SUPPORT FREEDOM Help Us Reach 10,000 Homes Monthly December Issue 2005 rookie Minnesota con- CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 size of a postage stamp on a football field. “It’s a very small area and, in fact, this area is under darkness many 507-355-1429 Only $25.00 per year! Subscribe to FREEDOM 108 E. Oakland Ave. Austin, MN 55912 Earlier this week, House Majority THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Jim Brown - OneNewsNow FREEDOM Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 6/30/2008 NONPROFIT ORG
IN THIS ISSUE PAGE 1 MARRIAGE BILL EXPOSES AMERICANS 'FED UP' WITH HIGH ENERGY PRICES PAGE 2 & 3 TESTIFYING OF GOD'S HEALING POWER PROPHESY WATCH PAGE 4 & 5 MOVIE REVIEW PASTOR'S CORNER PAGE 6 & 7 WALLBUILDERS PAGE 8 & 9 ADD ME TO THE LIST KIDS ZONE PAGE 10 & 11 PRINCIPALS OF PROSPERITY TEEN SPOT PAGE 12 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION Subscribe to FREEDOM Only $25.00 per year! Write: FREEDOM 108 E. Oakland Ave. Austin, MN 55912 SUPPORT FREEDOM Help Us Reach 10,000 Homes Monthly 1. You can advertise a product, service, business, or make an announcement with FREEDOM. Our rates are very reason- able. Call us at: 507-355-1429 2. You can become a FREEDOM partner by giving a tax deductible one time dona- tion or a monthly tax deductible donation to: FREEDOM PUBLICATIONS 108 E. Oakland Ave. Austin, MN 55912 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT December Issue 2005 M ississippi Senator Roger Wicker says he’s hop- ing to further re-ignite the na- tional debate over same-sex “marriage” by introducing a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Senator Wicker’s bill is the companion to House legis- lation sponsored by conser- vative Congressman Paul Broun (R-Georgia). Wicker says although he is under no illusions that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) will bring the legislation forward this year for passage, it is im- portant to draw attention to the issue. FREEDOM 108 E. Oakland Ave. Austin, MN 55912 “Frankly, the American people are so overwhelmingly in support of a constitu- tional amendment prohibiting same-sex A Publication of Rory Synoground Ministries International www.rsmifreedom.org July 2008 F REEDOM Inspiring Hope and Faith FREE NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID AUSTIN, MN PERMIT NO. 3 MARRIAGE BILL EXPOSES JUDICIAL ACTIVISM Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 6/30/2008 marriage that I think it draws a clear distinction in an elec- tion year between two basic worldviews,” says Wicker. “And I think it’s an appropri- ate thing to introduce, if for no other reason than to have a national debate.” Wicker also shares his hope of bringing further atten- tion to the growing prob- lem of judicial activism by sponsoring the constitutional amendment. The Republican lawmaker says he cannot re- member a time when the prob- lem of judges legislating from the bench has been so ram- pant. “This concept that con- stitutions are living, breathing documents which change as ANWR DRILLING: ENVIRIONMENTALLY SAFE & DECREASES GAS PRICES A rookie Minnesota con- gresswoman says the most obvious solu- tion to bring the price of gasoline back down to $2 a gallon at the pump would be to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and quickly access that energy. Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minne- sota) contends there is no finer piece of real es- tate on the planet to drill than ANWR. Bachmann will be part of a congres- sional delegation visiting the Refuge in Alaska and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, next week. The freshman law- maker says the amount of land that would be used for drilling in ANWR is comparitively the CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 size of a postage stamp on a football field. “It’s a very small area and, in fact, this area is under darkness many days of the year; it has no trees, it’s a moonscape almost. It’s not an area where people can live or thrive, and again, the drilling is done in an environmentally sensi- tive and careful way,” Bachmann explains. “And it’s also in proximity to the current trans-Alaska pipe- line that already moves the oil that we receive from Alaska for the use of the American people. That pipeline is only 50 percent full today.” Bachmann says she is for an “all-of-the-above strat- egy” to bring down gas prices – which involves coal, oil, natural gas, wind, solar, and nuclear energy. She believes the problem in the United States is not a “famine of energy,” but a “famine of will” by the Dem- ocrat-controlled Congress to do anything about soar- ing fuel prices. Under Democratic House Speaker Nan- cy Pelosi’s leadership, gas prices have increased 76 percent. Earlier this week, House Majority Jim Brown - OneNewsNow CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Transcript
IN THIS ISSUEPAGE 1
MARRIAGE BILL EXPOSESAMERICANS 'FED UP' WITH
HIGH ENERGY PRICESPAGE 2 & 3
TESTIFYING OF GOD'SHEALING POWER
PROPHESY WATCHPAGE 4 & 5
MOVIE REVIEW
PASTOR'S CORNERPAGE 6 & 7
WALLBUILDERSPAGE 8 & 9
ADD ME TO THE LISTKIDS ZONE
PAGE 10 & 11
PRINCIPALS OF PROSPERITYTEEN SPOTPAGE 12
PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION
Sub
scrib
e to
FR
EE
DO
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Onl
y $2
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per
yea
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e:
FRE
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N 5
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Monthly1. You can advertise a product, service, business, or make an announcement with FREEDOM. Our rates are very reason-able. Call us at:
507-355-14292. You can become a FREEDOM partner by giving a tax deductible one time dona-tion or a monthly tax deductible donation to:
FREEDOM PUBLICATIONS108 E. Oakland Ave.
Austin, MN 55912
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
December Issue 2005
Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker says he’s hop-
ing to further re-ignite the na-tional debate over same-sex “marriage” by introducing a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Senator Wicker’s bill is the companion to House legis-lation sponsored by conser-vative Congressman Paul Broun (R-Georgia). Wicker says although he is under no illusions that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) will bring the legislation forward this year for passage, it is im-portant to draw attention to the issue.
FRE
ED
OM
108
E. O
akla
nd A
ve.
