Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Quit Compromising and Keep Christ!
The Majority In Our Nation Realizes Our Need To Keep Christ In Christmas!
- As shared by Rev. Don Schink, (c) 2004
It's CHRISTMAS time! Yes, you politically-corrected dear hearts! Whether you like it or not, Christmas is still a very important celebration! Yes, you more conservative citizens who are alarmed at what a minority has been able to accomplish, while acting against the desires, the wishes and the good faith of most Americans. It's Christmas! It's the grand and glorious celebration of the Savior of all mankind!
America Online recently conducted a pole with three questions:
Question #1: "Are you OK with Christmas-themed retail displays?
Answer: 96% said YES and 4 % said NO.
Question #2: Are you OK with Christmas music in public school?
Answer: 95% said YES and 5% said NO
Question #3: Are you OK with Christmas displays in a local display?
Answer: 97% said YES and 3% said NO
These percentages held true throughout the survey. In fact, when 359,488 AOL members cast their votes, the percentage was the same as when the count was only up to 201,164 members. In other words, the results of this pole remained true throughout the entire process.
I recently had a conversaton with a lady who went to her child's Christmas program where the public school leadership had carefully carved out any and all mention of Christ, of Christmas, or anything else that would commenorate the true meaning of the holiday. In fact, instead of singing, "We wish you a merry Christmas," the words were changed to say, "We wish you a happy holiday." She was upset. Our nation's kids are being improperly influenced to society without Christan values. She noticed that other religions' influence were allowed, but not Christianity. This is dead wrong. The results upon this nation will be devestatingly negative if this is allowed to continue the way it is.
Consider this, people! Of you consider all of the cults, atheist groups and other such ones, it shows that the majority unanimously and without question value Christ in society. They value our Savior's birth as Savior of mankind. So why do we allow such a small minority to influence and to make decisions to remove Christ and the positive influences of Christianity from our society?
Come on, people! A minority should never be allowed to over-ride the majority, especially with something as important as Christianity's influence in our society, from the school to the marketplace to the courts and other branches of our fine government, or anywhere else! Come on people! It's time to take our na
Wake up people! Our founding fathers reconized the importance that God as the Supreme Authority was to have in positive influences upon our nation. They recognized how important that solid Christian morals, principles, ideals, and decent morality are to any nation. They also recognized that the lack of these would also result in the sad and serious decline of ours, or any other nation, emphasizing the seriousness of the impact of including God as the ultimate leader and as the ultimate authority of our nation.
Take action people! Keep after your public officials! Let them know that you will not tolerate such a tiny majority in taking away the freedoms that our founding fathers realized as being so vitally importabt! Tell them that the opinions of the 95% to 97% of our population that continues to respond that the Christian influence are the ones who truly must be honored!
Consider this, people! The interesting point of this survey is that it was conducted by a fairly liberal organization that would normally be expected to have had far different results. In fact, other surveys are quite often influenced by the more liberal to moderate crowd. I have often cringed at poll results that measure what has appeared to be a spritually and morally declining population. Yet, even where there was undoubtedly quite a few folks who are probably not on fire in their faith for the Lord, yet the majority have soundly answered that Christianity is the influence that they want in our nation, in our schools, in public places, and therefore undoubtedly, in our homes.
Speak up, people! This is the United States of America! This is not the U.S.S.R. This is not China. This is not an Islamic middle east nation. This is the United Sates of America! This is a nation that we can be proud to be a part of! This is the nation that was founded upon sound Christian principles and God's Word, the Bible. Guess what? Although the majority of our founding fathers were professing Christians, not all of them were. But they came to the decision as a group, Christians and non-professing leaders alike, that the Christian influence and the godly principles of the Word of God are what is needed for our nation. This fact was good enough for the first few hundred years. This is just as crucial, even more so, in our day, to prevent the continuous moral decline of our nation.
Enjoy the spirit of true Christmas! Yes, dear hearts, "Jesus is still the reason for the season!" He is still the same as He always has been, for our world, for our nation and for victorious living in the individual hearts and lives of whoever chooses to allow Him to rule and to reign!
