Tim Tebow Talks about His Faith

Nobody knows when the NFL season will start, but that isn't stopping Tim Tebow from building his brand during the lockout. The Denver Broncos' second-year quarterback recently released his memoir, Through My Eyes (HarperCollins), which replays the stories behind his mother's difficult pregnancy with him, the Heisman trophy win, and the first-round NFL selection. During his college football years, Tebow became noticed among Christians for more than his athletic ability after he put Bible verses on his eye black. CT recently spoke with Tebow about why he remains vocal about his faith, fallen Christian athletes, and the absence of his biblical eye black.

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Baptist Camp Lebanon 2011

Summer Fun for Kids at Baptist Camp Lebanon NJ.

Mega-Church Pastors, A Brood of Vipers

If you want to read something that will turn your stomach, take a look at this article in Forbes Magazine. It’s about the five richest Mega-Church ministers in Nigeria. These guys are financially raping their poor parishioners and flying around the world in private jets. It is absolutely disgraceful. These words that Jesus said two thousand years ago are just as applicable today; “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matt 23:25-26).

Rich Nigerian ministers are not the only ones who are greedy and self-indulgent. Many Mega-Church pastors in the USA are living lavish lifestyles on the backs of their parishioners and ignoring basic codes of conduct and ethics. The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) is an accreditation group that sets standards for responsible nonprofit organization stewardship; board governance, financial transparency, integrity in fundraising, and proper use of charity resources. Thank the Lord many large churches belong to this organization and follow its mandates. However, you might or might not be surprised to find out who isn’t.

Transparent finances are a must for any non-profit organization. At the bare minimum, all of the church’s financial records should be available to the membership. Apparently not for the following fabulously successful missions (link); Creflo Dollar Ministries; New Birth Missionary Baptist Church (Eddie Long), Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Without Walls International Church (Randy and Paula White). Not only can’t a parishioner and/or contributor get financial records from these organizations but the Senate Finance Committee was blown off as well. They’re not the only ones of course, they are just the most noticeable. As their ministers fly around the world in private jets, drive amazing cars and live in fabulous mansions, is it any surprise that they don’t want their people to know their compensation packages?

Ministers should not ask for donations to pay their salaries, and sell books to their contributors at the same time. This is in the covenant of standards that I signed when I because a minister. It is not ethical to make money off of the people who pay my salary. Take a look at Creflo Dollar’s bookstore website. While selling lot’s of books, there is also a request for donations. Now if either the book sales or the donations are going to a specific cause, then that is not an ethical violation. However, since the website doesn’t say where the money is going, and we don’t know the finances of this ministry, it is possible that a lot of the money is going into the man’s pockets. Big church or little, if a pastor is selling something to his/her parishioners and pocketing the money, then he/she is a total sleaze.

Many of these ministries do not release the names of the governing boards. Many of them have their employee’s sign confidentiality agreements. The Senate Finance Committee found instances of fear and intimidation when requesting information from the ministries. All of these issues raise a red flag for these churches. But the law gives non-profits a great amount of latitude. None of these ministries have broken the law, unless congress changes it.

However, you can do something about it. You can demand fiscal and ethical accountability at your church. You can demand transparency of spending and decision making. You can demand that your church acts within the guidelines of the ECFA. And if the leadership tells you to get lost, you should leave and go to a church that is run by basic ethical standards. Don’t get ripped off by wealthy ‘teachers of the law’ who are just a bunch of hypocrites.

Peace,

Pastor Bill Whitehead

Pray for Victims of Fire in Arizona

(From The New York Times)

Even as an evacuation order prompted thousands of people to begin flowing out of this eastern Arizona town on Tuesday afternoon, a hardy few were hunkering down as the Wallow Fire — now, at nearly 311,000 acres, the second-largest in Arizona’s history — surged toward them.

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Muslim Missionary Wins Court Case

Pastor George Saieg won a court case that allows him and his supporters to hand out Christian tracts at an Arab American Festival in Dearborn, Michigan. I like this story because our church has been handing out Bibles at festivals in Rahway for eight years. We have been allowed to do this, but we have not always been treated well. People look upon us with great suspicion. I get the feeling they think we’re cultists. So I can relate to Pastor Saieg and the bad feelings he is up against when he tries to reach out to Muslims.

Below is a excerpt from an article on the subject, as well as a link to Pastor Saieg’s website. Peace my friends.

