Cardboard Testimonies
I viewed this video on a friends web site and it spoke volumes to me. Each one of us has a story to tell. Each one of us feel at times that we are the only one that is facing the struggle we are currently facing. This video preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Enjoy!
Ronnie
China Grove Challenge 5K
Right to Left: Dustin Payne, Sylvia Collins, Alex Payne, Sussie Slaugenhaupt, Kenneth Dickens, Ronnie Collins, Kyle Collins
This was Kyle’s first official race and he took 1st place in his age group. Another runner in the Collins household. Alex and Kyle ran the half mile kids run and the rest of us ran the 3.1 mile 5K. Mom won 1st place in her age group and Dustin took 1st in his. The rest of us won a t-shirt.
It was a 9pm run with lots of fun and great food. A great way to speand an evening.
I am hearing rumors that several are secretly training to challenge me in the Galax 5K in October. Good Luck!
Ronnie
3 Great Books on Adoption and Parenting
We are excited that Heart Gallery is now on display at FUMC. The fact is that many children that are adopted are no defferent than your own children. They need a heavy dose of love and TIME. However there are many children who have been in care for many months to several years and there are going to be issues and concerns that you may not see in the average child. These are not bad things, just different and if you educate yourself about what to expect and how to handle these issues when they develop, you will excell with the child you decide to adopt.
These 3 books are great, Adopting the Older Child is no longer in print but you can purchase it through Amazon.com used and it is worth reading. The other two are still in print and together these three books can prepare you to have a successful adoption.
Ronnie
Team Impact Feats of Strength
Coming to Hillsville Virginia, March 2009. Sign up now to help set the stage for these guys in March 2009.
Ronnie
The History of Heart Gallery
Diane Granito
Diane Granito, co-founder of Heart Gallery of America and adoption outreach specialist with the New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families, founded the Heart Gallery, an initiative that uses professionally made portraits of American foster children to help find them permanent family placements. The project is now active in over forty states and a national non-profit. Since its inception in 2001, Heart Gallery exhibitions have resulted in the adoption of hundreds of children.
Diane Granito, co-founder of the Heart Gallery America and adoption outreach specialist, describes how photographs play an important role in the adoption process.
There are many statistics surrounding adoption and foster care in America.
On any given day, 500,000 children live in foster care due to abuse and neglect, and 118,000 of them can never return home to their biological families.
Nineteen thousand children “age out” each year without being adopted; they have nobody to turn to with their joys and heartaches when they head out into the world, alone.
“Waiting children” is the term used to describe children waiting for a family to adopt them. The Heart Gallery was developed by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department in 2001 to speed up that process by harnessing the unique talents of professional photographers to raise awareness about foster children available for adoption.
Photographers volunteer to capture their unique spirits in portraits which—shown in exhibitions in art galleries, public spaces, and online—have helped child advocates find homes for hundreds of foster children considered “hard to place” due to their ages or the fact that they come with siblings. Thanks to extensive national media attention and the hard work of child advocates, the project has spread across the entire country.
Heart Gallery photographs show shy children wrapped in their comfort blankets, dressed up as fairy princesses, boys hugging dogs, girls sweetly laying their cheeks against horses’ necks, and siblings giggling together. The children all have one thing in common and their photographs all contain the same important message: these children are special, and need and deserve families that will give them the unconditional love they have never had.
Through the power of photography, that message is sent, received and, sometimes, acted on. In 2002, following a rare rainstorm in northern New Mexico, photographer Dan Pearlman captured five siblings leaping over a gleaming puddle together—flying high, gripping each others’ hands, laughing out loud in a moment of joy. Anyone seeing that photograph immediately understood that these were special children, and that they were close, loving brothers and sisters. When it was exhibited a few months after it was taken, a couple drawn to the portrait saw that and more—they saw their future children. The dynamic siblings are now thriving with their new family and have bright futures, thanks to having had a single, but indicative, moment in their lives captured with compassion and skill.
What is it about a simple photograph that could compel a family to adopt not one but five children? Insightful, talented, and sensitive photographers bravely open their hearts to capture what they see before them—children and their dreams and hopes, and sometimes their sadness. In turn, the compelling portraits that result reach straight into the hearts of those who see them. Heart Gallery portraits, like all good photographs, tell a story. One of our favorite New Mexico photographers, Nicole Lewin, called me after a shoot in 2004. “I couldn’t get the boys to smile at all,” she said in desperation. “They looked so lost and hurt.” The boys, Elijah and Isaiah, 4 and 5 at the time, had experienced an enormous amount of pain in their short lives. They were about to be placed in an institution because of their high-needs level. When I saw their portrait, I told Nicole not to worry, that it would speak to someone about the boys. At an opening in Roswell, New Mexico, a couple walking through the exhibit with me stopped dead in their tracks in front of the portrait. Elle Rowley stared at it and told her husband Gene, “These boys need us.” He nodded silently. When they met with social workers and discussed the boys’ situation and their serious issues, they brought a copy of their portrait with them. “We wanted to remember that these were just two little boys who needed us,” they later told me. Six months after the adoption, they all attended a New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department adoption event and photographer Jennifer Esperanza captured a sweet moment on the train ride that day. It too tells a story, one with a happy ending. The family added another boy to the brood the following year.
