Great weekend

We had a work day at church on Saturday morning. A great bunch of guys and one gal came out to clear the overgrowth from the hedges along the church.

There was one pyromaniac in the group.
This is Jack McHale and this is a normal situation--sitting at my kitchen table with a fork and a smile. Jack has been a good friend and faithful servant with us in the ministry for many years.
One of his ministries is web master for our church web page. He only keeps the job because he really likes having "master" attached to his name. Gives him a feeling of power.

Church Teen Game Night

Tonight I had the privilege of driving a group of teens from our church up to a game night at the Independent Bible Church of Duryea. It was a great night of fun and fellowship with believers. The kids played battle ball and relay games for about an hour and fifteen minutes and then had snacks. The evening ended with a few songs and a great message from my pastor, Dr. Al Cremard. He preached from Galatians 6 on sowing and reaping. I didn't take notes but I believe the four main points were 1) We reap what we sow. 2) We reap more than we sow. 3) We reap the same kind of fruit as sown. 4) We can't stop the process of reaping what we have sown. He then illustrated the truths with four true stories. Great night. I think our kids had a good time too.

A few pics of the kids tonight.

Here is Pastor Cremard, my pastor and the primary pastoral influence
in my adolescent and adult life.

Johnny Rivera, an excellent man all the way around, a growing Christian, and a good friend.
He has a real desire to serve God along with his family and they have been tremendous blessings to me. Johnny has recently been used of God in bringing two people to knowledge of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Society working to destroy our kids purity

The following is part of an email news item I received from the Family Research Council (frc.org). It simply points out the wholesale mis-use of information prominent in our world. A study which says that condoms don't help protect from disease in a very reliable way is used to say just the opposite. (emphasis added is mine)

So much for truth in advertising! A full-page ad in major newspapers today sponsored by the Trojan company is loaded with misinformation about the effectiveness of condoms in preventing disease. The page leads off with the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) latest report about the number of teens (one in four) who are infected with an STD. "America is not a sexually healthy nation," the text warns. "We should evolve the way we approach sexual health in our country." Not surprisingly, the company's solution to the problem is supplying more of their product, which the ad implies would help eliminate diseases such as the human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes, and trichomoniasis. Trojan and their liberal sex education allies are out to persuade Americans that condoms make sex "safe." Not so, says the very government agency that Trojan quotes in its ad. On HPV, the CDC's official position on condom efficacy is entirely contrary to Trojan's. In its report to Congress, the agency plainly states, "The available scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend condoms as a primary prevention strategy for the prevention of genital HPV prevention." While condoms may reduce the risk of chlamydia, herpes, and other diseases, it cannot eliminate the risk. Teenagers may be half as likely to contract various STDs if they use condoms correctly, but the problem is that few of them do. It's an established medical fact that teenagers' correct and consistent condom usage is much lower than adults', and the effectiveness of the contraception decreases even more as a result. Beyond disease, condoms are not even a reliable method for reducing teen pregnancy. About one in every five teens using condoms becomes pregnant within one year, according to the National Survey of Family Growth. Condoms are incapable of providing the protection Trojan claims they do. Once again, the industry is proving that it cares more about profit than prevention. It continues to astound me that our society is willing to tell kids to abstain from the dangers of drinking or smoking but not premarital sex. If America is truly committed to disease prevention, and the emotional well-being of our teens, then we must be committed to abstinence--the only method that works 100% of the time.

Lord, have mercy on our kids.

Getting Started

This will be my third attempt at starting a blog. We'll see how it goes. My goal here is to toss out ideas and thoughts about things that impact our lives and things which may effect Christians in the world today. However, you may find items here for a simple laugh. I may direct readers to articles or news sources, or I may quote from them and comment on them. As long as comments remain clean and appropriate I will leave the option for replies open. Please feel free to respond.