Aus
tin, M
N 5
5912
“Frankly, the American people are so overwhelmingly in support of a constitu-tional amendment prohibiting same-sex
A Publication of Rory Synoground Ministries International www.rsmifreedom.org July 2008
FREEDOMInspiring Hope and Faith
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MARRIAGE BILL EXPOSES JUDICIAL ACTIVISM Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 6/30/2008
marriage that I think it draws a clear distinction in an elec-tion year between two basic worldviews,” says Wicker. “And I think it’s an appropri-ate thing to introduce, if for no other reason than to have a national debate.”
Wicker also shares his hope of bringing further atten-tion to the growing prob-lem of judicial activism by sponsoring the constitutional amendment. The Republican lawmaker says he cannot re-member a time when the prob-lem of judges legislating from the bench has been so ram-pant. “This concept that con-stitutions are living, breathing
documents which change as
ANWR DRILLING: ENVIRIONMENTALLY SAFE & DECREASES GAS PRICES
A rookie Minnesota con-gresswoman says the most obvious solu-
tion to bring the price of gasoline back down to $2 a gallon at the pump would be to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and quickly access that energy.Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minne-sota) contends there is no finer piece of real es-tate on the planet to drill than ANWR. Bachmann will be part of a congres-sional delegation visiting the Refuge in Alaska and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, next week. The freshman law-maker says the amount of land that would be used for drilling in ANWR is comparitively the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
size of a postage stamp on a football field.
“It’s a very small area and, in fact, this area is under darkness many
days of the year; it has no trees, it’s a moonscape almost. It’s not an area where people can live or thrive, and again, the drilling is done in an environmentally sensi-tive and careful way,” Bachmann
explains. “And it’s also in proximity to the current trans-Alaska pipe-line that already moves the oil that we receive from Alaska for the use
of the American people. That pipeline is only 50 percent full today.”
Bachmann says she is for an “all-of-the-above strat-egy” to bring down gas prices – which involves coal, oil, natural gas, wind, solar, and nuclear energy. She believes the problem in the United States is not a “famine of energy,” but a “famine of will” by the Dem-ocrat-controlled Congress to do anything about soar-ing fuel prices. Under Democratic House Speaker Nan-
cy Pelosi’s leadership, gas prices have increased 76 percent. Earlier this week, House Majority
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
PSALMS 103:2-3
"Bless the Lord
O my soul, and
forget not all His
benefits; Who
forgiveth all thine
iniquities; Who
healeth all thy
diseases."
REDEEMED FROM THE
CURSE OF POVERTY
After hearing a sermon one Saturday
evening at Freedom Christian Center
on the importance of tithing, and how
tithing faithfully will break generation-
al and financial curses off of your fam-
ily, I started tithing. I tithed faithfully
every week. Even if I could not attend
church I made sure my tithe was there
no matter what. I wanted the curses
that had been operating in my family
for years to be broken, and I wanted to
make sure that I kept the curse away
from my children as well. After faith-
fully tithing for the past two years
now, I am witnessing the Lord keep His
promise of Malachi 3:10. Even though
I have a fixed income the Lord has made
sure to keep my family in our home and
food on the table without depending on
anyone other than God Himself. I have
seen Him provide for me and my chil-
dren, miraculously. There were times
when it looked impossible to pay our
bills, yet somehow they got paid. Yes
its true tithing breaks the curse and
puts a shield of protection around your
family and your finances. God is faith-
ful to His Word. Thank You Jesus!
PSALMS 103:2-3
"Bless the Lord
O my soul, and
forget not all His
benefits; Who
forgiveth all thine
iniquities; Who
healeth all thy
diseases."
Page 2 FREEDOM
TESTIFYING OF GOD'S HEALING POWER
ASK US AND WE WILL PRAY FOR YOUGOD IS READY ARE YOU?
CALL US TODAY AT 507-355-1429JESUS SAVES
JESUS HEALS
MIRACLE MONEY
My mother was hospitalized for sev-
eral weeks. She did not have any kind
of medical insurance and the bills were
piling up fast. She was then diagnosed
with cancer & told she had to have
chemo and radiation treatments five
times a week for three to four months.
At the time we lived over 70 miles from
where she was to receive these treat-
ments. My sister and I had already
tapped into our savings and were
struggling financially to pay the bills,
and her medicine that she needed.
While explaining the outcome of moms
condition and the financial situation
over the phone to a family member,
in the waiting room at the hospital, a
woman sat right next to me and asked
to speak with me. At first I thought it
was a Doctor. This person leaned over
and handed me an envelope and said
very discretely, “The Lord told me to
give this to you” then walked out of
the room. I opened the envelope and
inside was a thousand dollars in cash.
I instantly started to cry. That was
enough money to pay for moms medi-
cine upon leaving the hospital, and it
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God to Bless his children. Thank you
Lord for taking care of us.
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The Prayer & Healing CenerPURPOSE
This ministry is here to serve the community, the local Church, and the Body of Christ while contend-ing for all that Christ promised the
church would operate in. "..the works that I do shall
he do also and greater works thatn these shall he do..."
(John 14:12)
WE OFFER:•The Salvation Message.
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PROPHECY WATCH
God speaks to His people in many different ways concern-
ing His will. One way is through the utterance gifts of the Holy Spirit—words placed in the mouth of God’s servant by the Holy Spirit and then spoken to the nation. These words were delivered through Kenneth Co-peland during the Fort Worth, Texas Southwest Believers’ Convention. They were given for the building and uplifting of the body of Christ. Allow these words to bring a fresh light on the move of the Spirit of God in these last days.
By My Spirit, saith the Lord...
I am going from village to village, from city to city, from nation to na-tion, from town to town. I’m going from shore to shore, and from moun-taintop to valley seek-ing out and recruiting an army. I’m looking for those that will join with Me in forming the mostpowerful, spiritual alma mater in the history of this planet.
These are the days of My vengeance, saith God. These are the days of My vengeance to vindicate the blood. These are the days when I will come down on darkness with all the weight and the power that Light has to thrust.
I am ready to throw the body of Christ into vast battle array, into the face of darkness and cripple the de-mons of darkness and cause them to crawl on their belly at the feet of the body of Christ. Once this occurs the devil will never rise to his feet again until after the catching away of the church.
