PRECIOUS MEMORIES


Sunday, September 23, 2007

A day of fun with Casey Joe

Carol and I enjoyed a fun day this past Saturday at a Mississippi State football game with our four-year-old grandson, Casey Joe.

We left our house around 11 am and headed south toward Starkville. In West Point we bought him “chicken/fries” (as he calls his favorite meal) at McDonald’s and took them with us over to Pizza Inn. McDonald’s is not our kind of place.

We called on Casey Joe to ask God’s blessing on our food once inside Pizza Inn and having opened his chicken/fries and awaiting our food order. Here is what he prayed:
“God, thank you for my family. Thank you for food and animals - but not snakes. I love you, Jesus. Amen”
We arrived in Starkville around 1:30 pm and stopped to watch a group college students flying remote controlled airplanes. We then entered the MS State campus and enjoyed several hours with Casey Joe before the game. He enjoyed looking at children’s books at the MSU bookstore and jumping on the inflatable entertainment set up for children outside the stadium. We accepted the invitation to eat hot dogs and hamburgers with Carol’s brother, Bruce, and nephew, Chan, before the game.



Tuesday, September 18, 2007

GOP White House hopefuls detail salvation experiences

The First Ever Values Voter Presidential Debate Straw Poll, held last night at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, declared Governor Mike Huckabee as the pro-family winner. Read the Press Release and view the Poll Results.

Click Here to watch the replay of the Values Voter Presidential Debate held at Broward Performing Arts Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Monday, September 17, 2007.

Scenes from the Values Voter Debate in Fort Lauderdale




I received the key to the city on behalf of AFA Chairman Don Wildmon from Ft. Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle.



Key to the city of Fort Lauderale


Questioning the presidential hopefuls. Click here to read the questions.

The Republican candidates answering my question on marriage at the Values Voter Presidential Debate in Fort Lauderdale. From left, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, John Cox, Sam Brownback, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Alan Keyes.

Randy Lucuis, Don Cobb and Darren Cooper of our AFA Web Team at work

From Press Reports
Video From The Sun-Sentinel.com
GOP White House hopefuls detail salvation experiences

Jim Brown OneNewsNow.com September 18, 2007

Some of the Republican presidential candidates who took part in last night's "Values Voter" presidential debate in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, spoke candidly about when they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said last night's debate was unlike any other he'd ever participated in, noting he could never envision MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews opening a debate with a prayer.

Huckabee told the 2,000-plus audience members that he became a born-again Christian at the age of 10 while attending vacation Bible school at a small Baptist church in Hope, Arkansas. "And on that day [I] trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior -- it was life-changing," he said.

The former governor shared that he holds things in perspective, including his run for the White House. "Sometimes people ask me what's the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and they expect me to say being elected governor or running for president," stated Huckabee. "But the truth is, those are jobs that somebody else had before me, somebody else is going to have after me -- and those jobs have a limit.

"But the greatest thing that ever happened to me was coming to know Jesus Christ, because there is no limit, there are no terms set, and it's a position that I'll hold forever and forever."

Illinois businessman John Cox said he was "reborn in Christ" in 1979 when a Christian man ministered to him on a commuter train in Chicago. Meanwhile, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-California) joked that he has never belonged to an organized denomination -- he's a Baptist.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Republicans debate 'real values' tonight


I will represent AFA as a “questioner” in tonight’s Value Voters Debate at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The debate will begin at 6:30 PM Central time can be viewed live through a free online video stream from www.afa.net.

Here is my question in round 1 to all candidates:
Marriage has been a socially protected union between a man and a woman for the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual reproduction of children in every culture and at nearly every time in history. States have a secular interest, and human beings have a psychological, emotional, and spiritual interest in man-woman couples that stay together to rear children. If elected, would you support a Federal Marriage Amendment, and what else will you do to protect the institution of Marriage?
Here is my question in round 2 to all candidates:
Recently a federal judge ordered the Indiana legislature to censor their prayers. Specifically, the federal judge ordered the Indiana legislature to never allow anyone to offer an invocation prayer in Jesus' Name. Will you, as President, consider impeachment a possible remedy for this judicial activism? (read more about this case in an article from the Faith News Network)
Finally, I will ask this question of Senator Sam Brownback in round 3:
While we appreciate your work on pro-family issues in the Senate, please explain your support for allowing illegal aliens to remain here – which amounts to amnesty – and for bringing in more, so-called 'guest workers.' Please specifically address the depressed wages and reduced availability of entry level jobs for our citizens caused by these foreign workers.
Read the story from OneNewsNow.com - Top GOP candidates to skip 'Values Voter' forum.

Scenes from the Values Voters Debate

Republicans debate 'real values' tonight

WorldNetDaily.com

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The latest Republican presidential debate takes place here tonight, but all four of what some in the national news media call the "top-tier candidates" will not be on the stage.

Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson have all chosen not to participate in the Values Voter Debate being moderated by WND Editor Joseph Farah.

