Is Truth Outdated?
“Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28).
Introduction
We live in the time predicted in Daniel when “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Almost every day there is some new invention that would have astounded people a hundred years ago. We have mobile phones, computers and gadgets that are meant to make life easier. But with the increase of knowledge has come decay on every level. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). Our generation has everything provided for it, yet very few accept that they need God in their lives. Preachers have compromised the message of salvation instead of staying true to God’s word. John Wesley once said to a preacher who wanted to see crowds attending his meetings, "Allow God to set you on fire and the people will come to watch you burn.”
In this study we will look at three areas of preaching that the modern world rejects as being old-fashioned and outdated.
Preaching against Sin
“Behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out”
(Numbers 32:23). The Bible records many examples of men, such as Adam, Cain, Lot, Achan, Samson, Saul and David, who thought that sin did not matter, but very soon the consequences of that sin caught up with them. People today think that they can do as they please, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
It is time for sin to be called sin, for this generation appears to ignore or deny what sin is. Alcoholism is not an illness, it is sin. Homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle, it is an abomination. Abortion is not a woman’s right, it is murder. Not one of the social problems in our nation today, from gun crime to drug abuse, can be solved through education, tougher laws or bribes. What is needed is a return to the only true foundation a nation can be built upon. “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16) … “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3) … “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24).
Preaching about Hell
“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42). The Lord Jesus Christ spoke more on Hell than He did about Heaven. This fact should indicate that it should be taught in our churches, Sunday School and when we witness about the Lord.
The world thinks that Hell will be a fun place because all their friends will be there, but it is not a place of parties and rest, instead it is a place of eternal torment. It is not a place of family reunions but of everlasting separation. It is a place where the unsaved will remember every moment of their godless lives for ever. Vance Havner wrote, “Jesus said that it was better to enter into life crippled than go to Hell whole. Such radical procedure is seldom preached these days and in a very low key if at all. Consequently, we have the frightful tragedy of those who lose everything rather than give up anything, losing all to keep a part.”
Preaching about Holiness
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”
(Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is not a subject Christians today want to contemplate too much, if at all. The gospel of Christ encourages us to get out of the comfort zone of nominal Christianity and live what is the true normal Christian life. A part of this includes the need of sacrifice on our part. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Though most believers sing about and give mental assent to holiness and self-sacrifice, few are willing to put the teaching into practice. The reason is very simple, for they do not really want Jesus to have first place in their lives. If He has first place in our salvation, then it follows that He must be first when it comes to our time (prayer and Bible study must not be neglected) and our church life (attendance, giving, and being obedient to the calling on our lives). The “whatsoever” in Colossians 3:17 includes every aspect of our lives both secular and spiritual, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Conclusion
The world regards the Bible as an old-fashioned and outdated myth. To them only people who need a crutch for their crippled lives need Jesus as Saviour. Christians have fallen into the trap of listening to the world instead of the Creator, and now the church is suffering the consequences. The truth may be old, but it is not outdated. The word of God is as eternal as the “Ancient of Days” Himself (Daniel 7:9). God’s word is eternal and unchanging. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). Bible-believing Christians can have a “sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7) in a messed up and sin-sick world. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). The world with all its theories, isms and philosophies will be destroyed when Christ returns. Truth and they who follow Him will endure throughout eternity. “His name is called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13). To state that the truth is old-fashioned or outdated is to say that Christ is not “The Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).

http://www.believingstudy.com/articles/56/1/Is-Truth-Outdated/Page1.html

Look i don't (and won't condone) lady ministers, but this one has a good program. Cussing is usless use of words. The Bible calls "idle words" and "vain words" thank the Lord after i got saved he took that from me (along with a couple of other things). He is a great God, the only True God amoungest the many little gods. The second article is about another abomination to God. But the good thing is we are moving closer to the time the Bible speacks about when it says" As it was in days of Noah". Maybe it will end soon? The Bible also says "They will come in my name".

Minister crusades for clean language
Others join effort against cussing
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Rev. Sandra Butler-Truesdale, of the District, has heard enough cussing to last her a lifetime, so she's doing something about it.

