The Reality of Debt

This morning's topic is one of the hardest for me, because I know so many of us deal with debt. We deal with it because we wanted to go to college and couldn't afford it. We deal with it because we wanted to invest in a house we could call our own. We deal with it because we've made really bad decisions and bought things we can't afford. No matter the reason, it is no fun.

I want to give you a couple of resources for you to use. The first is my absolute favorite when it comes to money: www.daveramsey.com. If you've never heard Dave before, he is a real stitch. He has a way of pointing out the painful truth in a way that adds a bit of humor. He also has real answers, if we're ready to listen. Check out his mortgage calculator as well. Do the math and figure out how much you could save on your house payment (it works for cars and other debts as well; there are other savings/debt calculators too) if you simply paid an extra $100 a month.

Also, www.crown.org is the site for Crown Financial Ministries. They host a radio program, and have many resources available on their site.

Don't just be a victim of debt. Turn the situation around and show what we can do when we are wise stewards with what God has blessed us with.

A New Friend in the Creation/Evolution Debate

I've always been intrigued by the creation/evolution debate. Last year while I was at a conference, I saw that Ben Stein was going to come out with a movie arguing against evolution--yes the same Ben Stein who hosted "Win Ben Stein's Money" and who was the boring teacher on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Now that's what I call credibility!

Most people don't know that Stein has also been an outspoken political activist, as well as a speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford. This isn't some Joe Schmoe making a movie. This is quality stuff.

While I haven't seen the entire film yet, I have seen about a half hour of it. I must say, it was incredibly forthtelling about the true depth of the toll that evolution has had on our culture.

Anyway, the film is called "Expelled!" and came out last weekend in theatres. It is a documentary, but is quite good. I'm not a big "This movie will change your life" kind of guy, but this one is really good at revealing truth. Their web site is: www.expelledthemovie.com. It is playing in both Bloomington and Springfield.

Zanoza's Story Continues to Spread

Many of you were touched a few weeks ago by the video of Dan and Julie Zanoza. Since then, it has been posted on YouTube and has also been written about in the State Journal Register (Springfield newspaper). I have included a few of the links where you can find those stories below. By the way, at last count, their YouTube video had been watched nearly 400 times.

Article by Bernard Schoenburg in the Springfield State Journal Register

Illinois Family Institute Article by Dan Zanoza

Since Dan and Julie are new to our congregation, many of you may not know he founded and regularly writes on the website www.rffm.org. Check it out, as it has a lot of good information there.

Unwanted Life Testimony

Here's a cool testimony I wanted to pass on to you from Dorothy Armstrong. I think it is safe to say that many of us have thought of ourselves as 'unwanted' or 'an accident'. I hope her story encourages you:

If abortion was freely available in 1942, I would not be writing you. When I was in high school my mother told me that some children were tulips and some were geraniums. For tulips you planted bulbs and planned on having them. Geraniums started from a slip. She said that she had three tulips and a geranium. Then added that I was her geranium. She told me about the difficulties she and Dad were having in their marriage at the time they discovered another baby was on the way. Hearing that you were unwanted was very hard for an insecure teenager. Complete healing came about 30 years later in a seminary class with Mr. Ewald. I was writing about my mother telling me I was a geranium, then I realized that people like geraniums. My mother had also told me that when I was first born they named me Doris. However, when I was three days old, they changed my name to Dorothy. I later found out that Dorothy means "gift of God.' I was not wanted, but I was a gift of God. Wanted or not all children should be called Dorothy because they are a "gift of God." We may plant the seed planning on a child or may plant the seed from "a slip,", but God determines if there is life.

Some abortion resources

Here are a few abortion resources for you to explore. We certainly want to make ourselves at JSCC available to you too, as we know these issues are tough. We also recognize that this issue may be one that you feel much more comfortable taking to people who you don't know personally. That's ok. We just want to offer help in every way possible.

Counselors:
Roberta Mangano (Lincoln Christian Counseling Center)- 732-1039
Deborah Tedrick (Lincoln Pastoral Counseling)- 732-6225

Resources for Crisis Pregnancies:
Pregnancy Resource Center, 308 N. Union St, Lincoln- 735-4838

Post-Abortion Internet Sites:
www.safehavenministries.com
“SafeHaven is a safe place for those who have had abortions to find comfort, hope, understanding, and healing in the painful aftermath of abortion. We are a peer support site, meaning that most of those who use this site have had an abortion or have been hurt by abortion. As such, we do not judge nor condemn those who have chosen abortion. On the contrary, you will be fully accepted. We are here to help.”

www.victimsofchoice.org
“This site is designed for visitors who are looking for ministry tools to reach the millions of women experiencing negative post-abortion outcome. It is also designed for those hurting from an abortion -- what to expect, how to find help, what to do next, is there hope? Many women have found expression to their grief and freedom from guilt which has resulted in peace, emotional and spiritual healing through this Christ centered, unique, one-to-one program.”

Abortion Information Sites:
www.prolifeaction.org/links/
“This is not an exhaustive list of all pro-life sites, but select pro-life resources in a variety of categories. Except for the highlighted links listed at the top of each category, links are listed alphabetically.”

www.abortionfacts.com
A site that has great resources for everything from discovering facts and statistics about abortion to testimonies from former abortion doctors.

