s misdeed, and indicted the father for throwing a party to celebrate the sinful lifestyle and easy return of the son. He was wrong. The celebration was not for the lost son; not for the wasted years of his life. The celebration was the fathers. Luke 15:32 says: "But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' " The party was the father's party.

In the two earlier portions of this one parable, the Bible tells us that, like a lost sheep, when one sinner is found there is great rejoicing in heaven. When a woman found a lost coin, it says that there was great rejoicing in the presence of the angels. The party is God's party. He does not celebrate the failures of our lives, but instead celebrates the repentance of our lives. He celebrates when one sinner has his fill of “the pods that the pigs eat” and comes to himself. Heaven is full of rejoicing, but the “religious” seldom know such celebration.

Oddly enough, Jesus ended the story without a conclusion, as if to say, “If you want to know how the story ends, then write your own conclusion.” Will you be like the “religious”, who refuse to celebrate the repentance of sinners? Will you be like the Father who is compelled to celebrate. God celebrates when one comes to Christ.

My burden is that the latest statistics indicate that it takes 411 Southern Baptists per year to win one person to faith in Christ. That seems to be a high number of people standing outside with their arms crossed. Nothing, and I mean nothing invigorates your spiritual life like winning someone to faith in Christ. Maybe we have made the same mistake that the older brother made, and we started thinking that the celebration was about us. In fact it is the Father's celebration and we are invited! Come on in. It’s a blast!

Ed Litton

A Two-Man Nuclear Submarine

Life's lessons in finance and disappointment all came at the same time for me.  When I was a child, my brother and I were always looking for opportunities to have an adventure.  We played in our barn, swinging like Tarzan, and, unbeknownst to our parents, actually dabbled in several attempts at manned flight.  In between school and bedtime, most of our childhood was spent barefoot, running the green hills of East Tennessee.  When BB guns were introduced to us, we caused much trouble.   (We are still a little hesitant to share all of our adventures with our guns, because we're a little fuzzy about the Statute of Limitations in various states.)

With that background, you can understand why an advertisement on the back page of a comic book caught our attention. The page that usually showed the prizes one could win by selling Grit Magazine had a new display that was big, beautiful and inviting.    It wasn't some phony-baloney "Sea Monkey" or "Ant Farm" - this was real!  It was a true-to-life, two-man, Polaris Nuclear Submarine.  It was, it seemed, our destiny.  Our fertile minds, full of imagination, could see ourselves exploring the depths of the pond on our farm.  We could see ourselves negotiating rivers and hunting for lost treasure in our very own, two-man submarine.

Now, I have heard that in the development process of boys, there are certain portions of the brain that develop later than girls.  If that is true, then our frontal lobes were the size of half a peanut.  Here we were, living on a farm in East Tennessee, hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean, believing that a truck would unload a two-man, mini submarine.  We didn't bother to tell our parents about our plans as we filled out the form and placed it carefully in an envelope, stuffed with $6.98, plus shipping in small, negotiable notes and coinage. We mailed it to the ACME "Fraud" Company of Lynbrook, New York.

At what point does a boy start to connect the dots of logic and reason?  We may never know the answer to some of life's great mysteries.  However, imagine the surprise on our faces when the package arrived with the full and complete contents of our two-man submarine. Although the package was fairly long, it was definitely too thin to contain what the picture on the advertisement had promised.  In such states of shock and awe, a person may tend to reason their way around the obvious disappointment.  "Maybe this small, thin box is just the nuclear guidance system,"  we reasoned.   Right!  We were still
cautious believers as we tore into the box.  It was only then that we discovered that not only did that cardboard box contain the entire two-man submarine, it was, in fact, a vital part of the vessel.  You see, to our grave disappointment we had purchased a cardboard, two-man submarine.

I make wiser choices in my financial life than I did forty years ago.  Life can be filled with serious disappointments, and in the financial world, there are plenty of opportunities for adventure, risk and danger.  Yet, one sure thing I have found is tithing.  When I give the tithe to the storehouse of my local church, I am investing in something far sturdier than a cardboard submarine.  I am, in a real way, participating in something that will last for eternity.  I can promise that you will make a huge difference in someone's life who needs Jesus.  Your giving now will make room for others in the future.  Your giving may help little boys and girls not only come to know Christ, but learn how to make wise choices.

Anchors Away,
Ed Litton

What Did We Expect?

