Winning the debate on the "terms"

The debate for same-sex marriage is not going to go away anytime soon. In Iowa, if everything works according to plan, the issue won't be up for vote with the people before 2012. And once the people of Iowa get the opportunity to vote, same-sex marriage will be handily defeated in our state. Same-sex marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote.

Recently I attended an event sponsored by the Iowa Family Policy Center called, "Handling the second-hand effects of same-sex marriage." It was very informative. The keynote address was from Jan Mickelson, radio talk show host for WHO Radio. He spoke directly to a room filled with ministers and told them that we have to deal with this debate using the right terms.

He said, "The reason the abortion debate has been controlled by those in support of abortion is because they controlled the language of the debate." Don't use terms like "unborn baby." Instead use the term "fetus." Don't speak about life or death, speak about liberty and choice.

The moment a person in support of abortion has to get technical in describing what it is that they actually do, they lose the debate every single time. A prime example of this playing out in real life is the very recent story of Abby Johnson, a director at a local Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas who quit after viewing an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. Here's the point...when those on the other side, have to face the ugly facts of the debate...they lose.

The debate for same-sex marriage is no different. If we truly press those who are homosexual to describe what it is that they do that makes them homosexual, they lose every time. The "Ick" factor is too high.

The realities are that if we "drink the kool-aid" and adopt the thinking of this age then we will assume all the lines we hear all too often. Lines such as this: It is very discriminatory to not allow two people in love to have the same benefits of marriage that you enjoy. When the fact is, it is very proper for society to discriminate against this for its very propogation. Civilization cannot be advanced by homosexual couples.

Another line is to compare very real civil rights struggles of blacks in American society with that of the same-sex marriage movement today. Here's the deal, I have met many people who used to be "gay" but I have never met anyone who used to be black (except possibly Michael Jackson). Those that faced having to stand at Colored Water Fountains are deeply offended by this notion that the push of the homosexual movement is the same as their own very real struggles with equality.

Having someone try to have their identity and class status be defined by what they do with certain body parts is absolutely laughable. And the only way we are going to make head-way in this debate is to not budge one inch on the terms of this debate. We must not let the homosexual movement set the terms.

We can win this battle, but it is a marathon, not a sprint. We must be diligent and unwavering in our beliefs. One day, the people of this state will be given the opportunity to vote on this issue, and once that happens, those who stand for marriage will see their 32nd victory in popular vote.

Purity Celebration

This video is a special animation we created for part of our purity series we put on DVD.

Back in late September, we began a four-part series with the youth of The Fort where we taught them all about Biblical Purity. Each week had a special focus. We put all of these lessons together on DVD and presented it in a fast-paced style that was engaging and well-produced (if we do say so ourselves).

Week one's focus was purity in definition. We taught that youth what the Bible really says that purity is.

Week two's focus was purity in thought. This is where the real battle for purity is waged...in our thought life. We taught them how to take their thought life captive for Jesus.

Week three's focus was purity in dress. This is where the rubber begins to meet the road in the issue of purity. We tried to give practical steps for the youth in this issue without coming across like a Puritan. It is possible to be fashionable and still maintain purity of dress.

Week four's focus was purity in life. This was the culmination of all that we had learned and we tried to help the youth see how to practically take steps to live a life of purity. We also challenged them to be pure in all arenas of their life...even the virtual arenas of Facebook and Myspace and email and texts. Purity is for every aspect of our life.

Then after these four weeks of lessons, we held a special banquet that the ladies of the church prepared. And the leaders of the church, along with their wives, helped serve to the youth.

We had twenty-one participants in all. We had the young people dress up. And after the fancy meal (also had a few folks who spent a lot of time making the place we ate at and where we worshiped look fantastic) we then went into our auditorium for a special ceremony.

At this ceremony, each young person came forward and made a vow to live a life of purity. Here is the vow each young person took:

Acknowledging that God has made me in His image and made my body to be His temple and has graciously saved me from my sin, it is my desire to please Him.

From this day forward, I, ___________, vow before God and witnesses, in obedience to God’s Word, to keep myself chaste and pure, to give myself totally and only to the mate God is preparing for me.

May this pledge I made today, October 24, 2009, honor you, O God and bring glory to your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

After this, the parent's of the young person placed a purity ring on their finger. And then they signed a document that had the words of their vow on it (that had also been signed by me, the pastor, and the youth pastor).

I have to tell you, in all of the things I have done in ministry, this ranks in the top five coolest things I have ever done. It was truly a very special evening. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

Local Elections and Rod Roberts Press Release...

This morning I attended a local preacher's meeting that was also attended by gubernatorial-hopeful, Rod Roberts. He handed me a press release that went out just this morning entitled, "Roberts Announces He Will Vote Not To Retain Three Iowa Supreme Court Justices." In this press release Roberts said, "We need to send a message to the Iowa Supreme Court that they are accountable to the people of Iowa. The problem with judicial activism is that it thwarts the will of the legislature and of the people of Iowa."

I'm proud of Rod for taking this stand. I believe him that he will do this. And I think it is in stark contrast to the front-runner, Branstad, who won't dare publicly come out against these justices because two of them he appointed to their positions on the court.

Also, tomorrow is election day for Mayoral races and city councils. Here is Des Moines, I took time to call every single person running for City Council...even for those running in Ward 1 where I can't vote for them. In every single case (except for Skip Moore), I asked the new candidates the same two questions. 1)If you had been on the council a few years back when the council voted to extend special protections for homosexuals, lesbians and transgendered individuals in the work place (even though there are already laws on the books protecting individuals from discrimination) how would you have voted? 2)What is your position on the issue of abortion?

