The Hope of Haiti, Pt.1

This photo was taken by the last mission trip to Haiti from Holland Church. I believe the young man in the foreground is Isaac, and the man behind the wall is Pastor Randy, team leader that year. they are working on an outer wall of the Bethesda medical clinic. As each year passes, and the teams continue to work, the hope of the people who live in Haiti as missionaries grow alongside the lives of the native peoples as they learn of the love of Jesus, and see it displayed by those who come to share it.

Greg sweeps the dried tile mud and sand from the unfinished section of the room. We had hoped to finish the whole room, just as I below strove to finish the hallway before we were called back to the OMS compound for dinner. Even in our earnest labor for the Lord we are still chastised for our pride. He sends hands to dig the furrow, others to plant the seeds, some to water and He gives the increase. The next team, one from Canada will take over next week and finish here all according to His plan.

I never expected to learn a skill on this foray, even one as enjoyable as this one is to me. I look forward to the day when the Lord calls me back to Haiti to serve the needs of these people, and to share in the fellowship of such good brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Hope is such a multifaceted word. Over the past blog segments we have seen the need for it, and I pray enough drive to empower the execution of action on it's behalf. I believe there are two planes of hope for this nation. This segment will attempt to address in some small way the lesser of the two.
Above part of our missions work team takes a quick break from laying tile in the new compound that will house a large modern seminary school for the training of Haitian pastors. As I write this the building you see here is already completed and occupied by full time missionaries Gil and Dan Shoemaker, who are overseeing the project. The physical labor is hard and the temperature is above 90f. Most of us have never laid a tile in our lives, but became fairly good at it under the firm and professional guidance of fellow missionary Lt. Dan, a professional contractor from Indiana who gives weeks each year to the Lord's service.



Begun and finished 3 years ago, this is an addition to the Bethesda medical clinic on the main OMS compound, this photo was taken by the last mission team to Haiti from Holland Church.



Donated from The US, Canada, and other countries, things we take for granted like cabinetry for a kitchen may seem trivial, but the desire in the hearts of those who donate, ship, and work to install these simple amenities is anything but that. The love of Christ and the desire to help those in desperate need fuel the furnace of human industry that helps to build even the smallest parts of God's Kingdom.



John, son of a full time missionary from Canada spends his winter months working to add to the compound. Here he cuts tile with a wet saw. The pace is fast as we strive in a week to accomplish all we can for those who live and devote their lives to the mission field full time. Though we are but a small drop in the bucket, the privilege and blessings are great, growing our hearts for service to others.
The next segment will be the final one on this experience, and will tell of the largest hope for the people of Haiti, and for those who are moved by the Grace of God to call Jesus Christ Lord and Saviour.

In love in Christ, Mike.

The Beauty of Haiti

A beautiful garden maintained in a restaurant courtyard in Cap Haitian.


First let me apologize for the delay in this promised post on the physical beauty of the nation of Haiti. Physical and emotional distress has kept me otherwise distracted until today, as God has blesses me with a window of relative comfort, and a desire for industry. The following are some of what I feel are the wonderful natural gifts God has bestowed on this island. Gifts that are constantly in danger of eradication, and in some cases extinction. I was not able to obtain all the names of the flora featured here, but I will do my best to identify those I do know. If you see any you recognize, feel free to leave a comment and the correct name!


This wonderful flowering shrub was all over the OMS compound, fragrant, and looks to me like a tropical version of Azalea, or it's larger cousin Rhododendron found frequently in my home area of New England. The bushes ranged is size from o few feet to over 12 ft. tall and as many wide. Their beautiful sunburst color and sweet fragrance were a welcome experience every morning.



Most everyone will recognize this classic tropical beauty, the Hibiscus. This is just one of many colors and configurations I saw during the week, and with the exception of Bananas, Papayas, Bougainvillea, and some others I can not name, they were the most numerous and possibly the most fragrant of all I encountered.



Though deforestation is rampant on the island, in some small protected places such as the OMS compound, and on the lands held behind high walls of the wealthy few the diversity of trees and shrubs that grow in profusion here are remarkable. Charimoya, Mahogany, Date palm, Papaya, Banana, and I believe ( correct me if I am wrong) Lychee and Longon berry trees.
There were also cultivated Tamarind trees, who's seed pods produce a fruity paste like a tart fig. God has certainly placed a wealth of life here, just waiting for the spiritual recovery of the nation to thrive upon, feed it's own, and export to a waiting world.



I would like to say these beauties are a form of Bougainvillea, but I can not be sure. They may be indigenous or introduced, I really do not know much about them but they are spectacular.
Among Haiti's subsistence crops are peanuts, which they make the best peanut butter in the world with. Sugar cane, guavas, papayas, bananas, and my personal favorite of God's earthly gifts, coffee, which local co-ops helped by OMS grow, harvest, roast, and sell. If you have never had Haitian Coffee, check out the link on the link section on my blog front page "Starfish Kids", and check out their link section, this will lead you to places where you can find ways to order this delicacy at for far less than the overpriced mud found at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. I still have a pound in my freezer I keep for special occasions. You can also order peanut butter from them, but the supply is limited and sporadic depending on the harvest, and the rain



I hoped to get a better shot of this creature, it is a large (15") reptile of the Skink family that did not seem to eager to wait around for a photo op. Aside from much smaller Anoels and an abundance of insects, spiders, birds and frogs, native fauna was hard to come by. This is mostly due to habitat loss and human predation for food.