'IT'S ABOUT EDUCATION': The Rev. Sandra Butler-Truesdale (right) hands a flier to Maxine Lewis on Tuesday while trying to drum up support for her cause: getting people to stop using profanity. (Michael Connor/The Washington Times)
"I came from a generation in which people respected themselves, their elders and their children. Cussing has almost become a language of the norm," said Mrs. Butler-Truesdale, who last week began her quest for civility at 14th and U streets Northwest, one of the city's most hardscrabble corners.
"It's about education and talking to people about their self-esteem and why they cuss," she said while passing out fliers at the Emma Mae Gallery inside the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center. "So far people have been very receptive."
Among the first to receive an "Improve Your Vocabulary, Respect Yourself, Stop the Profanity, Respect Your History" flier was Rosine Siaka, a special police officer at the center.
Miss Siaka, a 36-year-old from Cameroon, said people regularly curse at her while she is on the job, which she finds shocking because profanity is rarely heard in her culture and not permitted in her home.
"Profanity is the last word for us to use," she said. "And when I have to be around profanity I don't like it."
Mrs. Butler-Truesdale said she is most disappointed that other black people rely too much on profanity instead of expanding their vocabulary.
Others have taken bolder steps.
The New York City Council last year voted 49-0 in favor of a symbolic moratorium on the "N" word.
The moratorium was proposed by council member Leroy Comrie. His spokesman, Rance Huff, said Mr. Comrie "represents a district where lots of participants in the civil rights movement live and it's distressing to see so many people blatantly using the 'N' word without knowing the history behind it."

Much of the blame is placed upon rap and hip-hop musicians.
"While the media is a great way of spreading such words, TV and radio are not interactive," said Anna Trester, assistant linguistics director at Georgetown University.
Jim Zorn, a Christian and the Washington Redskins new head coach, has a campaign against swearing that begins with him.
"I have used a curse word before and I have muttered a couple of curse words under my breath," he said. "But I don´t feel that I need to communicate with my players or family by cursing. I am not St. Jim, or anything like that, and I don't try to berate players by getting in their face and, for emphasis, cussing them out."
Other leaders also have tried to restore civility to often-divisive partisan politics.
In 2004, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, called for civility and respect during the middle of his only term, after repeated battles with the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, opened the 2008 session with a request for compromise and civility, but his vision of "One Maryland" with Democratic and Republican lawmakers working together already had started to crumble.
A 15-year-old from South Pasadena, Calif., McKay Hatch, recently started an anti-cussing club at his high school and nocussing.com. He also persuaded the city's mayor to declare March 3 through 7 "No cussing week."
McKay said he rarely heard anyone use profanity in elementary school, and was puzzled by his middle-school peers using such words freely.
"When I first got to middle school I thought that's what you had to do to fit in or be cool," McKay said. "I didn't like it so I told my friends, 'If you want to hang out with me, you can't cuss.'"
McKay's efforts won him friends and garnered him support by 45 club members and 25,000 online members worldwide.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/28/minister-crusades-for-clean-language/


Massachusetts lets out-of-state gay couples marry July 31, 2008 - 10:11pm
Gov. Deval Patrick, center, surrounded by legislators and supporters, including State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, third from left, and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, third from right, signs a bill at the Statehouse in Boston, Thursday, July, 31, 2008, repealing the 1913 law that blocked out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts. Legislators amended the bill Wednesday, allowing the law to go into effect immediately. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
By GLEN JOHNSON Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) - Joy Spring and Carla Barbano spent the day before their wedding the way many brides do: relaxing and primping at a spa. But unlike most, their wedding day had to wait until Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill Thursday that repealed a 1913 law that had blocked gay couples from outside Massachusetts from marrying here.
"We're being recognized as a married couple," said Spring, of Middletown, N.Y., who planned to wed Barbano, her partner of seven years, at a ceremony Friday in Provincetown.
Supporters of the repeal of the law, which banned couples from marrying in Massachusetts unless their unions would be legal in their home states, say lifting the ban was not only fair but will have economic benefits.
A state study estimates that more than 30,000 out-of-state gay couples _ most of them from New York _ will wed in Massachusetts over the next three years. That would boost the state's economy by $111 million and create 330 jobs, the study estimated.
Opponents say Massachusetts now could become the "Las Vegas of gay marriage," and they criticized lawmakers for infringing on other states' rights to define marriage.
Patrick, the state's first black governor, said he was proud to sign the bill repealing the law, which some say had its roots in trying to block interracial marriages.
Massachusetts in 2003 became the first state to rule gay couples had a right to marry; California recently legalized gay marriage, without a residency requirement.
"In five years now, the sky has not fallen, the earth has not opened to swallow us all up, and more to the point, thousands and thousands of good people _ contributing members of our society _ are able to make free decisions about their personal future, and we ought to seek to affirm that every chance we can," said Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter recently revealed publicly she's a lesbian.
An emergency preamble attached to Thursday's law allowed out-of-staters to begin marrying immediately.
That's good news for Spring and Barbano, whose 11-year-old daughter, Lizzy, will exchange rings with the couple at the ceremony Friday.
"It's extremely important. If something happened to one of us she'd always be taken care of," said Spring, who joined Barbano in a civil union in 2006 in New York.
The couple is from one of the few states that will recognize their impending union: New York Gov. David Paterson said earlier this year that state law requires recognition of legal marriages performed elsewhere.
"Now New Yorkers can drive across the border to a neighboring state (and) get a marriage license that will be recognized as fully legal and valid here at home," said a statement from Empire State Pride Agenda, a New York gay rights group.
The California Supreme Court ruled this year that same-sex marriage is legal, and Rhode Island law is quiet on the subject. Other states specifically forbid it, though a few allow same-sex civil unions.
Opponents said the ban prevented Massachusetts from interfering with the decisions of other states _ the overwhelming majority of which specifically bar same-sex marriage. The old law had been invoked by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, who said repealing it would make Massachusetts the "Las Vegas of gay marriage."
Now opponents say the Massachusetts repeal may just give fresh momentum to efforts for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage across the country.
"This is a clarion call for the rest of the nation on the dangers of this radical social experiment, and also the essential need for a federal marriage amendment to clearly define marriage as the union of one man and one woman," said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
"Same-sex marriage is a social experiment, and it certainly will have an impact on the culture, particularly the children, where we already see that in Massachusetts, children are being educated on the efficacy of same-sex marriage and the irrelevance of fatherhood and motherhood," Mineau said.
Asked if the change in Massachusetts might create legal problems for couples returning to states with gay marriage bans, Patrick said: "What we can do is tend our own garden and make sure that it's weeded, and I think we've weeded out a discriminatory law."