One of the epic moments in American history occurred and passed like the tremor of an earthquake. I felt it watching the nightly news with my father. There were more aftershocks as I rode the school bus to my seventh grade class the next day. The really odd thing was that no one else seemed to feel them. My friends shrugged their 13 year old shoulders as if to say, “so what?” My pastor at church said nothing about it. My teachers dismissed my uncomfortable questions, and drew the attention of the students back to the chalkboard. I noticed that most other dads in our circle of friends along with fellow church members were not nearly as concerned as my father.

A moral earthquake hit the whole country in January 1973, and my father knew it right away. It was as if my father had his own seismic-sensing devise that alerted him to danger. The moral earthquake was the Supreme Courts decision known as Roe v. Wade. We are all now fully aware, or so we think, of the ever-widening implications of this judicial event.
I grew up in a home in which my father insisted that we talk about the most gut-wrenching issues of our times over dinner. This practice could seriously challenge one’s ability to digest properly. I have, more than once, been stopped “mid-chew” with a piece of very unappetizing information. It was at one of those meals that my father explained the possible impact of this decision upon future generations. He ended the conversation the way he often did by looking at his two sons and saying, “Boys, I fear for your future.” Thirty years later, his instinct seems prophetic.

One somewhat unexpected consequence of “Roe” is the impact on the American father. It left him with a drifting and aimless sense of “manhood.” Syndicated columnist Mona Charen points out that Matt Dubay of Saginaw, Michigan, was ordered to pay $500 per month in child support for a daughter he admits to fathering with his ex-girlfriend. He is now fighting the judgment in court arguing that it is unconstitutional to force parenthood upon him in a way that the courts cannot and would not force upon a woman. Those who survive Roe and make through gestation to birth now grow up to face a world where their self-centered sexuality is a “right.” Women become the sole-arbiters over the life and death of the next generation (often as a matter of convenience) and men bear little more than forced responsibility. Now Mr. Dubay and those who plead his case argue that this is “constitutionally unfair.”

The feminists may scream, but who will listen? They and their political policy-making partners have been codifying the rejection of responsibility for decades. As Mona Charen states: “It should come as no surprise that men are inclined to do the same.”

My dad did not have the privilege of a high school diploma because World War II came at an inconvenient time. Nevertheless, he had a biblical worldview. The Bible demands responsibility and promises ultimate consequences for those seeking to shirk it. Today, some would call that kind of document antiquated.

It is time for people to listen to those fathers who sit at those kitchen tables and bear a burden for their children’s future. The father must teach his children that there are severe and lasting consequences to every human action, especially those which violate what scripture holds sacred.

Ed Litton

Survivorman

Have you seen the latest cable television show called Survivorman? It is a gritty reality show about a man named Les Stroud. Les goes into extreme situations with no food, no shelter, no water or tools and survives for seven days. Oh yeah, he is also a one-man camera crew. He lugs over fifty pounds of camera equipment, which means it takes him twice as long to walk out of harm’s way. He has survived swamps, rainforests, deserts, open seas and the frozen tundra of Canada. It is fascinating to watch him find drinking water, eat scorpions, escape from bears and peel a snake before eating it. You can learn a lot about survival watching Survivorman.

The natural question then arises, where do you go to learn about other kinds of male survival. What techniques will help the survival of several endangered species such as “Faithful Fatherman”, “Masculine Role-Modelman”, and ”Honest Man”? Can these survive? The answer is “yes.”

The ultimate survivorman to watch is Jesus Christ. Jesus does not show us how to just survive, but how to thrive. Les Stroud has immediate credibility with guys because he always “goes it alone.” It seems to be a pretty common daydream for men to see themselves in some dire situation beating the odds. While this may make for interesting television, it’s not the way of the Lord. Jesus refuses to let you go it alone. He is the ultimate model of manhood. He fulfilled God’s purpose, lived for his bride (the Church) and gave Himself away serving others.

Sure, it is impressive to watch Les eat an entire rabbit or grub for insects to survive. It is more inspiring to watch a man face down a thirty-year mortgage, explain sex to a thirteen year old without a hint of impurity, endure the trials of office politics, or hold the line of truth for a teenager who is testing the very material of that cord. Watching a man fight for his marriage, raise a family, or apologize to an offended friend is every bit as impressive as watching Survivorman. Hats off to the real survivorman that lives next door and never fails to load up a family on Sunday to go to church. He is the real survivorman.

If you know a man like this, tell him what you respect about him and encourage him to keep striving. The survival of many depends upon him.

