If we do not UNITE - will we SURVIVE?
My time these days is spent with a team of national and international leaders. We have a plan. We are sick of the downward spiral that is taking place in our nation and it is time for action. We have agreed that we believe the ROOT problem is that Christians have lost their ability to impact the nation.
Don't let anyone kid you - we were founded as a CHRISTIAN nation.
Did you know that in 1892 the United States Supreme Court made an exhaustive study of the supposed connection between Christianity and the government of the United States. After reviewing hundreds of volumes of historical documents, the Court asserted, "These references add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterance that this is a religious people... a Christian nation." Likewise in 1931 Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland reviewed the 1892 decision in reference to another case and reiterated that Americans are a "Christian people."
The values conservatives want, that most of us want, are rooted in our Judeo-Christian values. It was those values that gave us freedom. And people are trying to take those values away and lock us out.
Our plan is simple and three fold. I cannot emphasize enough… this plan can allow a voice for ALL who want to positively impact our nation – it give us a greater forum for our voices and a forum to make activities like Tea Parties visible so that people can be part.
It is a community by community initiative. That means we are focusing on one community to start. The team is so energized about this that the leaders are re-arranging their lives to spend days to months to be on site to implement the plan.
The three parts are this…
1) Make ministry visible so that Pastors and Christian leaders in a community can work together.
The Foundational Design Team believes that we have all we need to get the job done… but we are not united and we don’t help with common initiatives. Building a united Ministry Wall is the solution! The Ministry Wall will be built by people finding how to work together collaboratively and it will be visible as an actual ‘wall’ and via the web. See the Ministry Wall HERE.
2) Town Meetings. In many places and in many ways the voices of we, the people, are ‘locked out.’ Our initiative calls for the establishment of regular Town Meetings comprised of community leaders to talk collaboratively about issues: Civic, Education, Christian, Media, Health, etc. To see details, check out THIS.
3) Multiply across the nation. We have to start with a focus region. Here is the information on the kickoff. The plan is to go from the Endless Mountains of north central, PA, to other cities such as Phoenix and Kansas City. See details on the kickoff HERE.
Why am I bothering to tell you all of these things?
Well, let me ask you a question, WILL WE SURVIVE if we do NOT UNITE?
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Comment by Billy Hornsby on May 25, 2009 at 1:48pm
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Juanita, great post. I have recently received a request from Egypt from a ministry there to have my book, "The Cell Driven Church," translated into Arabic and distributed there. I don't want any royalties or anything just the okay to give these guys permission to do so. Is that possible? Billy Hornsby
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Comment by Juanita on May 24, 2009 at 6:44pm
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TS
Pat Rodriguez said:
Good post. And, that wall is a great concept, especially the "needs" part. God in the past has taken down entire nations for falling away. Why should the U.S. be any different. Is this country in the shape it's in because of moral and spiritual decay? Two wars, economic collapse, disease, poverty, crime .. I've bookmarked that site and will visit it.
However, like Laura said, we also need to take into account the separation of church and state.Perhaps there is a way to do that while at the same time implementing the ideas that you suggested. Hopefully knowledge of the site and it's message will spread.
Thanks for your supportive post.
We have no intention of creating a 'Christian' governement. But, we believe that Christians should have a voice in government - our founding fathers didn't check their faith at the door and used the 10 commandments as the backdrop of all they did. Did you know they are etched into the walls of the Supreme Court? We are to be salt and light. God never intended 'the church' to rule ungodly.... that is not what we are about. But, our voices need to be heard...
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Conservative Underground
Conservative Underground. http://www.tcunation.com/forum/topics/if-you-are-not-interested-in
wayne abott said:I draw a bright line of distinction between America's collective concern over our common morality, as opposed to our spiritual life. The two are definitely not one and the same. Morality concerns itself with how we conduct ourselves in a civilized society; religion has decidedly deeper and far more personal implications for the average American. No reasonable person would disagree with the idea that America is adrift, so far as its moral compass is concerned, and that should trouble us all. I think it far easier to address our shared moral values as a country than it is to introduce a religious component into the mix, and make an attempt to perhaps legislate as we assume God would see fit. In that case, we quickly approach the rocky shoals of church-state conflict that our founders thoughtfully attempted to avoid.
Wayne,
An overall 'smart' guy like you seems to simply not 'get it' regarding cause and effect.
You may choose any moral code you want. But to imply that all people have the same moral code is, well, to say the least - not rooted in real life. A million babies were murdered last year. And participating in those murders were millions more. Some, to be sure, violated their conscience. But many did not. It was simply a matter of perspective and moral choice.
Of course we are adrift morally. Why shouldn't we be? We have no standard.
wayne abott said:This is what I find problematic whenever I hear the term "our judeo-christian heritage" invoked, because I'm never quite sure what exactly is implied in the term. Does it mean that someone who is not of "judeo-christian" extraction is somehow a lesser American?