Away from the interior of the country the tourist areas, which one is seldom if ever allowed to leave is kept pristine and breathtaking. Labadee is a small island a few hundred yards off the coast of Haiti that is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as a 'day at the beach' dock. Lavadee beach where we went for a day of R&R a few hundred yards swim west was not so exclusive, but beautiful in the fact that it was God's provision for us that day.
Part of the port of Labadee . If you look at the far edge of the water on the right side of the photo, almost to the opposite shore, you can see a small dark spot. Four of us swam with one kayak between us to that buoy, it is over a mile away and weighs several tons. It is anchored to the sea floor and is used to tie to the cruise ships that sail the Caribbean and stop here for a day at Labadee.
Beauty and danger often go hand in hand in Haiti,. These wondrous limestone formations on shore are part coral and will shred the feet of any who venture onto them unprotected!



Possibly my favorite scent in all of Haiti, the Jasmine. (at least I believe it is, smells like it, looks like it even though I am used to seeing them in white.) These are also found all over the land where pollution and contaminated water has not devastated the ecology. They are a common shrub around the OMS compound and most of the walled enclosures of the well to do. The night air is thick with the scent and brings a peaceful sleep despite the whine of mosquitoes!



On our approach to Haiti I was awestruck by the landscape. I have been to the Bahamas, but their featureless topography never prepared me for the breathtaking sight of the Hispaniola Mountain range that divides The Dominican Republic from Haiti. this view is from the Northwest. about three hours from our last stop at the Bahamian island of Exuma where we took on fuel to complete the trip.



This is one of the most unusual flowers I have seen anywhere, but Haiti is not the first place I saw it. There is sample species in a greenhouse in Connecticut. It is (by the curator) called a lobster claw plant, because of the way the flowers petals open and close into each other like the claws of the popular North American crustacean . I was not able to learn the Haitian name for the plant, but it was abundant and thrived in the tropical environment.



While one may not recognize the plant shown above by the flower, you would know it instantly by the sharp heat and flavor, indeed even the spicy scent from and number of Japanese, Indian,Thai, Korean and Caribbean dishes, as the tuber from this plant is the ever popular spice Ginger! It is indigenous, and grows profusely in the wild, and local gardens, as well as by most roadsides where pollution has not destroyed all plant life.




This one, well, you got me. I am guessing by the ornate petal edges on the main body of the flower that it may be a member of the Hibiscus family, even with the wild display of pistil and stamen. Unfortunately, I can not remember if there was a strong scent associated with it to confirm my guess. This was a less common species so it seemed, usually found in tended gardens and not so much in the open areas we were allowed to explore. Again, if you know the species, please comment!


The last image I chose here is one that is both nondescript, and potent in my thoughts. It is not cultivated or colorful, cultured, or maintained by any but the hand of God. He made the nation of Haiti as He did America, Europe, Africa, South America or Australia. It is the sin of humans that cursed the lands, and by the Redemptive Blood of Christ and the loving labor of the Faithful in worship of the One True God, this land may once again shine forth in spiritual as well as physical beauty in honor of the Father, Son, and Holy spirit.

In love in Christ, Mike Z.

The Desolation of Haiti, pt. 2.

The UN office at Cap Haitian International Airport.

The United Nations has had a peacekeeping force of some 3,000 international forces in Haiti for a few years now. As most local police are corrupt, underfunded, and under equipped these are the only stabilizing force against the gangs and drug cartels that pray on the Haitian citizens. While we were in Haiti, the gang violence in Port Au Prince reached a crescendo with attacks on UN vehicles and soldiers. Some of these were perpetrated by children under the age of 14, weilding AK-47's supplied by the now defunct Aristied government. Usually the UN will not engage the population in a firefight, but the day before we left we were told by our missionary hosts of street to street gunfights, as the UN took a stand to rout the gangs from the city streets.


12 ft. walls surrounding the OMS compound.

Walls are a common sight in Haitian life. They define those who have and those who have not, they protect and preserve, and they segregate and divide. The original land area or the OMS compound was almost twice what is circled by walls today. Squatters are a fact of life here, and the only way to drive off the desperate and destitute is by the gun. Saints would do no such thing, so walls were erected around the land not yet taken over by the poor to keep the establishment of service to the Haitian people intact. The envious and unrepentant look upon them with resentment, and the VooDoo practitioners focus their malice upon them and those they protect. The broken in spirit see hope in the establishment of secure boundaries, where help for what ails the body and soul can be found.


Multipurpose waterway.

Fresh water in Haiti is rarity. Here a shallow river provides water for a multiple of uses. Cars are washed, garbage and sewerage is disposed of, bodies are washed and the poor drink from the same source, fish and wildlife are polluted out of existence by this. Deforestation and erosion scar the land causing rockfalls and mudslides that take lives without warning. This desolation has been caused by a people fighting to survive day to day in a land almost devoid of hope and natural resorces. I fish many of the waters in Massachusetts where I live and appreciate their beauty. Many times I feel shame and anger at the sight of trash left by uncaring people who have no appreciation for the gift of the natural world God has given us. Perhaps if these unthinking minds and unconcerned hearts had only such places like these in Haiti in which to get their drinking water or to bathe they would consider the bounty The Father has heaped on us, and treat it accordingly.


Housing of the middle class.