(Press & Guide Newspapers)
Dearborn’s restrictions on leafleting at the Arab International Festival are unconstitutional and the city could have to pay damages for it, a group of federal judges ruled Thursday.

In a split decision, a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the city infringed on Christian Pastor George Saieg’s free-speech rights by instituting in 2009 a policy prohibiting pamphleteering during the three-day June street festival.

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Ministry to Muslims Network

The Rise of Christianity in Iran

(from Christianity Today)

A major spike in the harassment and arrest of Iranian Christians in recent months is revealing just how nervous the Islamic republic is about the prodigious success of house churches, say Iranian Christian leaders.

The government is concerned, observers say, because more and more Iranian Muslims are converting to Christianity. The house church movement is booming, with converts estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Evangelists are distributing large numbers of New Testaments, and satellite television continually beams Christian programs into the country.

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Personal Ministry Versus Crystal Cathedral and Sarah Palin

The Crystal Cathedral in California, the first so-called Mega-Church, is in bankruptcy court. Too much mega-debt and not enough mega-giving. As they haggle with their creditors, Sarah Palin is traveling the northeast visiting sites associated with the founding of our country. She was at the Liberty Bell the other day, an object that is a total fraud, but makes for a nice photo-op. I’m going to use these two examples as a way to contrast what many of us think ministry is, with what ministry actually is.

The Crystal Cathedral offers so much more than our little First Baptist does. They have programs and services for everyone. They take polls and surveys and find out the needs of their constituents and address those needs with the best that money can buy. If they find out a large number of their people want special worship services for their pet Chihuahua’s, then by golly on Tuesday evenings, there will be a special worship service focused on cute little short haired dogs. However, if the people in the pews need personal ministry, that is more difficult. The professional staff is few in number, and the membership is large. The ministers can only provide personal ministry to a small percentage of the church. Volunteer ministers are called upon to reach out to the rest of the folk through small group missions. The system does work, but a lot of people just show up on Sunday and sit in the pews, and a chance to minister and be ministered to passes them by.

Famous people, like Sarah Palin, are even more distant. At the very least, a person who makes an effort can speak personally with the Senior Pastor, or one of the staff. The closest any of us can get to someone famous is a handshake on a receiving line, or ‘personal’ messages on Twitter. The cult of celebrity is creating the illusion of personal contact, without all of the messy bother of actual personal contact. Without saying whether I like her or not, I can say that she is great at establishing a bond with people without meeting them. This is not ministry, of course. But for many, like those who follow the infamous Harold Camping, the illusion of personal ministry is powerful.

But mega-celebrity is just a mega-sham. Ministry is personal. In the story of the Woman with Uncontrollable Bleeding (Luke 8:40-56), Jesus stopped his mission of mercy to a sick girl and asked the famous question – who touched me? A woman, who was healed by just touching his cloak, was sinking back into the crowd without further contact with him. Jesus insisted on speaking with her. He wanted to look her in the eye and minister to her personally. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ ministry is personal. He makes lots of speeches, but his most powerful ministry is doing good as he passed by.
Jesus’ handling of crowds is a different matter. The story of the miracle of the loaves and fish in the sixth chapter of John has Jesus walking away from a crowd of 5,000. He retreats to the other side of the lake for some quiet time. Some of the crowd follows him and what does he do? He scolds them by saying they are motivated by the desire for more food! Can you imagine a celebrity like Sarah Palin scolding her audience? It won’t happen, because today, numbers are everything. To Jesus, individuals mattered, numbers didn’t.

I was friends with a man for a brief time who was a big fan of a radio preacher. He thought the world of this man on the airwaves, even though he only met him once. He didn’t think so highly of me or my church family, and said so on numerous occasions. I tried my best to minister to him, but he cursed me out and disappeared. I hope he finds what he is looking for, but he was looking in the wrong place. He was looking for personal ministry, without the bother of getting along with people. Celebrities and Mega-Churches offer a lot. But ministry will always be one on one.

God bless you,

Pastor Bill

Pray for Kids for Christ

Pray for our Kids for Christ program this Saturday. It is a friendly and fun competition encouraging our children to memorize Bible verses, sing, dance and praise the Lord. We have over 100 children signed up and traveling from all over to this event. Pray for their safety and pray for a blessed event.

Satellite Ministry to the Arab World

For nearly 15 years SAT-7 has been working to illuminate countries in the Middle East and North Africa with God’s love.

