GoshDawnIt!

Goshdawnit.blogspot.com Is a great blog about the struggle of our daughter Dawn's journey with CML that took her life January 8, 2009. We will remember. We will worship the Lord our God.

Health Care Reform II - Democrats get their 60 votes

Well, It is the beginning of a new week and the Democrats just applied enough pressure to Senator Nelson (Neb), or greased his palm sufficiently, to go along with his other Democrat buddies to vote for this mytery bill. They say it will be good for us. They say it will save lives. They say it will save money...lots of it. They say it will save Medicare. Soon it will go to reconciliation with the House of Representative's plan. Neither conservatives nor left leaning liberals are happy with what they have heard about this mystery bill. So we will see what happens and where this goes. They say they want it finished before Christmas so that President Obama can sign it. The pundits of Fox have called a spade a spade over the weekend calling the Senators and President Obama what they have been in this whole process...liars. Can a good bill come from liars, cheats and from people who use strong arm tactics to get a bill quickly through? That is a great question. I believe that Jesus said something about building a house on a foundation of sand versus on the rock.
I say it again, health care needs to be reformed. The Republicans have some good ideas on these matters. But they have been shut out. The Democrats have committed themselves to do this even if it costs them in the coming election cycle. The liberal Democrats refuse to listen to the people and do not really believe that the common people know what is best for them. We obviously need the intellectual elite to show us the way (sarcasm dripping here). Ha, Ha. It is a shame that this is the attitude of the Democrats. I don't think so. But the Republicans also need to be careful. They are not on the side of right just because they are Republicans. If a politician or a person chooses to do right and then acts on it they can be right and perhaps even righteous whether they are republican or democrat. I don't see this in the current set of politicians much. We are being threatened and cajoled into thinking that if this doesn't get done now it won't get done in this generation. Both the President and others are using this hurry up mantra. The Democrats say it is the Republicans that are trying to frighten and threaten the people of this great land.
Hopefully, this bill will not be reconciled in anything like its current form. Hopefully, this bill will die a quick and painful death that will teach politicians a lesson. Maybe 2010 will be a good year to replace many of these people. Once the bill is killed, then hopefully the Republicans and the Democrats could come togther and re-start this important conversation for the true good of the people and our country and not wait for a generation to do something that needs to be done. Health care reform, yes. Insurance reform, yes. Tort, reform, yes. Control the unions and special interests, yes. But each in an upfront manner that doesn't try and present itself as health care reform when it is really about another agenda.
Obviously Republicans and Democrats have different world views on this, climate change and a host of other issues. America is divided on these matters. Intellectuals and liberals are not the sole source of insight and truth for what needs to happen. If we come togther, really, then maybe we can listen and not operate out of the politics of power...but out of a desire to do the right thing in health care that doesn't break our economy or our civilization. May God guide us into the right path.