Haiti is a nation of over 8 million as of 2005 estimates. The area of Haiti is only slightly less than that of Maryland, and much of the country is arid and mountainous. 75% of the population crowds into it's two major cities, Cap Haitian and Port Au Prince. 80% of the people live below poverty level, for us in the United States thats a little over $10,000 annual salary. For the Haitian citizen it is less than $500 a year. The most basic of needs take precedence, food and shelter. Above is a coastal district of Cap Haitian that is blessed with concrete domiciles, offering protection from hurricanes, and offering some sense of security.


Dangerous shores.

This is a beach front property in Cap Haitian. The erratic fluctuation of an unstable economy and political upheaval see flurries of unfinished construction as resources fail, and long intervals of decay and stagnation. This has taught the people of Haiti to be resourceful with what they do have available to them. Cars that breakdown and can not be fixed due to lack of parts or money are stripped to the bare metal frame, every nut, bolt, scrap of upholstery and length of wire is salvaged, reused, sold, or traded.


Pop shop.

Soda pop is as common in Haiti as in the US. Small businesses like this are found all throughout Cap Haitian and Port Au Prince. The glass bottle is more valuable than it's contents and are always reused. Of all the refuse one will see in Haiti, a discarded pop bottle is the most rare.
The next post in this series will show the natural beauty that the nation of Haiti still possesses. while there is precious little of it left, it is breathtakingly beautiful none the less. It shows I think that God has not completely forsaken this place, and as the Faithful labor to do the work of The Kingdom in the hearts of the Haitian people the land may yet heal.

The Desolation of Haiti, pt. 1.

The Citadel

Welcome to the beginning of the Haiti mission blog series. To better understand the circumstance of this Island nation you will need a brief history.
The Island of Hispaniola (which Haiti now occupies 1/3 of) was discovered by Columbus in 1492. The native Arawak Indians were exterminated to make way for Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century the French established a settlement on the western coast of the island, and in 1697 Spain ceded the west third to France, thus establishing the colony of Haiti.
Forestry and sugar cane, worked on the backs of millions of African slaves soon made Haiti one of the Caribbeans' wealthiest spots. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'ouverture and after many years of bitter fighting ejected the French and became the first black republic to declare it's independence. The date was 1804.

Seaport of Cap Haitian, second largest city in Haiti.

This is the history you will read according to the CIA World Factbook, and most of western history. While it is true, it is not the complete story as known by the Haitian people and the missionaries who work and live among them. Western culture has little room for the supernatural in enlightened thought and so fails to understand the plight of this poorest of nations. In the battle for independence from the French the African Slaves sought an ally, they turned to the idols and demons of Voodoo brought from their native Africa,and the power of the Devil to aid them to victory. To this end a pact was made between the slave population seeking freedom, and the Evil one. The new found country of Haiti would serve the Devil for 200 years in exchange for their release from the tyranny of the French. To seal this deal, 3000 human sacrifices were made at The Citadel (pictured above) on a mountain overlooking Cap Haitian, a northern seaport.
A well maintained street in Cap Haitian.

The Devil delivered. Independence was soon after won, the French were ousted and Haiti began it's two century debt payment to evil and corruption. Since it's establishment as a sovereign nation Haiti has never know peace or prosperity. The influence of spiritual decay is evident in even the heavily guarded and walled compounds of the relatively wealthy as the odor of rotting trash in near 100 degree F. heat wafts by. There are little or no government services of any kind, and other than a precious few mission clinics scattered throughout the country medical care is a scarce and often times a lethal proposition. To put this into some small perspective, Dr. Gavin McClintock of the Bethesda Medical Clinic, (the top rated in the nation) located in the OMS compound where we stayed related a tragic yet common event. A young mother and her dead newborn were found in a small house in town. The infant died on a dirt floor of umbilical hemorrhage shortly after birth. The new mother did not know to tie off the umbilicus, nor did she have the clean scissors and thread to do the job. The sterile kit to do this costs a little under 50 cents US.
Malnourished animals and refuse, breeding disease are a commonplace.

Disease, a harsh and rampant neighbor is born and bred in the open sewer trenches that line the streets next to homes, shops, and marketplaces. Among these are Malaria, carried by mosquitoes breeding in stagnate polluted water that abounds in both city and rural areas due to lack of structural planning. Dengi fever, an often fatal debilitating disease related to Malaria and also carried by mosquitoes, Yellow fever, Tetanus, Typhus, and a great host of parasites and other more common infectious agents. AIDS, is also a factor here. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that possibly 1 in 4 of the nearly 6 million Haitian people are infected, and with little or no education or government program in place to deal with the crisis the forecast for control of further infection is grim.
A typical food market on the roadside.


A main thoroughfare in the City of Cap Haitian.

The average house in Haiti is small. Sometimes constructed of poor grade concrete blocks and salvaged corrugated steel, more often of scrap wood and plastics they are not usually larger than 10 feet by 12 feet, and are with few exceptions without running water, bathrooms, or electricity. At one time as many as 16 adults and children may reside in a domicile, taking turns sleeping in shifts on straw, wood pallets or the dirt floor. In the cities of Cap Haitian and Port-Au Prince structures are built of low grade, iron reinforced concrete blocks, sometimes 4 or 5 stories high. There is no building code, no safety standard, and collapse resulting in death and injury are a consequence. Electric service is sporadic and unreliable. Most people obtain electricity by cutting through the insulation of high voltage lines that are connected to the compounds of the wealthy and the missionaries, and adding their own sometimes uninsulated and usually inadequate gauge wires to get power to their houses and shops. These are hazards for adults as well as children.
Streets are seldom maintained, travel is always precarious.