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A Bank that Helps the Poor

Opportunity International, a non-profit, Christian Bank focused on helping people rise above poverty.
Microfinance is the provision of financial services such as loans, savings, insurance, and training to people living in poverty. It is one of the great success stories in the developing world in the last 30 years and is widely recognized as a just and sustainable solution in alleviating global poverty.

The industry began by providing small loans to emerging entrepreneurs to start or expand businesses. Opportunity International was one of the first nonprofit organizations to recognize the benefits of providing capital to people struggling to work their way out of poverty. Over the years, with Opportunity leading the way, the microfinance sector has expanded its financial service offerings to better meet client needs. Along with providing more flexible loan products and business and personal development training, Opportunity offers savings and insurance to help clients effectively navigate the daily hardships they face. Without these services, clients are continually at risk of slipping back into poverty because of unforeseen circumstances.

Microfinance organizations make it a priority to serve the particular needs of women, since a staggering 70 percent of all those living in extreme poverty are female. Women are often excluded from education, the workplace, owning property and equal participation in politics. They produce one half of the world’s food, but own just one percent of its farmland. Nearly 85 percent of Opportunity’s loan clients are women. While Opportunity gladly extends loans to men, the organization believes the greatest opportunity for interrupting cycles of extreme poverty come from microfinance programs that target female entrepreneurs. When women improve their circumstances, they also improve the lives of their children. By investing in nutrition and education, they help to create a better future for their children and their communities.

Despite the success of life-transforming microfinance services, the World Bank says that the industry is not close to meeting the demand. Five hundred million people living in poverty could benefit from a small business loan and only one-third of the world’s population has access to any kind of bank account. The lack of access is particularly severe in sub-Saharan Africa where the World Bank estimates that microfinance is reaching only a small percentage of the economically active population. In sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest countries, less than 10 percent of the population has an account with a financial institution. In response, Opportunity has committed to building scalable, sustainable and accessible banks throughout the developing world to provide loans, training, savings and insurance products tailored to the specific needs of each region.

As the microfinance industry continues to mature, there is a danger that it will drift toward a more secure client base. It is critical that microfinance organizations continue to focus on those with the greatest needs–those who have been displaced, those in rural areas, those who traditional institutions consider unbankable–the most marginalized people. Maintaining that focus, microfinance can help create a world in which the underserved have fair access to economic opportunities and the hope to move beyond poverty.

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Church in China Refuses to Give Up

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The faithful of the Protestant Shouwang Church yesterday gathered to pray in the streets of the Zhongguancun shopping area of Beijing, and the police arrested them. For the seventh consecutive Sunday.

Among those arrested are a woman over 80 years and a 2 year old, according to eyewitnesses. These two were released in the afternoon, but many others faithful remain in prison.

In recent weeks, police have arrested hundreds of faithful, the first Sunday April 10 a total of 169, and 50 over the second, and then every Sunday. Typically, they are placed under house arrest for the weekend to prevent them from meeting to pray. Six leaders of the Church have also been under house arrest, for over a month and a half.

From April 10 the faithful have been gathering in the streets Sunday after the authorities evicted them from their rented premises. The Church has sought approval for years, and in 2009 bought a building of 1,500 square meters for its activities, but the authorities prevented them from ever using it. In recent years the police have repeatedly driven the Church from premises for rent and each time the faithful have prayed outside until they found another place.

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Samaritan’s Purse Helps Tornado Victims

Samaritan's Purse Disaster Relief teams are working in Joplin, Missouri to provide emergency relief to survivors of the devastating tornado that ripped through the area on Sunday, killing at least 125 people.
Our staff arrived on Monday to assess the damage. One of our Disaster Relief Units helping with our response in Alabama wrapped up its work in Birmingham Sunday, and moved to Missouri, setting up our base at the Joplin campus of Forest Park Baptist Church.

The first volunteer team was sent out Wednesday morning to work in some of the hardest hit areas of the city. Samaritan’s Purse is asking for volunteers to help with this response. Volunteers will remove fallen trees and debris, make emergency repairs on storm-damaged homes, and help storm victims salvage valuable possessions.

“We want to come alongside these homeowners who have lost so much and help them through this difficult time," said Luther Harrison, Director of North American projects for Samaritan’s Purse.

The twister that ripped through a densely populated part of Joplin is the deadliest single tornado in the United States since record keeping began more than 60 years ago. It destroyed or damaged as many as a quarter of the buildings in the southwest Missouri city of about 50,000. Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.