"Isn't it amazing they all have more important things to do to get elected president than to meet face to face with Christian and Jewish leaders who represent millions and millions of votes?" asked Farah who called them "gutless wonders" in a column previewing tonight's event.

"I tell you it is gut-wrenching fear that kept them away. They are scared to death of the questions. They're scared to death they won't have a good answer. They're scared to death they might say something they will live to regret."

Farah said he was particularly disappointed in Thompson, who has yet to participate in a single GOP debate.

"This one would have been his first opportunity since officially announcing his candidacy. He could have changed all the dynamics. He could have made this debate the biggest national news story of the day. He could have forced others to join the debate. But, he, too, had better things to do."

The Republicans who will take part are Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, John Cox and Alan Keyes, who announced over the weekend he was officially a candidate.

Anthony Man, a political reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, suggested the lack of "top tier" candidates "may actually demonstrate the [conservative] movement's waning influence in picking the Republican nominee and the next president."

He quoted Hastings Wyman, founding editor of the Atlanta-based Southern Political Report, who said, "It reflects a decline in the influence of the conservative Christian movement and the social conservatives in the Republican Party."

"I don't think the Republican Party is going to desert that base. But I do think that the degree of influence that we may have seen in the past of the religious-political conservative coalition no longer holds true," Wyman said.

The debate at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is produced by ValuesVoter.org, a group which says on its website "Our American values are the values that existed before time and were articulated in America's founding document on her birthday, the 4th of July, 1776."

The three-hour event begins at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and will be broadcast live on Sky Angel and Dish Network channel 262, and will also be streamed live on websites including ValuesVoterDebate.com and the American Family Association.

Organizers are promising "rapid-fire action" in Round Two of the debate, "where the first of its kind podium design will allow questions to be asked and answered by all seven candidates in under a minute."

They also say "wildcard minutes" will be given to every candidate to use whenever they want, however they want – from challenging another candidate to interrupting a round of questions.

"This will be unlike any other debate," said Star Parker, of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education, "Expect surprises on a variety of topics the press would prefer to ignore."

Some questions have been submitted in advance from the public, with others coming from well-known figures including Paul Weyrich, founder and president of the Free Congress Foundation; Phyllis Schlafly, founder and president of Eagle Forum; Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of the American Family Association; Judge Roy Moore, a WND columnist with the Foundation for Moral Law; Rick Scarborough of Vision America; and Mat Staver of Liberty Council.

Joseph Farah is the founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND, the world's leading independent Internet news source.

In addition, Farah writes a daily column for WND and a weekly newspaper column for Creators Syndicate. He is also the founder and co-publisher of WND Books, a publishing venture that has produced several New York Times best sellers in the last five years.

Joseph Farah made a name for himself with traditional daily newspapers prior to his founding of WorldNetDaily – running the Sacramento Union, directing the news operation of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner for six years and serving as editor in chief of a group of California dailies and weeklies.

He has written for such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post, National Review, TV Guide, Reason, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times and a host of other national, international and regional publications.

Farah's latest book is called "Stop The Presses: The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution." He has written or collaborated on more than a dozen others, including Rush Limbaugh's 1994 No. 1 best seller "See, I Told You So." His previous book, "Taking America Back," was first published in 2003 and again in paperback in 2005.

Farah's many journalism awards include honors for reporting to writing headlines to honesty and courage in journalism to editing and newspaper design.

Farah speaks all over the world on topics ranging from the Middle East to the media to domestic policy issues.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Dr. D. James Kennedy -- Inspired Christians to engage culture

AFA President Tim Wildmon and I attended the funeral service yesterday of Dr. D. James Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Dr. Kennedy knew for sure that he was going to heaven. Do you? Find out, in his own words, the secret of Dr. Kennedy’s certainty and how you can be just as sure about where you’ll go when you die. Read more...

Click here and to view the archived webcast of this glorious home-going service for Dr. Kennedy.

An official with the American Family Association says Dr. D. James Kennedy will be remembered as a champion of God's truth. The 76-year-old pastor died this morning in his sleep at his home in Fort Lauderdale with his wife by his side.

Dr. Kennedy founded Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in 1959, which now has more than 10,000 members. He also is founder of Coral Ridge Ministries and Evangelism Explosion, which has trained people worldwide to share their faith in Christ.

Buddy Smith, executive assistant with the American Family Association, says Kennedy was a brilliant pastor who "loved God's people" and himself "was loved and cherished," and whose main desire was to see others accept Christ as Savior and Lord and make a difference in the culture.

"For me, Dr. Kennedy was best known for his forthright presentation of the gospel," Smith shares. "I have worshiped at the great Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and met Dr. Kennedy at one of his Reclaiming America for Christ Conferences. He was an evangelist at heart. He led many people to saving faith in the Lord -- he inspired many people to engage in the culture war, many Christians to step to the front and to get involved."

