****OCTOBER IS PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH

 OCTOBER IS PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH

 

Who is the loneliest person in your church? It just might be your pastor.

 

In a survey conducted about ten years ago, the Fuller Institute of Church Growth reported the following statistics:
· 70% of pastors surveyed had no one they considered to be a close friend.
· 80% felt that their ministries negatively affected their families. 
· 75% reported a serious stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
· 50% felt unable to meet the demands of the job.
· 90% felt inadequately trained to cope with job demands.
· 70% had a lower self-image than when they started in ministry
· 40% had serious conflicts with parishioners at least once a month.
· 50% had considered leaving the ministry within the past three months.

 

If your pastor is typical, he works 60 or more hours a week and he does it cheerfully and graciously for considerably less compensation than other professionals with comparable education and qualifications. He and his family are closely scrutinized and highly criticized. He is called on to perform countless duties and receives little appreciation. One research group has identified pastors as “the most frustrated people in America.”

 

Their pressures are tremendous. We expect them to be sensitive counselors, dynamic orators, charismatic motivators, model spouses, ideal parents, and expert CEOs. But most of them entered the ministry in response to the call of God to simply preach His Word and care for His people.

 

When was the last time you thanked your pastor?  Why not show your appreciation by dropping a card or treating him to dinner?  Or, if you are so inclined, you might give him a paid vacation to Tahiti.

 

“(Those) who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” I Tim. 5:17

AMERICA'S WAR CASUALTIES

 

America’s War Casualties

 

This chart provides a graphic illustration and comparison of the number of war casualties in all of America’s wars. Each cross represents 25,000 people killed.
Revolutionary War, (25,324) - +

Civil War (498,332) - +++++++++++++++++++
World War I (116,516) - +++++
World War II (545,108) - +++++++++++++++++++++
Korean War (54,108) - ++
Viet Nam War (56,555) - ++
Afghanistan and Iraq Gulf War (4,660) -
America’s War On the Unborn

Jan 22, marked the 49th anniversary of the most tragic Supreme Court fiat in America’s history. The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision of seven unelected justices legalized the killing of unborn babies in America. There have been over 63 million casualties in this war on the unborn.  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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May God have mercy on us.

ELECTIONS AND THE MY FLATULENCE DOESN'T STINK SYNDROME

 Elections and the “MY FLATULENCE DOESN’T STINK” SYNDROME

I noticed something a few years ago that I call a “minority equals a majority phenomenon.” I first noticed it in opinion polls about public education. It went something like this:

Most Americans (approx. 84%) believe that public schools are failing miserably in educating children. But the weird thing is that approximately 84% of them believe that their own local school is the rare exception. Similarly, whether it is true or not, a majority of people believe that public school teachers are incompetent but their own child’s teacher is excellent. So the outcome is obvious. The overwhelming majority of people will always vote to retain their corrupt school boards and will protect their incompetent, unionized, teachers because theirs are good. Everyone else’s are bad. In other words, “my flatulence doesn’t stink.”

But that’s not the only place this phenomenon occurs. Just a few years ago, the American people were outraged that Congress had not passed a budget for OVER 1000 DAYS. Furthermore, Congress’ approval rating was at an all-time low of 13%. That means 87% of Americans thought they were corrupt and incompetent and needed to be thrown out.

And figure this: 64% of Americans favored a balanced budget amendment. We needed it, we wanted it, but Congress lacked the discipline and the will to do what each of us must do every day: BUDGET OUR RESOURCES AND LIVE WITHIN OUR MEANS. And yet our representatives (those we had elected from our own districts and sent to DC to protect our interests) had thumbed their noses at us and said NO. The 26% minority prevailed.

How do things like that happen? It’s the “my flatulence doesn’t stink” syndrome. “My representative is GOOD. Everyone else’s is BAD.”

So we all keep reelecting the same incompetent, corrupt, self-serving, career politicians who continue to shaft us at every opportunity and all we do is complain.