I AM, and I will. I have said it, and I will accomplish it, saith the Lord. I will have a glorious church and the gates and authority of hell will not prevail against it. It will not pre-vail against it. I’m calling people from every walk of life. I’m calling on people to do things that I’ve not called on people to do before.
Do you not remember in My Word where I sent the man Ananias to pray and to minister to Paul? I have shown this man what he must suf-fer for My name’s sake. I’ve never asked anybody to go to war without knowing the price of the conflict. And he agreed and together we es-tablished the fact that the New Cov-
enant would work for Gentile or Jew in the face of darkness. And that it would stand, and having done all, the covenant would stand against all that would come against it.
I am the great I AM, saith the Lord. My day and My hour has come. When My day and My hour came to be baptized in water, no man could stop me. When My hour came to be born in a manger, no devil could
stop Me. When My hour came, Herod and all of his troops could not stop what was happening in the earth. It is no dif-ferent now. I have cho-sen this hour and I have chosen this generation to be the generation that shall stand in great light and in great power. And while the devil creates a whirlwind here and a
whirlwind there, and a storm here and a storm there, they will not have any impact orany effect on My plan and what I am doing with this army that I am building.
There’s a number in this army that have been training for years. A number of you that have been train-ing and you have been involved in small skirmishes here and there and the other place, and some of you feel as though you are battle scarred veterans. Oh, you have no concept of the victory that is in store for you. You have in your wildest dreams no concept of what I’m going to allow to come to you in victory over darkness and over sin and over sickness and over de-mons and over fear. As in the days of My earthly ministry when there were men that came back to me and said, “Lord even the devils are subject to us in Your name,” I said, “Rejoice for your names are writ-ten in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Even the great things that they saw will only be child’s play compared to the miraculous that shall occur in these days and has even already be-gun and is in its light stages now.
Don’t look and say, “Oh, it’s gonna happen one of these days.” It’s al-ready happening. I’m uncovering revelation after revelation. I prom-ised you that it would all be uncov-ered by the time this is done...For these are the days of the greatest revelation of all...
TESTIFYING OF GOD'S HEALING POWER
Prophecy given by Kenneth Copeland
Southwest Believers Convention
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Kit Kittredge is a spunky ten-year-old who is fiercely loyal to her friends,
great at solving mysteries, and deter-mined to become a reporter. If you have a daughter between the ages of six and eleven, you likely already know all that. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is inspired by the Kit Kittredge books, which are based on one character in the wildly successful American Girl line of historically set dolls. But don’t let the connection between a movie and a doll franchise scare you. This film is artistically light years beyond Strawberry Shortcake cartoons or the nonsense that was Bratz: The Movie. In fact, the doll connection is in some ways unfortunate (despite the tween girl audi-ence it guarantees), because, given a chance, this film will appeal to girls—and boys—of all ages.
Kit Kittredge is set in 1934 Cincinnati. Kit (Little Miss Sunsh ine ’s Abigail Bres-lin) is happily occupied with secret meet-ings of her Tree House Club, not to mention hours at the typewriter diligently working on stories she hopes to pitch to the local newspa-per. All is well until the Great Depression begins showing up in the neighborhood. When a family next store to Kit loses their house to foreclosure, it becomes clear that this is one children’s movie deter-mined to treat gritty subjects with non-pa-tronizing realism.
Before long, Kit’s comfortable middle class life evaporates. Her father (played with all-American heart and everyman charm by Batman and Robin’s Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and is forced to temporarily relocate to Chicago in search of work. Kit’s mother (Sabrina’s lovely Julia Ormond) keeps a brave and resourceful face, opening her home to a quirky assortment of boarders and, much to Kit’s initial chagrin, selling eggs and vegetables to help pay the mortgage.
Despite the hard times, Kit and her mother are still prone to taking in strays, includ-ing an abandoned basset hound named Grace and a pair of young hobos will-ing to work for food. When the Kittredge home is robbed and one of the hobos is unfairly incriminated in the crime, Kit and her friends hastily become ad hoc detec-tives to save the day.
Screenplay writer Ann Peacock (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) rather miracu-lously manages to keep things resound-
ingly sweet and wholesome without sugar coating realities like poverty, class injus-tice, and bigotry. Her cause is aided by a fine cast of veteran actors, who bring comedic chemistry to portrayals of the boarders at the Kittredge house. Stan-ley Tucci’s sardonic vaudeville magician, Jane Krakowski’s husband-hunting dance instructor, Joan Cusack’s befuddled mo-bile librarian, and Glenne Headly’s prud-ish and burdened mother all add depth and humor. Wallace Shawn (the villainous Vizzini in The Princess Bride) brings his signature lisping bluster to the role of the curmudgeonly newspaper editor, while young Willow Smith (daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith) and Max Thier-iot (showing the same acting chops and heart-throb potential he revealed in The Pacifier) make achingly winsome hobos. And, at the centre of this acting storm,
Abigail Bre-slin meets expectations as a likeable and believ-able hero-ine.
The film has a warm, R o c k w e l l -esque look and feel to it, no small
feat considering director Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park) reportedly had only 27 days of filming and a modest budget with which to recreate Depression-era Cincin-nati. For the most part, Rozema man-ages to mine real pathos from the story without weighing the film down into too much melodrama. Occasionally the mov-ie’s pacing does seem a touch uneven, languishing a bit in the moralistic parts and racing rather suddenly when the ac-tion-adventure plotline comes to the fore-ground. Even still, my six-year-old daugh-ter remained mesmerized throughout the whole film.
Kit Kittredge has many of the classic ingredients of a successful family tale, including a heroine who achieves her dreams through hard work and persever-ance, a group of kids who outsmart the adult villains, and a resoundingly happy ending. But the film’s most notable suc-cess is in the unusual themes it brings to the children’s table. In many respects, Kit Kittredge is about the ways people adapt, or don’t adapt, to new kinds of normal when life doesn’t turn out as planned. It’s also about finding identity in something other than your ability to earn or provide, a challenge that proves daunting for many of the fathers in the film. Most important-ly, it’s about the power of love and rela-tionship, and the refusal to let shame or disappointment estrange families in the midst of hard times. Who knew one little American Girl could teach all that?