To the more liberal non-believing reader, you don't have to choose this. No one will drag you or anyone else screaming and kicking against your will into the kingdom of heaven. Hey! Listen! It's just like this: If you don't want to go, you don't have to! Of course if you refer what the Bible describes as a place of absolute agony, where screaming and gnashing of teeth is the norm, then you're free to go there. That's your choice. But leave me and mine and the majority of the residents of our nation to enjoy our choice! You really are the minority, if that's where you stand! We are all free moral agents, free to chose our direction and eternal destinies. You choose yours. We'll chose ours!
I stand with Joshua of old, where we read in Joshua 24:15, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" There's not a doubt in my heart and mind. I have made that decision. I will live and die by it. It is Christ for our nation and our nation for Christ! Not all chose this. That's clear. But for those who do, we need to stand up and clearly proclaim what is clearly the choice of the majority of our nation!
As you pray today:
1. In your heart, where do you stand in this issue?
2. How can you impact your own circle of influence?
3. What can you do to make sure that you are where the Lord would have you to be, personally?
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Determined To Do It Right!
A Devotional:
David - A Man after God's Own Heart
"Determined To Do It Right!"
- As shared by Rev. Don Schink
A Man After God's Own Heart:
David's rise to power was a long, slow process with many strange twists and turns. Yet through it all, we see God's hand upon David overall. As we see in various studies, David is described as "a man after God's own heart." In spite of some negative circumstances and decisions on David's part, God's Word described him that way. We often see how we, as humans on this earth, often make decisions and judgments regarding people based on what we see. However, God sees the bigger picture. God sees and knows what we cannot possibly see or know, many times. So as we trust and pray as to God's hand upon an individual, or seemingly lack of it at times, we need to keep in mind that our view upon others must always be redemptive. It must always be with eternal results in mind. It is a faith and trust in God's will upon one's heart and life in a way that we cannot possibly know. We see external and present-day fruits in one's lifestyle. God sees the heart. God sees ahead as to what a man, woman, boy or girl can become. We are warned not to become judgmental. We are to be faithful and redemptive in our outreach toward others. The results are clearly in God's hands. He is the Almighty! He is all-powerful! He always has been. He always will be. Count on it!
In Acts 13:22, we read, "After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ " After all of those strange twists and turns in David's life, yet we see where God knew that in the depths of David's heart, his ultimate desire was to really please God. Did he always do so? No. There were obvious failures in David's lifestyle. Some were major blunders, to say the least. Yet ultimately, the Word reveals that David, really sought to be a man after God's own heart. You may have had some major blunders in your own heart and lifestyle. Are they truly behind you? Are you now seeking God with all your heart? Are you yielded to being the kind of dedicated Christian that the Holy Spirit can guide, shape and mold into what the Lord would have each of us to be?
Defeat in a race comes from finishing poorly or perhaps just giving up. If you're reading this, you are still in the race. You are not a quitter. The Lord isn't finished with you yet. You're still a candidate for the grand prize! You're still heading for the finish line and the checkered flag at the end of life's journey. That doesn't mean that there aren't failures along the line. But when we find that we're down, we don't stay there. We, as Christians, need to deal with what needs to be dealt with. We need to admit our failures to the Lord. But once we've done so, we need to get over it, whatever that failure may be. We need to pick ourselves back up and get back in the race, no matter what that failure may be! Often a racer saves his best spurt of energy to make the final run for the finish line. If you and I are truly guys and gals after God's own heart, as we need to be to finish well, we will finish victoriously. As we prove faithful as men, women, boys and girls "after God's own heart," then we can be assured of finishing well. We, too, will hear those precious words, as seen in Matthew 25:23, " ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’"
As I pray today:
What does the Bible say regarding this subject?
What does the Bible say to me (How does it speak to my own heart?)
What am I going to do with what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me in personally applying it in my own heart and daily lifestyle?