Without sanitation services, refuse is piled in the streets, sometimes burned.


A bridge over an inlet, waterfront in Haiti is toxic, polluted and a dangerous place to live.

By these images it is easy to see the ravages of poverty, the condition of a society with little or no structure of law and the inevitable downward spiral of the human condition without the hope of redemption. This is the result of evil in it's most simple and pure form. The Devil will always get his due, and the nation of Haiti is the proof.


A vehicle is a luxury most Haitians do not know. The 'Tap-Tap' (so named because when you want to get off you tap the vehicle to alert the driver to stop) is the second most common form of transportation after the foot. There are no seat belts, and loss of limb and life are a very real and frequent risk.

In the year 2004 the debt to the Devil was paid in full. Yet today three years later human sacrifices in Voodoo rituals are not uncommon, almost daily bodies are found mutilated in rural and mountain ritual Voodoo sites. In 2006 the interim president Boniface Alexandre rededicated Haiti as a nation to God. The long recovery of Haiti as a viable country, and the spiritual rebirth of it's people has begun but faces a legion of challenges. The predominant culture of Voodoo infused Catholicism is strongly ingrained in the adult population and in Haiti's cultural history. The restoration of the countryside from deforestation and erosion will take decades, and the sanitation issues of the urban centers will cost millions that the government and some of it's corrupted factions don't care, or don't have to spend. Violent gangs control most of the streets, commerce, and illegal drug trade, holding the rest of the population in fear. Many who see this scenario will close their eyes and feel the hopelessness of a nation of people lost, but the dedicated in Christ Jesus see a fertile field of souls ripe for the harvest. Over the next few weeks and possibly months I will continue to assault your sensibilities, and prod your Christian ethic to pray, feel and consider the soul of Haiti and her people, as well as our own. For all their poverty and disease they are brought closer to the need of Jesus for salvation, something we in our clean and grossly wealthy society place too little importance on past noon on Sunday.

In love in Christ Jesus, Mike.

Haiti blog intro

As promised and a long time in coming, I begin my account of my missions trip to Haiti. Over the past few months I have thought a lot about the experience, how God used me and the humble work of the hands and hearts of our team for His Kingdom.
Even more dominating in my thoughts is how mightily He blessed us by the tasks that were provided, and how we are humbled by the awesome faith of the people of this island nation, the poorest in the western hemisphere. I hope through the next three blogs,( it will take that many at least!) that I am able to impress upon you the vastness of the gulf that separates the wealth and faith, joy and sorrow, hope and despair in the existence of these amazing people, and the comparably tragic state of the soul of our own nation in regard to our mutual faith in the same God, and the same Saviour.
I also hope to goad you to spiritual self examination, as I was by the reality of what I saw, and maybe even exhort you to action in your faith in Christ beyond Sunday service attendance, weekly giving, and an occasional Bible study. I do not condescend, the scathing tone is for myself as well as for the comfortable Believer. Since I have been home I have settled into the familiar comforts of running hot and cold water, adequate clothing, shelter, medical care, and abundant food quite easily. This is natural for the average American Christian as we know little of hardship, and are prone to whining when the price of gas jumps higher than we feel we deserve to pay, or our favorite ice cream is out of stock on a given day.
while these things may sound trite, it is the truth. We are a spoiled and wealthy beyond reason and the soft, easy life God has blessed us with in this season is not the reality for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Or for most of the rest of the world for that matter.
The next blog will be uncomfortable I promise. I will attempt by the Grace of God to rip you from your emotional and spiritual comfort zone with images and words that are the daily truth of life for millions less than a days' plane flight away from your home. My only sorrow is that I can not transfer the feeling of the heat and humidity, the smell of burning garbage and human waste, and the desperation in the voices of children begging as a way of life.
The second post will be on the natural beauty of the island and the potential God has put there. Despite the wreckage of most of the land there is the breathtaking glory of The Lords' love of good things to be seen, this will be soothing ice for the wounds your eyes will endure just before.
The third will be on the hope of Gods' people in that land, the work being done in faith by the hands of full and part time missionaries for the glory of His Kingdom, and stories of perseverance in the field, and in the face of kidnapping, human tragedy, Voodoo and death, all of which took place in and around the week we were there. It is my fervent hope that you will be moved to tears, feel the heat of shame, be overcome with the need to reach out and take action in your commitment to Christ to some degree. Weather that is to sponsor a child in Haiti or elsewhere, donate money, goods, time, or heed the call of our Saviour to go into the world and proclaim His Truth in person to people you have never met is between you and Jesus. Be assured however, that it is between you and Him if He is your Saviour, and the call sounds every day in the life of a Believer. We have only to pry our attention off of ourselves for a moment and it is easy to hear.

In love in Christ, Mike Z.

