THE CHICKEN CHOP:

Part of owning chickens is coming to terms with thinning the flock.  We have a lot of hens we love having for their egg production.  Unfortunately, we had too many roosters.  They mounted the hens allllll day long.  So, it was time to prep the roosters for the crock pot.  (I spared you from the pic where the rooster looks into the camera just before ni-night time.

One of our good friends, Fred, from the church who hunts and eats anything that moves offered to help us.  Little Benjamin was a trooper.  This was our first time butchering our own birds because we've always paid to have it done.  This is where we "skinned" the bird, rather than plucking it.

Here's the almost-done final product once skinned.  Not really all that bad of a process.  Here's my Conan the Barbarian pose!  Do I looked mean or just grossed out?

Here we are in one of the final cleaning stages.  My wife used the loping shears from her gardening to help Fred cut the neck off the bird.  We cleaned; she packaged for the freezer.

Now all the hens are happy they can walk around the yard without being mauled by the horny roosters all day long.  Watching a rooster mate a hen is like watching a crime in progress.  The hens can thank us by giving us more eggs!

A PEBBLE IN HIS SHOE:

The following post will be pretty expletive-laden (I typed it in the speaker's vernacular, though)...but that's the real world I live and work in.  The expletives actually made it a funny interaction, though.  I hope you enjoy.

I'm approached by a big Marine named Justin this afternoon after we had each finished lunch at the same restaurant.  Justin talks with a heavy Boston-Italian-esqe accent, and he's a thick dude (aka, muscular).  He approaches and we have the following conversation:

Justin: "Did you serve?"
Me: "No."
Justin: "I was a foakin' Marine, and I'm all about the militawy and foakin' police and shet."
Me: "Have you considered a career as an officer?"
Justin: "Nah, I foakin' like what I do, but you guys are the foakin' shet."

Justin continues...

J: "I've got a buddy who foakin' complained to me that he got a foakin' ticket from the foakin' caps (that's cops in Boston-Italian).  So I told him, 'yeah, so foakin' what!  It's probably because that foakin' cop just got done lookin' at a foakin' dead guy and shet.'  I mean hey, troopah, you goys got it foakin' tough cuz you never know what some foakin' asehole might do.  I got foakin' buddies who are caps and they do the foakin' death stare and are all cynical and shet."
Me: "I hear ya, some guys can get that way.  But I'll tell you what Justin, if I didn't have Jesus Christ in my life, I can't imagine where I'd be."

As I'm saying this, big Justin is sucking the pop through the straw poking out of what looks like a tiny cup in his big hands, his gigantic arms are protruding to the sides, and he simultaneously gave me the thumbs-up coupled with a head nod.

Justin finished drinking, swallowed, nodded again and toned his voice down a half notch,
J: "Yeah, man. If I didn't have God, I'd be totally dead right now.  I'd probably be a mercenawy or somethin'."

At this point, Justin rolls up his sleeve and shows me a Jerusalem Cross (pictured above) on his monstrous shoulder.  We finished our polite conversation, each retreating to our respective vehicles.  I closed the door and literally laughed out loud. 

I thought to myself, "Well, at least I left him with a pebble in his shoe."

IF YOU'RE NOT MOVING...

I never thought I’d be saying this, but for once I agree with Al Sharpton.

Mr. Sharpton was talking about the Troy Davis case, the man due to be executed in Georgia for killing a police officer. Questionable doubt has surfaced relating to Davis’s guilt, and activists are simply asking for another trial to get to the truth before the execution continues. I’m not here to debate the Davis case or Mr. Sharpton’s opinion of it. I simply agree with statements he made that I think absolutely apply to the Church.

One listener called his program and was boisterously voicing his opinion about the Davis case and other civil rights cases. When the caller finished, Sharpton remarked, “Now I know you’re not going to call in here hollerin’ and not be there (the rally)! If you’re going to call here hollerin’, then you better show up to the rally and make your voice heard!”

He proceeded to field another call. A lady told about all the people she and her organization were supporting and so forth. Mr. Sharpton continued his earlier diatribe, saying, “You’re not part of a movement if you’re not moving! Don’t call in here saying what you believe and what you’re going do if you aren’t going to do anything about it! You’re judged by what you do, because what you say means nothing unless you do something about it!”

I imagine you’re already guessing where I’m going with this.

How many Christians sit every Sunday in pretty pews and soft chairs, sing a few songs, give a couple dollars, “amen” the preacher’s sermon…..and then do nothing about it once outside the church doors? How many people call themselves Christians but aren’t doing anything about what they profess to possess? How many Christians are stuck in park with the engine not even running? I’ll concur with Mr. Sharpton’s words, “You’re not part of a movement if you’re not moving!”

How can we call ourselves disciples of Christ and not simultaneously feel the burden
-to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost?
-to pray (sometimes boldly and publicly) for hurting people?
-to give to the needy?
-to feed to poor?
-to be involved in the community?
-to visit the sick, elderly, and shut-ins?