Of course it doesn’t mean you are less American. The Judeo-Christian moral standard is represented in those 10 Commandments posted on the walls of the Supreme Court. Of course, if they tear them off the walls, soon we will hear that they were never there in the first place. We Americans are getting very good at choices, even choosing our own reality.
wayne abott said:I see an inherent tone of exceptionalism in the term, which by my reading of the Constitution has no real basis in fact. Our founders stressed first and foremost our right to pray and worship as we choose, and by living out that creed to its logical end, I have never seen the utility in stressing our "judeo-christian heritage" unless it is to be used as some thinly-veiled reminder to others of christians' numerical superiority and resultant political clout. In that context, it tends to lose its tone of high-mindedness, frankly.
Now, let me be clear, I do believe that Judeo-Christian morals are exceptional and excellent…
-Don’t kill
-Don’t lie
-Don’t steal
-Honor your father and mother
-Be content with what you have (don’t covet)
-Don’t commit adultery
- Don’t take God’s name in vain. (Did you ever notice that people don’t say, “Budda” when they stub their toe? Or any other diety’s name: God & Jesus Christ are singular in this regard. Now, there have never been laws regarding this & no one is suggesting it. But it is a nice reminder to treat with respect what others hold sacred.)
- Honor God (and if you don’t believe, at least you should be respectful – we DO have the right to practice religion, that comes from basic respect, if not of God himself at least of the people who worship God.)
- Don’t worship graven images (or idols). (Now, if you aren’t a person who believes in God, this still has an application, not for law-but for daily life. Everyone has the right to chose what to center their life on – for Christians, that is God. But, if you chose something different, say your family or your job or whatever and then put something in front of that – you will cause an internal integrity problem for yourself.)
- Remember the Sabbath (Hey, this in a nice ‘optional’ type commandment. We could be like China with a 7 day work week. I prefer a day of rest, even better a couple days. In my opinion our Judeo-Christian influence migrated into laws and thinking regarding the number of hours in a normal work week.)
In our a-moral and self centered society, these morals may seem a bit old fashioned; but I think, and I am in the majority that morals matter. Laws should protect us from moral infractions that harm others. Laws are not designed to prevent us from choosing to be immoral (and with other consenting adults, we can do lots of things…) But, when your immoral behavior takes life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from another – that is where the line is.
Now you or anyone by personal choice can choose the standard posted in the Supreme Court OR your own smorgasbord variety. Choices have consequences. Europe is a great example of collective morality or should we say smorgasbord morality. If that is what you & others what - the last I understood about democracy is that majority rules. I, along with a majority of Americans, prefer the standard posted on the walls of the Supreme Court - Could those postings be a gentle reminder of Right and Wrong for those who oversee the Rule of Law? Early America was not concerned about acknowledging God, even the God of the Bible…
They posted the 10 Commandments
They convened for corporate prayer
The Congresses prayed
They broke specifically for prayer
They took oaths (and we still do!) on the Bible
The paranoia that Christians might ‘make an attempt to perhaps legislate as we assume God would see fit’ is not supported from how Christians conducted themselves in the early days of our country. I know of NO CHRISTIAN that is interested in forcing religious ‘rule’ (think MUSLIM, not Christian for this) or setting up theocracy. To imply such is at best ignorant, at worst it is a just a way to lock Christians and our faith and standards ‘out’.
My call is to people who hold the moral standard, illustrated above, that I have and value. If we don’t unite, mark my word, our standards will be ‘out’ – and people will back their majority wishes by law. This has already happened in the case of various things, including abortion. My tax dollars kill babies – depriving these human beings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is legalized Auschwitz behavior! Do you know what is done to babies during abortions? Who cares-it’s legal. We have more concern for animal rights that baby rights. There is no end to the evil things that a-moral people can do. The only restraint is Rule of Law, but if ‘law’ has no foundation, just look at other nations to see what ‘goes’ for legal behavior -whatever the whim of the populace chooses. That might be fine for many and the future they choose. It is not for me.
My call is to people who think that morals –the morals above- do matter. We need to unite or the society that was founded on these will crumble even further. We need to untie and make our voices heard. “Political correctness” is a fallacy. I have the RIGHT to a different opinion/perspective than you. If you find that offensive… it is nevertheless my right to have it and to say it regardless, even if it steps on your toes, hurts your feelings or makes you angry. We Christians been cowed into political correctness and our standards have been marginalized. Churches even believe that they can’t preach on right and wrong from the pulpit. I’d like to see some good sermons on the ‘Fiscal Responsibility of the American People.’
wayne abott said:I have never seen the utility in stressing our "judeo-christian heritage" unless it is to be used as some thinly-veiled reminder to others of christians' numerical superiority and resultant political clout. In that context, it tends to lose its tone of high-mindedness, frankly.
If all this sounds high-minded to you, well, ‘If you are right, you can afford to be to declare it.’ Our nation was a better nation with the 10 Commandments as the backdrop for society. Stressing our Judeo-Christian heritage is not some type of “utility” a means to an end. The moral standard is the same plumb-line early America used to TEST its performance. You might be under the illusion that you and other well meaning, self-guided individuals can create a meaningful set of laws and standards by pulling right and wrong out of your own conscience – but you must be living under a rock if you don’t see the standards people are adopting as they create their own personalized lifestyles. Since there is no fixed moral standard in their hearts, it reflects in their lives and it is rippling into every aspect of society.
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