PRECIOUS MEMORIES


Monday, July 21, 2008

Shhh - Don't tell Carol

Three pastors' wives from the Florida Hospital Seventh-day Adventist church in Orlando decided they were tired of having their latest household fiasco show up in sermon illustrations, so these women made a parody video to get their point across, revamping Carrie Underwood's popular "Before He Cheats" with their rendition of "Before He Speaks."

Monday, July 14, 2008

Pro-family groups call for boycott of McDonald's, supporter of homosexual marriage


As special assistant to American Family Association Chairman Don Wildmon, I am honored to be joined by these wonderful pro-family organizations and local supporters to stand near the world headquarters of the McDonald’s corporation to call for a boycott of the corporation over their disregard for traditional moral and family values. It is a shame that McDonald’s would tarnish their family-friendly image but the company has ramped up its support of the gay agenda and it leaves us no option but to call for a boycott.





AFA Chairman Don Wildmon wrote McDonald’s with a plea to remain neutral in the culture war by removing McDonald’s name and logo from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Web site (where McDonald’s is cited as a corporate partner and organizational ally) and withdraw McDonald’s VP of Communications Richard Ellis’ endorsement from the pro-gay Web site. McDonald’s ignored both requests. To put it politely, McDonald’s has thumbed its nose at the Christian community.

McDonald’s donated $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in exchange for membership and a seat on the group’s board of directors. The NGLCC lobbies Congress on a wide range of issues related to the gay agenda including gay "marriage". The NGLCC is about much more than commerce. They are a political machine with a mission of radically changing American by redefining the sacred institution of marriage between one man and one woman. The NGLCC is a close ally and partner of the Human Rights Campaign which is the largest political force of the homosexual movement.

In response to the boycott, McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman told the Washington Post that those who oppose homosexuality are motivated by hate, saying that “…hatred has no place in our culture.” McDonald’s has decided to adopt the “hate” theme used by homosexual groups for years.

In the past, my wife and I have enjoyed taking our two young grandsons to McDonald’s where they have enjoyed happy meals and playing on the playground. McDonald’s recent actions have necessitated that we deny their request to eat at the formerly family-friendly McDonald’s restaurants based on the company’s disdain for the teachings of the Bible and people of faith. For the younger grandson, we have had to simply explain that Ronald McDonald has been bad. For the sake of our grandchildren, we implore McDonald’s corporation to stop their attack on people of faith and traditional moral values. As grandparents, we are responsible for protecting our grandchildren. As Christians and Americans, we share responsibility for kind of nation we leave to our grandchildren and their generation. Therefore, we will continue to boycott McDonald's until they stop taking money that we would spend on happy meals for the grandchildren and use it for the destruction of marriage and family.

This boycott isn’t about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald’s or how homosexual employees are treated. It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture war. The company has chosen not to remain neutral but to the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage.

The pro-family groups are here today encouraging families to do these things: sign, print and distribute a Boycott McDonald’s petition at www.boycottmcdonalds.com; and call the local McDonald’s to politely tell the manager you are boycotting the chain until it stops promoting the gay agenda that undermines the God-ordained institution of marriage and family which is the only foundation of a healthy society. Pray for those caught in the trap of homosexuality that they will turn to Jesus Christ for salvation and deliverance. Finally, pray that McDonald's President Andrew McKenna will return his company to being family friendly.

America's children need a mommy and a daddy.

Casey M. “Buddy” Smith, Jr.
Special Assistant to the Chairman and President
American Family Association
P.O. Drawer 2440
Tupelo, Mississippi 38803
Phone 662-844-5036
FAX 662-842-7798
URL www.afa.net
E-mail buddy@afa.net

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Another birthday for me but the Gospel is ageless

Today is Saturday, July 12, 2008 and I turn 57 years old. It’s a typical hot Mississippi summer day and mom tells me it was this hot in 1951 only without the luxury of air conditioning.