Copenhagen Scam Failed - Global Climate Change

Well, the Copenhagen Summit that ended at the end of last week came to a conclusion with no binding agreements. The developing nations were very upset. Individual nations and groups of nations walked out at one time or another to signal their displeasure with the process. Not enough money was being offered to developing nations. China and India want to be treated as developing nations even though their sheer size and industrialized state should put them into a totally different category. Developed nations of the west were frustrated as well. It isn't like any of the nations that had previously signed on to the Kyoto treaty had been successful in meeting their goals. At the heart of the failure of this conference was the fact that some of the facts of global warming and climate change are being called into question by Russian scientists as well as others from the west because of the exposure of the email controversy that broke in the news in recent months. Many people from developing nations have accused President Obama with failure over being unable to deliver on this conference. But he had no real chance of delivering because there was no real global agreement to begin with. When looking at the details of what countries were hoping to accomplish it becomes clear that developing nations had hoped to be promised and given large amounts of numbers in the area of 100 billion dollars a year to "help them move into a green, alternative energy future." But this is more about global redistribution of wealth than it is about climate change. The devloping nations have convinced themselves that the developed world owes them reparations or large amounts of money to move into the future. They also want this money with no or little strings attached for actual accountability. This is absolute rubbish. They are owed nothing. If developed nations choose to give them money to move into the future there should be measurable ways of holding them accountable. Obviously the United Nations is a hotbed for corruption and if given the opportunity to spread this kind of money around they would have enough layers of bureaurocracy that friends and family can be greatly enriched at the developed world's expense. Having served in the Army for 29+ years and been deployed to Haiti I can tell you firsthand what happens in poor countries when richer nations of the world send money there. It is definitely not a good thing for the poor people of the nation. The rich get richer and the poor are impoverished.
So what is the answer? We must separate these issues and not be guilted either unnecessarily or hurriedly into giving money in the name of climate change to those who would enrich themselves and do nothing to improve any aspect of global climate change. The United Nations would like to enrich themsleves and their position in a move towards a one world government solution. The progressive movement that has drank deeply from the climate change, global warming kool-aid must be challenged and dialogued with about what is really happening in climate change. As believers we need to insist and hold our leaders accountable to do the right thing as good stewards of the natural resources of our planet. We ourselves need to be good stewards of creation.
So the Copenhagen Convention was a failure in many people's eyes. I see it as a success because it revealed, more openly, the true nature of what is going on by nations of the world. We are not of one mind on this issue. This was a scam that got exposed. We do need to do something to help the poor nations of the world, but putting too much money at one time only enriches tyrants and their buddies (see Haiti). Believers need to pray for discernment and for wisdom on this issue and then have the courage to ask hard questions of the Al Gore's of this world. There was an agenda for Copenhagen but it wasn't saving the planet from climate change or global warming. It was about redistributing wealth. Christians need to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves in being God's true stewards of creation.

Living Faith United Methodist Church's MySpace Blog |

Living Faith United Methodist Church's MySpace Blog : Check out my blog at pastorstevelfumc.blogspot.com. Our church official website is at lfumc@livingfaithumc.org. Also check out my Facebook for cool pictures, and thoughts that hit me as I go. Blessings in the house...Springfield kids rock.

Free Will versus The Sovereignty of God

A couple of days ago we had a great tragedy here in Springfield Township/Holland, Ohio...two of our high school students were struck by an Amtrak train. One of the kids was killed and another was severly injured. The kids were trying to hustle to school because of the cold. They went under the train barrier and took a chance. Some have said that God took the young man. The young girl is recovering and so she was spared. But is that really what happens at the cosmic level? Does God actively make those choices about taking us or leaving us? One of the classic differences in beliefs among Christians is this dance between free will and the sovereignty of God. God gave the human race free will to choose His way or to reject Him. God allows us to make choices that have grave consequences. He placed into creation gravity and other forces of nature that have their attendant laws and principles.
Some people are wondering whether the young man is in heaven looking down on us...continuing his love for life for all eternity. I hope the young man knew the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior. Unfortunately we cannot know what the state of his soul was. There are hints given by those who knew him best that he was not a religious person of faith. I pray that in the moment that the train bore down on him that he made a choice for Christ. I do not have that assurance. Psalm 90 tells us to get a heart of wisdom as we deal with time because we cannot know how long we have to live. Those of us who are left alive can make a choice for God. That is what God wants for us. The devil would like for us to reject God because of what happened.
It was not God's will for those two young people to go through that accident. God allowed it to happen because two young people, with free will, took a chance, made a choice and misjudged what was about to happen. Their choice, not God's will, caused this accident. Now, God will and can use what the devil means for evil and turn it into good. People can, and I pray that they will, turn to God in large numbers because of this tragedy. People can learn lessons about choices made and turn from the way that they have been living to a better lifestyle. Others may accept the devil's momentary pleasure and turn to alcohol or drugs to make it through this tragedy. There will be consequences for us all. We are people of free will and that is how God made us.
These two young people went past a barrier that was meant to keep them safe. These two young people ignored the flashing lights meant to warn them of danger. These two young people made a choice and a terrible mistake...an error that was very costly. These two young people did what many young and older people do on a daily basis...blow past warning signs and things that God has given us to help us to live. They were not bad kids. They were good kids. They were dedicatedd athletes, students and friends who made a difference in the lives of those around them. The girl, God willing gets a chance to live through this and to go on to a long and successful life. If it is true that the young man pushed her to safety (as some have said), she will get that chance by God's grace and by the caring and brave act of a really good kid. I hope and pray that she will use her free will to seek God and to live for Him with all the strength that she has. She is greatly loved by many. That will be her free will and God's grace coming together. Unfortunately, there are no extra chances for the young man. His chances for salvation ended when the train ended his life. I pray that in the mercy and grace of God that he did know the Lord as savior and that his eternity is secure.
These are hard words for a parent to write. They are particularly hard when your own daughter died earlier in the year and you pray that she was alright with God. Use your free will to seek God now. Learn what warning signs God places all around us and obey them for your own good. Love one another. Love God. Choose life.

