Category Archives: Faith

At one time, I was that little Vietnamese girl

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Last month I had the pleasure of meeting a missionary to Vietnam who works with orphaned children. A story he related while preaching at our church was the absolute perfect picture of my life, and I felt moved to share it.

One of the orphans he worked with, along with her sister, saw her daddy hang himself. The children were terribly traumatized, as you can imagine…and this particular little girl wouldn’t smile or talk to anyone. After a lot of work, she would smile and talk to Mike.

One day, she heard that he was coming to the village. She dressed up in her best clothes and prepared to come see him. While crossing a canal that was basically an open sewer, on a bridge consisting of a fallen tree laid across the canal, she slipped and fell into the sewage slop.

When he got there, she was crushed and reeked of all the stinky gunk that she was covered in, crying uncontrollably. Moved by the spirit, he knelt down, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek, and told her, “It’s okay, honey…I don’t care what you smell like, I love you anyhow.” The little girl was overjoyed. It was this gesture that convinced the communist authorities that he was the real deal, and that he loves those kids over there.

The same picture applies to the sinner being saved when he/she accepts Christ. I was in the same sorry shape as that little Vietnamese girl. I was covered in slop spiritually, things that would be putrid to an almighty and just God. Things like:

– the sin I was born with. We all are, since Adam. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” (Romans 4:12)

– the idea that I was basically a “good person.” “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10)

– the sins I’d committed in my life, most notably, according to Jesus: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)

– the good I thought I’d done to make up for the bad. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6)

– the religion that I thought would absolve me of my sins: “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mark 7:7)

I was eternally stained with a load of foul, awful mess that neither I or any other man could never wipe clean. Neither could “religion.” I was stuck with it. My soul reeked with the disgusting mess of the sin I’d inherited and the slop I’d rolled around in for nearly thirty years. Yet God didn’t care about that. When I finally humbled myself and believed that I was a simple sinner in need of God’s mercy and grace, It was as if he knelt down, wrapped His arms around me, and told me, “It’s okay…I don’t care what you’ve done. I’ve made a way for you…Jesus died for those sins. You’re clean in my eyes.” It was then that I knew for sure that God is real.

I remember that night, when the summation of all the witnessing by my Christian friends finally sunk in. I suppose I could simplify things into three choices. One, you could reject Jesus altogether. Two, you could claim to know Him, but trust in sacraments or good works to justify you in God’s sight. Or three, you can admit that you’re a sinner and only Jesus’ dying on the cross for your sins can save you. Only the third will save your eternal soul. The apostle John wrote in the Bible, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:2), “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) That whole world includes you, me, and everybody. Not only did God love us, but he “washed us from our sins in his own blood” according to Revelation 1:5. But you’ve got to believe.

Spiritually, the lost sinner feels the same way as that little Vietnamese girl when he approaches God and trusts in Jesus for his eternal salvation…to be accepted and loved, when they feel filthy and unloveable. That was me several years ago. I just wanted to share that with you.

Photo credit: Man Him, Republic of Vietnam (modified for this post within Creative Commons license)

This post has been bumped up from May 3rd, 2008.

Some important Measure 3 information: PDF download and short video

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With the estimated amount of blood money poured into North Dakota by abortion factory “Planned Parenthood” organizations approaching one million dollars, you can imagine there’s plenty of misinformation bouncing around out there. Of course, it’s all put out there by the pro-abort propaganda mill who see faith and religion as their primary adversary. No shocker there.

An informational sheet has been put together answering some direct questions that should probably address any concerns one might have about Measure 3. Those concerns would most likely be brought on by the disinformation campaign waged by the pro-abort bunch.

Click here to download the short one-page PDF file.
If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you’re good to go. It may take a little bit for the program to load, but the file should download reasonably quickly. Click on the icon below to download the free Adobe Reader if necessary.

Now onto the video. This addresses some of the same disinformation sneaking around out there but can actually give more background:

There you go. This measure basically provides protection against people passing laws to stifle faith and religion, a war which is being waged heavily here in North Dakota right now, and does not do any of the weird things the pro-abort groups claim it does. Please vote YES on Measure 3.