City Manager Mark said the tornado cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town. It hit a hospital packed with patients and a commercial area, numerous smaller businesses and restaurants, and a grocery store. Jasper County emergency management director Keith Stammer said an estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged.

Samaritan’s Purse has responded to two other major storms within the past month. We sent three Disaster Relief Units when a series of violent tornadoes ripped across the heart of North Carolina in April. Two units were dispatched to Alabama when devastating twister hit Alabama in late April, and we are continuing to work in the Tuscaloosa area.

“This is the worst storm season I have seen in my lifetime,” said Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan’s Purse. “These survivors need to know that God loves them, and we’re grateful that He has given us what we need to respond to these disasters within hours.”

If you wish to help by volunteering or donating money, Click Here…

One Million Missing Girls in India

 


(From The Media Project, an article about the abortion of female babies in India)

WITH ONLY 914 FEMALES PER 1,000 MALES, according to a recent report, India has recorded the lowest child sex ratio since the country’s independence in 1947.

Worse yet, the skewed ratio is being linked to illegal abortion of female fetuses, prevalent among educated and urban Indians.

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Pray for India!

Reaching Out to the Doomsday Cult

From IBTimes.com

(From IBTimes San Francisco)

Members of churches near Oakland, Calif. based Family Radio, are pouring out in droves, offering comfort and spiritual support to the dejected followers of false Doomsday prophet Harold Camping, who has predicted that the World will end on May 21, 2011.

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Flooding Drowns Homes and Churches

(from Urban Christian News)

Redwood United Methodist Church Pastor Barbara Hite on Sunday urged her congregation to hold tight to their faith as floodwaters crept near the tiny, white church at the end of a winding road.

Members -- many of them from the Eagle Lake retirement community evacuated more than a week ago -- shared their stories during Sunday School. Some are living with relatives; others in hotels. The church's parsonage is a temporary home for six church members who had been searching for higher ground.

"It's not really home," said 16-year-old Anthony Genereaux, who's living at the parsonage a mile up the road. "But I feel connected to God."

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Rapture - The Correct Interpretation

Since today is the day the Rapture is supposed to arrive, I felt the need to help you all understand the correct way to interpret the passage that has caused so much trouble over the years.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Paul is writing to his friends in the city of Thessalonica, located in present day Greece. He starts the passage talking about friends and family who have died; those who sleep in death. Someone must have mentioned to him that they were concerned about their loved ones who had passed away. What kind of concerns? And so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. They are worried that their deceased loved ones will miss out when Jesus returns to the earth in glory. Paul has been preaching that the day of Jesus’ returning will happen soon (2 Timothy 4:8), and he has been preaching that when Jesus returns we will receive new bodies (Romans 8:23). What about our loved ones who have passed away before the blessed event?

Paul says, don’t worry all will be well. He says that when Jesus returns; the dead in Christ will rise first. In other words, our loved ones who had faith in Jesus will rise from the dust of the earth with new bodies. Then we will meet them in the sky; we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And then we will be with Jesus and our loved ones forever.

Where people go wrong with the interpretation of this passage is they assume Paul is making a prophecy. If he was he would say so. Instead he is encouraging his people to have faith that they will see their loved ones again, therefore encourage one another with these words. Think of this passage as a funeral message. Paul is preaching encouraging words to people who are deeply upset that their loved ones won’t be around when Jesus returns in his glory. Paul is saying to them, don’t worry God will make everything well.

Understanding the context of a passage is crucial to discerning the meaning. A careful reading of this text shows that Paul is writing supportive and uplifting words to people who have expressed a concern to him. He is not writing about an event that will happen 2,000 years into the future. If he was, he would have said so.

Peace,

Pastor Bill Whitehead

The End of the World

Don't worry about the End of the World this weekend. God has plans for you.

Life As A Minion

I know someone who is on the Family Radio End of the World Caravan. Right now, there is a group of people traveling the country and handing out tracts that tell all of us to repent because the end of the world is happening on Saturday, May 21st at 6PM local time. Yes my friends, the end is going to happen by time zone, so if you want to exist a few hours longer, get on a plane to Hawaii right now. This acquaintance of mine is not a deep thinker, and so he has fallen for the end of the world sales pitch hook, line and sinker. If it doesn’t happen I hope he’s not too disappointed. I know that if I’m still breathing after 6PM this Saturday, I won’t be too upset. But it did get me thinking about being one of the minions of a famous person. Just what is it like and why do we do it?