Heart Gallery photographers are incredibly giving and compassionate. They spend hours coaxing children from their shells so the world can see their light. They work in less than ideal conditions, lug bulky equipment to locations, forego meals and sleep, and work at their own expense. The photographers who work with us never complain, and invariably thank us for giving them the opportunity to use their skills to help these remarkable children. They knowingly expose their own hearts to the sadness that comes from understanding that the children they see through their lenses have not always had the security and love that they deserve. And, in several cases Heart Gallery photographers have made the ultimate commitment to the children they’ve photographed by opening their homes and hearts to them forever. They are as full of hope and courage as the children they so beautifully portray, and we thank them for making the Heart Gallery a reality.
Courtesy of the Heart Gallery
Children Waiting
Photograph’s of the Waiting Children are now at First United Methodist Church Hillsville Virginia.
225 Fulcher Street
We are near Carroll County High School, The Hillsville Fire Department and The Hillsville Post Office. Come see us.
Ronnie
The Photographs can be viewed between 8:30am and 4:30pm most days. there will also be opportunities through the next two months for the Grand Opening of The Gallery and a Question and Answer Session.
Ronnie
Times are changing, RAPIDLY!
I just heard about a new ad that Heinz started to run to sell mayonnaise. They have now pulled the ad from the airwaves and they have people angry on every side of the issue. I have said it before and I will say it again, if the Bible says it is wrong to do something, you and I have no right to change that. We have the responsibility to choose between right and wrong, not decide what is right and wrong.
Anyway, this is an ad that certainly seems to be promoting homosexuality and not mayonnaise. We live in a world today that does not live by the Bible’s standards and why would they if they haven’t been told about the love of Jesus Christ.
I am not sharing this link so that you will go out and boycott Heinz, if you want tolet them know how you feel then that is your right. However I am showing you this link to let you know that we have a lot of work to has to be done to show the World that Jesus is alive and well and wants everyone to know HIM.
Ronnie
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/06/25/galanos.same.sex.ad.cnn
Mission Outreach
Jesus said share the Good News with everyone and He taught us there are many ways to share the message. The First UMC Youth and Leaders with the help of others in the church have taken up the call to Ministry in our own Neighborhood.
My hat is off to you! On Wednesday we pulled together about 3 vehicle loads of clothing, shoes and some toys and we went into one of our local neighborhood’s and just gave them away. It was nice stuff, I saw several items that still had the tags on them. Thank you for giving your best! Approximately 90% of the items were taken to be used by others, Praise the Lord and we need more.
This Mission Outreach is going to continue, each Wednesday the Youth and Leaders will be going out and doing different projects to help the people of this community. We are going to the need and not making them look for us.
This is the Church!
You make me proud and you are taking the Bible literally when it says to give a drink of water in His name. You are making a difference.
Ronnie
The Cross and the Prodigal
I ordered this book while I was at Annual Conference, it was waiting for me when I returned home and I couldn’t put it down. I read it in a couple of days and I was pleased with the insight form a Jewish perspective. It appears in 2008 that people are starting to return to the Jewish roots of the Bible and what a difference it makes in light of interpreting Scripture. There was a recent article on the things that would change the world in soon coming years and a return to the Jewishness of Jesus was in the top ten. I highly recommend this book.
The Year of Living Biblically
It has taken me almost a year but I finally got it finished. I became interested in A.J. Jacobs when i found his book “The Know It All.” I have had this dream of one day reading the Encyclopedia from cover to cover. I know that is a little strange for most people but I just love to learn. I am what one would call a “Life Long Learner.” My education with Liberty University was called “The School of Lifelong Learning.”
Anyway, I have been in Seminary for about 3 and a half years now and with all the reading that is required I have not thought a lot about the Encyclopedia lately.
I was watching the Today Show one morning and I heard they were going to interview A.J. because of this latest book and it immediately caught my interest. The book is interesting and is one that you can read in the evening when you are too tired for serious reading, Now, I don’t say that because it is not to be taken seriously, I say that because it is in soundbites so to speak. Each day is like a journal of a particular scripture he has chosen to focus on and he is very light hearted about much of the stuff.
I think it is a excellent book for everyone to read, especially Christians who are trying to reach those who do not believe. It is helpful also to help us realize that we will never be saved by the Law, it is only by the Grace of God.
Give it a read, there are nuggets to be found there.