****MOVIE REVIEW****Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Review by Carolyn Arends:posted on ChristianityToday.com
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PASTOR'S CORNER
Hebrews 3:1“So then brethren, consecrated and set apart for God, who share in the heav-enly calling, (thoughtfully and atten-tively) consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest Whom we confessed (as ours when we embraced the Christian faith).” Amp
There is a life awaiting you that is full of peace, prosperity, security, love, joy, suc-cess, and healing. It is a life of freedom; it is a call to freedom and truth from the Father. It is a life where the promises of God are manifest in your life.
We are to partake of this calling, and then to proclaim this freedom to the world. To-day is the day of salvation! Today is the day to be FREE!
Look at Joshua 1:5. There, God tells Joshua that no man or enemy will be able to stand in front of him to block h i m — a n d be suc-c e s s f u l . The same is true for you today. Oh the devil will try, but if
we will continually consider Jesus, Who is the High Priest of our confession, the devil will not be able to keep us back.
WE WILL GO ONWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT, THROUGH THE STORM, & WE
WILL PREVAIL.On a lake one night, Jesus and His discip-els were in the middle of a deadly storm. Jesus saw the same wind and the same waves that the disciples saw, yet He was unaffected by it. Instead He walked right through the middle of it—on the water it-self. No natural circumstance or attack of the enemy was going to prevent Jesus from walking free from this world’s system and proclaiming the will of God
As He reached the disciples in faith, they cried out in fear when they saw Him. The disciples got so caught up in the natural cir-cumstances of the storm, which was at the point of destroying them, that they didn’t even recognize Jesus—the Savior of their souls—standing right beside them.
You know, that is the way we are too. We get so caught up in the events of our time,
the tragedies, and trying circumstances, that we fail to recognize our Savior who is right there beside us ever ready to lend us His hand. We fail to recognize that Je-sus our Deliverer is there—ever ready to help us through these deceptive circum-stances.
God told Joshua to be strong and of good courage. To mediate in His Word day and night, so that he would be able to do that Word. That Word inturn, would give him the supernatural wisdom he needed. to have good success.
Praise God, Hebrews 3:1 tells us to do the same thing. We are to consider, or to intensely observe fully, Jesus our Savior, not the tragedies, storms, gos-sip, or circumstances around us!
In John 1:1-14 we read that in the be-ginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
Jesus is the Word of God manifested in the flesh. We are instructed to intensely observe Jesus, the Living Word of God, lest we grow weary and faint in our minds.
When we fail to intensely observe Jesus, the Word of God, we will grow weak in our minds. We will get overtaken with fear, depression, and every other oppressive torment the devil has to offer us.
You know that is what happened to the disciples that night on the lake. They failed to intensely observe Jesus during the storm, and as a result they became weak, and fearful. It was only when Peter began to intensely observe Jesus, that he was able to do the impossible. He did exactly what Jesus was doing.
Jesus didn’t still the storm first in order for Peter to walk on the water. No, He simply gave Peter the POWER to walk through the middle of it, in complete vic-tory and freedom. Even when Peter took His eyes off of Jesus, the Word, Jesus was there to deliver him, because He was there by Peter’s side.
No matter what circumstance you find your self in today, no matter where you are in life, begin to consider Jesus. As you consider Jesus, & His Word, you will receive the assurance, and the strength to do the impossible. You will be able to walk in freedom despite the circumstanc-es. You will be able to walk through that storm successfully and in victory!
Rev. Rory Synoground Founder and President of
Rory Synoground Ministries International, and Pastor of
Freedom Christian Center, Austin, MN
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:32
A CALL TO FREEDOM
���������������PART ONE / 2 CD SERIES
HOW FAITH WORKS is a teaching series that Pastor Rory ministered on at Healing School. In Part One Pastor Rory answers the question of WHY WE NEED FAITH. And He also teaches on the THREE THINGS YOU NEED to receive anything from God. These two anointed teachings will inspire you to begin living a life of Faith!
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FREEDOMPage 6
Wa l l B u i l d e r s
This year marks 232 years since our Founding Fathers gave
us our National Birth Certificate. We continue to be the longest ongoing Con-stitutional Republic in the history of the world. Blessings such as these are not by chance or accidental. They are bless-ings of God.
On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from Great Britain. Two days afterwards—July 4th—the early draft of the Dec-laration of Independence was signed, albeit by only two individuals at that time: John Hancock, President of Congress, and Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress.
Four days later, on July 8, members of Congress took that document and read it aloud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming it to the city of Phila-delphia, after which the Liberty Bell was rung. The inscription around the top of that bell, Leviticus 25:10, was most appropriate for the occasion:
“Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhab-
itants thereof.” To see the turmoil in other nations, their struggles and multiple revolutions, and yet to see the stability and blessings that we have here in America, we may ask how has this been achieved? What was the basis of American Independence? John Adams said “The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”
Perhaps the clearest identification of the spirit of the American Revolution was given by John Adams in a letter to Abigail the day after Congress approved the Declaration. He wrote her two let-ters on that day; the first was short and concise, jubilant that the Declaration
had been approved.
The second was much longer and more pensive, giving serious consideration to what had been done that day. Adams cau-tiously noted: “This day will be the most memorable epic in the history of Amer-ica. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”
It is amazing that on the very day they approved the Declaration, Adams was al-ready foreseeing that their actions would be celebrated by future generations.
Adams contemplated whether it would be proper to hold such celebrations, but then concluded that the day should be commemorated—but in a particular man-ner and with a specific spirit. As he told Abigail: “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
John Adams believed that the Fourth of July should become a religious holi-day—a day when we remembered God’s hand in deliverance and a day of religious activities when we committed ourselves to Him in “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
Such was the Spirit of the Ameri-can Revolution as seen through the eyes of those who led it, evidenced even further in the words of John Quincy Adams, one who was deeply involved in the activities of the Revolution.
In 1837, when he was 69 years old, he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts. He began that address with a question: “Why is it, friends and fellow citizens, that you are here assembled? Why is it that enter-ing on the 62nd year of our national ex-istence you have honored [me] with an invitation to address you...?”
