/Thought for today - 07/31/2012

The will of God will never take you to where the grace of God will not cover you.

School Wants to Oust Church Over Anti-Gay Sermons

School Wants to Oust Church Over Anti-Gay Sermonss

Jul 24, 2012

By Todd Starnes

The head of Miami-Dade County Public Schools wants to evict a Southern Baptist church that rents space in one of their buildings because of the congregation’s opposition to homosexuality.

Supt. Alberto Carvalho released a statement to a local television station alleging that Impact Miami’s opposition to homosexuality “appears to be contrary to school board policy as well as the basic principles of humanity.”

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“I have asked for immediate legal review to seek the termination of the contract that is involved,” he toldLocal10.com. “I am making this decision not on the basis of policy or politics but as a rejection of prejudice and intolerance.”

Pastor Jack Hakimian preaching at North Miami High School. Photo courtesy of Impact Miami

The controversy surrounds Impact Miami, a new Southern Baptist church that is currently renting space inside North Miami High School for their Sunday worship services.

When President Obama announced that he had evolved on the issue of gay marriage, Pastor Jack Hakimian preached two sermons explaining the biblical position on homosexuality.

One of the sermons was titled, “Gays and Sex Addicts Can Change and Should Change.”Another was titled, “Pedophiles Use the Same Argument as Homosexuals and the Weed Smoking Community.”

“The school board chair, as well as the superintendent, have both reviewed the allegations and found this disturbing and appalling,” school spokesman John Schuster told www.Local10.com.

Pastor Hakimian said he and his congregation have been unfairly labeled as bigots. He said they are facing eviction from their space simply because he preached that homosexuality is a sin.

“It’s about a message that homosexuality is a sin that God wants to redeem as all other sins,” he told Fox News.

The church pays nearly $1,500 a month to rent the high school facility and said “as taxpayers we have the right to assemble in public spaces.”

“I never thought I would be penalized for teaching on Christian marriage and sexual ethics from the Bible – the very bible that presidents swear on,” he said.

Impact Miami is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. SBC President Fred Luter told Fox News that the controversy is a “sign of the times.”

“We’re living in a day and time when people are calling wrong right and they’re calling right wrong,” Luter said. “Any time a man of God stands up for the Words of God, I think we should expect opposition – simply because of the fact that God’s ways are not man’s ways.

The possible eviction has enraged religious liberty groups – several of whom have already volunteered their services to defend the pastor and the church should they be thrown out of their meeting space.

“He has the right to be able to speak on Sunday from the Scriptures and speak about his viewpoint on human sexuality,” said Mat Staver, president of the Liberty Counsel. “This is not someone who is advocating violence or some whacko that is extreme that would be a threat to society. This is a pastor who is speaking on issues from their own moral, political and biblical perspective.”

Staver told Fox News that he’s had a chance to review the pastor’s sermons and noted that the messages were in line with that millions of Americans believe.

“It is not contrary to humanity,” he said, refuting the school superintendent’s allegations. “It is absolutely outrageous that you would have a superintendent who would (think) along these lines.”

Staver called the attack on the Miami church a serious threat.

“It’s serious for all of us,” he said. “If we lose the right to free speech in this area – we lose it in every other area.”

Staver said their organization and other religious liberty groups have feared that homosexual advocates might use anti-bullying laws to go after ministers.

“This is coming right into the very pulpits of churches and pastors will ultimately have their messages censored  and they’ll be discriminated against because of the positions they take on human sexuality – and specifically homosexuality,” Staver said. “This is Exhibit A of that threat.”

Joel Oster, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, told Fox News the U.S. Constitution is clear on matters regarding free speech.

“A school cannot be listening to sermons and then discriminate against the church based on the content of the sermons,” Oster said. “This church does have a constitutional right to use these facilities. Public schools cannot discriminate against religious use of their facilities based upon viewpoints – and that’s exactly what’s going on here.”

Andre Pierre, the mayor of North Miami, told Fox News he had concerns about the school board’s actions – and wondered what kind of an impact it might have on other religious groups renting space.

“You cannot censor his speech,” the mayor said. “The school should stay out of it. Pastor Jack is paying rent. He’s not getting the space for free.”

The mayor said he believes the school board attorney will side with the church.

“I think he’ll come down on the right side – which is – you cannot censor freedom of speech,” Pierre said. “You have to respect the American principles and you have to uphold the Constitution.”

Todd is the author of Dispatches From Bitter America – exposing President Obama’s attacks on religious liberty. Click here to get your copy.

Thought for today - 07/30/2012

ON PRAYER
"Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty reasons why He should grant this, or that; He knows best what is good for us. If your boy should ask you [for] a suit of clothes, and give you reasons, would you endure it? You know his needs better than he: let him ask a suit of clothes."
- John Selden (1584-1654)

What is Path Of Life Ministries?

A good friend posted this a few hours ago. It speaks to the spirit God placed in me in 2007. It answers most of the questions I get in regards to Path of Life Ministries.
Prayerfully read this.

God bless you Chip & Karla Brogden


"So, what is 'The School of Christ'?" she asked.