Ronnie
Amazon.com
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2007: Make no mistake: A.J. Jacobs is not a religious man. He describes himself as Jewish “in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.” Yet his latest work, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, is an insightful and hilarious journey for readers of all faiths. Though no fatted calves were harmed in the making of this book, Jacobs chronicles 12 months living a remarkably strict Biblical life full of charity, chastity, and facial hair as impressive as anything found in The Lord of the Rings. Through it all, he manages to brilliantly keep things light, while avoiding the sinful eye of judgment. –Dave Callanan
Amazon.com
Subtitled: “One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible,” Jacobs, or A.J., as his two-year-old son calls him, does just that. It is likely that no one but A.J. Jacobs could have accomplished such a feat. After all, his last book, The Know-It-All, chronicles his reading of the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica, from A to Z. No one but a smart, witty, self-deprecating, nitpicky kinda guy would undertake two such daunting tasks, and complete them with grace, no pun intended.
Jacobs, a New York Jewish agnostic, decides to follow the laws and rules of the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament, for one year. (He actually adds some bonus days and makes it a 381-day year.) He starts by growing a beard and we are with him through every itchy moment. Jacobs is borderline OCD, at least as he describes himself; obsessing over possible dangers to his son, germs, literal interpretation of Bible verses, etc. He enlists the aid of counselors along the way; Jewish rabbis, Christians of every stripe, friends and neighbors.
In an open-minded way he also visits with atheists, Evangelicals Concerned (a gay group), Jerry Falwell, snake handlers, Red Letter Christians–those who adhere to the red letters in the Bible, those words spoken by Jesus Himself, and even takes a trip to Israel and meets Samaritans. Through it all, he keeps a healthy skepticism, but continues to pray and is open to the flowering of real faith. Jacobs is a knowledge junky, to be sure. He enjoys the lore he picks up along the way as much as any other aspect of his experiment. One of the ongoing schticks is his meeting with the shatnez tester, Mr. Berkowitz. He is the one who determines whether or not your clothes are made of mixed fibers, in keeping with the Biblical injunction not to wear wool and linen together. The two become friends and prayer partners, in only one of the unexpected results of this year.
In the end, he says, “I’m now a reverent agnostic. Which isn’t an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there’s a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred.” Not a bad outcome. –Valerie Ryan
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. What would it require for a person to live all the commandments of the Bible for an entire year? That is the question that animates this hilarious, quixotic, thought-provoking memoir from Jacobs (The Know-It-All). He didn’t just keep the Bible’s better-known moral laws (being honest, tithing to charity and trying to curb his lust), but also the obscure and unfathomable ones: not mixing wool with linen in his clothing; calling the days of the week by their ordinal numbers to avoid voicing the names of pagan gods; trying his hand at a 10-string harp; growing a ZZ Top beard; eating crickets; and paying the babysitter in cash at the end of each work day. (He considered some rules, such as killing magicians, too legally questionable to uphold.) In his attempts at living the Bible to the letter, Jacobs hits the road in highly entertaining fashion to meet other literalists, including Samaritans in Israel, snake handlers in Appalachia, Amish in Lancaster County, Pa., and biblical creationists in Kentucky. Throughout his journey, Jacobs comes across as a generous and thoughtful (and, yes, slightly neurotic) participant observer, lacing his story with absurdly funny cultural commentary as well as nuanced insights into the impossible task of biblical literalism. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Join Us @ Crossroads Institute July 1st @ 4pm
VCCS CHANCELLOR TO VISIT CROSSROADS INSTITUTE ON JULY 1 AS PART OF BIKE TRIP TO RAISE AWARENESS, MONEY FOR CAUSE
Relay for Life, A Worthy Cause!
The Carroll County Relay for Life is July 25 starting at 6:00 pm at the Carroll County High School track and lasting until 6:00 a.m. on the 26th. Cancer survivors will be honored to kick off at 6:00 pm, followed by caregivers. Around 7:00-7:30 there is a kids lap just for children 12 and under. Everyone who turns in at least $10 gets a t-shirt and goodie bag. There are contests throughout the night. Our own Adam Joyce is master of ceremonies. At nightfall there is a luminary service in which we light the luminaries surrounding the track in honor or memory of people who have battled or are battling cancer. This is a totally awesome part of Relay. There are hamburgers and hot dogs and baked goods and all proceeds go to Relay for Life.
Youth, who is in? Lets have a team in this event. Probably everyone of us know someone who has been affected by Cancer. Let me know if you will sign up and we will make a night of it.
Ronnie
Who Are The Least Of These in Your Life?
Matthew 25:31-46 (NCV)
31 “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory, with all his angels. He will be King and sit on his great throne. 32 All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. 35 I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36 I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
40 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’
41 “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. You will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever that was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
44 “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or alone and away from home or without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’
45 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.’
46 “These people will go off to be punished forever, but the good people will go to live forever.”