Ed Litton

America Needs This Kind of Miracle

What we need is nothing short of a miracle.  The current condition of the American family is dire.  The culture is a verifiable mess.  The hope for our future diminishes daily.  Yet, the prospect for change, real change, is here.  I refuse to give up hope for a reformation of the American family and father.  Why?  Because of what happened in the lives of my parents, Harry and Sue Litton.

They were married in 1956, and it did not take long for them to realize that their marriage was in trouble, primarily due to my father’s alcoholism.  Two boys and a mortgage simply added pressure to the inevitable explosion that took place ten years later.  Their marriage was on the rocks, my father’s drinking was out of control and the Litton family was soon to become a statistic. 

My father had been on an extended drinking binge.  My mother escaped
with my brother and I in tow.  Armed with a new perspective, she planned
to leave my father and start a new life.  We went home to get our
things and the plan was to leave him and head for California.  We found my father lying beneath a bed in our guest room.  He had been on a drinking binge that had lasted several weeks and was close to death.  He whispered a simple request for us to take him to  a man who offered him hope in Jesus Christ.  The man's name was Charlie Jones, the pastor of Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.  In that pastor's office we watched a man slowly get on his knees and invite Jesus Christ into his heart.  He stood up sober, new and changed.  The dramatic change became increasingly  apparent as each new day dawned.  He was a new man.

As a pastor I am cautious not to build up false hope in hurting people.
However, I must tell you that what happened to us was neither simple nor easy, but it was revolutionary and it saved us.  Not every person who struggles with substance abuse has the same experience, but Harry Litton certainly did.  God changed his heart, his desires and his mind.  His appetite for God's Word was ravenous.  He grew and became a father to his sons.

This week we celebrated the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my father and mother.  In the presence of good friends, we took time to thank
God for saving the Litton family.  We also thanked Him for the years of
ministry my parents have had loving and leading people to Jesus.  The
salvation of one solitary man has had a tremendous impact on our
family, as well as countless other lives touched by my father and
mother.  I am grateful for the change that God made in one man's life.
I am also grateful for the hope that if one man changes, a family can
be saved and a community can be transformed and a nation can be
revived.  It happens one man at a time.



Ed Litton

Powerball Lottery Winner

It is becoming so common that most of us pay little attention to it. The "it" I speak of is the national lottery craze that garners such media attention.  This time it was the largest lottery in history that gave Americans another opportunity to strike it rich to the tune of$365 million.  Some "lucky" guy won it all.

Why are so many fascinated by the opportunity to strike it rich?  Perhaps they believe the sweet promise of instant wealth because they think riches will satisfy the longing of their hearts.  They think wealth will cure their current struggles.  They believe there are quick answers to long term problems.  They are deceived.  In reality, the pursuit of riches robs them of the present in exchange for a distant and unlikely dream. 

Consider what the latest study indicates: seventy percent of those who win these big cash prizes go on to lead anything but an enviable life.  In short order, seventy percent wind up broke.  They experience what Jack Whittaker, who won $315 million in 2002, experienced.  He is now not only broke, he is in debt.  He has had repeated run-ins with the law and tragically lost his granddaughter to a drug overdose.  Bud Post calls the lottery he won "The Lottery of Death."  His life turned sour after winning $16.2 million. 

What happens to people who win the lottery?  Often, families sue one another.  Divorce becomes common.  One discovers long lost relatives previously unknown.  In fact, the best way to do a quick genealogy of your family tree is to win one of these mega-jackpots.  Why does all this happen?  It is too easy to label these winners as "poor suckers" or just bad money managers.  Yet, I believe there is a deeper problem. 

Jesus went straight to the issue.  A few years ago, a pseudo-theologian claimed that Jesus never addressed gambling or lotteries.  I beg to differ.  In Mark 4:18-19, Jesus told the parable of the four soils.  He described different receptions to the word of God.  "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Spiritual growth is hindered by the deceitfulness  and the desire for riches; an obsession for things chokes out the good seed, the word of God.

In all the hoopla about big jackpots, I wonder if anyone will study the impact of money used to purchase an extra lottery ticket rather than milk for a child.  How many loaves of bread are not purchased  because a ”chance” was bought?  How many churches and charity groups will pay a power bill for a family in need due to lottery fever?  The Bible is clear; a father is the chief provider in the home.  A father must base his provision on honest work and faith in God when there is need. First Timothy 5:8 warns us, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

Things are important and even necessary, but they are also spiritual distractions when we cannot be satisfied.  Jesus said that riches are deceitful.  Give thanks for what you have and in many cases for what you don't have.

