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Great Show Last week. I have had a flood of e-mail that makes it clear that people are missing the point I was trying to share. I got a lot of feedback to how we can improve the show and some people thought I was shot down on my thoughts on the subject. I do not have to be right in what I share for the show as long as it gets people to thinking. We are getting some exceptional callers. I think people are confusing what they think my politics is to the point I was trying to make.

We had one caller that spoke and corrected the misconceptions of what a 501 C 3 nonprofit status religious organization can and cannot do when it comes to politics. It is clear that just like any issue that people can go to extremes when presenting their view of the topic. There are some restrictions but not to the fullness of some of the opinions that were stated regarding a nonprofit and politics.

This same caller also made it clear that he feels that as a preacher he would not be fulfilling his calling if he did not call out against the sin that this country has set up as part of our accepted culture. I was in total agreement with that 150%. But to me this thought process took on a life of its own just like the topic of the 501 C 3 rules. I feel that this had become accepted in the church community and I am not sure they are even aware they are doing it…worse the consequences of these actions. That is the point I am trying to make on politics and religion.

Let us just take one area of the conversation last week and see if I can expand on this in a way to not offend anybody but make a point at the same time. As stated I agree that it is part of the five fold ministry to speak out on sin. But it is when they keep going with the flow and run into political issues where there is not an exact truth that we have crossed the line. For example it was stated that Obama was the first president who did not recognize our national day of prayer. Now on this topic you have to decide what your definition is on acknowledged. For the people who have ran this show for 20 years I am sure their definition is to be included in the process. But is that exactly true? To my understanding the President did acknowledge the national day of prayer in a new and refreashing way. I am working on making contact with the White House to get a definitive answer to everything that was done.

The President did acknowledge the national day of prayer on his national radio address for a fact. He did not allow the group that has ran the promotion of this day for at least the last 20 years to do so. They were ticked off to say the least. I was able to track this one group’s involvement to this back to the first Gerorge Bush Presidency all the way through to the last George W. Bush Presidency. This same group has controlled what has happened at the White House all of that time. Yes, even when Clinton was President! These same people on their radio shows made the statement starting 90 days before the National Day of Prayer that they were concerned about this President and his failure to work with them as had been the practice. Basically the White House told them don't call us we will call you if you believe what they said on their gospel radio programs. I have no reason not to. So we got the count down for 90 days using the outreach of their ministry on this topic to slam the president. On the national day of prayer it was stated how this President did not acknowledge the national day of prayer and how he was the first President in history to do so. I can understand how they were offended and embarrassed to have been left out. For the rest of us to take this at face value and repeat it is not that bad of a thing if you do not quote your source as coming from a ministry. But for those that take this and make it part of their ministry. Well let’s take it to the next step. The congregation passes this on as fact that they heard from their church’s ministry. What do you think this does to your message to those outside of your church? Most people are like Lemmings and will blindly follow what they want to. So the damage within the church for the most part is minimal. Would it be a fair statement to people who know different about the national day of prayer, or any other political thought …that any message from you has now lost credibility? Everybody knows that people in church are just like everybody else in that we do not like to admit that we are wrong. So we find a reason to justify our statement instead of saying we made a mistake. Makes the point of how should anybody believe anything else that comes from your ministry? I know for sure that the president did mention the national day of prayer on his radio address. I have found links that state that 100 ministers that in the past have been left out was invited to the White House to be part of this special day. But as promised I will get the details of what the White House did for this day. To me just with what was said on the radio address means that the President did acknowledge the National Day of Prayer. The rest of it I cannot vouch for.

I talked to one person that had issue with the original group being left out. But in truth she would not allow this group to preach what they call their thoughts on the plan of salvation, on women cutting their hair, women wearing pants, and/or women wearing makeup as part of her ministry. So why should a President who claims to be a Christian invite these same people who all but called him the anti-christ during his campaign to be a part of his celebration of the National Day of Prayer? Reminds me of the comment about putting perfume and makeup on a pig... it is still a pig.