Heart Galleries
We are doing our part, how about you?
As you know already, Misty and I have an awesome young boy in our home that we intend to adopt. What you may or may not know is that Misty was adopted and brought to the United States from El Salvador at two and a half years of age. You also may or may not know that I adopted Michael as a single parent.
Misty and I both have a heart for children and especially for those who do not have a home of their own, with parents to call their own. I am grateful for children’s homes; I was the Director of one for almost five years. It is the place where I met Michael and he became a part of our family. However, it is not the best place for children to grow up. Every child needs a place of their own, a place to call home, a place where they have their own space. Every child needs the love of parents who would lay down their very lives for their children if it ever came to that.
I am alarmed at the statistics that are included in this letter about children needing homes in Virginia.
Figures show that Virginia has the highest percentage in the nation of teens aging out of the foster care system without a permanent home.
There are also more than 8,000 children in Virginia’s foster care system and more than 50 percent of them are teens.
It is expected that 20 percent of these youth will be homeless at some time before they are age 25.
Additionally, 25 percent will be incarcerated in the first two years after leaving the foster care system.
Only 58 percent will earn a high school diploma by age 19, while less than 3 percent will ever earn a college degree.
Misty and I are doing our part; these children are waiting for Christians all around Virginia and Carroll County to step up to the plate. It is not easy, if it were everybody would sign up. It is rewarding beyond anything that you can ever imagine.
Consider giving a kid a home.
Ronnie
VCCS CHANCELLOR TO VISIT CROSSROADS INSTITUTE ON JULY 1 AS PART OF BIKE TRIP TO RAISE AWARENESS, MONEY FOR CAUSE
Virginia Community College System Chancellor Dr. Glenn DuBois will make a stop at the Crossroads Institute in Galax on Tuesday, July 1, as he bikes his way around the state in support of Virginia ’s foster children.
He is expected to arrive at the Crossroads Institute at about 4 p.m. The Crossroads Institute is located at 1117 East Stuart Drive and the public is invited to attend.
The bike tour will begin on June 27 at Lord Fairfax Community College and end on July 11 at Tidewater Community College, with the Galax stop and others taking place in between. DuBois’ intention is to spread the word about Great Expectations, a program established to enable foster youth to successfully pursue postsecondary education and training. The VCCS Chancellor is using his personal vacation time to complete the bike tour.
Great Expectations is a transitional education program for foster care youth, which is being implemented by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. The goals of the program are: to help foster care youth ages 13-17 complete high school and transition into higher education; to meet the student’s basic needs and increase the number of foster youth who continue in Independent Living Programs; to offer a comprehensive program for foster care youth and alumni ages 18-24 to help them gain access to a community college education; to increase the number of foster youth who gain employment in desirable jobs and to increase their hourly rate from $7 to $17; to increase the number of Great Expectations programs from five pilot sites to all Virginia community colleges; to create and continue expanding an endowment fund to provide permanent, sustainable financial support for the program; and to raise $10 million by December of 2009 to provide a minimum of $500,000 annually for the effort.
Figures show that Virginia has the highest percentage in the nation of teens aging out of the foster care system without a permanent home. There are also more than 8,000 children in Virginia ’s foster care system and more than 50 percent of them are teens. It is expected that 20 percent of these youth will be homeless at some time before they are age 25. Additionally, 25 percent will be incarcerated in the first two years after leaving the foster care system. Only 58 percent will earn a high school diploma by age 19, while less than 3 percent will ever earn a college degree.
“We can do more for the 8,000-plus foster children living in Virginia . With encouragement, funding, and access to higher education, we can prepare them for a successful life,” said DuBois. “Also, foster students need to know that they can receive free tuition at any Virginia community college through the Tuition Grant program. I want to spread the word about this wonderful educational opportunity.”
For more information or to track DuBois’ progress on his bike trip around Virginia , visit this website: greatexpectations.vccs.edu. You may also contribute to the program via the same website.
What If We Bombed Them With Love?
Someone recently asked me the question: What if we bombed them with love? Since reading “The Secret Message of Jesus” by Brian McLaren I have been thinking a lot about war and love and hate. How do we feel about Matthew 5 and Jesus message of love, kindness and compassion?
Ronnie
Matthew 5: 38-45
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, don’t stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.40 If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.41 If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42 If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don’t refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you.
Love All People
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. 45 If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. NCV
Team Impact is Back
Stay Tuned for Details and tell everyone that you see. Team Impact will be at First United Methodist Church again in March 2009.
Ronnie
Dick and Rick Hoyt
Many of you have asked about the Father and Son duo that I spoke about in a sermon this past year. Here is the inspirational story of the birth and life of Rick and his dad. If we would play this video every morning it would help us to have a better day.
Ronnie
Guess Who’s Coming to Town?
