Barack Does Not Want To Punish His Daughters....

with these:

"When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual," he said.

"But it should also include -- it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old," he added.

"I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby," Obama said

He compared having a baby with a STD, which makes no sense, I am sorry when I see my daughter and 3 week old son, I do not compare them with HIV. My daughter was NOT planned and was a surprise to me and my then girlfriend now wife Lauren, not once have I looked at her and felt "punished". Everyone says that abortion is a very difficult choice, I agree, but we are not talking about anything less than a HUMAN LIFE!!!! This is not a small issue, again look at the numbers for those that think the Iraq war is worse, go down a couple of posts less than 200,000 people (4,000 Americans) have died in Iraq in 5 years, yes that is a huge number that represent real people, so is this number 6,150,000 babies dead in 5 years of abortion, these represent real people too!

Click for whole Article Here

You Mean Christians Should be in Culture??

Rhetorical question...if you really are pondering this, the answer is yes! City on a Hill Church here in Albuquerque joined the city in the annual Aids walk downtown, what a way to meet people, love people and share with people! Here is a video from Greg Qualls a shepherd in training at City on a Hill...

Young, Restless and Reformed

Tim Challies has a review of a new book, "Young, Restless, Reformed" by Colin Hansen out that discusses the new rise of reformed theology among younger men and women. This book features chapters about some of the pastors, teachers and movements that have contributed to this new emergence of reformed theology such as Louie Giglio, Mars Hill Church, New Attitude Conference, and of course Dr. John Piper. I am stoked for this book and am also blessed and humbled to be part of this emerging passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples!!!
For me this is an awesome time for this book to come out, as it was 4 years ago this April that I went from an Open Theistic ideology (unknowingly, I was a new Christian) to a Reformed and more importantly Biblical understanding of God and Scripture. It was this simple Scripture that sweetly devastated all I knew.

"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11: 36

Click Here for Challies' review.

Obama Suggests Jesus is Not The Only Way

While answering a question about his Christian faith, Obama said he believes that Jesus Christ died for his sins and through God’s grace and mercy he could have “everlasting life,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

But he also believes Jews and Muslims and non-believers who live moral lives are as much “children of God” as he is, according to The Associated Press.

As an example, he spoke about his late mother who was “not a believer.”

"[S]he was the kindest, most decent, generous person that I have ever known," Obama said, according to the Times. "I'm sure she is in heaven, even though she may not have subscribed to everything that I subscribe to."

Very Interesting, read the whole thing here

Props: On Earth as it is in Heaven

Hit A Wall

Have you ever had those days where you just feel like you hit a wall? I feel exhausted, and beat up right now. It is not because I had "The Well" last night and got up early, thats not it. Honestly it is because of sin and darkness that I see in the lives of those I love. I am just in a valley right now where I am fully aware of how messed up this world is and how lives around me are broken and hurting.

How do I get out of this valley? Is it to just fool myself with "positive" thinking like Oprah tells me? Do I just pull up my bootstraps and work harder to make lives less broken? Do I just ignore it all? None of these work, none of these provide a sufficient answer to the reality of pain and sadness that seem to surround me. I need something real, I need something that does not ebb and flow with how I feel and what my reality is at any moment, that all changes. I need something that does not change!!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

As I type this I am not "feeling" like my situation is completely better where all pain is gone and so forth. What I do feel though is security that even though I am in this valley, I have a hope that is real, and does not change. My hope in Jesus is unshakable because it has nothing to do with what I need to do, or what i have to do to change things. It is about what someone else has done, namely Jesus Christ. The Creator of the Universe the Father in Heaven sent His Son, Jesus, to save, messy, broken lives, to redeem us from our crap and mess we love to dwell in. We did nothing to deserve this, we loved the mess we were in, we had no want to be with God, we were self deceived and loved it! In spite of this Jesus died for us, took our punishment for our mess, then He rose from the dead to show that He was God and that the power of sin in our lives has been broken. This fact does not change with my feelings, or my circumstances, this fact is how I know God is loving, good and cares deeply about me. This fact will get me through today!

Tim Bradley one of our elders has encouraged us as a staff to constantly be meditating on Psalm 130 all day, I encourage you to do the same:

130:1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

Taken from ESV Online

The Cost of Life in 5 Years

Shaun Groves at SHLOG put these powerful pictures up about the cost of war, I added the last picture to show what the cost has been in 5 years of abortion. I do not want to get into an argument about whether our troops should be out or if we need a president that will pull our troops out, but what I do want to show is that babies are being slaughtered on a scale more massive than any other tragedy man has ever been apart of ! Abortion has taken more life, innocent lives, lives that were never given any choice, than any war ever has , and continues to do so to this day. For more info go to abort 73.