If only they were just numbers . . .

This year, heart disease will lead the mortality rate, taking 650,000 Americans alone. Cancer is second at 550,000. Another 112,000 will die simply because of unintentional injuries. Yet there is a death toll that is even higher--each year 1,200,000 babies in America are never allowed to take their first breath because of abortion. Add that to the equal number of women who will bear emotional scars because of their 'choice.'

The number is right around 20% of all pregnancies in America will end in abortion this year. The number over 40 years of legalized abortion is right around 50,000,000. Not its, but he's and she's. The US population just topped 300,000,000 for the first time this year--that means about 1 in 7 or so have been aborted. Yet next week after I'm through preaching on the topic, chances are I will put it in the back of my mind again. I may not take time to stop and pray for the troubled mothers, for the fathers who need to cowboy up and take responsibility, or for the children sitting in orphanages because no one has adopted them.

Laws need to change. No question. But our hearts need to change first. Would we really know what to do if Roe v. Wade was overturned? Would we be willing to take unwanted children into our home? If only they were just numbers, this would be easier. But they are not . . .

Abortion

Here is a link to the video we showed on Sunday, April 13 of Dan and Julie, a couple in our church who were willing to share their past experience of an abortion. Sorry that I could not get the video imbedded, but youtube was not cooperating!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4nuEU3YLlvg

James 5:16 tells us that if we confess our sins to one another, we will be healed. It's an interesting concept that is certainly backed up with modern psychology: we need to be willing to open up to others in order to overcome our pasts. While the biblical teaching is certainly more than just 'opening up', it certainly makes sense. I can't think of very many things that would be tougher to confess to than an abortion, especially with all of the social stigmas about it, but how necessary it is! I think if more of us were willing to confess our sins to each other, we would also open the doors for ministry to others--especially with something as complex and socially shameful as abortion.

No Perfect People Allowed

Yesterday in church we discussed the fact that 'sin is sin.' Since I've been a Christian since I was a little runt, this is sometimes tough for me to grasp. It seems a lot easier to grasp levels of sins rather than receiving complete forgiveness for our sins, no matter what they are. If I could imagine myself in the story in John 7, I am slow to drop my stone. I may not throw it, but I tend to like to hold onto it just in case it is needed. But if we're going to reach our community for Jesus, we've got to be willing to drop our stones and make ourselves a little bit uncomfortable.

One of the books that I highly recommend in order to create this type of church is John Burke's "No Perfect People Allowed." Burke leads a church in Austin, TX that reaches people that we have often thought to be unreachable. In his book he deals with many of the issues that we are dealing with during our "Inside-Out Issues" series. I'd encourage you to take a look at it. If you don't have a chance to look at it, just think about it for a while. No perfect people allowed. How refreshing! I don't have to be perfect or even look flawless on Sunday morning. God loves me unconditionally, and as his people, we should love unconditionally as well.

Homosexuality

I had several friends over tonight to watch the Final Four ballgames. In between games, a few of us began discussing the topic of homosexuality. Over the next few minutes, everyone else in the room slowly began to gather around to listen, share, and ask questions. It was very reaffirming to me that this may be the single hottest topic in our culture today. What was refreshing to me is that 5 years ago, the talk would have drifted to legislation and the 'gay agenda.' Now it seems that people really want to talk about healing that comes in Christ.

I haven't felt more uneasy about a sermon in a long time. However, I'm very excited to see how it goes. God is always faithful, and he leads his people together.

Over the next week, I will add a few more thoughts and resources each day. Here are the most basic ones where you can turn to for counseling help, or for more resources on the issue of homosexuality.

Resources:

Lincoln Pastoral Counseling
1700 N. Jefferson Street
Lincoln, IL
Contact: Clare Gramley
(217) 732-6225

Nehemiah Ministries (Counseling specifically dealing with homosexual issues)
803 E Kettering Park Dr.
Urbana, IL
Contact: Kent Paris
(217) 344-4636

Exodus International
www.exodus-international.org/
"The largest information and referral ministry in the world addressing homosexual issues."

National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality
www.narth.com/
"NARTH upholds the rights of individuals with unwanted homosexual attraction to receive effective psychological care, and the right of professionals to offer that care."

Unchristian

Hypocritical, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. Those words best describe Christians, according to a majority of 16-29 year old nonchristians in America. The statisics are staggering, but they should help us to realize that something needs to change in the way that we live out our faith.

I wish I could say that the research is easily discredited, but it comes straight from the highly reputable Barna Group in their new book, Unchristian. In the book, David Kinnamon and Gabe Lyons show how the perception of Christianity amongst young nonchristians is quite disturbing. While I must confess that we aren't called to be popular in the eyes of those who aren't Christians, their perceptions of us certainly do reveal at the very least some truth.

In the book, we find that 91% of unchristian people aged 16-29 find Christianity to be antihomosexual--notice its not just that we believe homosexual acts are a sin, but that we are antihomosexual. 87% of the group also see us as judgmental, while 85% view Christians as hypocritical. However, the most staggering statistic for me was this: of the 84% of 'outsiders' who know a Christian personally, only 15% see significant lifestyle differences.

These stats don't make me comfortable. They don't leave me asking myself if we need to change, but what do we need to change. For more information on the book and the statistics included, check out www.unchristian.com