The answer was easy: they had asked him to address them because he was old enough to remember what went on; they wanted an eye-witness to tell them of it! He next asked them: “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?”
An interesting question: why is it that in America the Fourth of July and Christmas were our two top holi-days? Note his answer: “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior?
That it forms a leading event in the
progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Inde-pendence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Re-deemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human govern-ment upon the first precepts of Chris-tianity?”
According to John Quincy Adams, Christmas and the Fourth of July were intrinsically connected. On the Fourth of July, the Founders simply took the precepts of Christ which came into the world through His birth (Christmas) and incorporated those principles into civil government.
Have you ever considered what it meant for those 56 men—an eclectic group of ministers, business men, teachers, university professors, sailors, captains, farmers—to sign the Declaration of Independence?
This was a contract that began with the reasons for the separation from Great Britain and closed in the final paragraph stating “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American Medicine and a signer, record-ed that day in his diary. In 1781, he wrote to John Adams:
"Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the House when we were called up, one after another, to the table
of the President of Congress to subscribe to what was believed by many at that time to be our
death warrants?
The silence and gloom of the morning was interrupted, I well recollect, only for a moment by Colonel Harrison of Virginia (a big guy) who said to Mr. Gerry (small in stature) at the table:
‘I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are
now doing... From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the light-
ness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.’ This speech pro-
cured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity
with which the whole business was conducted."
These men took this pledge seriously. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania is an example of the highest level of integrity. He was chosen as the financier of the American Revolution. What an honor, ex-cept that there was no bank willing to give any loans to help fund the revolution.
It was three years and the Battle of Sara-toga before America got any kind of fund-ing at all. After winning that battle, foreign nations like France, Holland, and others decided maybe we weren’t such a bad risk and began loaning us money.
So where did we get money for the first
KEEP THE FREEDOM
Preserving American liberty
depends first upon our
understanding the foundations
on which this great country was built and then
preserving the principles
on which it was founded.
—David Barton
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his country should require it.” A man of his word, he demonstrated his integrity.
The 16 Congressional proclamations for prayer and fasting throughout the Revo-lution were not bland (i.e., the acknowl-edgment of Jesus Christ, the quoting of Romans 14:17, etc.); however, this
is not unusual considering the prominent role that many min-isters played in the Revolution.
One such ex-ample is John Peter Muhlen-burg. In a ser-mon delivered to his Virginia congregat ion on January 21, 1776, he preached verse by verse from Ecclesiastes 3—the passage which speaks of a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. Arriv-
ing at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenburg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war.
Concluding with a prayer, and while stand-ing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the Continental army!
He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and over three hundred men joined him, be-coming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenburg finished the Rev-olution as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.
Another minister-leader in the Revolution was the Reverend James Caldwell. His actions during one battle inspired a paint-ing showing him standing with a stack of hymn books in his arms while engaged in the midst of a fierce battle against the British outside a battered Presbyterian church. During the battle, the Americans had developed a serious problem: they had run out of wadding for their guns, which was just as serious as having no ammunition.
Reverend Caldwell recognized the per-fect solution; he ran inside the church and returned with a stack of Watts Hymnals—one of the strongest doctrinal hymnals of the Christian faith (Isaac Watts authored “O God Our Help In Ages Past,” “Joy to the World,” “Jesus Shall Reign,” and several other classic hymns).
Distributing the Watts Hymnals among the soldiers served two purposes: first, its pages would provide the needed wadding; second, the use of the hymnal carried a symbolic message. Reverend Caldwell took that hymn book—the source of great doctrine and spiritual truth—raised it up in the air and shouted to the Americans, “Give ‘em Watts, boys!”
The spiritual emphasis manifested so of-ten by the Americans during the Revolu-tion caused one Crown-appointed British governor to write to Great Britain com-plaining that: “If you ask an American who is his master, he’ll tell you he has none. And he has no governor but Je-sus Christ.”
Letters like this, and sermons like those preached by the Reverend Peter Powers titled “Jesus Christ the King,” gave rise to a sentiment that has been described as a motto of the American Revolution.
Most Americans are unaware that the Revolution might have had mottoes, but many wars do (e.g., in the Texas’ war for independence, it was “Remember the Alamo”; in the Union side in the Civil War, it was “In God We Trust”; in World War I, it was “Remember the Lusitania”; in World War II, it was “Remember Pearl Harbor”; etc.).
A motto of the American Revolution di-rected against the tyrant King George III and the theologically discredited doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings (which as-serted that when the king spoke, it was the voice of God speaking directly to the people) was simple and direct: “No King but King Jesus!” Another motto (first suggested by Benjamin Franklin and of-ten repeated during the Revolution) was similar in tone: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”
Preserving American liberty depends first upon our un-derstanding the foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the principles on which it was founded. Let’s not let the pur-pose for which we were estab-lished be forgotten. The Found-ing Fathers have passed us a torch; let’s not let it go out.
three years? Congress, at that time, could not have obtained a loan of one thousand dollars, yet Robert Morris effected loans upon his own credit, of tens of thousands.
In 1781, George Washington con-ceived the expedition against Cornwallis, at Yorktown. He asked Judge Peters of Pennsylvania, “What can you do for me?” “With money, everything, without it, noth-ing,” he replied, at the same time turning with anxious look toward Mr. Morris. “Let me know the sum you desire,” said Mr. Morris; and before noon Washington’s plan and estimates were complete.
Robert Morris promised him the amount, and he raised it upon his own responsibil-ity. It has been justly remarked, that: “If it were not demonstrable by official records, posterity would hardly be made to believe that the campaign of 1781, which resulted in the capture of Cornwallis, and virtu-ally closed the Revolutionary War, was sustained wholly on the credit of an indi-vidual merchant.” America couldn’t repay him because there was no money and yet Robert Morris never complained because he had given his word.
You see the same thing in the life of John Hart. He was a strong Christian gentleman and Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Jersey. He promised to help provide them with guid-ance and leadership.
There were three things that were impor-tant in his life; his Savior, his family and his farm. Because of his signature on the Declaration, the British were seeking him
(and the rest of the signers) to execute as traitors. John Hart fled his home after which his farm was ravaged, his timber destroyed, his cattle and stock butchered for the use of the British army.