In preparation

I have been absent from posting for some days now, and it has been some weeks since I offered a new post here.
There is good reason. In eleven days I will be embarking on my first missions trip, and I am excited, and preoccupied with all this entails.
Originally we were scheduled to to go to Haiti in August of last year, but this was not God's plan so the date was moved. While this felt disappointing at the time, I looked to the future with anticipation. Now the future is, and there is much to do. Meetings and prayer, finances for the trip to arrange, inoculations, packing, supplies, and the collecting of all I can to bring to the people I will serve and witness to in Jesus name. The team of dedicated Christians I will be serving with will be doing a variety of tasks, assisting in the field clinic ministering to the physical needs of the poor, who may get the only medical attention they will see all year there. We will be hand pouring concrete and laying cinder block walls for a seminary school in 90 degree heat and 100% humidity. We may work at assembling working computers from spare parts, paint, teach and most importantly witness by word and deed of the love of Jesus for His people.
Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere with 80% of it's population living in abject poverty. Violence and crime is a daily occurrence while the specter of disease and starvation looms ever present in the lives of the Haitian people. Kidnappings of foreign nationals, and missionaries in particular are a fact of life here. We have been told to expect anything.
As I do what I can to prepare, I consider that all the material things I can bring to help these people will not last for long. I am packing minimal clothing and personal items, all of which I will leave there, I have ransacked my apartment for hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, and soap, I am gathering my daughters outgrown clothes from her guardian family, and their neighbors. My fishing buddy builds computers as a hobby and I hope he will donate chips, hard drives, and processors for the missions school. Today I am going to buy socks, underwear, towels and facecloths, as much as I can afford, and hopefully my employer will donate over the counter medicine and first aid items to contribute to the missions clinic.
I am struck with the gross wealth all around me, and am doing my best to pack as much as I can into two 50 lb. suitcases and one 40 lb. carry on. My heart is beginning to break with the realization that all this will be less than a drop in an enormous bucket.
Yet with this in mind every morning I pray and thank God that He has called me to this task and given me an excited heart to do his will, and serve His Kingdom. While I despair in the smallness of my ability to give, and the weakness in my flesh that I know will feel the shock and shame of exposure to a society of the truly materially destitute, my spirit soars and I am brought to tears of joy and humility, that Jesus would choose such a worthless sinner as myself to share the witness Christ has given me, and allow me the privilege to labor for His Glory.
Now that you know where I have been and where I will be going, I need to ask you all to pray for the team, and for me. Please ask The Father for safe travel, protection from disease, and that He will give us great strength of body to labor, and an even stronger heart and spirit to witness to and serve the needs of our brothers and sisters in this poverty stricken land. It is my fervent hope that we will willingly give all that He has provided us to this calling, and that the people of Haiti will see Christ in us, and praise His Name for the helping hands and humble witness we bring by the will of God.

The Gay Marriage Issue

As promised, and a while in coming as it has taken some thought, is the beginning of my blog(s) on the homosexual crisis in our nation.
Foremost I will state that I do not nor should anyone, hate another human being. For any reason. Hate the sin, NEVER the sinner. God`s word is clear for us on this subject.
This being said, not because it is politicaly correct but because it is right, I believe homosexual behavior is an aberrant lifestyle that feeds more fuel to the wildfire of decadance, that is burning our great nation down around our ears, and before our eyes.
This week, the elected officials of Massachusetts decided to take the stand the concerned people of this state demanded of them. Namely, that they honor the constitutional right of the people to vote on an issue facing society, the particular issue, Gay marriage.
If passed through one more hoop, we will have the chance to affirm the God given definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. I praise God that He has brought this about, and we need to thank the more than 170,000 people of this state that banded together for the sake of good ethics, and the future safety of our childrens moral values. These good people put their names to paper in a petition that in no uncertain terms told the Massachusettes Congress that we as a society, will not allow government to decree what we can find socially acceptable.
The numbers speak clearly. In over 25 states in the union, Gay marriage has been defeated as a bill of law. This is because the system of democracy in our United States of America gives us the right and authority to decide what we find acceptable as a society. As more states tackle the issue, more people will be called upon to make a choice. If polls are close to correct in their estimation of public opinion, few states will pass such provisions. Those that do, Like Massachusettes will eventually succumb to the moral outrage of it`s majority, and repeal such socially damaging edicts.
The supporters of this legislature fear pressure from small but powerful civilly active groups, and their big dog representative the ACLU. They have shamefully surrendered to the strong polluted current of social and moral liberalism that rots the heart, while stroking itself with calm reassurance that anything and everything is really OK. Now, in light of this weeks vote, those that would push the desires of the morally loose on the majority who value the traditional American family have been exposed, and will eventually answer for their weak ethics and in some cases their outright lies. We need to take note of these people in power, as we can be sure if they will lie under pressure on this issue because of their lack of moral fiber and fearful support of issues that weaken the structure of our society, they are capable of all kinds of harm to our nations future, and need to be voted out of power before they can do serious damage to the future of the families of Massachusettes.

FrAnkeNfaiTh

Leviticus 19:19 warns us, `You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sew your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.`
A similar statement is made in Deuteronemy 22:11, `You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.`
One could surmise from this that The Lord has a `thing` against certain types of clothing, salad blends, or perhaps even the tastey Beeffalo. However this would be missing the point for today, as we are no longer bound to Levitical Law because of The New Covenant in Christ.
Paul clearly brings these Old Testament Laws into New Covenant focus in Galatians 1:8-9, `But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have recieved, let him be accursed.`
These are strong, and clear words that leave very little room for error in interpretation. There is no arguable double meaning to confuse, no room to wriggle into something more comfortable, accommodating, or less exclusive. We know from all of Scripture that God, is a God of absolutes and accepts no substitutes when it concerns to His Word.
The Bible confirms we are made by God in His image. I believe this is why, in a sense, we seek what is pure and perfect in the world when it comes to what we desire from it.
No one seeks a new car with some mechanical defect, or a scratch in the paint. When we see something like this we walk by, and look to the next opportinity. Women who are moderately handsom do not grace the cover of magazines selling the latest fasions, or we might shun the clothes. When we look at diamonds, we seek to find the clearest, brightest, most cleanly cut specimen to adorn the finger of our intended, and the jeweler never seeks to use gold of marginal quality in his wears. As parents, we hope and pray that our children are born with all the fingers and toes in the perfect place, and in the right amount.
This being true, it is tragic we so easily and carelessly turn our hand against the perfection of The Word. Daily many will cut out those parts that seem somehow wrong to us, sew on odd limbs of interpretation, and fuse our weakly woven earthly agendas into the fabric of the ephod our Creator spun to fit us with great precision, and loving care. The result men of such arrogance produce is an ill fitting garment that may appear warm and wonderful at a glance, but upon closer inspection will always reveal its flaws. The shoddy sticthing of inept and foolish hands leave gaps in the panels, and these errors will not cease to expose the shameful sin of presumption, when the Masters` design is at last set before it for all to see.