Ed Litton

Recover Everything

I recently attended a meeting in our nation's capital for pro-life, pro-family leaders. The organizers of the meeting had a noble goal. They wanted to find a couple of issues in which the various groups represented could unify in order to have some victories. One leader would announce an important issue they thought was worth attacking and had the possibility of regaining some ground, but almost instantly another would express why their group could not support it. It was a very long meeting, and while very little was accomplished, eventually some agreements did emerge.

As I traveled back home, my mind was in a wrestling match. More than the feeling that I had just wasted a day, I struggled with the idea that the best minds and most noted leaders could not agree on a few issues that could produce a victory. The meeting closed with a passionate appeal from a man who seeks to evangelize young people. "We are losing this war; we are losing this generation," he exclaimed.

A few weeks later, while studying for a sermon on the life of King David, I came to 1 Samuel 30. David was living in an extended period of spiritual drought. Running from Saul but tired of living in a cave, he began living among his enemies. This period of David's life is marked by spiritual dryness. He does not pray or write a song of praise for eighteen months.

David and his men were returning home to their families, only to find that their hometown has been sacked. They were shocked and demoralized. The sight of their homes burning and their wives and children taken captive caused David's men to weep out loud. The pathos of this moment was all too real, and soon the angry men considered killing David. This trauma kicked David out of his spiritual funk. He prayed and sought God. God told David to pursue those who stole their families, the Amalakites.

David pursued the ancient kidnappers and it appears that their pursuit was just in the nick of time. The pagan Amalakites were getting ready to rape the Hebrew wives and offer their children as sacrifices. David and his men attacked. (This is where it gets good!) Verse eighteen tells us that David recovered everything the Amalakites had taken." (NIV) When I read this verse I began shouting, "Thank you Jesus!" Sitting in a room in Washington D.C. with some of Evangelical Christianity's best minds who showed little consensus as to how we might win on a few issues had left me discouraged, if not depressed. Yet, when David prayed and turned from his own spiritual dryness and then acted, he recovered everything.

There is something powerfully motivating in seeing our home burning and our families carried away. It compels fathers to quick action. But I ask you, which is worse: seeing your community burning and knowing that your wives and little ones are in the hands of terrorists, or losing one family at a time? Either can be paralyzing. It must be similar to what the World War II Prisoners of War experienced on the Island of Bataan in the Philippines.

In 1941, 70,000 sick and starving American and Filipino prisoners were forced to march 100 kilometers by their captors. As they marched, many were beaten or shot. This is known as the infamous Bataan Death March. Knowing that someone will be lost every mile makes the thought of revolt suppressed as we reason that it might not happen to us. Fathers, wake up, find strength in the Lord, and move now to recover everything the enemy has stolen!

“Oh, Lord in Heaven, give us fathers who will ride through the night and recover everything. Small battles, winnable and otherwise must be fought, but we are in a battle of a lifetime for our families. Raise up men who see this and who will not be satisfied with a few small victories, but only with the recovery of everything.”

Ed Litton

Founding Fathers

Historical revisionists have gone to great lengths to assert that most
of the founders were deists, agnostics or atheists.  While researching
another subject this week, I stumbled onto something that challenges
this claim. The two founding fathers considered to be most
influenced by “rational thought” are Benjamin Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed these men, along
with John Adams, to design a national seal for our new, freshly declared
independent nation.  Their personal notes, held in the Library of
Congress, indicate that Franklin wanted a depiction of the Biblical
story of the crossing of the Red Sea, while Jefferson thought that the
pillar of fire and the cloud that led Israel through the desert was a
more fitting symbol.  It wasn't a heated debate.  As a matter of fact,
they agreed to show the crossing of the Red Sea with the Egyptian army
being carried away by the sea and the pillar of fire in the background.
The first great seal of the United States of America had the
inscription: "REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD."   Not bad for a couple of agnostics and deists.
It seems the truth, which sets people free, can also ruin a lot of unsubstantiated claims. One thing is obvious; these great fathers of our Republic knew the Bible and its clear message that God does intervene in the affairs of men.  Maybe all fathers should be founding fathers who create symbols for their children that recall the faithfulness of God and give a vision of Him moving in our lives.