Yes Josh looks surprised also. People are getting very excited, Josh will be with us Friday July 25th – Sunday July 27th. Let all the former youth know that Josh will be speaking to us at Sunday Night Live on the 27th. SouledOut will be playing of course. It is going to be an event full Weekend. Stay tuned for more details.
By the way, stop cheering when I say Josh is going to be preaching, it is hurting my ego and blowing his out of proportion.
Ronnie
The Blessing of God
Misty and I prayed from the time we were engaged to the time we were married that we would get pregnant on our wedding night and you are looking at the results.
This picture was taken on our one year anniversary at North Myrtle Beach, one of my favorite places in the world and what I consider my second home. I would love to someday have a home there and be able to spend a good deal of time, however all of the family would have to go with us.
The day after Misty and I were married we attended church at The Good Shepherd UMC in Charlotte NC, on our way to Charleston SC. It was a great service with many memorable moments but the most memorable was when the Pastor of the church brought a family forward for an infant baptism. The pastor opened his time with the following statement: So and so have brought their infant son forward this morning to present him to the Lord, just at Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to the Lord.
In the Bible in I Samuel 1: 1-28, there was a woman named Hanah who was childless but Hannah longed for a son and she prayed strongly that God would bless her with such a child and He did. Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to the Lord and he became the greatest Prophet of his time.
I looked at Misty and I said, It’s prophetic, you are pregnant and his name will be Samuel. We had decided before marriage that our first boy to be born would be named Samuel. It was the name I took in Hebrew class at Seminary.
All of our children and grandchildren are dedicated to the Lord and we pray everyday that they will choose to always walk with Him. We are blessed beyond measure.
Ronnie
Good Stuff!
Just last night I was asking myself, why does it have to be this way? I look at family and friends who struggle with so many issues and dilemma’s and I truly ache in my heart and soul for them. It breaks my heart when I see people suffer and search for answers, when the answers are right before them. I read the following first thing this morning and it is worth sharing.
Ronnie
TRANSFORMATION, PRAYERJohn Killinger tells a powerful story about a man who is all alone in a hotel room in Canada. The man is in a state of deep depression. He is so depressed that he can’t even bring himself to go downstairs to the restaurant to eat.
He is a powerful man — the chairman of a large shipping company — but at this moment, he is absolutely overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of life — and he lies there on a lonely hotel bed far from home, wallowing in self-pity.
All his life, he has been fastidious, worrying about everything, anxious and fretful, always fussing and stewing over every detail. Now, at mid-life, his anxiety has gotten the best of him, even to the extent that it is difficult for him to sleep and to eat.
He worries and broods and agonizes about everything: his business, his investments, his decisions, his family, his health, even his dogs. Then, on this day in this Canadian hotel, he craters. He hits bottom. Filled with anxiety, completely immobilized, paralyzed by his emotional despair, unable to leave his room, lying on his bed, he moans out loud: “Life isn’t worth living this way; I wish I were dead!”
Then, he wonders what God would think if He heard him talking this way. Speaking aloud again he says, “God, it’s a joke, isn’t it? Life is nothing but a joke.” Suddenly, it occurs to the man this is the first time he’s talked to God since he was a little boy. He is silent for a moment, then he begins to pray. He describes it like this: “I just talked out loud about what a mess my life was in, how tired I was, and how much I wanted things to be different in my life. You know what happened next? A voice!! I heard a voice say, “It doesn’t have to be that way!” That’s all.”
He went home and talked to his wife about what happened. He talked to his brother, who is a minister, and asked him: “Do you think it was God speaking to me?” The brother said, “Of course, because that is the message of God to you and everyone of us. That’s the message of the Bible. That’s why Jesus Christ came into the world to save us, to deliver us, to free us, to change us and to show us ‘It doesn’t have to be that way.’” A few days later, the man called his brother and said, “You were right. It has really happened. I’ve done it. I’ve had a rebirth. I’m a new man. Christ has turned it around for me.”
The man still is prone to anxiety. He still has to work hard. But now, he has a source of strength. During the week, he often leaves work and goes to the church near his office. He sits there and prays. He says, “It clears my head. It reminds me of who I am and whose I am. Each time as I sit there in the sanctuary, I think back to the day in a hotel room in Canada and how depressed and lonely and lost I felt, and I hear God’s voice saying, ‘It doesn’t have to be that way.’” (eSermons.com newsletter, 6-20-04)
Provoking Thoughts on The Secret Message of Jesus
Here are some quotes that I have found interesting in this book.
“If we succeed in grasping even some fragment of Jesus secret message, if we take it in and manage not only to look at it but also to learn to look through it, our world and our lives will look different to us at the end of our exploration. And if that happens deeply enough for enough of us, everything could change”.
Brian asks, “Would you be willing to rethink your assumptions”? Speaking about what we believe about Jesus. I have said many times that we believe a lot of stuff that just isn’t true.