Already Sponsored

Brayden just signed a 23 year, $60 million dollar deal with Nike. This is his 1st photo shoot with dad's championship ring he won with the Lobos in 2005. Brayden has already ordered a Louis Vutton Pacifier with diamonds that spell out "Baby Bling"....


Yes I have become one of those cheesy type parents!

Love and Worship

Los (yes another Los) over at Ragamuffin Soul tells of an amazing story of what love and worship look like. This happened at Los's church, Buckhead in GA.

I’m in verse 2 and I look to my left and am hit like a blind side pick and roll.
Swaying on the front row was a guy I later learned was named Matt.
Standing in front of him was another guy named Jefferson.
It was a moment that stands out above all else in my 11 years of leading worship.
You see Matt and Jefferson were worshipping God, together.
Literally.
Jefferson has severe cerebral palsy. He has little, if any control over his body.
Matt was standing behind Jefferson.
Holding Jefferson.
20 minutes.
Dancing with Jefferson and singing at the top of his lungs.
Jefferson was singing too. I think could hear him.
And it was the most beautiful song I have ever heard
There are hundreds of thoughts, emotions, and lessons that could go along with Matt and Jefferson.
To watch them sing out and dance was a thing of beauty. Obedience. Unbridled Joy.
Thank you Matt and Jefferson for a shifting moment in my life.
What can we all learn from this picture of Authenticity?

Click Here to Read More of Los's Account or His Wife's

Happy Easter...Fear the Bunny!

A Heart for My City

I took a drive around Albuquerque yesterday, and when I say around I mean literally around. I traced my trip on Google Earth and above you can see. I started going south and from there I circled the city.

For me drives are times when I pray and think through things. Yesterday's drive was for me a time to pray for the city that I live in. I drove around noticing the diversity Albuquerque has and how easily you can go from a upper middle class neighborhood to a area filled with homeless and rent by the hour motels. I need to be reminded that Albuquerque is not all suburban "utopia" and that Albuquerque is a broken city filled with broken lives, this is true in every neighborhood. I was honestly refreshed for ministry and feel a renewed burden for this city that I think in some ways I had sort of lost sitting in a church office everyday. I wonder how many times Paul walked around the cites in the Roman Empire? Acts 17 shows he was observant of the surrondings he ministered in.

I hope to fit these drives in more often and include my family in them too, as we pray and seek what God would have us do in this city. Dave Bruskas, pastor at City on a Hill Church here in Albuquerque said that our city is beautiful to look at from the mesa or east mountains, but it is filled with broken lives in need of Jesus, never is that so apparent then when you take a 2 hour drive around this city.

What is your city like?

What a 2nd Day...

With my head pounding and barley able to breathe due to allergies I stayed home all day yesterday and sat like a lump on my couch and watched 12 hours of basketball. It was fantastic! The biggest draw back was, was that I missed our Good Friday service at my church, but my head and congestion was so bad I had no energy to go anywhere. So there I sat and watched as the double digit seeds showed why this is the greatest sporting event in the world! My bracket is a total bust, but it has been worth it.

Day 1 had Belmont almost taking down mighty Duke, almost, but Duke has sold their soul to Satan so of course they would win.

Day 2 had buzzer beaters, 2 overtime games in a row, a "big" name school losing to a no name school, what a day!

The 2nd round will be starting in a couple of hours, man I love this month!

Check out ESPN for all the scores!

Good Friday Video From Mars Hill Seattle

POWERFUL!

The Madness was Too Much

It's Friday...Sunday's Coming

Madness Day 1

I love this day, it is the beginning of the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. It is when Cinderellas shine at the ball and Goliaths are slain (symbolically speaking). I have the afternoon off as well as tomorrow, so if you need me I will be on my couch enjoying the Madness.

It is not as fun due to the fact the New Mexico lost last night in the 1st round of the NIT, but it is still the greatest month to be a sports fan. I remember 2 years ago watching George Mason, a team no one heard of, they did not just get one special victory they got 4 wins and found themselves in the Final Four! I also remember when I was in elementary school and the UNM Lobos were in the dance and we would spend the day watching the game, it was great fun.

Seriously what other sporting event is as fun to watch and enjoy as March Madness??