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
“Throwaway Pooches & Other Pets”
“Throwaway Pooches & Other Pets”
- Rev. Don Schink, author
- Rev. Don Schink, author
We live in a throwaway society. Don’t believe me? Just look at any street, pathway or trail and you’ll see what I mean. There’s a constant barrage of soda cans, candy wrappers, tires, appliances, old cars, and other items too numerous to mention! But then you already know that. I just hope that you are not one who participates to the extent that some do. No, not you!
Yes, we live in a throwaway society. But do we have to throw away our loyal, faithful, loving pets? What’s up with that? What about the guy who loads his pets into his car and drives out into the countryside, seeks out a remote location where he won’t be identified dropping them off, and then opens the door of his vehicles, gives them a shove and drives off? Now, you really wouldn’t do that, would you? Can I give you, as my reader, benefit of the doubt on this one? Maybe. Maybe not.
My family and I have found a new love in our lives. It’s animal rescue. Now we realize that we can’t save the whole world. As a bi-vocational pastor, I know that all too well in dealing with spiritual issues. However, we can make a dent in it. We do. It is fulfilling and fun. It is also sad and heart breaking.
I guess that I come by it naturally enough. As a kid, growing up in the country in the Finger Lakes area of Upstate New York, our family inherited many such pets over the years that people would bring out into the country from the cities, abandoning them to their own survival or demise. They'’ show up at our door, ragged, dirty, matted fur, and very, very hungry. The word must have gotten out in doggyland, as they seemed to know right where to go! There were lots of beagles and other breeds. I remember one that adopted us that we had no idea as to what breed that it was. So we simply nicknamed it “mousehound,” as it looked like a pitiful matted mouse when it first showed up on our property.
I was out in California when I first encountered a Shetland sheepdog, more commonly known of as shelties. A senior couple had the most adorable tri-color sheltie and I fell head-over-heals, so to speak, with that precious little dog. Smart! She was the smartest dog that I’d ever encountered up to that point. I knew immediately that as soon as it was practical that I would have one of these fine animals!
So I was privileged to own several shelties over the years. In fact, they became a joy to not only myself, but also to my whole family, as well as other people who crossed our path and who learned the value of these precious animals. We learned that they are very intelligent and easy to train. In fact, while I was pastoring at Watkins Glen, New York, my family became involved in 4-H obedience training. It was great for the kids and I enjoyed it as much as the kids did.
Now you should be able to ascertain that I really love and appreciate these fine animals, as many others feel about their own pets and various breeds of dogs, cats, horses, etc. I love them as much as anything the Lord has allowed to be a part of my heart and my life. You do understand that, I trust. So, why would anyone want to mistreat or abandon such precious pets? As time has gone on I have discovered what I have always suspected. That is, this has been a major problem for many years, of such proportion that it is almost unbelievable! It’s true.
I want to express appreciation to the untold numbers of organizations and individuals who reach out daily to rescue these helpless, unloved, mistreated and abandoned animals. My family has a special love for shelties and we have to stick with sheltie rescue. It isn’t that we care less for other breeds. It is just that the need is so great that we decided to stick with the ones that we already love and that we seem to be most familiar with.
Animal rescue takes on many faces. There is honestly more to say than can be written in this article. What grips the heart of a rescue person? It’s the collie that I saw on an Interstate that had been abandoned and hit by a car, still alive, frightened, snapping at the tires of hundreds of cars, in total confusion as to where the poor thing found itself. It is the frightened little sheltie who was so distrustful when she came to us that she snapped at all who reached out to her. It took time and lots of love, but she finally responded to our continual and loving outreach. It is the senior sheltie who came to us with tumors and other ailments from years of neglect and poor diet and care. The last two-and-a-half years of her life were by far the best that she’s ever had. It’s the dog who was raised in a puppy mill, simply for continual breeding. And the list goes on and on.
Rescue groups and individuals take these ones in, normally absorbing the cost of medical care and all that goes with nurturing them back to health and guiding them to the point where they can be passed on to loving homes who will care for them and keep them in what we call their new forever homes.
