"I pledge allegiance..."

Just in case you missed it:

NYDaily News:

"The Pledge of Allegiance includes the phrase "one nation under God" -- except when it's part of NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open Championship. 

Someone in the editing room, trimmed two references to the line during an opening piece that aired Sunday on patriotism. It showed children in a classroom reciting the Pledge of Allegiance."

Yes, that's right, NBC did a patriotic piece about the Congressional Golf Course where this years U.S. Open was played.  NBC hoped to show all the great dignitaries and such who have been members or played at the course over the years.  It was actually a great idea and a nice piece of entertainment.  As they showed the video you can hear children reciting the pledge of allegiance.  As they recite you hear the entire pledge with the omission of "Under God"...and they did it, not once, but twice.  Later NBC apologized for the "omission" saying it was a simple mistake.  Treating it like it was not a big deal because it was a simple error, nothing personal or intentional.
I can see that it could happen...once.  But here it happened twice.  The recitation of the pledge can be heard twice and both times it omits "under God".  
I want to give my opinion on this and this is my blog so I can do what I want...
I DO think it was intentional.  There is a false interpretation of our constitution which states that separation of church and state means that nothing religious can ever be stated, displayed, or mentioned in a public forum, building, or function.  Absolutely not the correct interpretation but it seems to be blindly believed by many in this country.  I think (my opinion here) that they don't like God, or the thought of God or the image of God.  The reason is simple.  God is in control, we are not.  We don't like that too much, but it is true.  Man has always battled God for control.  This is nothing new under the Sun.  My fear though is that we have not learned from history.
Now if I may, let me talk to you Christ-followers out there.  NOTHING is happening here on this earth, in this country, that God does not allow to happen.  God knows that the United States of America is trying to kick Him out of this country.  God knows that our culture is becoming more and more centered on man and not Him.  He knows and He has seen it before.  He has seen it in Ancient Babylon, Greece, Rome, Medo-Persia, Assyria, and many other empires that all forgot God, and have been ruined and forgotten.  I wonder if we will ever learn a lesson from past history, from experienced adversity, from former judgments on the nations, that we must NEVER forget God?

Macaulay, the English historian, wrote one hundred years ago, about America, "She will be pillaged and looted in the twentieth century by vandals, and forces within her will cause her destruction."  Hmmm, sound familiar?  Listen, I am not some conspiracy theorist.  I don't have a militia agenda.  I simply want to turn back to God.  We have been trying it our way for about 60 years now...so my question is simple:  "How's that working for us?"  

We spend more on education now than ever before in the history of mankind, yet we see the results get lower and lower.  Is it because of bad teachers?  No.  I think it is because of the bad agenda of our education system.  We have been trying to kick God out of our country for 6 decades now.  We started with the schools.  God cannot honor anything that does not honor Him.  Let's try education with God instead of against God. 

I love the freedom we have in America.  Freedom to state our beliefs, to stand up for our convictions and to hear others.  Unfortunately we have become such an arrogant nation that we actually believe that we are free because of our strength and our might and our intelligence.  I tell you we are free because of God and His gift of freedom.  We remain free because God has called us to protect that fragile freedom with our strength, might and intelligence. 

Let's keep God not just in our pledge, but much more importantly in our Country. Churches and Christ-followers alike need to pray and fast for this country.  I heard that Rick Perry, the governor of Texas has invited all Pastors to go to Houston in August to pray and fast for our country.  I am going to try to go.  But if I can't go, I am still going to fast and pray here in Fernley.  LISTEN CHURCH: RISE UP AND PRAY DON'T RISE UP AND COMPLAIN.  NBC is not God's representation...YOU ARE!  I am...His church! It matters not what NBC does.  I think we need to ask, What are we doing?  Let's begin some regulars times for fasting and prayer.    Let me recall for you a great quote: "America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."–Alexis de Tocqueville