New Again, Brad Paisley and Sara Evans

I am not a huge country music fan, I do not hate country music but I am just not prone to listen to it, sorry Torres. But this video is great and I think seems fitting for the season.

August Rush Is An Amazing Movie About God's Sovereignty

It was not made as a "Christian" movie, it was not advertised to churches. Local mega-churches did not rent out theaters to show their people this movie, but August Rush is an amazing treatise on God's providence and sovereignty. This movie was like the Biblical accounts of Joesph and Esther wraped up in a 2 hour film. To see how bad things and good things all work themselves towards a ultimate purpose shines forth how God brings forth both calamity and well-being (Isaiah 45:7).

Lauren and I watched this movie on Monday night and it still is sticking with me. It was a movie that had amazing music (click here for soundtrack) and just a great storyline. I think we as Christians sometimes will throw rocks at movies that are not "Christian" and think they have no redeeming value, although usually the opposite is true (e.g. Left Behind). This movie deals with real life issues, and shows their consequences, sometimes in harsh and gut-wrenching ways. This movie though through this shows a God that is concerned with the orphan, and a God who is soverign over all.

Put this on you Netflix today!!

East Central Ministries From a High School Senior

One of Desert Springs' High School students blogged about our recent Friday night venture to hang and serve with the people at East Central Ministries (ECM) here in Albuquerque. I could explain what makes these nights special and why we love doing it but let me let Leah explain:

Every 3rd Friday night of the month, Paradox, our youth ministry, and the Well, our college ministry partner up alongside some leaders in our church and travel down to the War zone and the Trumbel la Mesa neighborhood. Our meeting spot- ECM, short for East Central Ministries where we started consistently serving about a year and a half ago. Since that time, we have done numerous things serving at ECM such as, going to the nearby community center to play with kids and barbecue, go to the new school that was recently opened up in an old drug traficking house (praise God for that one :o)) and then last Friday, serving at Casa de Shalom. Casa de Shalom is a new thing that the staff at ECM have been trying to start for awhile, alot of meetings and preperation and prayer have been put into this idea and it is now in the making. About a year ago, Becky, our ECM leader and others alongside her thought of the idea of a Christian intentional living center. They began looking for land to do this and finally closed a deal a week ago today. Its a piece of land that has an apartment complex of 6 units, 2 houses, and a unit of 3 mini houses. These are gonna be used for about 14 different families and a couple of the staff down at ECM. They intend on using this Christian living center to help babysit each others kids, make cookies together and just really uplift and encourage each other through simple things that make a Christian family live out the gospel. When we got to ECM Friday night, we were all expecting to paint but Becky told us John had some other stuff planned for us that he needed to get done before we started on painting. We all took the short drive over to Casa de Shalom and began raking up piles of dried up pine needles and leaves that were basically a fire hazard waiting to happen. This was definitely an amazing time and probably one of the BEST times I’ve had since we started at ECM. It was cool to see our well off, spoiled kids and college kids get messy. We never stopped laughing and had so much to catch up on, all over a dozen rakes and shovels, alot of dust, and a box of white cheddar cheez its. Its amazing to see that stuff like that can bring us together, and show others who we are without words but rather actions. Alot of the families were moving on and a couple already had moved in and came outside to talk and watch the kids ride bikes. It was amazing to see them watch us and wonder why we were there but by the end of the night be talking and laughing with them just as much. Its a blessing to be a part of the Lord’s family when we are privileged enough to do stuff like that. Like the college ministry at DSC says, “we are just a bunch of messy people lifiting up one Great, AMAZING God.”

Get Some...

Take this challenge...Be a man, or a sports minded woman!


Get in the action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group?groupID=29886

Game Front: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage
Group: The Well

Here's what else they had to say:

Join the group "The Well", let's see who has the best picks, well who will finish 2nd to me! HAHAHA

Los

A Great Way to Spend 90 Minutes

I just got done watching this video of Tim Keller's visit to Cal Berkeley. It was a great discussion and was broken up in 2 segments, 45 minutes of lecture then 45 minutes of Q and A. I am currently reading Dr. Keller's new book "The Reason for God" with a friend and am enjoying it very much. Dr. Keller is a very smart and well read pastor, but explains things in such a way that anyone could understand. I really encourage you to sit down and watch this video! Listen to the audio here.

How does this relate to March Madness, well like Dr. Keller the Lobo Basketball team is heading to Berkeley, to play the Golden Bears on Wed. Night, how do you like dem apples!



Props: Reformissionary