http://wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=580635

Is Obama a (or the) Messiah?
Is Obama the Messiah? People are asking these days and it's not so hard to understand why: the desperate throngs, the tears, the great awakening of a slumbering demographic. All that larger symbolism.
The emotional landscape of many American voters is calamitous of late -- frightened by our Babylonian war, unhappy with our President and depressed by the cleansing crush of the credit crunch -- so it's not surprising that the coming presidential election would take on a certain biblical coloring.
The Messiah question is a loud one coming from all corners. Even a blogger for Mother Jones, the hot heart of the far left, worries that the Obama-passion will be used for nefarious purposes by right-wingers, he himself writes "Barack Obama has a messiah complex and no one will convince me otherwise."
The salty 62-year old Chris Matthews of MSNBC puts the phenomenon of Obama on the good book scale, telling the NY Observer that "I’ve been following politics since I was about 5. I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising.”
Timothy Noah has been on his "Messiah Watch" for over a year now for online magazine Slate though he says he doesn't suggest it is Obama that believes in himself as the second coming but rather "that a few excitable souls in the media bear the apparant conviction that Obama is the Redeemer."
And of course, in case you doubt how deep into the zeitgeist this has gone, the blog "Is Barack Obama the Messiah?" is bursting with visual evidence.
I turned to my friend Joel Stein, who wrote a column for the LA Times last week on Obamaphilia -- the notion that many, including Joel, have developed an unbecoming infatuation with the Senator from Illinois.
ME: So Joel, did it ever occur to you that it wasn't a crush you were experiencing with Obama but a religious revelation?
Joel: I'm pretty sure my feelings for Obama is a crush, but maybe it's a relgious revelation. I've never had one of those....
ME: Describe your feelings when you watch him.
Joel: When I see him, I actually don't feel great. I feel like I do at a comedy club, only instead of "Make me laugh, asshole" it's like, "Make me care." And then he does make me care. Which shocks me even more, because my guard is up. Dude is good. Like Dave Attell good.
ME: Do you think a messiah would work well as a president?
Joel: The messiah would make an excellent president. I had a photo above my desk at Time of Reagan campaigning for President, and he's standing on the bumpers of two parked cars with his arms out, just radiating. That's half the job, making people feel saved. And Obama does that. If you make people feel like you can save them, half of them are already saved. You've seen There Will Be Blood. You know how it works.
ME: Being Jewish, Joel, how would that messiah as president shake out for you?
Joel: Being Jewish, I don't feel good about feeling moved by any speakers. I'm programmed so I'm only comfortable if they're boring the crap out of me. Preferably in an ancient, unattractive language. My Mom, who's a huge Hillary supporter, keeps saying he's a preacher, which she means negatively. And it makes me feel uncomfortable from a racial perspective when she says it. But she's not entirely wrong. And I kind of like it. Maybe I'd like church.
ME: One last question -- your mom compares him to a preacher and says it's negative, and all these articles out there say coverage is too positive, and you yourself worry about your girlish crush. So is it wrong to be so positive in politics?
Joel: It's scary to be positive about a politician. You know you're going to regret it because no President in my lifetime has ever even met the limited expectations I've had - and now I have huge expectations. It's like joining a cult or the PTL Club. You're going to have to explain your enthusiasm for the rest of your life when it all unravels. I'm sure someone was as passionate as I am about Obama about Richard Nixon.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/02/obama_the_messiah.html

Here is a good story i post enough about bad ones, you can over come adversity if you want, but the question do you want too?