Rebellion to tyrannical ideas is still obedience to God!
Ed Litton

It May Not Be About You

When we face a trial, it is quite natural to wonder and even question, “Why me?” In fact, if you are a father or mother, let me suggest that your trial has more to do with your children than it has to do with you. Why would God allow a trial of faith for our children’s sake? The short answer is that they may see real faith exercised in a real God. Why is this important? Because this is one way real faith is transferred from one generation to the next. It is estimated that eighty percent of churchgoing young people leave the church after they graduate from high school. They leave regular church attendance never to return. No business could tolerate eighty percent losses each year and survive. There are some biblical patterns from which we can learn that demonstrate for us how faith is successfully passed from one generation to the next. That is the purpose of this blog.
First, it is important to make a point that pertains to our everyday experiences. When we face trials of any kind we often desire to face them alone. It is instinctive to protect our children from the harsh blasts of difficulty. This may be the instinct of a parent, but it is not wise to assume this is how God wants us to respond. Relax! I am not suggesting that we throw our children into danger. I am suggesting that God intends that we shepherd them through trials together.
The People of God, after watching the Death Angel pass over them in Egypt, moved out from under Pharaoh’s grip, and it did not take long before they were standing at a narrow impasse. They faced mountains on both sides, a huge sea in front of them, and an army bearing down behind them. The people were terrified and cried out to the Lord (Exod. 14:10). It is important to point out the obvious. The Israelites were in a fix, and they were in it with their children. Families were facing the real possibility that they would be slaughtered. They cried out to God.
With a very real and serious danger upon them, the people of God cried out for God’s deliverance. God’s answer was amazing. God opened a path through the Red Sea. Dads, moms, and children walked across on dry land. If you saw the Cecil B. DeMill film, The Ten Commandments, you know that Pharaoh’s army went in after them. The Children of God made it safely across, and then the army was swept away by the closing sea. The Bible closes this story with these words in Exodus 14:30; “ That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.”
The Israelite families stood on a distant shore watching as the dead bodies of the dreaded Egyptian army floated and bobbed along the shoreline. Overwhelmed, they looked on in amazement at the supernatural deliverance of the Lord.
As an Israelite father standing with his family, there might have been countless, stunning thoughts that crossed his mind. If he had spared his child from seeing this, he would have spared them seeing the hand of an awesome God. He would have prevented them from one of the single greatest moments in history. He would have spared them from realizing that God is great and is greatly to be praised. He would have created a safe, sterile, and dispassionate new generation who may or may not have wanted to carry on the faith of their parents. Instead, there was shepherded a new generation who knew firsthand that God is real, that He is powerful and that He delivers those whose faith is in Him.
In this kind of situation, it is natural for us to first consider how we might protect our children in the midst of it. It weighs heavy upon a father and mother when we think of trauma coming to our little ones. I do not think for one moment that God delights in traumatizing children. However, I do think that one of the reasons He gave them a father and mother is so that they might have a shepherd to guide them through life’s traumas.
The goal of our parenting needs to change from raising kids who are nice people to raising Christians who have a radical view of life. This view needs to be based upon faith in a real God who delivers and guides us through the crisis of life. It may begin when we stop thinking our trials are about us. God may, in fact, be producing a new generation that knows from experience that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Ed Litton

Fatherless America

Ed Litton (Left) his son Tyler Litton and his father Harry Litton (US-Navy Retired)
D Day Museum, New Orleans

This Blog is here to encourage and support men in their role as fathers and leaders in the home. It is based on the firm conviction that in the battle for our homes, churches and culture, God’s principle weapon is a father. My aim is to encourage fathers, define biblical fatherhood, and set a practical course for men to come back to the place of spiritual leadership in the home. It is time to return to the home as the center of faith development. I will often address the current condition and result of fatherlessness. The impact of fatherlessness is profoundly felt in the home, church and culture. For over 150 years there has been a drift from away from biblical fatherhood on our continent. The effect of a broadening fatherlessness is profound. Cultural indicators are spiking into the danger zone, but the response of church leaders is seldom effective.
We will examine the biblical root of the father’s role in the Hebrew culture of the book of Deuteronomy. Discovering the foundation of fatherhood’s purpose provides a basis by which we can reclaim that role and begin turning the tide in this long- standing culture battle. While the biblical basis of fatherhood is important, the transforming power of Jesus upon the hearts of men is the key element to this cultural turnaround. The end result of my vision and dream is not a “perfect parenting” movement, but a biblical world-view passed safely from one generation to the next.