He did not dare to remain two nights in the same location. After Washington’s suc-cess at the battle of Trenton, he finally returned home to find that his wife had died and his children scattered. He lost almost ev-erything that was important to him but kept his word.
John Han-cock, a very wealthy indi-vidual lived in a mansion reflect-ing his princely fortune—one of the largest in the Province of Mas-sachusetts. Dur-ing the time the American army besieged Boston to rid it of the British, the American officers proposed the entire de-struction of the city.
“By the execution of such a plan, the whole fortune of Mr. Hancock would have been sacrificed. Yet he readily acceded to the measure, declaring his willingness to surrender his all, whenever the liberties of
Author and historian David Barton is the Founder and President of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization which distributes historical, legal, and statistical information; and helps citizens become active in their local schools and communities. WallBuilders is a name taken from the Bible book of Nehemiah. And just as Nehemiah led a grassroots movement in Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of that city and restore its strength and honor; so, too, WallBuilders seeks to energize the grassroots today to rebuild that which makes America strong—its constitutional, moral, and religious foundations.
popular sentiment changes over time -- that’s not my interpretation of the Constitution,” he remarks. The Mississippi Republican says he hopes to persuade one of his fellow Senate members, GOP presidential nominee John McCain, to have a change of heart and back the mar-riage amendment. Wicker says he has already sent McCain a “Dear Colleague” letter regarding the bill. The presidential hopeful has gone on record supporting protection of traditional marriage at the state level, but not at the federal level. Wicker also notes that in response to the 2004 homosexual wedding bonanza in San Francisco and the
legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, 19 states have passed laws and 26 states have amended their constitution to protect traditional marriage.
Continued From Page One
Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) claimed “drilling in the Outer Con-tinental Shelf will do nothing to lower gas prices,” yet simultane-ously touted “Democratic legisla-tion to speed up the leasing pro-cess for 20 million more acres in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.” Bachmann notes it is curi-ous that every answer Democrats have for high gas prices is “No, we shouldn’t drill.”
“They are the party of ‘No’ when it comes to energy. I just saw Sena-tor Dianne Feinstein [D-California] on Fox News and she said, ‘If we drill, that will not bring down the price of gasoline.’ Well, maybe not in her world, but ask 75 percent of normal Americans and they’ll tell you, ‘Look, if we drill in the United States, we will be able to bring the price of gasoline down dramatical-ly at the pump,’” Bachmann points out.
According to the Minnesota law-maker, much of the land in the Stra-tegic Petroleum Reserve-Alaska has already been tapped, whereas there are more than 88 million bar-rels of oil available in the Outer Con-tinental Shelf.
her Savior, she is in Heaven.” Re-garding Obama’s almost 20-year as-sociation with Trinity Church, Keller said that “two of my board members are from Chicago -- and Trinity has always been known as a radical church ... one that [promotes] black separatism and black liberation the-ology.” Still, millions of Christians sup-port the junior senator from Illinois. But many of us are praying that all Bible-believing Christians will ulti-mately realize this man should not occupy the Oval Office come Janu-ary 2009.
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STOP THE GAMES & VOTE ON OIL DRILLING, says DeMint
A conservative U.S. sena-tor argues that Congress should not leave for vaca-
tion until it lifts the federal ban on domestic oil drilling.
Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) is claling on Democrats to end their blockade on offshore drilling. “It’s time for Democrats to stop saying no to American en-ergy, stop saying no to increasing our own oil and gas supplies, and stop saying no to clean alterna-tive energy like nuclear power,” he asserts.
DeMint and other Republicans ap-plauded President Bush’s decision to lift a White House ban on off-
-shore drilling, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) calls Bush’s plan a “hoax.” And Senator Barack Obama’s (D-Illinois) cam-paign says “it would merely prolong the failed energy policies we have seen from Washington for the past 30 years.”
According to DeMint, the over-whelming majority of Americans support increasing the country’s energy supply in order to reduce gasoline prices. It is time, he says, for Democrats in Congress to “stop political games” and allow an im-mediate up-or-down vote to end the ban on offshore drilling.
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow
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“I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America....” Have you ever heard these words before? If you are in school, you might speak these words every day in your classroom. In America, where I live, they are the words to our national pledge.
Let’s talk about the word “allegiance.” Even though you might be saying the word “allegiance” often, do you know what the word means? Allegiance means being loyal.
If you are loyal, you will be faithful and dedicated to someone or something. If you are loyal to a person, you will stand with them and be a true friend at all times. Sometimes a friend can get grumpy and even mad at you, but you will still be a friend. You will be loyal.
When you are pledging (that means you promise) your allegiance to the flag, you really are promising that you will be loyal - faithful and dedicated-to our country of America. You will stand by our country, through the good times and the hard times. Standing through difficult times, is the true test of being loyal.
Have you ever thought to pledge your allegiance to God? If you do, it would be like saying this: “I promise that I will be loyal to God. I will be faithful and dedicated to Him-no matter what may happen or what will come against me.”
No matter what happens in your life-good things or bad things-you must make a choice to be loyal to God. When the hard times come, will you still love and serve God? This will be the true test of loyalty.
In our Bible verse today, God says that He wants our promises fulfilled. Do you know what “fulfilled” means? It means to complete something. For an example, if I were to fulfill a homework assignment, I would complete it. The homework would get done. When we fulfill our promises to God, we complete
them. We get our promises done.
How do we get our promises done with God? Well, we do what we say we’ll do! After all, God is a person of His Word-He does what He says. He completes His promises, shouldn’t we complete our promises too? Be a person of your word. Whether you make a promise to God, or to a friend, keep it.
Make a pledge (promise)-today and everyday-to God. Tell Him that you will promise to stick with Him and to His Word. Tell God that you will be loyal to Him and to others to keep your promises. (Ask the Lord to help you!) God is dependable and loyal. Just as we can depend on God, allow God the privilege to depend on you too!
FREEDOM Page 9
Allegiance What fast food do sea monsters eat?
Fish and Ships
Why do people in Ireland keep their money in banks?