Take care,

Rod  

Thanks to a Father and Son

I just wanted to first of all say thanks to my Dad.  I love my dad, he is one of my role models.  I admire him and am thankful that I have him as my father.  He's not a perfect man but he is a righteous man.  I love him and hope that someday I can measure up to him.  I am blessed to have a dad who had loved my mom for over 56 years and loved the Lord even longer.  He won't be reading this I know.  Computers and my dad don't get along too well.  But I will write it anyway.  Happy Father's Day Dad.  I love you.
Second let me say thanks to my Son, Brad.  Or should I say B-Rad...
I am proud to be the father of a 26 year old son.  If I could describe Brad to you I would describe him as a fighter and a friend.  He has had to fight and be an overcomer after surviving two medical trauma's in his life.  He has had to learn to read, write, walk, talk and all the basic stuff we learn as a toddler, not once, not twice, but THREE times in his life.  And he has.  I am proud of his ability to fight back when he gets knocked down.  (He gets that from his mom).
He is also quick to be a friend to people.  He wants to help people, encourage people and he has a great desire to build friendships.  He's never too busy to help a friend.  He wants to always be available to anyone who might need him.  Also, I feel like maybe...he and I are becoming better friends...I love that.
So to Dad and Brad...I love you both and I am proud of both of you.  I hope can make you proud too!
Take care,
Rod

How do you get ready to meet God on Sundays?

Just a little thought here. Are you ready to meet God on Sunday mornings at church? I mean, if the worship is doing the job, you will be ushered into the presence of God. If the pastor is doing his job, you will hear the voice and the will of God. If the Holy Spirit is doing His job (of all three components, this is the one that I am fully confident IS doing His job), then you will experience an attempt to get your attention to change, grow, continue, persevere, or whatever, but you can be confident God wants to interact with YOU.

So, are you ready? Do you prepare your heart BEFORE you show up at church? I used to have staff that would show up 15 minutes before church services would start. I challenged them to come and prepare for the people long before the people show up. Why? Because if I am not prepared to meet God today then how can I lead others to meet the Lord?

I like to get up real early on Sundays and go into the office and put the finishing touches on my message and read over it a few times to make sure I know it. Then, I spend at least an hour in worship. Just me and God with some help from my ITunes and various christian artists. I do this to prepare my heart to meet the Lord at Journey. I want to be prepared for the Lord to work in my life and in YOUR life. Why? Because I believe HE WILL! Do You? If you do, then get ready, prepare your heart and mind BEFORE you get to your church each and every Sunday. You are about to meet the KING OF KINGS!!

Take care,

Rod

Never mastered...

One of the reasons I love golf so much is simply because golf is a game that you can never master. There is always room for improvement. Even though I have a single digit handicap, I could never play on the PGA tour and I am not even the best golfer at the Fernley Golf Club. I am not even in the top 10! Golf really never lets you have an ego. I like that it takes work every time your out on the course.

Golf is a lot like the body of Christ, the church. I have never met anyone who has mastered the Christian life. I have met some who thought they had, but none has I am sure. We all strive to rid our life of bitterness, lack of forgiveness, hatred, dishonesty, greed, lust, and many other struggles. We try hard, but we never fully master them. We also try to think, act, and live "spiritually" (whatever that might mean). We try, but we never master it.

I don't have a problem with the fact that we never master the Christ-following life. But I got to be honest, I do have a problem with us allowing the things we struggle with to master us. I am always amazed to see people who have been following Christ for years to allow anger or bitterness or lack of forgiveness to be their master. I have seen good, Christ-following people ruin their own testimony by their inability to forgive the people of their past. If their is one thing that we can be thankful for and should try to emulate, it is the forgiveness we have received. Our forgiveness of others should be quick and complete, like that of Christ's.

I have seen people who understand scripture and can teach others, who love their families and love the church, but still struggle with faithful and generous giving. We have learned to rationalize it, but I believe that we can be selfish when it comes to the giving of our finances. Picture this: If Jesus were physically at your church services on Sunday and He passed the offering plate down each aisle, or stood beside the box in the back, would your standard of giving change?

No we will never master this Christ-following life. But what we must pursue with all our strength is that those things we struggle with in the flesh, let's not let them master us.

Matthew 6:24"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.

Take care,

Rod