Health Care Reform Really? or politics as usual

When looking at the political gymnnastics currently happening around the health care reform one might readily ask why not health care reform...what are we afraid of? Isn't it better to just do something and then "work out the details?" What might there be in those 2000 pages to be concerned about? These are all great questions and based on the history of most of the senators and congress people with their inclinations to allow staffers to "slip things into bills". I think it would be better for the current bill to die a quick death. Obama stated yesterday or this morning that if it wasn't able to pass this time it probably wouldn't pass for another 10 years...quite a threat and fear mongering that he has also recently warned us about as if only republicans practice such tactics. I do believe that health care reform is needed but I also believe that the plans as put forth by the congress and by the senate are fatally flawed...too much pork, support for abortion, the public option that increases the role of medicare, seeking to keep payments down...how many doctors will really be left in 10 years if we move to a greatly increased medicare structure with payments still going down? There are so many unintended consequences lurking here that it seems that the democrats feel that getting anything through and calling it health care reform is a win for them. This is almost as laughable as the way many of them were actively and passively hoping for failure in Iraq in the war a couple of years ago so that they could win points. For those saying that the republicans are offering nothing; they are just ignoring what the republicans are offering. These same democrats dug their feet in with Bush derangement syndrome and fought hard to stop anything of value from happening for the last three years or more of the great President Bush's years as president. Politics as usual gets in the way of the really good things happening. I could go on and on about this but suffice it to say that politics as usual and the Presidential threats and fear mongering that are happening in health care reform, climate control, the economy and jobs creation, as well as with "immigration reform" are going to have the unintended consequences or maybe even by design of the decline of our great nation. All of these big reforms may be in areas that need some kind of reform but all actions are not equal or good for us. There are fundamental differences in opinion throughout our nation on these issues. The independents among us seem to be swinging away from support from the democrats agenda...more than a little buyers remorse hopefully. Believers need to wake up. Conversations do need to be held on these issues but seeking to eliminate dissent and all voices through marginalizing people is not the answer. Unfortunately the republican answers at times seem no better. The Tea Parties throuughout this year and the great protest in Washington today tell us that the politicians need to actually listen to what the people have to say on these matters. Do not give up or give in on these matters. Fast, pray, seek God, turn from our wicked ways and God will heal the land. This Biblical solution as found in II Chronicles is the answer to politics as usual. If God's people will truly hear His call and seek Him in these things then there is a chance for our nation. If we continue politics as usual and try and spend our way through all of the issues that I have mentioned then we are in for a terrible time. Perhaps this is tied right into the whole spirit of anti-christ post. But now is the time for prayer and for informed political and spiritual action.

The Spirit of Antichrist?