Merry CHRISTmas

As much as I would like to take credit for this, I cannot. The original was sent to me in an e-mail, author unknown. It was somewhat dated, and so I felt the need for some revision. I hope as you read, it will bring a concern to your hearts, and a new resolve to stand firm against the culture that would profane the celebration of Christs` birth, and reduce it to nothing more than an annual secular social event.


`Tis not a month before Christmas, and all through the land,

too few Christians are praying, or taking a stand.



How sad the freedom to worship,

Slowly slips through our hands.



Our children are told by public schools not to sing,

about Shepards or Wisemen, Angels, or a King.



"It might hurt people`s feelings!" the teachers must say,

call December 25th, just another holiday.



All the shoppers will consume with cash, checks, and credit,

pushing folks to the floor, in a rush just to get it.



CDs, widescreens, a Playstation, some new clothes to be worn,

who remembers the name of The Gentle Newborn?



Retail giants promote holidays like Ramadan, and Kwanzaa,

in hopes to sell books, by Franken and Fonda.



Remember Target hanging trees upsidedown?

While at Best Buy the word `Christmas` can not be found.



At K-Mart and Lowe`s and Penny`s and at Sears,

no employee can wish you `Merry Christmas` this year.



Inclusive, sensitive, and diversity,

all words they will use to shame and intimidate me.



Now Matthews, Now Stewart, Now Olberman and Winfrey,

On Bieden, On Clinton, On Obama and Pelosi!



From the House to the senate, there arose such a clatter,

To blot out the Name of Jesus, from all public matters.



Soon we`ll face charges, as they stifle our faith,

forbidden to speak in public, of salvation and grace.



The true Gift of Christmas is shunned, then returned,

The Wonder of Christ, has still yet to be learned.



So as you celebrate the `season`, around an artificial tree,

Sipping your Starbucks, incline your ear to me.



Choose your words carefully, boldly, and joyfully this day,

yell out "Merry Christmas!", not happy holidays.

Beware, the silken words of madmen

Recently the people of the United States recieved a letter from Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I urge any who have not read this document, to do so at once. www.uncommonthought.com is one of a few places where it can be found, read and printed.
As an American, a Christian, and a basically educated man, I am both afraid and concerned over the content of President Ahmadinejads` message. I am struck by the sophisticated presentation of his ideas, and the reasonableness of the mans suggestions, the smooth sincerity of his every word. My fear is not so much of him, but of the weak minded and dissolusioned men and women in our own nation that so easily fall prey to anything well packaged, pleasing to the eye, and tickelish to the ear.
Dr. Ahmadinejad speaks often of `God`. Even more of Divinity and spirituality, on the surface he seems a godly man. The cadance and soothing tone belie a terrifying truth. The god of this man is not the God of the Bible, but a god of prophets that command beliefe in him or death. Deny what you will, this is a basic tenant of the Muslim faith.
Iran is a theocratic dictatorship, ruled by fear and oppression like any other country where beliefs are told you. Free speech and practice of worship is not an option there, and if you refuse to adhere arrest, imprisonment and death are surely your lot. But, none of this is in the well crafted letter, as truth would spoil the illusion of its` intent. Though one point is completely evident , the thinly veiled hatred of the Jewish people cannot be contained. Nor will it be entirely lost on even the slightly gullible readers, as it makes them squirm just a little uncomfortably in their comfortable chairs.
This subtle servent of ill will would have us believe we share a common intrest in peace, as he appeals to the mothers and families of our servicemen and women in Iraq to call their children home. While with the other hand he doles out vast amounts of weapons and wealth to insurgents to kill and mutilate those same children in the streets of Bagdad.
Skillfully we are demonized to the world for the wrongful imprisonment and degrading of jihadists in the course of defence of our nations` security, yet those who are ultimately behind the kidnapping of journalists, aid workers, and engineers and their recorded and televised torture and beheadings are never mentioned. With a mouth open on both sides the Iranian president condemns terrorism on the right, while supporting Sryia on the left.
Gently he concerns himself with our accounts in Iraq, lightly salting the wound he hopes so soon to fully infect. President Ahmadinejad wrings blood caked hands in anticipation of our militarys` departure, eger to aquire the resorces of oil and bodies to fund and fuel a coming war he will wage first against the Jew, then the western world. This war is not an idle threat, it was his word.
Imperialism, fascism, and communism have all bred their cataclysms, some violent and genocidal, others cold and suffocating. Yet they will have been as a cloud passing before the sun when compared to the coming atrocities that loom large before the world today, if we continue to stumble forward with our eyes closed and our ears open to the silken words of madmen.