“ . . . I want your p romises fu l f i l l ed . ” - Psalm 50:14
How many months have 28 days?
All of them
What's the biggest
problem with snow
boots?
They melt
Why does a bike stand on one-leg?
because it's two-tired
What do you get when you cross a sheep and a
bee?
A Bah-humbug
Where do tough chickens come from?
Hard boiled eggs
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Taming The Tongue Word Search
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt. 17:20
Find the hidden words within the grid of letters.
X L E M O V E I L D N P E L U K M L Z F R E W E I C P R I V Q R B A M M Y E A G N K E T M B B I E M Y S T I J C E H T X E N S N R S N O H T U R T L B Q G S D O U M U S T A R D E F N Q O A O T Q U W Q H N L A G P K P M Q H H C B G Y E I A J S T M X T S S I Q X D T R S B S R I Q Y F D U N D H B M E E B I T K M E M R G G B H C V F P C K E V F V T R E N C S E O D E G I G B E Y C M M P S F Q I C N Q V P H R X A H G Q P T N H N F N F M S F A Q V J Y Q
faith little mustard small here mountain nothing there impossible move seed truth
Page 10 FREEDOM
I received a comment some time ago from someone who believed that I
was putting too much emphasis on the right every Christian has to pros-per financially.
The individual had this to say, “Pros-perity is not for Christians. Our con-cern should be for spiritual growth and not material growth. You’re losing sight of the big picture, and you’re giv-ing money too much power. As long as you have the basics, you ought to leave well enough alone.”
There are several references in the Bible regarding prosperity. One of them can be found in Psalm 112:3, which says that wealth and riches will be in our houses.
The Bible also says that when we ad-here to the words of God’s covenant, we will prosper in all that we do (Deut. 29:9). And one of my all-time favor-ite scriptures concludes that God takes pleasure in our prosperity (Ps. 35:27). God wants us to use the power of money to fulfill His mission to save the lost. - Creflo Dollar God has given me insight into the “big picture” and has shown me that believers should prosper financially. When I think of prosperity, I think of a pie. God has given us an entire pie of blessings to enjoy, and financial pros-perity is an important slice that many Christians are not enjoying.
God’s big picture reveals that money is a form of power needed to spread the gospel throughout the world in these last days. Think of it as “money with a mission.” Jesus commissioned us to go into the entire world and spread the good news of His availability to save, heal, deliver and set captives free (Mark 16:15-18). In fact, God’s ultimate will is that all be saved and come to know Him per-sonally (1 Tim. 2:4). As His sons and daughters, we’ve been commanded to do our part to change lives for God just as Jesus did His part. But it takes finances to impact the entire world and do the greater works that Jesus spoke of in John 14:12.
Countless numbers of people are hearing of the good news about Je-sus through television, radio, books and the Internet. Worldwide evan-gelism, however, is not cheap. It takes wealth and other material re-sources to do it effectively.
God wants us to use the power of money to fulfill His mission to save the lost.
It does not surprise me at all when people challenge the relationship be-tween money and spiritual matters. They are convinced that the prosper-ity message is centered on material-ism and that having an abundance of things is ungodly.
However, I am convinced that us-
ing financial resources to get people born again and nurtured into spiritual adulthood is the bottom line.
Let’s look at this word materialism. Materialism is “an attempt to solve spiritual problems with material re-sources.” Stockpiling money and oth-er resources is not a cure-all.
If you become materialistic, then you’re in danger of developing what the Bible calls “a love of money,” which is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). A love of money involves hav-ing a wrong relationship with money, thinking that it is a cure-all when in fact it isn’t.
Having an excess of things is not a bad thing; it is God’s will for the Body of Christ to be a blessing to others (Gen. 12:2-3). Second Corinthians 9:8 in the New American Standard Bible says, “...God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have abun-dance for every good deed.”
Imagine having more than enough money, cars, houses and clothes to do good deeds for others. Having an abundance of resources puts you in position to help others. Faith, love and fellowship with the Father are keys to increasing your spiritual growth.
God wants you to exercise your faith to receive everything He has for you so that you can impact the lives of others. To reject your right to prosper financially is to be incomplete and un-equipped to evangelize the world.
As members of the Body of Christ, each of us has a responsibility to love people as God does. The greatest evidence of your love is seen when you move beyond your comfort zone and show others a tangible expres-sion of that love.
My assignment from God is to teach you that you have a right to prosper. To not carry out this respon-sibility would leave you powerless against the satanic forces of debt, lack and insufficiency. When these forces are evident, being a blessing to others becomes impossible.
You have been given a mission and must be wealthy and willing to ac-complish God’s will in order to effec-tively carry out that mission. Are you up to the task?
"
The greatestevidence of your love is seen when you move beyond your comfort zone and show others a tangible expression of that love.
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Music News--www.tvulive.comA lot of new material has been posted online recently that is worth your atten-tion. This Beautiful Republic has posted a song called No Turning Back on their MySpace page. This is the first song
from their new album Perception.
Also, Ivoryline recently posted their brand new video on their purevolume page for their song Hearts and Minds.
Page 11FREEDOM
GenerationExtreme
youth group
Good Advice Answers by Jim Burns
A PLACE TO BELONG
A PLACE TO BE REAL A PLACE TO BE FREE
WE MEET EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT 7:00PM at
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Cliques at Church
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Q. My youth group, like my high school, has a “cool crowd.” While I’m used to cliques at school, it doesn’t seem right at youth group. What can I do?
A. It’s not unusual for students to hang around students who have interests or backgrounds similar to their own. It becomes a problem, though, when a group makes others feel unwelcome or unaccepted because they aren’t a part of a particular “in group.” It sounds like this might be happening at your church. It’s very unfortunate and destructive if this group has be-come an exclusive clique.
I want to tell you a story about two people from very different friendship groups that were in my youth group. Esther was a brainiac. Jody was a popular cheerleader who hung out in the cool clique. Both were really great young women but they hardly knew each other existed. Esther wasn’t welcome into Jody’s circle.
During a mission trip to Mexico, Es-ther and Jody were in the same min-istry group. They were responsible for sharing Bible stories, making crafts and playing games with the children. A funny thing happened: They be-came tight friends. They fought so-cial pressure in order to care for one another.