I’m reminded of the Apostle James’ words: “Faith without action is dead faith and is useless.”

ETHICS IN POLICING:

Ok, so here's the situation posed to me.

A stand-up brother in Jesus Christ, a true disciple, recently received a promotion to be an undercover narcotics officer. As we all know, the world is a dark place, and accompanying that darkness is profanity, vulgarity, crassness, etc.

The question is this: Is the Christian officer justified to use profanity in order to fit the part of a street criminal? His attempt is to gain street credibility to earn trust and catch the bigger fish...all while going undetected or being held in suspicion. Is it sin to violate that which he holds to be a moral truth -- that his speech ought to reflect that new life God has given him -- in order to perform an ethically good act?

What is your opinion???

"Ascent from Darkness", by Michael Leehan

In my experience there are three broad categories of books. The first category is the crummy book – the one you wish you hadn’t wasted time on. The second is the good book – one that stirs the mind and conversation. But then there’s a third, one I consider the phenomenal book. It’s the book one doesn’t merely read, but consumes and devours. It’s one I can’t stop reading or put down easily.

“Ascent from Darkness” falls in that category of phenomenal books. It’s a book that I wish was longer, and one that I will never regret reading. I read it cover-to-cover in four days, and loved every page of it.

The author, Michael Leehan, was a full-fledged Satanist for twenty years of his life after making a deal with the devil when he was in his early twenties. Leehan describes his descent into evil darkness, channeling, blood/animal sacrifice, possession, etc. throughout the majority of the book. The experience of just reading his testimony was mind-blowing and eye-opening!

One of the most painful statements in the entire book came when Leehan was mere hours away from his self-appointed time to commit suicide. While still in bondage, he included this scathing opinion of the Church in his one last plea to God for help: “I can tell You another thing if You are there; Your followers suck! They lie and they are hypocrites. In a moment they quote Scripture and fornicate. They speak Your words, and then they lie to each other. They come to church hours after they lust for their neighbor and commit sin. They say they serve You but are inwardly evil. They profess You, but their eyes and hearts are consumed by this world” (p.209).

The last quarter of the book details the process – a long, painful, difficult one – Leehan endured while seeking deliverance. We Americans have seen Hollywood’s rendition of exorcisms performed by sweaty priests as they fling holy water on the afflicted. But that wasn’t Leehan’s case. He agonized several years on the road to freedom.

God skillfully directed godly men and women in Leehan’s life-path, Christ-followers who prayed with/for him and relentlessly loved him to Christ. Today, Leehan is a free man in Christ, and he shares his radical testimony with the world how his life was miraculously changed by the power of God!

RATING: There are not enough stars in the 5-star system for this book. If so, I’d give it more! It’s a must-read and a must-share!


DISCLAIMER: I received this book free of charge from Thomas Nelson Publishers (Booksneeze) in exchange for my unbiased review. I was not promised reward, nor was I threatened or coerced in any way in order to solicit a positive review. All opinions are mine.

Excerpt: "The Gospel at Ground Zero"

The cover story "The Gospel at Ground Zero" in this month's Christianity Today magazine was thoughtful, gospel-centered, and well-written. I've provided a sampling of that article, which I thought was its pinnacle section...

Spiritual Terrorism

"The ugly reality of crucifixion looms over the lives of Christ's followers today, as it did Peter's life. In the gospel, we are confronted with the unvarnished horror of ourselves—damned and cursed and exiled. We find ourselves ensnared in the curse itself—in Jesus, writhing in torture on a stake (John 3:14).

Gathering each week, we reenact the horror of Jesus' sacrificial death. In baptism, we see the flood of God's judgment against sin (1 Pet. 3:20-21). At the Lord's Table, we swallow and digest the sign of our Lord's torn skin and spattered blood.

The preaching of sin and judgment is traumatic, to be sure. There's some danger of presenting the gospel as mere condemnation—exactly what Jesus says it's not (John 3:17). And an overwhelming emphasis on sin can breed a morbid obsession with one's own wickedness. This, of course, leads not to repentance but to despair, which is exactly where the satanic powers want us.

At the same time, censoring the gospel's painful realities doesn't lead to tranquility. Like our children with the wild things out there, we know intuitively that a Day of Judgment is coming, even as we try to keep the fear submerged. The Scriptures tell of an unholy spirit who accuses our consciences, and whose accusations resonate with us because they are accurate (Rev. 12:10). The Devil holds us in captivity through our innate fear of death and judgment (Heb. 2:14-15). That pretty well sums up the classic definition of "terrorism." And the only thing that can free us from our enslavement to Satan, and to our sin, is blood (Rev. 12:11).

In the word of the Cross, God tells us he knows all our traumas, our insurgencies, our secrets—and that he has already executed them at Golgotha. We need not fear hell, then, not because there isn't one, but because—if we are found in Christ—we have already been through all of that. We are free. And whenever our consciences accuse, the gospel takes us away from denial or preoccupation and right back to Ground Zero—to the Cross."