We were standing in line at the grocery store and I thought, that's a good question. What is The School of Christ? How would I describe it to someone in the "real world" who has never read or listened to any of our teachings?

I'm not usually at a loss for words, but I was unprepared for the question and it took me a second to think it through.

"We work with people who don't go to church - especially those who have been hurt by church - and we help them get re-focused on their relationship with Christ, instead of religion." That was the best I could come up with on short notice, but I thought it was a pretty good synopsis.

She smiled knowingly and nodded her head. "Yes, there are lots of people who don't go to church. And I suppose there are some people who have been hurt by church. That's a really good thing you're doing," she said. 

I waited for the other shoe to drop.

"But..." she wrinkled her forehead a bit as she contemplated the question that had to be asked in situations like this. "But... you DO try to get them to go BACK to church, don't you?"

I like answering a question with a question, so I asked, "Why would we do that?"

The smile on her face drooped a bit and now she was genuinely puzzled. "Well... because the church IS the Body of Christ..." 

The conversation limped along from there. I gave her our website address, she promised to check it out, and we parted ways.

Will she "check us out"? Maybe. Probably not. 

Do I care? Not so much anymore.

Why?

Because we're not called to help people who are still in church. 

If you're happy with your church, happy with Sunday morning religion, happy with lukewarm preaching and Churchianity, happy to have your ears tickled once or twice a week, happy and content where you are, then far be it from me to tell you anything different.

To whom are we sent?

We are sent to help the ones burned out on religion, fed up with Churchianity, despised, rejected, and cut off from the Institutional Church.

We are sent to help those starving, battered and beaten sheep who have been abused by the goats, fleeced by the shepherds, and attacked by the wolves. 

We are sent to help the ones that the local church tries to get rid of - the troublemakers, the ones who ask too many questions, the ones who won't submit to the authority of their spiritually immature pastor.

We are sent to help the ones who have had their eyes opened and have been led by God to "come out of Babylon" while the rest of their friends think they are crazy, rebellious, backslidden and "just hurt."

We are sent to help the ones who have a gift, a calling, a heart, a burden for the Body of Christ - but see no way to pursue that calling because they've been misled into thinking that the only opportunities for serving God are in Church Land.

We are sent to help the 1,000,000+ people every year who stop going to church, and to the untold millions of people who are searching for spiritual truth, and have an inkling that Jesus is that Truth, but have no intention of going to church to look for Him there.

The fields are white and ready to be harvested - and Churchianity has failed them.

During our trip to Costa Rica in 2003, standing amidst the ramshackle huts where the poorest of the poor live as refugees, we saw a big purple monster of a church casting its grim shadow over us as we stood in the filth just across the street from it. 

This "purple church" was supposed to represent royalty, I suppose.

What a picture of the arrogance of Churchianity.

Religion's response to Jesus' prayer for more workers to go into the harvest has been to build churches and expect that the harvest would just pick itself up and walk itself into their nice little buildings without them having to lift a finger.

Well, the harvest didn't harvest itself. So the church buildings supposedly constructed to "reach the Lost" have become country clubs for born-again folk too self-absorbed and detached from the real world to have any meaningful impact - fortresses to shut the world out and keep the saints warm, dry, fed and comfortable.

The only real church growth these days comes from Christians changing churches, and churches trying to be more attractive to other Christians.

Quite frankly, ministries have also had to learn how to be more attractive to other Christians if they want to survive.

I want no part of that. 

I'm tired of trying to be attractive to other Christians. I've never had a sinner ask for, or give two hoots about, my "doctrinal statement."

I'm tired of trying to please church-going folk.

The School of Christ is going to focus on pleasing God and helping people who need help.

We're not starting a new movement. We are continuing in the same spirit of the original movement that Jesus started 2,000 years ago when He sent His disciples into all the world with a simple
mandate: "Make disciples of all people."

Karla and I have a purpose to fulfill on this earth through The School Of Christ. After taking some time off to pray and refocus, the Lord has strongly reminded me to be about my Father's business and to concentrate on the ones "to whom we are sent." 

We have walked a long, hard, tiring road to come to the place that we are at now, but "the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord" - and this has been true with us, as I'm sure it has been true with you as well. 

Sufficiently rested, I am even more aware now that the time is short and the harvest is plentiful. In these days of darkness and confusion, when it seems like the world is falling apart and there is no hope, we have a wide open door and a wonderful opportunity to be a light and to bring hope to the world. 

I'll be sharing more about our purpose and specific direction in the weeks to come. In the meantime, thank you for your support of The School of Christ, and please let us know if we can serve you in any way.