“I want to say-clearly-that it is tragic for anyone, especially anyone affiliated with the religion named after Jesus, not to be clear about what Jesus message actually was”.
“For starters Jesus was Jewish. (No he wasn’t a Christian. Christianity as a separate religion didn’t exist until well after Jesus died”.)
“If you’re part of this kingdom, you begin to live in a way that some will say is stupid and naive. (Turning the other cheek? sacrifice, and love? Come on! Get real!) But others might see in your way of life the courageous and wild hope that could heal and transform the world”.
My thoughts: This is one of the best, most thought provoking books that I have read in a long time. I do believe that Brian is bringing some things to light, nothing that wasn’t there before but we may not have seen it before.
There is a lot of criticism of this and other books that Brian has written, however, before you write him off, you should get a copy and read it for yourself. As any other book, I do not agree with everything that he says but there are some things that cannot be denied.
I have never considered myself a pacifist and I would assume that Brian is a pacifist, but then we know what assuming does. I came up with the question from reading this book, Would Jesus ever take up arms and kill a human being? I do not believe that he would and the fact is, he allowed himself to be killed rather than killing another.
I believe in the Old Testament we can make a definite case for the “Just War Theory”.
The just war doctrine has its origins in the writings of Augustine, who said in the City of God that, “A just war, moreover, is justified only by the injustice of an aggressor; and that injustice ought to be a source of grief to any good man, because it is human injustice. It would be deplorable in itself, apart from being a source of conflict.”
Thomas Aquinas furthered Augustine’s just war theory by creating specific criteria. He argued that for a war to be just, the following circumstances must be considered: 1) Only legitimate authorities can take up the cause; 2) the cause must be just; and 3) the intention must be right.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church expanded the moral requirements of just war by adding that before engaging in armed conflict, the following criteria be rigorously considered:
1. The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
2. All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be practical or ineffective;
3. There must be serious prospects of success;
4. The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.
With all that said: Read Matthew 5: 38-48 again:
Matthew 5:38-48 (New Century Version)
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, don’t stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.40 If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.41 If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42 If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don’t refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you.
Love All People
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. 45 If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong.46 If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that.47 And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends. 48 So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Pacifism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pacifism may be based on moral principles (a deontological view) or pragmatism (a consequentialist view). Principled pacifism holds that at some point along the spectrum from war to interpersonal physical violence, such violence becomes morally wrong. Pragmatic pacifism holds that the costs of war and inter-personal violence are so substantial that better ways of resolving disputes must be found. Pacifists in general reject theories of Just War.
Pacifists follow principles of nonviolence, believing that non-violent action is morally superior and/or pragmatically most effective. Some pacifists, however, support physical violence for emergency defense of self or others. Others support destruction of propertyin such emergencies or for conducting symbolic acts of resistance like pouring red paint to represent blood on the outside of military recruiting offices or entering air force bases and hammering on military aircraft. However, part of the pacifist belief system is taking responsibility for one’s actions by submitting to arrest and using a trial to publicize opposition to war and other forms of violence.
Dove or dovish are informal terms used, especially in politics, for people who prefer to avoid war or prefer war as a last resort. The terms refer to the story of Noah’s Ark in which the dove came to symbolize the hope of salvation and peace. Similarly, in common parlance, the opposite of a dove is a hawk or war hawk.
Go South Carolina
South Carolina is the First to Get ‘I Believe’ License Plates
I say, way to go! We have personalized plates for everything so why not one for Christianity. I personally said years ago that I would no longer pay the extra for a personalized plate and will probably stick to that even if Virginia were to get such a plate.
I see drivers all the time actuing contrary to what their bumper stickers say and I feel like when we stick that sign out there we can sometimes do more damage than good, even when we make mistakes. However I am all for Christians having a plate if it is wanted.
The following is adapted from The Church Report.
http://www.thecronline.com/news_article.php?nid=3748&ndate=13/06/2008
The bills mean South Carolinians attending local government meetings could soon see the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer posted on walls, pray without fear of being sued and drive home in cars with the “I Believe” plates.Happy Father’s Day!
In 1909, Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Spokane Washington, first proposed the idea of a “father’s day”. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise all his children alone on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.
The first Father’s Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. Mrs. Dodd wanted Father’s Day to be celebrated on the first Sunday in June, her father’s birthday. However, the Spokane council couldn’t get the resolution through the first reading until the third Sunday in June. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a “father’s day.” In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.
The white or red rose is the official flower for Father’s Day. Mrs. Dodd suggested that people wear a white rose to honor a father who was deceased and a red rose for a father who was living.
THANKS, DAD!
Luke 15:11-15:31On the back of our “Father of the Year” bulletin at First United Methodist Church this morning it says this:
Yet when the Father attends worship, there’s a 93% chance that other family members will be present, too.