I have been a devoted follower at various times in my life. Every time the Billy Graham Crusade has come to my area, I have volunteered and worked faithfully to save as many lost souls as possible. I am also proud to say that I am a minion of Jesus Christ and will be forever, regardless of whether the world ends this week or not.

There is a lot of personal satisfaction being a minion, joining a crusade that is bigger than you. There is camaraderie, friendship and shared sacrifice that provides for a lot of emotional uplift. But there is a downside to it as well. Devoted followers by definition do not make personal decisions. They do what the leader tells them to do. The Billy Graham Crusade trains its counselors and gives us a book that brings consistency to the message we deliver to people who come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This approach makes sure we stick to correct Christian doctrine when counseling someone. It also takes away any unique approach we may have developed in delivering our message of salvation. Minions need to follow the rules, but minions may lose themselves along the way.

Jesus said; “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Therefore we believers are devoted followers of God’s laws. However, Jesus also said this; “You are the salt of the earth…”, “You are the light of the world…”. In other words, we are important. We are made in God’s image, so we are unique personalities and our uniqueness is an important part of God’s work in the world. We are commanded to do God’s will, but in our own individual ways. Otherwise God would have made us all robots, and we would be unquestioning minions marching to the eternal drums of heaven. Instead, we are to be devoted followers, making decisions to use the gifts God has given us to the best of our abilities. Being a minion can be fun, but being an individual is why God made us in the first place.

I wonder what will happen if 6PM Saturday comes and goes without incident. I suppose some of the minions of Family Radio will wander away, searching for some other event to add meaning to their lives. Others will stay loyal and rationalize the whole episode away. I do know this; I will continue to be a faithful follower of my Heavenly Father. And I will continue to listen to His voice speaking to me through his Holy Spirit. However, I already know what the message will be; Do Your Best with the Tools I have Given to You and Know that I will Always be With You.

Now that’s a bandwagon I can get on board with.

God Bless You,

Pastor Bill

Trinity House at Rutgers University

Today my son Edward graduates from Rutgers University. In honor of that here is a look at the campus ministry at RU.

At Trinity House, you'll find a wide open space for conversation
about Christian faith and the doubts that come along with learning and changing.
We seek always to grow into greater love, deeper faith, wider grace together.

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The Woman Who Wasn’t There

I like to hike and backpack into the wilderness. I especially like to go places where I know that there will be no people around. Disappear for a while if you will. I find it to be a peaceful experience. No people, no worries, no problems. But I also like to return to my family and friends. I don’t like to disappear for too long.

I like to be anonymous when I go places like the mall. I don’t like to be stopped by people and asked questions. Just get in, do my shopping and get out. However, I do make eye contact with people and nod or smile. I believe that it is important to acknowledge people. It’s like saying, hi, I don’t know you but I know you are there. Being alone and anonymous can be a good thing, but it can be too much of a good thing. Most people need to receive some kind of acknowledgement by others.

Some people like to be invisible all of the time. They are around but don’t want to be noticed. There are people in churches who are like that. They come for the service, then bolt out the door at the end and avoid talking to anybody. Since I like to be invisible sometimes I can understand why they do this. But I think that even people who like to be invisible really want to be noticed every so often. They just don’t know how to go about achieving it.

Take for example the story of the woman who was healed when she touched Jesus’ robe – found in Luke 8: 43 – 48. This poor woman was an outcast because of her condition. The law was very clear that she was ‘unclean’ because of her bleeding and therefore to be avoided. I picture her moving through the crowd hoping that no one would recognize her. She also probably wanted to avoid talking with Jesus for fear of being rejected by him. She wanted to be invisible, but she also wanted to be healed. She sneaks up to him and touches his robe. She is miraculously healed right then and there. Then, quietly, she tries to fade back into the crowd. But Jesus doesn’t let her. He calls out to everyone, “who touched me”. He doesn’t want her to be invisible. He wants to speak with her, to look her in the eye, to acknowledge her. And when he does this she walks away whole again.

I believe this story speaks to us of how important we are in God’s eyes. God loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to be invisible. Each and every one of us is important to Him. Some of us feel God’s love strongly, but others are not so sure. Some of us like to be noticed, and others like to be invisible. But in God’s eyes we are all equally important. And even though we feel like escaping once in a while from the world, we can never run from His loving presence.

God bless you,

Pastor Bill