Unfortunately, all the candidates, except for one, Halley Griess, all of the other candidates would have voted in favor of the ruling by the council AND were pro-death. Halley Griess though, stands out. He is a Christian man who seeks to do right. He believes strongly in the need for new leadership on the council.

He isn't of the same cut cloth like Christine Hensley (who should not even be called a Republican). He is willing to do what is right even when it is unpopular. If you are in Ward 1, get out tomorrow and vote for Halley Griess! He's someone we need to help get the Des Moines City Council back on track!

Appearance on Deace in the afternoon

Today I had the opportunity to appear on WHO Radio for Steve Deace's show: Deace in the afternoon. I was on from 5:00PM to 6:00PM. We discussed my meeting with former Governor Terry Branstad and my Blog Post about that meeting. HERE is a link to the Podcast of the show. Hopefully I didn't sound too dumb!

Meeting with former Governor Terry Branstad

This morning I had the opportunity to sit in a room with former Governor Terry Branstad along with about a half dozen others and learn his positions on issues. In the room with me were a couple of other pastors as well as Chuck Hurley with the Iowa Family Policy Center, Kim Lehman with the Iowa Right to Life, Jonathan Narcisse, Steve Scheffler with the Iowa Christian Alliance,and my buddy Shane Vanderhart who maintains the blog Caffeinated Thoughts.

What occurred at this meeting is exactly what I thought would occur. Terry Branstad said things we wanted to hear. He made some things clear to us. He is NOT running a campaign on social moral issues. His campaign is going to have one primary focus. Here's the focus: Culver is doing a lousy job, I can do better.

What Branstad hopes to accomplish in these back-room meetings with pastors and other socially conservative Iowans is to appease us in some way by saying something like this: "We're on the same team. I think the same way you do about these issues. Even if you don't hear me talk about them, they are important to me privately."

But that is NOT leadership. Definitely not the leadership we need. Here's Branstad's track record in Iowa with conservatives:

Under his leadership gambling became legal in this state. There really isn't a need to hold him accountable for the havoc this has reaked on the people of Iowa because as he said to us in that room, "What was I supposed to do? Over 70% of the people wanted it even though I was personally opposed to it."

Under his leadership the DHS allowed homosexual couples to adopt and provide foster care for children. He said he simply wasn't aware of that. Kind of like the Griswold's driving to Wally World in the movie Vacation when they fell asleep at the wheel.

Under his leadership he appointed two of the Iowa Supreme Court Justices who voted to redefine marriage in this state...an act of judicial tyranny.

I asked him if he would openly campaign against retaining those justices and speak out against their decision. He bristled at the thought. He said that privately he feels that way but he can not publicly do something like that. WEAK!

I told him that I was concerned about Doug Gross' influence in the campaign and his potential future administration. Doug Gross, in case you aren't aware, spent lots of money polling people in the state to try to prove that social issues need to be put on the back burner if Republicans are going to win elections. You can see an article about that Here.

Branstad just ignored my concerns and didn't even respond to them. All in all, if Branstad wins reelection, he will simply be a Republican version of Culver. He is a politician through and through.

The people in this state need to take a stand and not keep getting force-fed candidates who don't have a backbone. We need leadership. We need someone who will be a true champion of conservative values.

We need a strong stand on moral issues (not back-room meetings)! We need someone to fight those who have brought same-sex marriage to this state. Someone who will not be afraid to speak out against rogue justices who have ignored our state's constitution!

Basically what we need in gubernatorial leadership in Iowa is something that Terry Branstad is not able to deliver.

Ministry has changed...

Ministry has undergone lots of change in recent years. Some things are never going to change. Like helping people learn to love and live for God. That is at the heart and core of ministry.

But how that gets accomplished has changed. It used to be that a minister would simply be able to go to someone's home, knock on the door, be invited in and be able to talk to that person (or people) about the Lord. Nowadays, if you tried that, you are most likely a Jehovah's Witness or Mormon and you aren't received too kindly.

We live in the era of Facebook, Twitter and emails. Life seems more techno-centric than it was 30 years ago. People have come to rely on computers and mobile devices.

I have found that ministering in this era can be a challenge but you can still accomplish the same goal of helping people learn to love and live for God but you have to embrace new methods.

Using my account on Facebook I have been able to keep up with those that I minister to as well as encourage them in their walk with the Lord. On Facebook, I created a group on Facebook for our church members who are on Facebook to have another place of connection. Click HERE to see our church's Facebook Group Page.

From that group page, I have created special "events" that help promote and advertise various activities and sermon series we have at The Fort. I have also incorporated Twitter into this at another level of fostering more communication and connection with our church body online. We have a Twitter feed on the home page of our web site that we update to broadcast special announcements or updates.

All of these are tools. Some might argue that it contributes to the increasing isolationist direction of our culture, but I would say that we are building community on many levels. Not everyone is online. But many are.

We want to be a church that embraces all the methods we can to help people become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. We want to help people get into the Word of God.

Recently a woman was publicly executed in North Korea. Her crime? Distributing Bibles. It is noteworthy that a book most Americans take for granted and rarely read was worthy of death in a far corner of the world.

Anything I can do to get people more invested in reading the Word of God I will do!

Smallville and the coolest video ever...

A friend gave me the first two seasons of Smallville on DVD. I really haven't seen the show, to be honest, but we watched the first episode. The first of the first season ends with the song "Everything" by Lifehouse. That triggered my remembering this video. I don't think I have ever seen a more powerful skit than this one, honestly. Enjoy!