I see it all the time. For most of my life, I lived in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia and every day I heard people complain about over-regulation, punitive taxation, and oppressive government. And when I asked them, “How did you vote in the last election?” the majority always answer the same way; they either didn’t vote at all OR they voted for the same old, big government, fat cat, incumbents because, “My Flatulence Doesn’t Stink.”

Elections have consequences. When we vote wrong we get exactly what we deserve.

THE GOOD OLD BOYS CLUB

 THE GOOD OLD BOYS CLUB

 

Nearly every morning for over 40 years, it has been my habit to meet with some Good Old Boys for coffee.  Over the years, some have moved, and some have died, but we always managed to pick up new acquaintances along the way.  The faces have changed but the dynamic of the meetings has not.  A few months ago, I said goodbye to my old friends on the left coast and moved to Rogersville.  

 

During several road trips over the past year, I noticed that, wherever I stopped for breakfast, I saw similar Good Old Boys’ coffee clubs.  In fact, I believe that these little cliques exist in nearly every community in the nation.    

 

So, what is it that holds them together?

 

Certainly, we have discussions about politics and obituaries, but beyond that, it is just guy stuff; that’s all!  At our age, we repeat stuff but that's okay because we forget stuff, too.  So, it’s the same old stories, the same stupid jokes, and THE SAME PERSONAL INSULTS.

 

My wife thinks our insults are cruel, but she doesn’t understand.  Today, everything that offends someone or hurts someone’s feelings is called bullying.   People run to safe spaces and cry whenever they hear something that doesn’t agree with them.

 

Not so with Good Old Boys.  In our early morning meetings, we have polished and perfected the manly art of sarcasm.  We make fun of each other and we insult each other’s physical appearances, disabilities, and behavior.  Nobody is immune.  And at the end of the hour we all say goodbye and then we reassemble the next morning and it starts all over again. 

 

That’s what Good Old Boys do.  That’s how we express our affection for each other (although most of us would deny that there is any “affection”).

 

Well, now that I am finally settled into my new home in Eastern Tennessee, I am happy to announce that it didn’t take long to find a new group of Good Old Boys to fill the void.  They have welcomed me and made me feel right at home as we start each day with the same stories, stupid jokes, and lots of insults.

 

Jesus and Judas (revised)

 About ten years ago, I promised a Facebook friend that I would address a concern he had about a newly released movie, “The Son of God.”  For the record, I have NOT, nor will I ever see the movie so I really cannot offer an informed critique. If you are looking for that, there is ample on the internet.

Nevertheless, there is one major, troubling bit of subtle heretical content of which I became aware and on that portion alone, I had decided that I WILL NOT view the movie.

The scene has to do with Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. It was when Jesus is eating the Passover meal with His disciples that He suddenly has a surprising, revelatory vision of Judas betraying Him. Then He turns to Judas to convince him (against his will) to do it.

This is nothing new; we saw something similar in “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” That ancient heresy is rooted in Gnosticism. 

The Gospel of Judas is NOT a book in the Bible. In it is found a man named Judas who is not the man portrayed in the Word of God. This other Judas is described as Jesus’ closest friend and most trusted confidant who is the only one of the twelve who really understood what Jesus needed to do. This Judas was an unwilling betrayer and Jesus had to take him into His confidence and convince him of this holy, high calling. 

So, out of loyalty to his beloved friend, and with grief in his heart, Judas delivers Jesus over to the Romans. Thus Judas, according to this fake narrative, was an obedient servant.

So there is the one scene where Jesus convinced Judas to act, that bothered me. The Gospel of Judas is NOT a gospel nor is it inspired scripture. I find it odd that, even though the writers and filmmakers insisted that their intent was to accurately portray Jesus in strict accordance with the Bible, they would draw from a heretical religion with a heretical tradition drawn from a heretical book to show us a picture of a fake Jesus and an exonerated Judas.

So, based on that one scene alone, I will not waste my time or money on this heretical movie.