Stewardship

I love the outdoors. When weather permits open water I fish like a madman. While I engage in this pastime I contemplate God, and His multitude of blessings on us in the world He created. Though our planet groans under the curse of sin, it is beautiful still. As the fall turns to early winter and the cover of leaves is shed, they expose the human shame of thoughtlesness. I am always shocked to see the vast amount of litter we heap upon Gods` creation, as if it were a matt on which to wipe our feet.
I am reminded of the late 1960`s commercial where a Native American sheds a tear over the soiling of this land and think, he must be an arid husk by now. I try to turn my gaze to a part of the riverbank, woods, or shoreline where I may not see beer cans or soda bottles, cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, discarded CD`s, or snarled fishing line. I have yet to find such a place on any public land, and I walk over alot of it in the nine or so months a year The Lord provides me to fish His waters.
Disconcerted, I look out over the gently rippling water to sooth the sadness. Not suprisingly the sharp corner of twisted metal pipe catches my eye just below the surface, partialy wrapped in a torn plastic shopping bag swaying in the current. Shiny bits of broken glass lie in the sand at my feet, intermingled with parts of a broken plastic bobber. On the surface of the pond, the heel of a foam rubber sandal floats, through a thin film a oil from an ill maintained outboard.
As far as I have been able to figure God gave us the title of stewards over His Earth, an awesome responsibility to be sure, but a simple one. Yet my face burns with shame before the Lord at our inept handling of this concept, that we can season after season so disdain and disrespect the Father who with His own hands, built for us so marvelous a place to dwell.

Sufficiency in Scripture

In recent weeks I have begun to notice a vast difference in what people have to say about Scripture, and what Scripture actually says to people. While it is understandable, from a Biblical perspective that the unsaved can not truly understand The Word of God, I find myself agonizing over the various assumptions of professing Christians. Bear in mind I am a fairly new believer, that God has not overburdened me with intelligence, and I sometimes find it hard to imagine why He would bother to save a soul as unworthy as my own, at the expense of His Sons` life.
It may well be that like a child in love for the first time, I am simply too inexpierienced in The Word to see the problems with it that so many of my brothers and sisters seem to find.
Charismatics seem to need to add something to Salvation in Jesus Christ, to validate it. Health and wealth proponents appear to see Gods` Word as a prospectus for long painless life on earth and increased income for its` own sake. And so many leaders of so many churches seem to feel the Scriptures need to be muted or rounded off on the edges, as to better fit into the man shaped hole culture creates for them.
I read my Bible most every evening, and pray every morning. I make two Bible studies a week and attend two services, taking notes on the points of the sermons. Because of this humble attempt at immersion in The Word, I feel I have at least a basic understanding of what God has given to us in His Book.
Quite possibly, I am just plain naive. Or I`m just to simple in my approach to the Bible. I feel what I find in The Word satisfies my soul without the need to segment, add or subtract anything. Maybe one day years from now I will find the need to curb my thoughts and opinions on the Bible God has given us, as not to offend or consternate those around me. Or to enrage those who do not want to believe in absolutes. Yet I can`t help thinking that if this ever becomes the case, I will be able to remember the simple comfort I find in The Scriptures today, and sufficiency in which they fulfill every need of my soul.

Reaping what was sown

The Republican party was thoroughly trounced. As a Repub of course I am not happy with this, but it is not unexpected. Or unwarranted. The party is supposed to stand for moral and ethical value, small government spending and smart, well handled public service. If only some of the party members representing us had been told this, we would still hold the House and ( maybe) the Senate.
Reality is we don`t. I support our troops and the war in Iraq as necessary, but deplore the way it was sold to us, and the lack of direction taken from the generals in field. They are professionals, and their advice should have been heeded. As for Katrina, we are shamed before the nation as a party, I don`t know what happened there, and neither it seems does the Federal Government, as there is still much work to be done. Ethics and morals? there is no limit to the deception here. I don`t think there has ever been a group quite like this, Foly, Haggerty, Allen, Abramoff and friends, just to name some. Elected officials or not these men were supposed to be representing a higher standard. Yet with no concern for family, friends or party they crawled through the mud of homosexual sin, racism, fraud and deception when they thought no one was looking. Well God was looking, and as the unrepentant cannot escape the judgement of the Creator, elected officials have not escaped the judgement of the public.
I pray that we will take a long look at ourselves, we are a nation heading into dangerous times and we desperately need integrity and accountability in our leaders, policies and our souls. Facing us are the monsters of Political Correctness, gay marriage, legal infanticide, and terrorism. War against the traditional family values this country was founded on, and even against Christmas itself. Christmas! Without a trustworthy party to stand up for those who desire a culture of life and positive ethical and moral values, we may live to see our nation fall into the abyss of moral relativism. If we are not overrun with illegal aliens, or steamrolled by radical Muslim terrorists first.
Will the Democrats be able to pull our country together? I honestly hope so, but with a liberal value system guiding them, and no solid plan on foreign policy, The future is not looking much better in their hands.
We took a beating this midterm election because we deserved it, from every rotten politician that misrepresented the party values, to every single Christian that failed to vote.
As a conservative Christian, I place my Trust and faith in God and our savior Jesus Christ. As He is in charge, this is by His design and therefore is what is best for us, even if it is a hard lump to take at the moment. I will respect the position of those duly elected, though I may disagree with what they stand for. And, I will pray those coming to power will know and love the Lord, and that they will govern according to His will and now sow seeds of righteousness, that in the future, we will not reep the grapes of wrath.

