Cool Video

In light of this week's election, here's a cool video that Janet Mercer emailed over to me. We probably can't show it at church because of our projectors and the small writing, but it's inspiring and worth the three minutes it takes to watch. Check it out!

Who Should I Vote For?

So, how and who should we vote for? Well, I am going to propose something a little different. Sometimes people want to separate faith and politics but they miss the connection between religion and ethics. Our ethics come from our religious beliefs and in turn lead to our political choices. With that in mind this is how I believe every Christian should vote.

1) Look at the issues and candidates and become informed. Most people have no idea what Proposition 4 says and it's an incredibly important issue. Prop 4 is all about parental notification for teenagers seeking an abortion through a local school district. Did you know that each year about a dozen girls in the Folsom-Cordova School district get an abortion without their parents being notified? That's right, school nurses/counselors helps about a dozen girls a year get an abortion in our local schools. Did you know that?

You can read more about Proposition Four here www.yeson4.net/ and here

www.noonprop4.org/

You can read more about Proposition Eight here www.protectmarriage.com/ and here www.noonprop8.com/

2) Look at what the Bible says about the issues and candidates. As Christians, we believe that God inspired the Bible and that it is the mannual for decision making. So, check out what it says about abortion and homosexuality and other important issues. These are complex issues, but here are some verses to consider.

Abortion: The Bible repeatedly identifies children in their mother's womb as "babies" (see Genesis 25:21-22 or Luke 1:41,44). To kill a baby in a mother's womb is therefore condsidered murder and a violation of Exodus 20:13 which says,"You shall not murder."

Homosexuality: The Bible clearly teaches about homosexuality in passages like Romans 1:24-32 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-12. In addition God defined marriage in Genesis 1:24 as being between a man and a woman.

3) Pray, pray, pray! Who and what should I vote for? Barrack Obama or John McCain? Ask God. It's that simple. James 1:5 tells us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Who and what am I voting for? After taking the three steps above I believe that God wants me to vote yes on Prop 4 and Prop 8.

I love everyone and would never reject someone based upon their sexual orientation, yet I believe that the Bible is clear that the definition of marriage is one woman and one man. Prop 8 keeps our traditional definition of marriage, it's that simple. If Prop 8 fails, it opens the door for the definition of marriage to be redefined into whatever someone wants it to be. If two men can marry, why can't 4 women and 2 men get married to each other? If we redefine marriage, why can't a marriage be defined as 6 or 10 or 2000 people married to each other? Sounds crazy, but there are crazy people out there who would love to redefine marriage their way.

Homosexual groups are not advocating anything more than gay marriage between two people, but the reality of redefining marriage is that it has a lot of unintended consequences. For example, in Massachusetts (where gay marriage is already legal) churches are already being sued for refusing to perform gay marriages and parents can't exempt their children from education about gay marriage in public schools.

The Bible is also clear about abortion. God loves and wants to forgive everyone who has had this painful experience. As a pastor, everyone I have talked to who has had an abortion struggles with their decision. I can't imagine what it would be like for my daughter to get pregnant and then have a school counselor help her get an abortion without my knowledge. As a dad, I'd want to be there to help her in every way possible. Those against Prop 4 say that it might endanger a girl who got pregnant from an adult relative or lives in an abusive home. In those cases, I believe the answer would be to arrest the guy who got her pregnant, don't hide the abuse.

What about for President? Am I going to vote for Obama or McCain? I have friends who have told me they are voting for Obama and I have friends who have shared with me that they are voting for McCain. Together, we follow Jesus Christ and recognize that in Christ our party affiliation is secondary to our common love for Him! Galatians 3:26-29 says, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, or all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, [Republican or Democrat] for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

I added that last part, but I think Paul would agree that God is bigger than the Presidential election. With that in mind, I am choosing not to reveal who I am voting for in the Presidential election. I believe God calls me to share my opinions on moral issues like Prop 4 and Prop 8, but not on specific candidates. We have Republicans and Democrats at New Song and together we worship Jesus Christ!

So, my endorsement would be to take these three steps and let God show you how to vote!

Women's Gathering

Last Sunday after church our women gathered for lunch and to hear about the development of our women's groups! Becky Kraemer has a terrific vision for connecting the women of our church with each other and the Lord. Becky's put it all together in a strategy centered around the words, Grow, Gather, and Give.

I wasn't able to attend the lunch (for obvious reasons) but Susan and others have told me it was a lot of fun getting to know other women. Susan and Angie Caler both gave information for a trivia game that was a lot of fun. Who knew that Susan grew up riding dirt bikes or that Angie played volleyball, basketball, and ran track in school?

As a church, we are focusing on hospitality and gathering people together around meals. Our next fun event is Saturday, November 15th when we all head up to Apple Hill for lunch. In the meantime, here are some photos from Sunday's gathering...

What A Weekend!

This last weekend was incredible at New Song! It started Friday with our men's camping trip up at Sunset Campground - Union Valley Resevoir. I have not gone camping since I was a kid in Boy Scouts and so I was somewhat unprepared for the adventure, but it was great! I slept on a rock without a mat and didn't bring a flash light so I had a rough night, but the food and fellowship were great!

Over two dozen guys went up for the weekend to spend quality time with God, hang out together, laugh at stories around the camp fire, and encourage each other. (The plan is to repeat this camping trip the last weekend in September every year, so mark your calendar now).

The highlights for me included being able to spend a couple of hours with God sitting by the lake. For the past few months, my devotional time has been spent reading through the Psalms. Sitting there at the lake, reading through the Psalms and listening to music helped me really connect with God and get break. There is something encouraging about getting away from my normal routine that gives me perspective and a chance to look at what's going on under the surface in my life. God really seems to encourage me the most when I can be still and just listen to his voice.

On Saturday afternoon, we all went shooting at a target range that we set up in a field near our campsite. For about four hours we shot clay pigeons, targets, Pepsi cans, and tree stumps. We had a collection of about a dozen different guns to shoot (pistols, shotguns, a ruger, a mauser, etc.) I don't get to go shooting very often and it was a blast! The best part was just sitting around talking with the guys and laughing together as we hit (or missed) targets. What a blast!


On Saturday night I had to drive back down the hill to prep for Sunday morning's message and so I missed the last campfire. It was encouraging to see all of the guys come down the hill and make it to church to join us. On the way down, Ben Brown and I stopped at In-N-Out Burger where Ben ate his first double double. Ben is from Michigan where such amazing things don't exist. Ben also shot a gun for the first time on Saturday at the range. We were pretty suspicious of that fact though after he hit 20 out of 25 clay pigeons with the shot gun. I only hit 12. Ben attributed his expert accuracy to playing video games. Guess they are good for something.

On Sunday, we got to celebrate with baptisms! God is good! I always get excited watching people make a public display of their faith and get baptized! One of the things I pray for our church is that someday we see people get baptized every single Sunday. The Bible says in Acts that "the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." I pray that would be true at New Song and we would see the results every week through baptisms. Take a minute today to pray with me that God uses us to make him famous and see people baptized every Sunday at New Song!