Daughter's school troubles became mom's blessing August 2, 2008 - 11:10am By CATHY GRIMES Daily Press HAMPTON, Va. (AP) - Two months into seventh grade, Jacqueline Gilliam was struggling. She was failing almost every class at Spratley Middle School. The news struck her mother like a blow. Mone Gilliam vividly remembered her own seventh-grade year at Sims Middle School. Like her 14-year-old daughter, she socialized, talked, dismissed school as irrelevant and blew off assignments. It haunted her. Now a mother of five, Gilliam left school before earning her diploma. She was determined that her daughter wouldn't follow her path. She said, "I was like, 'This is me. I'm dealing with my own self.' I was heartbroken." After meeting with all of Jacqueline's teachers, Gilliam gave her daughter a month to improve her work. "I told her, 'If you don't get your act together, there will be a new student in January.'" The month came and went. Jacqueline's grades continued sliding. On Jan. 2, there was a new student in all of Jacqueline's classes: her mother. "I had the uniform. I had my books. My desk was right next to hers," Gilliam said. Jacqueline was mortified. "I was mad," said Jacqueline, who begins eighth grade Monday. "It was embarrassing. My friends were laughing." Gilliam stuck to her daughter like glue. They attended class together. They ate lunch together. They walked down the hall together, hand in hand. "If you hold hands, they can't break away," Gilliam said. Everything that her daughter did, she did. If Jacqueline danced down the hall, so did Gilliam. If the girl waved at a friend, so did her mother. Every night, they did homework together, working on the same assignments. Jacqueline cried every day. "She said, 'You're making my life a living hell,'" Gilliam recalled. It was no picnic for Gilliam, either. She was both mother and role model. She knew that students were watching as she struggled with the assignments. "There were days when the pressure was almost too much," she said. "There were days I could barely breathe." Gilliam figured that the experiment would last a week, but the battle of wills stretched on for a month. Gilliam joined the school chorus. She suited up for P.E. She took the school's quarterly benchmark tests in all the major subjects. Jacqueline said her mother did well on some. Gilliam remembered it differently. "I did not remember anything," she said. "I failed all my tests. I thought, 'I'm 30, and I'm failing middle school.'" Jacqueline's grades began to improve, but every night, Gilliam worried that her plan wouldn't work. "The thing in the back of my head was 'How can I help her when I didn't finish school myself?'" Several times in the past 12 years, Gilliam enrolled in programs to earn an adult high school diploma, but child care needs and money struggles scuttled her efforts. She and her family also were homeless, moving from place to place as they tried to pull themselves together. But during her month at Spratley, a door opened. Gilliam wrote an essay about Jacqueline. The two were getting along better now. They held hands because they wanted to. "We got to know each other," Jacqueline said. A counselor from Thomas Nelson Community College who works with middle school students read the essay. "She asked if I had considered college," Gilliam said. College was her dearest dream, but she wanted to earn her high school diploma first. No problem, the counselor said. She helped Gilliam enroll in a program to complete the last few credits that she needed. There were still obstacles: The night before her first class, the family slept in the car, but she was determined to graduate. "I felt education would get us out of wherever we were," she said. Now Gilliam was attending her own classes in the mornings. She earned her driver's license and began driving. But she remained a fixture at Spratley. She joined the PTA. She worked on after-school activities. She sat with students in detention and listened to their stories. She helped students with their homework. Spratley's teachers, staff and students also helped her with hers. Earning the diploma became a schoolwide effort. "They pushed me," she said. On Aug. 16, she will don a cap and gown and finally make her graduation walk across a stage at Kecoughtan High School. Jacqueline said the family would be there to watch. Students at Spratley expect Gilliam to take her diploma to school so they can see it. Her experience has convinced Gilliam that parents should be involved in their children's education and their children's schools. She and her husband have lunch at least once a week with their children at their schools. "Parents don't know you can do that. They don't know you can come to school," she said. The family is still trying to find a permanent home, but Gilliam will remain active at Spratley, where she's PTA president. She also works with her older daughter at Phoebus High School and has begun mentoring students there. "I've got more kids now than I bargained for," she said. Her next goal? College. "I want to get a degree in teaching, and I want to teach here at Spratley," she said. Looking back, she said her daughter's problems proved to be a blessing. "I told her, 'Thank you for getting into trouble this one time because it opened the door for my life.'"
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1452544