A caller made it clear that the ministry has to speak out against sin which I agree with. But when we extend the conversation on gospel radio or the use of the pulpit to cover topics of politics...This is a very dangerous and I think is going to be a weapon that satan is going to use to persecute the church. Politics is such a complex animal that most people base on their limited knowledge to a specific area of how it effects or they think it affects them. Usually based on what is said more then it is based on what actually gets done by the person or political party. I think the church is walking into areas where they are not supposed to walk and their message falls into the message of the world. Which is a message of fear, placing blame, and no accountability.

The rest of the world is putting all Christians into one category. They are calling all of us evangelical. A lot of church groups take the scripture about being a separate people and apply that as being a secluded people. If something does not enter their domain it is not important. But I can tell you that there is an attack against the people of faith through public medium because of ministry getting involved in politics. When church groups use their radio time to say that the President did not acknowledge the national day of prayer....then they show the President with 100 ministers at the White House on the National Day of Prayer. This gives them a springboard to jump into topics like Creation or other hot spot topics. The church looks like it is not credible. There are a lot of radio shows, television shows, and newspaper people who are using this to make any message of the church look weak but they also are painting a picture of how dangerous we are to the area of democracy as it applies to this country. You can say that it does not affect you because you do not listen, read, or watch anything these people say. But I can tell you that somebody is listening and they are planting confusion to the gospel because your message has become swallowed whole. They could not do this if we kept our opinions as personal opinions instead of making them part of our ministry. There is a growing amount of people that claim to be Christians who because of this mixing of message justify things that a generation ago did not happen. Things like the lottery to finance education, evolution as a fact because the bible leaves a lot of blanks. and being homosexual because it is in their DNA and not their fault. Young people of faith are buying into this. I think it is because the gospel message has been lost in everything else we have added to it. If you can do it based on what you think is true in an area where there is no absolute truth like politics…then you have just loaded the gun with ammo for the public to use this same formula with their opinions to the things of God.

This segment of the press is using this to make people of faith a punch line in jokes. They do not have to attack us for being a Christian anymore. They use how we have become a political lobby as their punch line and people connect the dots themselves. Just because you may not be aware of it does not mean that you are not adding fuel to the process. Some of them take this one step farther. They show pictures of people of faith pushing the Republican Party while holding signs against abortion, gay marriage, and signs supporting the Republican Party. Then they show how it was the Republican Party that started Planned Parenthood. Or they show this same picture of the people of faith, and right beside it show a chart of the number of abortions in this country and how the number has not gone down no matter who held the White House or control of the House and Senate. They show this same picture of these people of faith and highlight the person holding the gay marriage sign standing next to the person supporting the Republican Party. Then they show the arrest photo of a Republican man arrested in a public restroom trying to pick up men. If a picture can say more then a thousand words then what do you think this is saying to the world? The last thing we need is to tear down the credibility of the message of the good news to the rest of the world. If there was ever a time that we needed to show that we have a message of hope it is now. One point I want to make clear. I would have a problem if the people of faith were publicly supporting the Democratic Party. I do not fell the message of faith is to support any political party as a group. This makes us a lobby even if that was not the attempt.

One last point, did you notice how the callers go from attacking sin to attacking the person. I am reminded of the Bible where we read of Jesus with the woman at the well. If we are striving to be more like Jesus and are only a vessel to pour out the gospel message we need to follow this example. Jesus did not ignore the sin. In fact he pointed it out to the woman. Yet, he made it clear to the crowd that they should not judge this woman unless they had cleaned out their own house. Let him without sin throw the first stone. The part we look over is that Jesus made it clear that he was not her accuser even though he was aware of the sin. Yes, the ministry is supposed to cry out against sin...but not the person. In this world today where we all think we have to be right and place judgment within the church…have we become an accuser...take it one step farther in your thinking...would we allow Paul to preach or teach in our church’s today if we had been a believer before Paul became a believer . I think not. I think we would accuse him for his actions as being involved with the death of Stephen and how he was a leader in the movement to kill and prosecute the people who believed in Jesus.