In Him,

Chip Brogden

Thought for today - 07/29/2012

"Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved."
- Ephesians 2:4,5

Thought for today - 07/28/2012

"Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life."
- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Thought for today - 07/27/2012

CONSIDER
"Were it not for the consciousness of Christ as my life, hour by hour, I could not go on. But He is teaching me the glorious lessons of His sufficiency, and each day I am carried onward with no feeling of strain or fear of collapse."
- J. Hudson Taylor

Thought for today - 07/25/2012

BE JOYFUL
"It's not easy to be joyful during hard times. At times like these, I believe the Lord is saying to us: "Rejoice in the Lord -- today!" One of the most joyful people I've ever met was a Native American woman from Arizona. She grew up in a large and terribly poor family. Still, they shared everything they had with their friends and neighbors. When they were down to their last five dollars, her father would always say: "Let's have a party!" He'd spend that five dollars on ice cream and invite all the neighbors to come over. By God's grace, her family always had all that they needed. Even in the pits of depression, we, too, can throw a party. We are the children of a loving God! We can rejoice in the sure hope that God will get us through any trial or tribulation. Joy is a decision. We need to decide to rejoice today, whatever our circumstances or feelings.

"Ask the Lord to release the Spirit of Joy within you. Decide to do things that are rejoicing (i.e. have a party, give gifts, dance, sing, etc.). Be persistent. Make the following the foundation stone of your growth in Christian joy: personal daily prayer, repentance, friendships, service to others, leisure, play, and a sense of humor."
- John Boucher

BY THE BOOK?

BY THE BOOK? (part 2) We'll take a long hard look at some of our religious "sacred cows."
Tune in to our LIVE broadcast this Friday night at 10:00 PM central time! Listen in at: http://tobtr.com/s/3471551

Thought for today - 07/22/2012

"It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."
- Deuteronomy 13:4

Thought for today - 07/21/2012

ON PRAYER
"I never pray on a golf course. Actually, the Lord answers my prayers everywhere except on the course."
- Billy Graham

Thought for today - 07/20/2012

"What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you -- guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."
- 2 Timothy 1:13-14

Fwd: Thought for today

"Lord, give us grace and strength to preserve. Give us courage and joy and the quiet mind."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Thought for today - 07/17/2012

VERSE TO PONDER
"This is what the Lord says -- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go."
- Isaiah 48:17

Thought for today - 07/16/2012

A CHRISTIAN BELIEVES
"A Christian is one that believes things his reason cannot comprehend, and hopes for things which neither he nor any man alive ever saw.  He believes Three to be One and One to be Three; a Father not to be older than His Son, and the Son to be equal with His Father.  He believes himself to be precious in God's sight, and yet loathes himself in his own. He dares not justify himself even in those things wherein he can find no fault with himself, and yet believes that God accepts him in those services wherein he is able to find many faults. He is so ashamed that he dares not open his mouth before the Lord, yet comes with boldness to God, and asks him anything he needs. He hath within him both flesh and spirit, and yet he is not doubleminded; he is often led captive by the law of sin, yet in never gets dominion over him. He cannot sin, yet can do nothing without sin. He is so humble as to acknowledge himself to deserve nothing but evil, and yet he believes that God means him all good."
- Frances Bacon

Thought for today - 07/15/2012

"We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God."
- Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899)

Thought for today - 07/14/2012

"Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care."
- Psalm 95:6-7

Join Tonight's LIVE Broadcast!

The Church In The House (part 3)
Tune in! I will be broadcasting live on the air at 10:00 PM TONIGHT central time! Listen in at http://tobtr.com/s/3471547.

Get caught up on the current series.
The Church In The House - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepath/2012/06/30/the-church-in-the-house
The Church In The House (part 2) - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepath/2012/07/07/the-church-in-the-house-part-2

Get updates and show schedule by following us on blogtalkradio!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepath

Thought for today - 07/13/2012

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain

Thought for today - 07/11/2012

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
- Psalm 27:1 (KJV)

Thought for today - 07/10/2012

"No one is safe by his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God."
- St. Cyprian (?-258)

Thought for today - 07/09/2012

KNOWING GOD
"Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as He takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting in Him, but the width of our knowledge about Him is no gauge of our knowledge of Him."
- James I. Packer, Knowing God [1973]

Thought for today - 07/08/2012

THIS IS WHO GOD IS
"God is looking for a body, flesh and blood to show the world a proper marriage of the divine and human. What happens when your body looks nothing like you? What happens when your people become the embodiment of everything you are against? What happens when you're being given a bad name? What happens when your people are unfaithful to the vow they made to you? What happens when your people "go back that way again," the way you rescued them from? The Hebrew Scriptures have a very simple and direct message: God always hears the cry of the oppressed; God cares about human suffering and the conditions that cause it. God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is."
- Rob Bell and Don Golden, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile

Thought for today - 07/07/2012

"If monotony tries me, and I cannot stand drudgery; if stupid people fret me and the little ruffles set me on edge; if I make much of the trifles of life, then I know nothing of Calvary love."
- Amy Carmichael, If [1938]

Thought for today - 07/06/2012

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him. Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out." 
- Proverbs 24:17-20 (NIV)

Thought for today - 07/05/2012

"Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away
better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness
in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in
your warm greeting."
- Mother Teresa

Thought for today - 07/04/2012

"We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
- Romans 5:3-4

Thought for today - 07/03/2012

Confidence is the feeling you have before you really understand the problem.

Thought for today - 07/02/2012

ON PRAYER
"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thought for today - 07/01/2012

VERSE TO PONDER
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."
- John 6:35 (NIV)