In addition, says Smith, Kennedy was a gifted and scholarly man. And when it came to debating spiritual and theological issues, "he was a formidable Christian apologist as he debated those of great intellect," Smith adds.

Kennedy preached his last sermon at Coral Ridge on Christmas Eve 2006. He suffered cardiac arrest and arrhythmia four days later and never fully recovered. On August 26, his daughter announced her father was retiring. The church had started a process to choose his successor, and had planned a tribute worship service later this month honoring Dr. Kennedy. Funeral arrangements are pending.

During his long and fruitful ministry at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, he wrote many books, founded a radio and television ministry that stretches around the globe, established a Christian school and a seminary, and helped lead the conservative movement along with Don Wildmon, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and others. His greatest contribution was the development of Evangelism Explosion, a program of outreach that joined good theology with a practical training method. He did more to bring evangelism back to the local church than anyone else in the last fifty years. By that I mean he pioneered a simple strategy for deploying Christians as trained evangelists who could share their faith with others.

Evangelism Explosion is a lay-witnessing training program first developed in 1962 that has been used to spark growth in churches worldwide. In 1996, it became the first Christian ministry to be established in every nation on earth. I have no doubt that millions of people will be in heaven because someone asked them the two EE questions:

  1. Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven?
  2. If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?

I was certified as an EE Trainer in the late 1970's at the First Baptist Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Today would be a good day for you to consider those questions. How would you answer them? Click here to find the answers that could change your life forever.

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.” D. James Kennedy

Picking Up Pieces

Here is a story about teamwork and perseverance from a struggling college football team. The story from the the Clarion Ledger - Picking Up Pieces - has great application to the Christian life.

STARKVILLE — Minutes after Thursday's 45-0 loss to LSU went final, coach Sylvester Croom addressed his Mississippi State football team in the locker room.

That much is common.

But once Croom finished, senior defensive end Titus Brown stood up. That isn't so customary.

"I've known things around here in the past and I didn't want us to revert back to that," Brown said. "So just to be on the safe side, that's why I said some stuff."

The 'stuff', which he remembered Monday as he walked to MSU's practice fields, went something like this:

"I was, like, basically saying if we're going to be a team, there will not be any finger-pointing," he said. "Quarterback and cornerback are the only positions that the whole world can see your flaws, your mess-ups. Defensive line, you miss a slant here, miss a slant there, miss a tackle here, nobody's going to say anything. But a quarterback throws an interception, everybody can see that. I basically said whoever was perfect could judge someone. Which we know we're not perfect, so therefore, nobody says anything."

Mississippi State reconvened on the practice fields Monday afternoon after taking off the weekend that followed Thursday night's thumping. The 90-minute workout in shorts and no shoulder pads was customary for a typical game week Monday.

After all, there's little looking back being done around here now. Tulane, a team that didn't play last week and has a new coach with a new system, awaits Saturday.

Confidence, it seems, is the concern of the moment. Croom said he brought up the cliched 24-hour rule to the team in his remarks to them immediately after the game. Twenty-four hours to celebrate; twenty-four hours to lick the wounds.

"It was the first thing that going into the ballgame - we talked about this going back in the summer, we were going to play one game at a time, win lose or draw," Croom said.

There were many wounds to lick, but Croom pointed out positives when he talked after the game. Essentially, he made sure his team didn't have any thoughts about losing its confidence.

"We can't have that," Croom said. "That cannot happen. The other thing you've got to guard about is any kind of split between the team. And I reminded them that we have gone through."

But confidence is the biggest concern at one position, quarterback, and one specific player, Michael Henig.

His struggles - underscored by a school record-tying six interceptions - were well-documented and have led some fans to openly wonder if he's the right guy to be the team's starter.

Henig said he's still confident. He's received encouraging text messages over the weekend, including one from Archie Manning that read: "From me, Peyton and Eli, keep your head up."

He also received another decidedly less encouraging message on his MySpace profile. Henig looked at the profile of the person who sent it, saw that he was a new father, and said he responded as such: "Sir, I hope God blesses your son that if he's ever in this situation, I hope that people don't say that to him."

But Thursday night, Brown wanted to make sure his team still had faith in Henig when they left the locker room. Besides, Brown sees too many positives that could all go to waste if the players gave up now.

"The score reflected that we lost," Brown said, "but we got some questions answered about a bunch of guys."

Monday, September 03, 2007

Never Give Up: Greatest H.S. Comeback Game Ever

Dallas, Texas. 1994. State High School football playoffs. 2:42 left in the game. Plano East was down 41-17 to John Tyler. All hope was lost… the game was over. Plano East fans had left the stadium and were on their way home. There was no hope of winning… right?

That 2 minutes and 42 seconds became the greatest in high school football history. It is a great example of why we should never, never, ever give up. Whether in life… sports… or the Christian life. We should NEVER give up because you never know what will happen. Until “that lady” sings, the game is never over! After all… God parts seas, backs up rivers, surrounds us with chariots, and moves mountains… Amen??

Watch and enjoy…