Walking In Wisdom

Tony Perkins Helps Us Remember our Great Nation

Dr. Jamie Mitchell — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:33:43 GMT

I really appreciate the work of Tony Perkins and Family Research Council. He is doing the heavy lifting these days in the nation's capitol. Its not an easy job. He daily sends out a briefing -- today was excellent....enjoy and have a safe and reflective Fourth of July!

The Glorious Fourth

In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams told her of the actions of the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. "The second day of July, 1776 [the actual day the Declaration was signed], will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever."

As we celebrate Independence Day, as John Adams so aptly predicted, we must not forget nor overlook the intense struggle our Founding Fathers faced. Their Christian faith played a critical role in an era that altered the history of the world.

There is not a better example of this seamless devotion to God and country than Samuel Adams. In his time, Sam was far more famous than his cousin, John. Sam was known as the last of the great Puritans and the father of the Revolution. It was Sam Adams who organized the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence. (By the way, if you're going out to a Tea Party on Saturday, historians believe that the first tea party, the one in Boston, was organized by Samuel Adams. It was that Boston Tea Party that lit the fuse of the American Revolution).

When Sam Adams was elected to that First Continental Congress and traveled to the gathering of leaders in Philadelphia, he thought the Continental Congress needed to begin its work on its knees--in prayer. But when the motion was made to call in a local clergyman to lead the worship, John Jay of New York and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina objected. We are too diverse, they said. We could never agree on whose prayers to say.

Rising to his feet, Sam Adams spoke: "I am no bigot," he said, "I can hear the prayer of any man of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country." Deeply moved, the delegates voted to approve Sam Adams' idea. The next morning, amid reports of the British moving against the people of his hometown of Boston, Sam knelt in prayer with his fellow delegates, as the Rev. Jacob Duch? prayed. "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight against them that fight against me."

That inspired move by Sam Adams did much to overcome suspicions among the delegates. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia called that prayer "a masterly stroke." Those Founding Fathers could now work together for liberty.

Soon, Sam Adams would sign the Declaration of Independence. Alongside Sam Adams' name you can find that of Charles Carroll, a delegate from Maryland. Carroll was the richest man in Congress and the only Roman Catholic. Nowhere else on earth in 1776 could you find an Evangelical like Sam Adams pledge "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" alongside a Catholic like Charles Carroll. They both risked death by hanging for signing that great Declaration. But they served the King of Kings and had no fear of King George III.

In our efforts to maintain the freedoms won by our forefathers we must be like them--people of action and prayer. We must never sever our personal faith from our public stand for faith, family and freedom.

Political Humor -- We need it!!

Dr. Jamie Mitchell — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:56:14 GMT

Yesterday came the unbelieveable news that comedian Al Franken will be seated as the Minn. Senator and the 60th vote - giving the democrats a super major and the ability to pass any laws, at any time and the opposition not able to stop it. What a mess we are in this country. Now we have no voice to scrutinize any bill being considered. Thousand page bills will be delivered in the middle of the night and votes taken at day break. Three and half more years at a worst case scenario. Well I can cry and whine all I want - the fact is God is the King and ruler over all, so I think this little story helps me laugh!! Someone in my small group sent it to me....

A woman in a hot-air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him,"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be an Obama Democrat."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air.You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

Jacko and Farrah - Lessons in the Folly of Fame

Dr. Jamie Mitchell — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:15:13 GMT

Two pop culture icons died yesterday - Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. I never met either of these people yet I grew up in the generation that their celebrity impacted in unusual ways. I was a teenager and I secretly purchased the imfamous Farrah poster and had it hanging in my closet. I hung for three days until my mom was putting away some clothes and saw it. I rolled it up and hid it away. TV made her a young man's fantasy prom date. Her all-american looks and sex appeal rocketed her to fame. Yet fame and beauty faded. Sadly her first marriage with Lee Major ended in divorce. She had a 30 year relationship, rocky at times with known druggy Ryan O'Neil. She and O'Neil split after a number of years and her next boyfriend was arrested for beating her up. Her son sits in prison on possessiona nd selling of drug charges. All very sad and not the kind of ending any of us want to have broadcasted when doing a "life summary" piece on the TODAY show.

Jackson was a child phenom, who with his brothers put R&B music and Motown on the map. There was something "cute" about Michael, but that cuteness morphed in weird, strange, depraved and outright degregation as years went on. It always seemed to me that Jackson "never grew up" -- where his other brothers found other professions outside of being on stage. Mike was the family's golden goose who kept pumping out music and getting more bizarre. So much talent, was marred when his appetite for young children, his fake marriage to Elvis' daughter and then his marriage of convenience so that he could have kids of his own (including thru a surrogate), send the "king of pop" downward in a spin that landed in front of a judge for alleged child molesation. His fortune evaporated and he became meaningless to the recent generation of young people. They would say - "Michael who?"

This past week I spoke to our church's youth group at Camp STRIVE and I spoke on the issue of GREATNESS. Much will be said in the coming days as they cover the life, death, funeral and impact of these two lives. The reporters and fans will throw the word "greatness" around like peanuts at a baseball game. Yet what they had was not true greatness.

“Greatness is living your life with godly virtue in a way that others will witness the superiority of a life lived for God.”

Greatness is found in virtues like cfharity; integrity; purity; humility; tenacity; responsibility; generosity; dependiblity; morality and the list of godly virtues continues on. Fame; beauty; talent; wealth; cheers; crowds; posters; gloves; monkeys; flowing blonde locks; or string hair and a whitened face is not what makes for greatness.