The Gospel at Ground Zero, September 2011, Vol. 55, No. 9, Page 24

"Our Last Great Hope", by Ronnie Floyd

SYNOPSIS: You know it when you read it. You know, that book that is absolutely timely in getting into your hands. That was “Our Last Great Hope” for me. So, maybe I liked it with a little extra measure because I as ready for it. That said, I really liked this book, and I think Ronnie Floyd did an outstanding job in writing this one.


The premise of “Our Last Great Hope” is that the world is running on empty and has lost hope. But “the fulfillment of the great commission is our last great hope.” (p. xxvii) What would our world, our society, or cities – heck, our churches – look like if Evangelical Christians took the command of Jesus to “go and make disciples” seriously?

What would happen if you prayed daily for God to put people in your life who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? What if you prepared yourself daily in reading/study of God’s word? What if you talked Jesus every day with your children? It’s likely we would see a far different place than we see before us today.

Ronnie Floyd inspires readers not just to THINK missionally, but to ACT missionally. He suggests several practical, simple – yet sometimes bold – ways we can take the hope of Jesus Christ to a dark, lost world. And it all starts with you and me. “…don’t sit around and wait until we feel supernatural leading…The Great Commission is always God’s will” (p.113).

DISLIKES:  The one and only disagreement (and I am truly reluctant to call it a “dislike” in my heading) I have with Floyd is one aspect he suggests. “I believe that perhaps the most strategic solution to the challenge of the Great Commission lies in churches that do not yet exist…In a typical American city, we need many thousands of new churches” (p.67). With the abundance of churches in America – sometimes even multiple churches on one street alone, depending on the city – one of the LAST things I think we need is MORE churches.

Instead, what I think we need more of – and this is one other point Floyd stresses throughout the book – is missions-minded Evangelicals whose aim it is to take the gospel into their own world, if not further. I simply don’t think more churches is what we need, especially when we see more and more close each day because Americans like to “church hop”; and the ones that remain in existence do so primarily through “births among existing members” without “plans to go out and make disciples” (p.134).

CONCLUDING ‘HAT TIP’:  The most powerful statement comes near the end of the book, when Floyd says, “Today’s churches are easy to criticize, easy to ridicule, because too many of them are fruitless and fearful. They have meetings, members, programs, and fancy websites. But if there is no Spirit-driven boldness, no dynamic growth, no weekly pattern of people coming to Christ, then the world has no respect for them” (p. 209)

RATING:  What else can I say? 5 stars and 2 thumbs up for Ronnie Floyd’s, “Our Last Great Hope”. Well done, brother! Pick one up today and be inspired to share the gospel with your world.


DISCLAIMER: I was given this book free of charge by Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for my unbiased review of it. All opinions in this review are mine. I have not been threatened, coerced, or promised kickbacks in return for providing a positive review.

WHAT ON EARTH ARE THE 770 OF US DOING?

As I passed a fully-packed large church this morning, I couldn't help but ask, "What on earth are we doing?"  Literally, what are WE Christians doing on earth?  What are WE doing in our Country?  In our State?  In our Society, our City?  Are WE doing anything?

There are approximately 7 billion people in this world.  Just under...it's like 6,929,123,456 or something.  But 7,000,000,000 is close enough.

Recent estimates show that 2.1 billion, or 2,100,000,000 call ourselves "Christians".

But further estimates show that only 770 million, or 770,000,000 are true, born-again disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Let's bring that number home for a minute.  If we cut off 6 zero's in each of the above numbers, then that would be like saying there is a world in which there are 7,000 people.  And of those 7,000, only 770 of them are true disciples of Jesus Christ. 

WHAT ON EARTH ARE THE 770 OF US DOING? 

We live in a dark world, and Jesus said we are the light of the world in Matthew 5.  So why are we not shining brighter and impacting our world for Him more, if, in fact, the Spirit of the Living God is alive in each of us who are His children???  Why does our culture, our city, our world remain sooooo unchanged?

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

IT'S PEACEFUL AS LONG AS YOU SUBMIT:

"Two Christian men were seriously injured by young Muslim men this month in Karachi when they refused to convert to Islam, a family member told Compass.

[They] were returning home after an early morning prayer service at their church in Sohrab Goth on Aug. 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day, when ethnic Pashtun youths near Sea View harassed and later attacked them."  ........

“The Pashtun youths then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city,” Liaqat Munawar said. “They also offered monetary incentives and ‘protection’ to Ishfaq and Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity.” ..........

After cajoling the two Christians for some time, the Pashtuns sat in a white car parked nearby and eventually drove away. Ishfaq Munawar and Masih got back onto their motorcycle and were about to start it, Liaqat Munawar said, when suddenly the young Muslims reversed their car and rammed it into the Christians.

“The Muslims got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or be prepared to die,” Liaqat Munawar said.

He said the Pashtuns severely beat the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar’s jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih. He added that the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.