mikescape

Sobering words attributed to the oft-maligned Thomas Jefferson – for those of you living in either Miami-Dade County or Rio Linda, that’s the old dead dude who helped found our nation and actually penned the Constitution, way back before the interweb or MTV chose our presidential candidates for us based on celebrity status – for those who want to elect politicians who will right all wrongs by bringing the imposing, majestic power of the state to bear on all and over all…

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.

He could not have been more prescient.

Certain individuals argue that they are supporting the good senator Barack Hussein “Kill ‘Em All!” Obama because his is really the Pro-Life position {{insert blank stare here}} arguing that Marxist-Leninist redistribution of captial from the bourgeois to the downtrodden and exploited proletariat will actually reduce the number of infanticides, while seeking to protect the lives of children is in actual fact detrimental to those children.

Again: {{insert blank stare here}}

Ahem.

As something of a reality check (something neither political nor theological liberals much like to admit exists, even less interact with – reality, that is), this blogpost from Stand To Reason lends the lie to such Bolshevist fancies.

Darn those conservatives, confusing the issue with facts again…

…from the 2008 Midwest Conference:

For those who support the good senator Barack Hussein “Kill ‘Em All!” Obama, and still maintain a Pro-Life veneer, the Stand To Reason blog has just put up two superb blogposts which should give some pause – food for thought, regardless:

• Obama’s Abortion Extremism – It Gets Worse
• Common Ground on Abortion?

If the polls are to be believed (and I’m not convinced that they are – sorry, there, Dr. Larry Taylor; the facts are again not very much in your favor here), Obama will ascend to the throne come January next…and should that be the case, a vastly increased accessibility to infanticide, forced on the public and funded by my {insert Mark Driscoll colorful language here} tax dollars will be the rule of the day.

The STR folks put it best:

Senator Obama just said in the presidential debate that he wants to unite around common ground in preventing unwanted pregnancies.  Frankly, I can never take that apparent olive branch seriously as long as the person offering it wants to expand federal funding of abortion, eliminate any existing restriction on abortion, and actually manufacture more nascent human beings only to be destroyed for their parts.

I just can’t take seriously any social justice platform that doesn’t include protecting the lives and rights of the tiniest, weakest, most innocent and vulnerable humans.  I’m willing to talk about a broader social justice platform if the 1.2 million unborn children slaughtered every year are included.  Surely, that is fundamental to social justice.

Not to these newbreed evangelicals, apparently.

“Social justice,” for these guys, includes the death sentence for babies, to pay for the sins or socio-economic statuses of their parents.

I love going to the “big” conference in California each year.  Love it, love it, love it.

But I love going to the Midwest Conference even more.

Two big reasons: First, though it’s a pastors’ conference, there are more than just pastors there.  The regional Calvaries use it as a yearly family reuinion – and it has that very feel and flavor to it.  There are whole families – including very young children – all sitting at the feet of Jesus, enjoying His Word and each other, for three glorious days.  Even more so than the Murrieta Conference, the Midwest Conference is a true retreat.

I love seeing so many old friends that I haven’t seen since the previous year (or at least since Murrieta), who are ministering in my same neck of the woods; and I love seeing all the new faces, all the young people (as I begin the inevitable transition from not being quite as young as I was before to becoming one of the middle-aged).  I love the way the youngin’s essentially take over the cabins and dorm foyers and worship together into the wee hours of the morning.  I love walking around (or, let’s be a bit more realistic: sitting on the shore of) the lake, reading the Word, and watching hundreds of my brothers-in-arms doing the same as the sun breaks over the heavily forested horizon.  I love the discussions around breakfast, lunch, and dinner – from the deeply theological to the deeply practical.  I love sitting around the bonfire at night, eating fresh popcorn, homemade cookies, drinking hot spiced apple cider, and worshipping into the night to the sound of guitars and djembes and fiddles and such played more often than not by the children of my brothers-in-arms (this year a precious family who have several young daughters helped lead the bonfire worship – it was indescribably awesome). I love seeing and holding the new babies born to families young and not-so-young over the previous year, and meeting up with missionaries to the far corners of the earth who are based in the Midwest region and who come home on furlough for the conference.

Which leads into the second biggest reason I love the Midwest Conference – the emphasis on fellowship.

Even moreso than Murrieta, the focus of the MidCon is on enjoying each other & the Lord.

I cannot describe how very much I look forward to this conference each year, and how much of a charge it gives me to carry on for the remainder until we get to meet again, the second full week in October.

…and of course, what would a conference be without catching Chik Chikeles sleeping…?

The family from Carroll County…the Vassar group…the insane – and I mean insane posse from Iron River up in the UP…

Can’t wait until next year, when we get to hook up again.

John 17

• “What is your ambition?” ‘I just want to do God’s will.”
• God doesn’t see us the way we see us.
  • God would say, “Yeah, but think of how bad you would be if it weren’t for Me and what I did and do for you…!”
• “Is there any hope for me?” Yes, but not in myself.
• “The only real difference between the big-time TV jerks and me…is publicity.”
• “His failure turned him into a gentle man.”
• We can’t manage perfection in our lives, that’s given to us. We manage now confession.
  • I cannot boast in anything.
  • Except that I know Him.
• Whenever you talk about Jesus, He wins.
• True unity is around Jesus.

Nehemiah 2

• Most of the work is already done before you get there.
• People are following you as you follow the Lord.
• If I’m not going to lead by example, why should anybody follow me?
• Rewards are not a good motivator to serve the Lord – love is.
• My job as a pastor is to remind the people of what God has done.
• Knowledge is half the battle; obedience is the other half.

• The nature of Jesus – Others-centered.
  • You cannot find one place where Jesus was self-centered.
• “Church was not something to which we went; it was a lifestyle.”
• The nature of Jesus is giving.
• “Keep me in Your nature, that I can glorify You.”

Luke 11

• Jesus continues to train His disciples.
  • He does it by example – e.g., He prayed, and that affected the diciples.
• There was something different about the way Jesus prayed.
• The disciples noted that the works & words of Jesus flowed from His time with the Father.
• God desires that we delight in Him & delight in speaking with Him as children to their Father.
• In the Kingdom of God, we are invited to ask for His provision.
• “You need to forgive this man, or else you won’t even have a ministry.”
• We cannot be in a place of temptation without it infecting us.
• The powers of darkness don’t fear us. But they sure do fear our Father.

I Peter 1

Jeremiah 1

• A vital aspect: the calling of God.
• You cannot effectively serve God in ministry if you do not genuinely love His people.
• The minister must be broken before he can be used.
• “I now give you permission to shepherd My sheep.”
• C. H. Spurgeon – Lectures To My Students.
• The call of God will take us through the hard times.
• Make your calling sure, & you will stand.
• Simply teach the Word of God simply.
• Revival is right before us – keep praying!!!
• The 4 “P’s” of the call of God
  • It is a precious call.
  • It’s a privilege.
  • The principles of tha call.
  • God will give His provision.
• Am I really willing to have an elderly Mormon lady take a swing at me…? ;D
• Pray for more than just “our” church – pray for God to bless all churches in our area.
• God’s call will bring us to a crisis of belief.
• God’s call will carry us through our excuses.
• The Lord will put His hand on us as we submit ourselves to His call.
• God wii continue to define and refine His call in our lives.
• God will give us eyes to see His vision.
• “Lord; I have come to bury my bones.”
• God will allow time – in the midst of our call – to prepare and be prepared.
• As I walk in God’s call, He will fortify me.
• Know that there will be battles, but God will deliver us.