Dads, think of the clout that you have, not to mention the responsibility!
Our example this morning was the Father in our Scripture and he is a Perfect Father because the Father in this parable is God our Father
Erma Bombeck wrote this about her dad:
“My Daddy just didn’t know how to show love. It was Mom who held the family together. He just went to work every day & when he came home she had a list of sins we’d committed, & he would give us what-for about them.I broke my leg once on a swing set. It was Mom who held me in her arms all the way to the hospital. Dad pulled the car right up to the emergency door & when they asked him to move it because the space was reserved for emergency vehicles, he shouted, “What do you think this is, a tour bus?” Mom carried me in while Dad parked the car. It seems all my life Dad was parking the car someplace, coming in wet & half-frozen.
I remember when Mom told him to teach me how to ride a bicycle. I told him not to let go, but he said it was time. So I fell, & Mom ran to pick me up. But he waved her off. I was so mad that I showed him. I got right back on that bike & rode it by myself. He didn’t even feel embarrassed. He just smiled.
When I went off to college he was just fiddling with the luggage & the boxes. It was Mom who sat down & said that everything would be all right. She did all the writing. He just sent checks & a little note about how great his lawn looked now that I wasn’t playing football on it. . . .
When I got married it was Mom who got choked up & cried, & Dad just blew his nose loudly & left the room.
All my life he kept saying, “What are you doing? What time are you going to be home? Do you have gas in the car? Who’s going to be there? No, you can’t go.” Not Mom, she just loved me. But Daddy, he just didn’t seem to know how to show love – unless, is it possible that he was showing it all along, & I just didn’t recognize it?
God our Father has taken care of our needs.
He has given us Space and Freedom to be our own selves.
He has forgiven us over & over again.
And He loves us all equally, even though we are very different.
I’m thankful that I have a heavenly Father like that.
Ronnie
Amazing and Alarming
Total SBC church membership also dipped slightly last year to just under 16.3 million but “primary” or regular worship attendance increased slightly to 6.15 million.
How is it possible to have 16 million plus members and only have an average attendance of 6 million plus? That is alarming to me, and lest you think it is a problem of the Southern Baptist Church, it is not. It is a problem of the entire church.
The latest figures I could find on the United Methodist Church were from 2004. There were approximately 8 million members and just over 3 million in average attendance on any given Sunday.
Should we send out the FBI to see if we can locate some of these people? Now I know that there are lots of people that have become disabled and are no longer able to attend church services. I hope that all of our churches are taking needed steps to include those people in the weekly worship services. There are many ways to do that, taking cd’s of the sermons, someone going and teaching Sunday School in the home or nursing facilities, people taking communion to the shut-ins, etc…..
I keep hearing these statistics of declining memberships and I would submit that membership numbers mean nothing compared to attendance numbers. There is something about these numbers that make me angry and then I am sad because I know there are so many out there who claim the name of Christ and they are living defeated lives.
It really is their loss. I think it is time we cleaned up the church rolls. If John Wesley were alive he would be taking names off every week.
Ronnie
Article Date: Jun 11, 2008
http://www.thecronline.com/news_article.php?nid=3736&ndate=11/06/2008
Southern Baptists Worried by Decline in Baptisms
Baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention have fallen to a 20-year low, a trend that is setting off alarm bells in America’s largest evangelical denomination.
The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches and ceremonies, an important indicator of conversions and denominational growth, fell in 2007 for the third year in a row by 5 percent to 345,941.
That was the lowest number since 1987, a trend on the minds of many of the 7,000 delegates known as “messengers” attending the SBC’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.
This year’s theme is called “Fulfilling the Mission” and the logo pointedly depicts a picture of a baptism in progress.
For Southern Baptists, a decline in baptisms is a worry because a major tenet of their faith is to spread it. Many believe the “unchurched” are doomed to an eternity in hell.
“We should always be concerned when baptisms dip. It’s about salvation. … We are commanded to go and preach the gospel to every person,” said Tommy French, a 77-year-old pastor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Several delegates interviewed by Reuters expressed their concern in such terms: fewer baptisms meant fewer saved souls. For Southern Baptists, a public baptism in water is a key rite of the conversion experience.
The trend of falling baptisms also has broader cultural and political implications as the 16-million member SBC is a big part of the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base.
Twenty-five percent of U.S. adults now count themselves as “born-again” or evangelical Christians, making the movement one of the fastest growing and most influential in America. A slowdown in its growth could have a ripple effect on politics and other areas of American life.
Several Southern Baptists interviewed took it as an unhealthy sign of “weakness” or misguided attempts to find accommodation with the broader secular culture that some regard as corrupting and even satanic.
“We are using corporate-style marketing and worship services. It’s a performance orientation that lacks authenticity,” said J.D. Perry, also from Baton Rouge.
