Yesterday was a big day in the history of Northway Baptist Church. Yesterday afternoon we signed a contract to purchase the church building on Hwy. 1960 from Second Baptist Church. This came the next day after voting to accept an offer on our property. So, big changes are ahead!

It has been more than three years since we first started to work on relocating our church and now our dream is about to be realized. There have been times when it seemed that it would never happen, but God has brought it to fruition. Through all the rough spots our people have remained patient and prayerful–they are to be commended. This is just another example of what God can do if we trust Him and wait upon Him. While there is a lot of work to do, we face the future with a spirit of excitment. As I told someone yesterday, “I feel like a kid in a candy store.” God has been blessing our church in an unbelievable way over the past year, but I believe the best is yet to come. If we don’t get in His way, great things are ahead.

Let us be thankful for what God has done, obedient to His will, and ever vigilant, knowing that Satan wants to hinder God’s work. If we remain faithful there is no limit to what God can do. Thank you for your prayers and support, keep it up!

Not all the “nuts” are in politics-some are in the ministry. A good example of this is Pastor Steven Anderson, of the “Faithful Word Baptist Church” in Tempe, AZ. Andersson recently preached a sermon titled, “Why I Hate Barack Obama”, and he encouraged his parishioners to join him in praying for the president’s death! He told “My Fox Phoenix”, “I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today.”

In his sermon he said, “I’m gonna pray that he dies and goes to hell when I go to bed tonight. That’s what I’m gonna pray.” His remarks stem, in part, from Obama’s stance on abortion- rights.

The stupidity of this is such that I don’t need to spend a second explaining why it is wrong. I would simply recommend to every person in that church that they get out, or get him out. I tried to contact this pastor by email, but his mail- box was full and my email was rejected. My only reason for writing this article is to warn you that we are just seeing the “tip of the iceberg”. Our nation is filled with hate and we are headed for a showdown between opposing factions.

On one hand we have President Obama and his supporters, who are determined to turn out nation into a socialist state. On the other side we have those who want to preserve “the American way of life”. The tension is building and I don’t expect either side to back down. As Festus used to say, “There’s trouble in Dodge”.

While I certainly believe that we should do what we can to keep America great, we have no right to resort to violence or even use inflammatory remarks such as those used by Pastor Anderson. We are indeed involved in a spiritual warfare, but we need to remember, that, “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal”(2 Cor. 10:4). If you want to change America do it the right way. Make the truth known to others, vote and pray.

Don’t allow some radical to push you over the top. Do what is right and trust God to do the rest. Unless something changes drastically before the next presidential election, like the little boy said, “You ain’t seen nuttin yet.” Things can get a whole lot worse than they are. As Christians we need to learn how to respond appropriately to those things that we disagree with. As Paul said, “be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” ( 1 Tim. 4:12).

I have no respect for wimps who sit back in silence without protesting against those who would destroy American, but neither do I respect those who use hate filled speech to express their objections. Our nation needs healing and it’s time that we Christians set the example. I’ve got some doubts whether we can ever turn our nation around, but there is no doubt as to how we ought to behave. Only God can save America, but that will never happen until there is a revival among God’s people, and that can’t happen as long as we are full of hate. Our only hope is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” THINK ABOUT IT!

Today is “Labor Day” and it would do us all good to think about it. I just read that there are “nearly 15 million unemployed Americans”. That is a shocking figure. Although there are many reasons for this, one of the reasons is that a lot of folks looking for employment aren’t looking for work. Instead of getting their hands dirty working, they are looking for a hand-out. That’s why a politian can get elected by promising people a free ride. They want welfare rather than work.

If you think times are hard now just wait. Like the little boy said,”You ain’t seen nuttin yet!”. Unless there is a fundamental change in our work ethic things are going to get a lot worse. And, we’ve brought it on ourself. A Danish proverb says,”Give to a pig when it grunts and give to a child when it cries, and you will have a fine pig and a bad child.” We’ve done that and now we have a generation of spoiled brats that do nothing but cry. We have raised the “Gimme Generation”.

Most people simply don’t want to work. They remind me of a man who joins all the labor unions he can so as to make sure he can always be on strike. Gone are the days when people took pride in a job well done. People today wish but they won’t work.But that is no way to make your dreams come true.

Someone said,”There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree–climb it or sit on an acorn.” We’ve got too way folks sitting on acorns, too many couch-potatoes, more concerned about entertainment than they are about employment. All they think about are fun and games. They even design they wardrobe around the theme of sports and entertainment. Whatever happened to “work-clothes”? My mother wore exercise outfits when she was alive–they were called “housedresses”. Guess I would have to explain that to some of the younger folks–LOL.

Every year Americans consume more and produce less. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we can’t keep going like that. Sooner or later we will end up with what we deserve–NOTHING! The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. Think about it!

My dad would have been 90 today. Thinking about that sure brings back a lot of wonderful memories. It wouldn’t mean anything to you if I talked about them–after all they are “my memories”. But remember this folks–someday all we will be (earthly speaking) is a memory to someone. Hopefully we will live in such a way so as to leave pleasant memories behind. We just get one shot at it folks, so we better do it right. There are no second chances.THINK ABOUT IT!

The headlines read,”Megachurch Marries 32 Couples in Mass Wedding”. That’s unusual, but the most shocking part is that these people were church members who were “cohabiting”. While it’s good that these folks finally decided to “tie the know”, why were they allowed to join the church while “cohabiting”? Here you have a “church” that is in the wrong telling people who are in the wrong that they need to do right. The church had no business receiving these people into the church to start with.

This is where our greatest problem lies today. Don’t blame the Hollywood crowd, etc. for all the ills of our nation. The greater blame lies on the doorstep of churches that compromise what the Bible teaches. A bit later on in the article, I learned a lot more about this “megachurch” when I read this–” the church’s female and male pastors——“. Do I need to say more.

My question is–how can we expect people to obey God’s Word when churches so blatantly disobey the Bible? Instead of giving this church a pat on the back, as this article seems to do, I suggest it deserves a swift kick in the seat of its pants. Think about it!