That’s how I think the church should be. The great thing about our faith is that Jesus looks past whether you are cool or uncool, rich or poor, cute or not so cute. Instead, he chooses to look at the heart.
I find that dealing with cliques in church or anywhere else starts with the individual. Since you notice this problem, pray about it and then do what you can to put yourself in situa-tions to get to know as many people in your youth group as possible—in-cluding the so-called “cool crowd.” Also, talk to your youth pastor about ways you could split up into small groups and teams that would put people together who normally don’t hang out. Find ways to serve togeth-er, minister together, pray together, and share life together. When this happens, the cliques fade away.
This article first appeared in June/July 2008, Vol. 67, No. 3, Page 18 issue of Ignite Your Faith. Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188.
Q. My church recently split in a big fight between members. Now, I have really lost my faith in church-es. What did God have in mind when he created the church? How can I believe in churches again?
A. I know how you feel. I attended a church that went through a very un-pleasant split, too. What helped me in that mess was be-ing reminded that the church is the
body of Christ, but it is made up of sinful people just like you and me. As much as we wish the church was per-fect, everything this side of heaven is flawed.
However, it is still important for us to participate in church because the Bible reveals to us that the church lit-erally represents the body of Christ. Paul wrote in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV). The Bible also says that within the body of Christ we all have been given special spiritual gifts. When we are using our gifts properly, the body of Christ thrives. The church needs us, and we need the church.
Sometimes, we Christians let our egos and sinful natures take over and the church has problems. I believe our job is not to complain and leave the church, but make it better. When your actual body has a disease, the rest of the body goes to work to heal itself. That’s what we need to do.
After Paul talks about living as a body, he says: “And now I will show you the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31, NIV). And you know what he means as the most excellent way? Love. We will be hurt by problems in the church because humans are flawed and sinful. But nevertheless, the church is the body of Christ and our job is to love one another and love the church just as Jesus does. In that way, we can make it more of what he always had in mind.
This article first appeared in November/December 2005, Vol. 64, No. 4, Page 12 issue of Ignite Your Faith. Used by per-mission of Christianity Today Internation-al, Carol Stream, IL 60188.
I Lost Faith in Church
Jim is an author, longtime youth worker and founder of HomeWord, a group seeking to honor God through strong families.
Dalton, an expert in religious land use issues, represented the church in cooperation with the Alliance De-fense Fund. He says the lawsuit drew an unusual response from the City of Muskegon. “Once the city at-torney’s office looked at it, they said, ‘Boy, we’ve got a problem here,’ and called and asked if we’d be willing to talk about resolving the case early -- which we did,” he says. “And we’re very thankful and grateful that they did that.”
Dalton says most governmental en-tities will fight similar lawsuits, even in the face of statutes like RLUIPA that specifically prohibit their actions and overwhelming case law in favor of churches.
“Cases involving religious land use don’t typically resolve this quickly,” says the attorney. “In fact most of them that I’ve been involved with take ... between two and five years to resolve. [But] this one, the city was very forward-thinking and stepped up to the plate and said, ‘Okay, we’ve got a problem’ -- then they fixed it.”
The city agreed to permit the church’s use of the facility and paid its attorney fees and other costs and damages only ten weeks after the suit was filed.
FREEDOMNational defense expert
and senior Army strat-egist Robert Maginnis
says there’s clearly a difference in approaches when it comes to how the two presidential candi-dates want to deal with the Iranian threat.
When Iran recently test-fired some missiles to demonstrate its nuclear capability to the world, Democratic presidential c a n d i d a t e Barack Obama said the tests highlight the need for direct diplo-macy as well as tough threats of economic sanctions and strong incentives to persuade Tehran to change its behavior. Lt. Colonel Robert Maginnis (USA-Ret.) does not believe Obama’s idea of diplomacy will work. “The idea that we can talk our way out of Iran trying to follow through on
what it has promised, I think is naïve,” Maginnis contends.
On the other hand, Republican presidential candidate John Mc-Cain said the tests demonstrate a need for an effective missile
defense, in-cluding mis-sile defense in Europe that the U.S. is planning in the Czech Re-public and Po-land. Magin-nis concurs. “I do believe we need to have a
robust ballistic missile defense capability such as the Bush administration has pushed for [and] that Mr. McCain has supported,” he adds. But Maginnis says, at the same time, the U.S. must let Iran know that it will take military action if there is evidence that Iran is pro-ceeding with its nuclear weapons program.
McCAIN AND OBAMA: POLAR OPPOSTES Chad Groening - OneNewsNow
Christian attorneys are prais-ing the City of Muskegon, Michigan, for settling a law-
suit over a zoning dispute with a local church, thereby avoiding a protracted court battle.
The growth of Celebra-tion Commu-nity Church necessitat-ed the min-istry find-ing a new location. A former car dealership that had been closed for years s e e m e d
perfect, but the Muskegon city plan-ning commission denied the church’s application to use the building as its worship center. Daniel Dalton, an at-torney involved in the matter, says the commission’s primary concern was the potential loss of property tax revenue.
“We had explained to them before the planning commission that the issue with the tax base was unconstitution-al and ... violated the Religious Land Use Act, also known as RLUIPA,” he explains.
RAPID RESPONSE IN CHURCH LEGAL MATTER LIZ SIDOTI - 6/17/2008
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DIAGNOSTICSROAD SERVICE& TOWING
Dutch TraditionsHandcrafted
FurnitureM - F
9am- 5pm709 Main Street
Osage IA641-732-3472
BAKED GOODS • JAM & JELLIES • CANDLES • COFFEES
SPRI
NKLE
S • D
RIED
FRU
IT •
JAVA
HOT & COLD BREAKFAST CEREALS
WelcomeOsage Shoppers
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Osage Phone641-732-6315
STOP IN FOR HOTCINNAMON / CARAMEL ROLLSAND FRESH GROUND COFFEE!
NOODLES • FRUIT • CEREAL • CHEESE
WILSONLIMOUSINEProviding CompleteTransportation Services for many events &Special Occasions.