For SBC evangelist Jim McNiel of St. Louis, the drop in baptism numbers was a sign that the biblical “end times” described in the Book of Revelation were drawing near.
“I see two factions. You have one for believers but you also have a faction from Satan and there is a strong battle looming,” he said.
Total SBC church membership also dipped slightly last year to just under 16.3 million but “primary” or regular worship attendance increased slightly to 6.15 million.
Falling baptism numbers have also been attributed to the cultural background of new converts, who include a growing number of Hispanics who are seen as reluctant to take “the dunk” because it is considered a final step that breaks most ties with their past.
The United Methodist Church and Abortion
The 2000 General Conference added a sentence to “oppose the use of” partial-birth abortion and “call for the end of this practice” in most instances. This established a clear break between United Methodism’s teaching on abortion in its official compilation of Social Principles and the absolutist defense of legal abortion embodied by NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and similar political groups favored by much (but not all) of the denomination’s establishment.
In 2004, another sentence was added to the abortion statement: “We particularly encourage the Church, the government, and social service agencies to support and facilitate the option of adoption.” That year’s General Conference also added separate statements recognizing the reality of post-abortion stress and promoting counseling for its victims.
The April 23—May 2, 2008 General Conference amended the abortion statement to indicate a preference for life, with a new sentence to “affirm and encourage the Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers … that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion.” Other amendments that were adopted endorse adult “notification and consent” for abortions performed on underage girls and support the necessity of family counsel before making “a decision concerning abortion.” The General Conference also adopted a separate, lengthy statement decrying the international problem of sex-selective abortions and describing abortion as “violent” and something to oppose when chosen for “trivial reasons.”
Perhaps more significantly, this last General Conference removed much of the “pro-choice” language in the main abortion statement. This included getting rid of problematic language about “conditions that may warrant abortion,” deleting the assertion that supporting legalized abortion was somehow “[i]n continuity with past Christian teaching,” and replacing “pro-choice” language about “unacceptable pregnanc[ies]” with the very pro-life assertion that “we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child.”
Now all that remains in the authoritative statement on abortion in the United Methodist Social Principles that is inconsistent with a pro-life witness is a single sentence (out of sixteen) that “support[s] the legal option of abortion” during “tragic conflicts of life with life.” Some pro-life United Methodists have asserted that that statement is open to a pro-life interpretation, particularly in light of the denomination’s opposition to abortion as a means of birth control, which arguably applies to most abortions in the U.S. But with this one sentence intact, the statement lacks to moral clarity one should expect from a church. This is particularly true in light of liberal delegates having prevented that sentence being amended to make clear that this acceptance of abortion only applies to “conflicts of PHYSICAL life with life,” and the way in which some denominational officials continue to use the sentence as a broad mandate for promoting the perspective of NARAL.
Nevertheless, it is encouraging that since 1988, every change made to the United Methodist Social Principles statement on abortion has been life-affirming.
The New Newest Member of the Collins Family
We have been celebrating the births of so many babies over the past several months and now we celebrate Kyle. No Kyle has not been born into our family but he is now part of our family. Maybe it is like when Jesus says, “you must be born again”.
I am not trying to be disrespectful by any means but I am trying to understand what Jesus meant when He said that we are adopted into the Family of God, we are “born again”. We receive a new identity, “Christian”. We take on a new life, a “Christ Like Life”.
Misty and I both love children and we both have a great desire to be family to those who need a family. Our prayer is that more people will take the baton and run the race of providing for the fatherless.
We can’t wait for everyone to meet Kyle, of course he will be with us on a daily basis now so you will meet him soon. We desire your prayers as we set out on this new journey. We are thankful to God that our family continues to grow and we are thankful for all of you.
Ronnie
Bring your Baby Bottles Sunday
Sunday is Father’s Day and it is also the day to bring the Baby Bottles. We are collecting money (change) for the Tri Area Pregnancy Resource Center. This is a very worthy cause and if you have forgotten to collect your change, write a check or put a few dollars in the baby Bottle. Lets have an awesome offering for the unborn!
Ronnie
Laura Rocks with Technology, she is a real GEEK
Thanks for the hard work Laura!
ra ra ra Ronnie
About Ronnie G. Collins
I am one of the Pastor’s of First United Methodist Church in Hillsville Virginia and FUMC Downtown “Out of the Box”, Youth Ministry. We now have two campuses. The main church is at 225 Fulcher Street and our newest location is 522 North Main Street Hillsville, FUMC Downtown “Out of the Box”. I have a rich history of different church backgrounds to pull from and I believe that is why I am where I am in my Christian Life today. I have a Passion to see hurting, lost people come to know Jesus Christ. I believe that we as Christians have to demonstrate God’s Love to them, rather than just telling them they are loved. I am married and have 4 sons two very special nephews that are like sons, 2 grandchildren and 3 great nephews that are like grandchildren. I am a blessed man.