It seems to me as I watch the current political mess unfolding in Washington with Democrats run amok on spending, spending, spending and growing the government and its control over our lives with regulation that has our great nation on a pathway to decline as a civilization that there are other things at work. I have long wondered what spiritual force lies behind Obama and some of the Democrats. I have known that George Soros and other liberal billionaires have been funding and seeking to minimize and marginalize all other voices. I have known all these things but there are other things that have bothered me of late as my spiritual antenna has sensed a move toward the end times and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I am not saying that Obama is the anti-christ. But there are troubling things both about him, the whole health care debate, cap and trade, Copenhagen and some talk about one world government, one world monetary system, redistribution of wealth and other topics that are happening. As I read Hal Lindsay, David Wilkerson and a few others that I consider prophetic I sense that the return of the Lord Jesus is nearer than ever before and not just chronologically. Yes, I long to be with Jesus...the sooner the better. But I am also concerned that the Church has gone to sleep at the wheel in its role as the Watchman on the Wall for the world and society. Instead of a prophetic voice we have settled for resolutions and pronouncements that do not necessarily ring of "Thus saith the Lord."
We should not be surprised that the spirit of anti-christ is alive and well because it was present in Jesus' day and in the time when the Apostle John wrote his letter, I John. So what is the Spirit of Anti-Christ up to? Has the person the Anti-Christ arrived on the scene yet? These are great questions. I believe that any move toward one world government whether through the useless but dangerous United Nations or through some other about to be revealed organization is a move toward anti-christ and away from the Christ as Savior. The government is not our savior nor the answer to all problems. Neither the democrats or rebublicans offer solutions that are the ultimate answer to the problems that we face. The desire to make government all powerful, to level the playing field and redistribute wealth, to undermine democracy by making more and more people dependent on the government are all potential tools of an Anti-Christ.
As for whether President Obama is the Anti-Christ or if he is operating in the spirit of anti-christ I am still praying and testing the spirit behind this man who claims to be a believer but who holds positions that run contrary to revealed scripture. I am troubled by his style of politics as well as his positions but also by how little we really know about who he is, how he rose to power so quickly, and by a tingle in my spirit over who has been behind this surprising man since the time he was in college (or maybe before). His desire to change so much so quickly is something to beware of.
Christians need to be alert and seek God as never before. We need to walk in the Spirit and develop our spiritual discernment. We need to be ready for the return of the Lord. We need to stand firm upon the Lordship of Jesus Christ and upon the authority of the Word of God. Awake, O Sleeping Church.

Peacemaking

Well, last night President Obama used West Point as a backdrop to share his Afghanistan Strategy for the War on terror. He is catching flack from both the left and the right and some surveys show that over 55% of Americans think he is on the wrong track for the Afghan-Pak region. I think it is the right thing to give the commanders the resources that they need to execute whatever strategy. If you do not adequately resource them bring all of them home. What we do not need is another Somalia where President Clinton failed to adequately resource our brave soldiers. Many died because of that failure. I saw the look in the Rangers eyes at Ft. Hunter, GA when they felt betrayed by their leaders.
What does all of this have to do with peacemaking? Well, too many politicians, bishops, and clergy confuse peacemaking with peace keeping. They try and please their constituents and do or say the politically correct thing thinking that keeping the peace is the same as peace making. the two are totally different. The doctor/surgeon must at times do radical surgeries to make peace in a sick person's body. The doctor or the patient might not really want to do the surgery but must so the patient can be saved. In the military, we serve as peace makers and sometimes have to blow stuff up and kill people to achieve peace. This is an uncomfortable truth. God says, "Blessed are the peace makers..." Sometimes that is the politican or religious leader saying hard things to stop war. At other times we are called upon to stop genocide or work against terrorist cells and governments to bring justice and let mercy roll in the land. The Taliban as well as Al Qaeda are evil organizations which must be stopped at all costs. Yes, it is sad when innocents are killed in the hard process. It is certainly sad to have to go to a house as a military chaplain and have to tell a family that their mommy or daddy have died in the war. But, since we have committed so many of our precious sons and daughters to the fight we must now press on to make peace and do what is necessary to stabilize while wiping out and scourging the land of as many Taliban and Al Qaeda as possible. If we can do that in 18 months I support the President in this (my friends should not choke on that). If it takes longer then I hope he gets the necessary courage to do the right thing. I hope and pray that he can do that because it would be such a change in character.
Later I will write about another Peace Making Task for the church intaking care of our wounded warriors and their families...but that is for another blog and is another story. Grace and Peace from the only true source of Peace...Jesus.