Surprise: Abortion groups put FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in blood money against Measure 3. UPDATE: It’s now being reported as $700,000.

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Measure Three, on the ballot this primary season, is sometimes referred to as the Religious Liberty Restoration Amendment. The key word in this title is “Restoration” as the measure seeks to restore protections for people of faith that have been slowly stripped away by the federal government. Similar measures have been passed in twenty-seven states,

Opponents of the measure claim it’s going to legalize wife beating, denial of medical care, and all sorts of other things that it will not do. They clearly have a vested interest in limiting religious freedom in North Dakota. Who’s the group who has the most to lose from strong religious protections in North Dakota? Easy: the abortionists.

If you click on this link on the Secretary of State’s Office website, you’ll be able to find a list of who’s bankrolling the opposition. It’s exclusively “Planned Parenthood” (wow, what a sterile misnomer) groups from North Dakota and elsewhere.

You can also download the PDF here (I’m hosting a copy on this blog) to examine it for yourself.

If you haven’t paid close attention to the Measure 3 debate, let this one fact smack you square between the eyes: the ones spending the huge money opposing it are people who support killing children. That single fact should be enough to convince you to vote in support of this measure in the June primary.

UPDATE: According to this article, the amount now is around $700,000. That’s a lot of blood money! They want to stop the only barrier remaining to their infanticidal death cult.

Rick Green returns to Bismarck-Mandan

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I was thrilled when I heard that Rick Green was coming to New Song Church last weekend, because I’m a huge fan of his work with Wallbuilders. This was an afternoon presentation on the Constitution and the Christianity of the founders of our nation, and the information presented was extremely eye-opening and educational.

If you haven’t visted the Wallbuilders website, you simply must do so. And even better is the daily half-hour Wallbuilders Live podcast. With a tagline like “The intersection of faith and politics” this show is enlightening and puts current issues in the context of the country’s founding documents and the faith of those responsible for them.

There was plenty of Q&A which ranged from current affairs and the upcoming elections to the original intent of the founders and some very interesting technical “nuts & bolts” about the Constitution (including some common misconceptions), the role of the courts, and the powers of the branches of the federal government. If this sounds like dry stuff to you, you’re mistaken.

I found out about this at the last minute or I’d have posted more about it earlier, giving people time to call New Song and RSVP to attend. The cost was $10 and pizza was provided (yum). The next time Rick comes to town, I’ll make sure to help New Song promote his visit and encourage you to come! In the mean time, check out Rick’s website and the Wallbuilders Live podcast.

Obamacare pro-abort activism fools Catholics, apparently even at KFYR-TV

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On my way out of the office earlier this week, I saw Monica Hannan open “First News at 5:00” with a story touting an interesting poll. It claimed that a majority of Catholics’ opinion of President Obama hadn’t changed in light of the Obamacare mandate on “contraception.”

I was surprised to hear this poll reported as credible on KFYR, because it ignores two very important facts:

1- The pro-abort crowd has WON this issue if they continue to refer to it as a “contraception” issue. Go back to those same professing Catholics, poll ’em again AFTER reminding them that the mandate also includes ABORTION drugs. Look up what an “abortifacient” drug is, or a “morning after” pill. Guess what: the Catholic church is going to have to hand THOSE out too. My guess is that at a LOT of Catholics who don’t mind strapping on prophylactics in defiance of the Pope would have a real problem with handing out abortion drugs!

2- It’s not just an issue of contraception, or even abortion. It goes far more fundamental. Let’s simplify the scenario for a second:

Government: “Hey, church – we want you to do ‘X’ and we’re going to require it by law.”

Church: “Um…no. ‘X’ is against our beliefs and teachings, and has been for centuries.”

Government: “Well, that’s too bad. We’re going to make you do ‘X’ anyway. After a week of bad press, we’ll claim it’s the insurance companies paying for ‘X’, but you’re still going to do it. Besides, your membership’s doing ‘X’ in secret anyway…regardless of your church’s belief.”

So what’s the right answer for the churches or practicing Catholics to give here? I’ll give you a hint: it’s NOT one of acquiescence.