At 57, I have come to rest my soul on a handful of biblical truths:
  • Only Jesus saves.
  • Only Jesus satisfies.
  • The Bible is true.
  • God is holy, just and good.
  • His mercies endure forever.
  • Jesus is Lord.
  • His blood cleanses from every sin.
  • He rose from the dead on the third day.
  • He is now enthroned in heaven.
  • One day He will return to the earth.
  • The God who created me has a purpose for my life.
  • All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
  • The Holy Spirit intercedes for me.
Here is a video clip of Billy Graham preaching in Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1957. I hope you are reminded in this excerpt from a sermon preached 51 years ago that the Gospel is ageless.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Happy 232nd Birthday, America!

Lee Greenwood - God Bless The USA



"Spiritual Entropy"
by Paul Heil

This weekend Americans are celebrating the 232nd birthday of what arguably became the greatest and most powerful nation this planet has ever known.

232 years seems like a very long time. But, consider this: with an average life expectancy of about 78 years in America these days, that is actually just a bit less than three overlapping lifetimes. And compared to such nations as Egypt, Greece, China and others, the good-ol' USA is still the kid on the block.

Last week in this space, we discussed how New Age philosophies, like a virulent disease, are eating away at the very heart and soul of this nation. And I use the word "soul" intentionally because, as we have seen, this deadly cancer has been spreading through the church as well as secular society.

Although the hazards we face as Christians in America pale compared with the persecution our believing brothers and sisters around the world are facing -- even gruesome death -- we are definitely seeing an accelerated level of attack on fundamental Christian beliefs. (Take a moment, if possible, to re-read last week's Epistle about this.) Satan obviously knows his time is short. (Rev. 12:12.)

The late Dr. James Kennedy went to great lengths illustrating how the United States was founded on Christian principles, even if not all of the founders were Christian. And Christian principles were historically at the heart of American society and even American jurisprudence.

But I have lived long enough -- and the majority of you reading this probably have, as well -- to have seen a major change in American society regarding Christian beliefs. When I was in grade school -- public school, mind you -- the teacher would read a chapter from the Bible each morning. We would recite the Lord's prayer. And we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance. To today's school administrators all of that seems totally out of place, archaic, primitive, and certainly not something for a more "enlightened" and pluralistic society. During my years as a radio newsman, I covered many municipal government meetings that opened with prayer. Today that practice is coming under relentless attack – or, commonly, has disappeared entirely. It's just verboten.

Too bad. We have lost sight of where this nation's strength originated.

But over the past two centuries, enlightened observers have warned about what we're seeing happen now.

In 1832, a Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, came to America to investigate the American penal system, but, much more broadly, to observe American society. His observations and conclusions filled two volumes. Consider these well-known observations of his:
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests – and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning – and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution – and it was not there.
"Not until I went into the churches of America and heard the pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power."
And so it was – in 1832. But are American pulpits still "aflame with righteousness?" Consider de Tocqueville's conclusion – and warning:
"America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
That's a chilling warning, especially in light of the changes we've seen in as little as the past twenty years. It's not unfair to say that much of American society has lost its moral compass – or has simply decided to disregard it entirely. Our celebrities and our politicians and even some liberal theologians preach that there is nothing wrong with killing pre-born babies or in approving, celebrating and even "sanctifying" acts that God has called "abominations."

How much longer will God withhold the judgement that this nation must surely be bringing upon itself? And can we allow these celebrities, politicians and others to continually thumb their noses at God without speaking up more boldly in defense of the truth? The words of the glorified Christ to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:5 could be read as a plea – and warning – for us today, as a nation as well as individually: "Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches."*

One of the most insightful and incisive quotes I've seen on this issue comes not from a theologian or a preacher but rather from a noted U. S. Army officer during World War II, Gen. Omar Bradley (after whom the Bradley tank is named). Read carefully what he had to say: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount… America today is running on the momentum of a Godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America."

There's very little momentum left. As a society — and especially as respecting Christian influence in our society — we are experiencing entropy, which the dictionary defines as the "steady deterioration of a system or society."

Pray today as you have never before prayed for this land. Pray for spiritual revival to reverse the accelerating downward moral and spiritual trend. Pray that God's people will exercise those "unalienable rights" the Founding Fathers uniquely recognized as given "by their Creator" to take a stand for truth — now more than ever.

Pray that God's chilling words to Ezekiel (22:30) will not apply to us: "So I sought for a man among them who would...stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one."

- Paul

*Living Bible paraphrase.