World Aids Day

Well, it's been about 15 years ago since we first discovered that my brother, Dave had Aids. We don't know when he contracted the disease but we do know that it was from his sexual activity as a homosexual. We were devastated but focused on getting him through the initial presenting problem of being very ill. We made it through that time and in the next several years there were other times where we were unsure whether he would make it. He had periods of times where he stopped taking his meds and thought that he would still be okay. There was the one time where he developed aids dimentia. We tried to help him understand that if he was truly ready to die we could let him go but if he wanted to live he would have to go back to taking his meds. He made it through and we are grateful to have him still with us. Over the years I have wrestled with him being sick and with what brought him to this terrible, tragic place. He has struggled with his faith for these many years but seems to keep finding his way back to God, who loves him. On Thanksgiving I called him to tell him how much I loved him and was thankful for at least three things...that he was my brother, that he was still alive and that he was striving on the faith journey to find deliverance and grace to deal with desires and lifestyle. he knows that the gay lifestyle is wrong. He knows his sin. But he also knows how much I love him.
One of my church members is Stewart, he has Aids. He lives in Florida. He has had this disease for the last 14 plus years. He is a great guy and I count him as a friend. He loves God and is on a journey to deal with who he is and what has brought him to this place. I have told him how much his friendship and seeking of God means to me. He needs to know that God is not finished in him yet.
This disease is a terrible thing. There is so much more we can and should be doing in this struggle. But God is good and draws us all into a closer walk with Him. God loves us and calls us all to repent and to seek Him. He doesn't want us to settle for who or what we think that we are but to draw close to Him and find forgiveness and transformation...heterosexuals and homosexuals...we all need God's grace. What can you do? Pray. Seek God. Love big. Be transformed from heterosexual and homosexual to people not defined by sexual preference to a place where we all recognize what God wants to and can do to make us more than we ever dreamed. The progressive church seeks to pervert scripture and dismiss what God has said about all sexual behavior. This Aids day we need to wake up to know that when our lifestyle, heterosexual or homosexual places us at risk for diseases and for separation from God then we need to repent and turn to a God who has a good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives.

Rethinking Church, UMC

I have been doing some praying, studying and thinking on the UMCs new Rethinking Church campaign. I a recent Ashland Theol Seminary article an author spoke about ministering to 20 somethings and wondered if they would benefit from a different approach in evangelism. When I think about these together with the Rethink Church it makes me wonder about the early Pentecost experience and the role of the Hoply Spirit in evangelism versus campaigns. Yes, I know that God uses campaigns, revivals and other mechanisms to grow the church. But I wonder if our emphasis on such mechanisms and conferences to look at church growth forgets the central role of prayer and seeking God. God through the Holy Spirit creates an awakening of the Spirit with a hunger for spiritual things that bridges the gap and does the work in salvation. Perhaps the Church needs to Rethink the Holy Spirit instead of the Church. If we seek we will find. No one wants growth in the church more than God does. The tools or mechanisms are not the important part. The author from Ashland highlighted some changes in the psyche and ego that have resulted from our Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street mentality that makes it so that 20 somethings may not be able to hear the good news adequately unless we change our approach. Perhaps we need to spend more time in fasting and prayer as the Church in the realm of evangelism. The Psalmist says for us to ask and God will give us the nations. Our Bishops, DSs, clergy and laity would be well served to spend some of the money, time and resources that they do in conferences, workshops and campaigns on seeking the Lord. The answer is not in the right programs but in the right seeking of God for Pentecost to fall afresh. The answer does not lie in ReThink Church. It is in God alone and in seeking His righteousness. It is in a fresh Holy Spirit experience in the UMC that will quicken the spirits in people of every age and generation with accompanying signs, wonders, miracles and God sighting stories that will create a fresh hunger and "what must we do to be saved" questioning in our surrounding communities. God is at work and is on the move. he may use ReThink Church or other campaigns like Open Hearts, eopleMinds, Doors but really what He wants to use are the people called United Methodists who willseek Him. Join me in that kind of search.

Discovering God in Grief

My daughter Dawn died this last January 8th. Her birthday was October 25th. She would have been 29. Last Thanksgiving was her last good day before she died. We had a great meal together. It has been such a hard year. She had CML leukemia. If you want to know more about her go to goshdawnit.com. It is a very helpful blog on what she went through before she died. She was a great young lady with a lot of love, for people, for God and for life. It was so comforting and helpful to know that thousands of people were and are praying. We still do not understand the great mysteery of why she died when she did but we find comfort in knowing that our awesome God is redeeming this even still today and is still at work in drawing people to Himself. As a pastor for almost thirty years I discovered long ago that there is a God and I am not Him. When I let God be God then I find my place in the bigger scheme of theings anda can discover peace. A recent aspect of that journey is the ongoing discovery of new insights on what it means to wait upon the Lord to have one's strength renewed. More on that another time. Check out my Myspace page for some pix on what will be a tribute to my daughter.