And by the way, it’s NOT just a Catholic issue. Just because Christian churches don’t have a tenet forbidding contraceptives, they are ALL united against abortion. That’s what brought Catholic, Christian, Jewish, and even Muslim groups together in unity against this mandate. But you don’t hear anything about that anymore, do you?

This is how the media works to further leftist agendas: with a vacuum. They locked the issue of mandatory government-funded abortion into a vacuum chamber, and only reported on “the contraception issue.” Not only did that take the worst part of the issue out of the argument completely, but it also sliced those unified groups apart and focused only on the Catholic church, an organization liberals knew they could easily roll over. Divide and conquer, 21st century style.

I’m not surprised at how many Catholics have fallen hook, line, and sinker for it…given the fact that the Catholic Church has given in to liberal progressivism long ago in what Paul Rahe calls “Catholicism’s Pact with the Devil.”

Feather and high places

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“You mean the feather, Daddy?” PJ replied when I asked if he saw the cloud. Yep, the feather. I was pleased to hear his perception of its wispy shape. I’ve been working a lot of extra hours lately with the flood response going on around the state, so the opportunity to take a few minutes and haul my boys around for a sunset viewing in the truck was a real treat. Even more so is hearing how they perceive the world around them and watching them try to capture it on their little toy cameras.

When one goes out to look at the sky, sunrise, and sunset, one often does just what we did: find a high place. At one point my four year old asked me if we could go see the place where Daddy goes on his motorcycle to pray. He heard me talk about a hill I like to frequent when I’m out riding at night where I can just stop and pray, and my boys wanted to see it. So up we went. As we were nearing the crest of the hill, he said, “Maybe we can stop up there and pray for the floods to go away.” Excellent idea. And so we did. He also prayed for all the roads that are closed, and the people whose houses are in the water. That’s my boy.

The Bible doesn’t have much good to say about high places, but in context it’s because of the way they were used: idolatry. The people of Israel used their high places to offer worship to false gods they picked up from people around them. Long before I started reading my Bible I enjoyed going to a high, remote place to pray, so maybe it’s something we’re all inclined to do. But when your prayer or praise is properly directed, it’s not a bad thing. The prophet Habakkuk wrote this, paraphrasing a portion of Psalm 18:

“The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” (Habakkuk 3:19)

I’m pleased to be able to find a high place with my little boys, our cameras, and our prayers…properly directed on behalf of all who are impacted by the flooding.

“Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world…”

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Those words won’t be much consolation to the biblically ignorant folks who bought into Harold Camping’s so-called “prophecy”…actually, they were banking on it actually BEING the end of the world. Of course, anyone who spends time studying the Bible saw through this charade instantly. Let’s see, take some really convoluted and erroneous math, throw out the book of Daniel and other prophetic books, completely ignore the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and voila’! You’ve got yourself a prophecy!

Let’s not forget what Jesus said about His return:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 25:13)

“Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:40)

I read into the eschatology of these folks when people first started buzzing about it. Aside from all the nuts & bolts of the end times according to the Bible, which I don’t have time to dissect here, the Lord Jesus Christ makes it quite clear Himself that we’re not going to be able to predict or know. That’s enough for me…case closed.

I grew up Catholic, which means I didn’t always know what the inside of a Bible looked like. After I became a born again Christian and started studying my Bible, I was amazed at what I found therein. Old and New Testament correlated each other, scripture contextualized scripture, and I was blown away at what an amazing inspired book it is. It’s also a book that, when taken out of context, is a favorite weapon of all types of charlatans.

What about the poor folks who buy into this? Foretold by the apostle Paul:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” *II Timothy 4:3-4)

There’s one sure way to avoid being suckered in by this sort of thing: study your Bible. ALL of it. In context. Second, don’t give heed to anyone who’s got a $75 million dollar “ministry” and makes his livelihood from “prophecy” and end times “theology.”