A teacher`s value

Much can be determined about civilization by the value placed on its teachers. I don`t mean the alleged value or what society may think it should be, but the actual importance, we as a nation attach to this inarguably critical position.
Every culture has had teachers of renowned. Even if the sound of their names have long ago died to any ear, the essence of the truly gifted teachers` lessons live on in the lives of the students they taught, sometimes beyond the lifespan of the nation or republic of their origin. Instructors of the sciences have passed on invaluable formulas, bards have given the world brilliant patterns of prose. Scholars and architects have contributed to humankind, disseminating vast knowledge of philosophy and spectacular structures. The seldom praised and underpaid middle class man or woman laboring daily in our towns` public school, spent at least part of today teaching your young son or daughter basic spelling, mathematics, art, music and or history. Why does this last sentence seem to pale in the light of the previous? It has everything to do with the priorities of our public interests, and the values of culture.
Today our society values that which entertains above what educates. From the Obscene yearly contracts of overvalued sports stars, to the vulgar royalties paid to popular actors, we as a culture are far more concerned with diversion than direction. This sad truth is slowly becoming evident in this country as we slide further down the list of the worlds educated developed nations, and take a back seat to places like China, Japan, and Germany in the developement of advanced technologies. Except for domination in the film and sporting industry, we seem only to excell in the field of new military hardware. At least this keeps us in a position of world power by capacity of force, if not brilliance.
So much of this tragic dilema has its` roots in a place far deeper than distraction, preoccupation or just plain negligence. Can we pay our teachers lavishly and expect better educated children? Possibly. Should we make the qualifications for this position more rigid? There are certainly some substandard instructers in todays schools. Should we institute a year- round education program for the students, a smaller pupil to instructor ratio, better equipped classrooms, more modern textbooks,a curriculum updated to the needs of this century? Obviously these thing could help, yet none of them truly address the underlying problem, the deterioration of our nations values.
We have available to us the best instruction there has ever been, provided by the best possible teacher we could have, who provides us with all we need to know about values and the teaching of our children. Yet the wisdom of our Creator and His Word are all but outlawed in the forum of education today. Because of this what is left for our kids, after the best substance of ethical and moral teaching has been stripped from the classroom, other than the cold facts of declining average national grades and a withering interest in the persuit of the knowledge of God, and the critical teaching He offers.
We have turned far from the education Jesus labored so hard to provide us with from the Father, and we can see the painful evidence of this in the world our children are growing up in . The teaching to children of strong ethical and moral truth as defined by the Bible must be the priority of the people in our country, if we are to continue as one nation under God, and truly come to understand the value of a teacher.

PROBLEM PARTY

By the din of battle, we can surmize that it is election time again. As a Christian Conservative Republican going to the polls in a few weeks, there is much to consider. This will be a monunental point in time for the values voter, we will either continue in domination of house and senate and the governorship of Massachusettes, or we will see the stage set for disaster on the fronts of legitimate marriage, national security, sound social ethics, and religious freedom just to name a few.
Tune in to the news media if you dare, and you will hear the ranting of liberals and the expounding of conservatives on more issues than you could count on all your fingers and toes. It seems to me, that according to statistics, a great many people in this country do not vote, yet there are an awful lot of people complaining about an awful lot of things.
Let us examine this. If we do not vote, we need to shut our pie hole. If we can not be bothered to make our opinion clear at the ballot box, we should put our heads back in the sand and let the adults make the decisions. The Good Lord knows that there is trouble in our nation, and He has provided us a voice to address our concerns about our government. So if you love God, and this United states of America you need to get informed, and make a choice. Our way of life, our childrens security, and the moral future of this land depend on it.
Am I a happy camper around the Republican fire? Not always, to be honest. And we need to be honest. The morally reprehensible behavior of some men in our party is sickening, and undercuts the very foundations of its values. Unfortunately only dismissal and possibly incarceration are allowed by law. Have we become a governing elite that is to slow and preoccupied with glorifing its achievements to respond to the needs of its citizens in the face of disaster? To this shame we need to admit and repent. Is there a good reason why we drag our feet concerning the enforcement of established laws, and the secutity of our national borders? The usury of the desperate for the benefit of the wealthy has nothing to do with reason. And I feel sadly, that we were decieved by those in control of our party, about our military entry into Iraq. We as citizens of this country, did not need to be fed a story about alleged WMDs based on questionable, if not blatantly false intelligence. President Bush needed only to state the facts; that we had to level Saddams` regime because he was a tyrannical despot, and would continue to threaten regional and world stability, just as the Taliban would have. We desperately needed to establish a stand against the growing threat of radical Muslim Jihad, and without a doubt 9/11 gave us and the world all the reason we needed to do so. People, do not be swayed by the whining liberal media chatter, if Saddam as a political leader was not yet supporting Muslim extremest based terrorism, how long would it have been before he would have? Should we have waited for the inevitable ? We needed to wage war for the security of our nation then, and we need to be there now. Why did Democrats vote for the war option in the beginning , only to turn tail now? Why would anyone want to cheapen the price our military dead? Why would any group of Americans want to steer us further away from precepts of our Constitution or the Laws of God that our society was founded upon? who can be sure. But, where they would lead us today were they to gain power? This we can be sure about, if we think for one minute that it would be a better place than where we are now, we are sadly, and quite likely mortally, mistaken.
mkz.