ND Dept of Public Instruction partners with abortion factory, “pro-incest” group, other activists to steer sexuality of North Dakota children

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You’d think it wouldn’t happen here, but under Wayne Sanstead’s watch it certainly will…if we aren’t vigilant. Recently the Department of Public Instruction scheduled a conference to “educate” teachers in partnership with abortion factory Planned Parenthood. As Plains Daily reports, “the conference’s keynote speaker is Kurt Conklin, School Health Project Coordinator at SIECUS (Information and Education Council of the US).” So what’s that?

SIECUS is a group which thinks that kindergarten children should be “educated” about their sexuality by teachers without regard to their parents’ belief system. Not only that, groups like this advocate for the queer agenda, and have added another letter to the acronym. Now it’s “LGBTQ”: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, and “questioning.” The ones they’re most particularly interested in is the Q’s, since it’s those that they hope to mold and shape into the good little homosexuals of tomorrow… regardless of how their parents feel about it. In case you think I’m overreacting, Time Magazine referred to this bunch as “part of the pro-incest lobby.”

SIECUS also is quite proud of its “No More Money” campaign, which it formed entirely to combat abstinence education such as that currently taught in North Dakota (and which is being bolstered by legislation this session). Guess who is on their list of supporters? Click here: it includes mostly homosexual advocacy groups and abortion mills…including GLSEN, the organization that was caught teaching school kids the technique of “fisting” and showing them porn. If you don’t know what that is, don’t look it up. I wonder if Wayne Sanstead knows?

Answer, one of the other organizations tied to this thing, has an interesting Vision and Mission page. It includes the line that “teens are responsible decision makers.” Really? Is that why we’re limiting their driving rights this session? Is that why we keep alcohol out of their hands? I guarantee that if you give a teenager another naked teenager, the LAST thing they’ll be is a responsible decision maker. But organizations like SIECUS, Answer, and Planned Parenthood are NOT concerned with responsibility.

The Say Anything Blog and Plains Daily broke this story several days ago, and provided this web form which you can use to contact Supt. Wayne Sanstead to give your feedback on this debacle. Shortly after they did that and people responded, Dr. Sanstead announced that the conference was canceled with no reason given for its cancellation.

Recent information has now revealed that this event is not canceled, but merely postponed. They’re simply waiting for the legislative session to end and for the heat to blow over so they can have their sex indoctrination session as planned without you knowing about it. The organizers’ own words indicate that instead of canceling their event, they’re merely postponing it “until the conclusion of the session. We have low numbers at this point, so lets use that as justification.” …”I hope we’ll find a way to re-group and make this happen when conditions are more supportive!” Click here to download the actual emails to prove it (PDF format) or peruse them below:

The conference was supposed to be about sex education, but as you can see admitted in the emails above and in the planned conference agenda, it focused heavily on the homosexual agenda. This includes a “charge to address LGBTQ issues” and a push to develop “environments inclusive” of these deviant sexual behaviors by your children. Sandra Tibke’s own assurance to these folks says that “This conference will cover the importance of adolescent sexual health as a whole but will take a large chunk of time teaching about LGBTQ issues.”

The question that needs to be asked is: Why would she need to assure someone that homosexual topics would feature prominently? Clearly the promotion of this activist agenda to introduce homosexuality etc. to our children is important to the people involved in this conference. Click here to download that agenda (PDF format) or peruse it below:

I wonder how many North Dakotans would approve of this being brought into our education system with the sponsorship of Dr. Sanstead’s Department of Public Instruction?

I’ve never been anything but forthcoming about the fact that I believe what the Bible says about homosexuality: it is a sin, period. But even if you don’t subscribe to my point of view on this, don’t you still think that the sexuality of a child is best handled by their parents, not activists?

I believe you can still use this web form to contact Dr. Sanstead and let him know what you think about this sort of thing. I encourage you to do so.

Once again, here’s a link fest for you to track this thing as it has unfolded.

Plains Daily: DPI Plans Sex Education Conference in Partnership with Planned Parenthood

Say Anything Blog: Tell North Dakota Public Schools To End Contract With Planned Parenthood

Plains Daily: DPI Sex Education Seminar Sponsored By Planned Parenthood Canceled

Plains Daily: DPI’s Sex Ed Conference Only Postponed Until After Session

Plains Daily: SIECUS Sex Ed Not in Line with ND DPI’s Stated Values

PDF: Conference “Save the Date” flyer

PDF: Conference agenda (including plenty of sessions on “LGBTQ” youth)

PDF: Emails regarding postponing the conference “until the conclusion of the session. We have low numbers at this point, so lets use that as justification.” …”I hope we’ll find a way to re-group and make this happen when conditions are more supportive!”

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” the saying goes. Make sure you tell and/or email everybody you know about this surreptitious activism, designed to take decisions about your child’s sexuality away from you and put it into the hands of the people you are supposed to trust with your child’s education. Make sure you contact Dr. Sanstead and tell him what you think of his department’s little sex-fest with these organizations, and insist that DPI cut ties with them immediately and permanently.

The True Meaning of Christmas 2010

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Despite all the efforts to combat it, Christmas is here. What was once a celebration of Christ’s birth has become artfully hijacked. In some ways it’s been converted into a time of commercialism. In others it’s become simply a time of tradition; family, food, fun. I’m not saying the exchange of gifts is bad and, quite frankly, this world needs more tradition and family time. Whether good or bad, these things are a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas.

One thing I first realized when I became a Christian is that there’s way more to the Christmas story than I’d ever known. Jesus didn’t suddenly spring up and change the way God dealt with man forever; his birth was foretold. Around the time of his conception, you didn’t have to explain to an Israelite who the Messiah was. He was foretold by the prophets. His lineage was known and predicted, as well as his birthplace of Bethlehem. They were literally waiting for him to arrive. Check out Isaiah 53 and you’ll see how important Christ’s arrival is, and what was foretold.

Another thing I realized is that we Gentiles are not God’s chosen people; Israel is. We, however, through the faith in Jesus that his nation didn’t have, are grafted in. In both the old and new testaments, Jesus is referred to as a light to the Gentiles. As Paul points out in Romans, the grace God shows the Gentiles is intended to provoke Israel to jealousy. He made a covenant with them that he will not break, and his wish is that they’d come around.

The Christmas story as told in Luke is simply beautiful. I love to try to picture that starry night (because I’m a starry night kind of guy) and the magnitude of the events that unfolded around Jesus’ birth. People were waiting for his birth. This night was prophecy fulfilled, the opportunity for God’s chosen people to be redeemed. Later on, because he wasn’t the type of Messiah they wanted, they rejected him. When Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter 7, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He was ready to redeem his people, but again they rejected him and killed the messenger, Stephen. Thus we are now in the church age, the time of the Gentiles.

Christmas 2010 has been such a blessing. For one month between November and December we had two three-year-old boys. We’ve got a White Christmas, and PJ loves to help Daddy shovel snow. My wife and I, although busy beyond belief, occasionally get time to stop and remark how thankful we are for the blessings we’ve been given. The Lord gave me an amazing woman, and gave us the two most precious little boys ever.

While out and about doing some gag-gift shopping for our Christmas party at work, I found myself distracted by gifts for my little boys. We’d already finished shopping for them, but I couldn’t resist. It occurred to me that it was the joy of being able to buy something to light up their little blue and green eyes that had me hooked. It’s just one more joy of being Daddy.

I drove around town the other night looking at Christmas lights, a live nativity scene at Zion Lutheran, and just generally enjoying the town while my wife and the boys were visiting cousins. I had sneaked home and done all the dishes and stuff to surprise my lovely wife and then hopped in the truck with my gear. I actually recorded a potential podcast with my MP3 recorder as I drove around, but I don’t know if I’ll post it here. I love our town(s) during Christmas time, even though there seem to be fewer homes decorating for the holidays every year.


We’ve got plans to just stick close to home and enjoy our precious little family this year. Our property is blanketed by a thick blanket of nice white snow, our little boys are finally old enough to partake fully in Christmas festivities, and the Lord has continued to show himself faithful (even when I’m not) throughout another year. I hope your Christmas is as memorable as mine. If you’ve got anything you’d like to share about your Christmas, please enter it as a comment. Merry Christmas!