#1649 (7/14) "A Real Conversation on Police and Society Requires Empathy for Police, Too"

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"A REAL CONVERSATION ON POLICE AND SOCIETY REQUIRES EMPATHY FOR POLICE, TOO" - Scott Erickson / July 13, 2016 / http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/13/a-real-conversation-on-police-and-society-requires-empathy-for-police-too/

A police officer sits on her motorcycle as she waits to take part in the funeral procession for Dallas Police Department's Sr. Cpl. Lorne B. Ahrens. (Photo: Rex Curry/Reuters/Newscom)

Race relations in America, and in particular tensions between communities of color and domestic law enforcement, have seemingly reached a nadir not seen in decades. Tragic incidents, the facts of which are often misunderstood or exploited, have contributed to a growing sense of detachment by some within society. Feelings of “us versus them” have calcified into outright hostility, anger, and resentment.

Sadly, some have disingenuously used recent events to promote a false narrative implicating the American law enforcement community, and often the entire criminal justice system, as systemically prejudiced and deserving of scorn. This drumbeat of criticism is often coupled with dangerous and inflammatory anti-police rhetoric that has made policing in America more dangerous and communities less safe.

Critics have suggested that much of the tension that shrouds police and community relations could be softened if only the police would better understand the unique experiences and worldview of those with whom they interact, particularly within communities of color. This is absolutely true. Empathy is a vitally important element of effective policing. But to be truly effective, empathy must be shared and understood as a two-way street.

Less than a day after last week’s tragic, cold-blooded murder of 5 Dallas-area police officers in an unprecedented act of terror against the law enforcement community, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called upon police officers to put themselves “in the shoes of those African-American families who fear every time their children go somewhere, who have to have ‘The Talk,’ about, you now, how to really protect themselves [from police], when they’re the ones who should be expecting protection from encounters with police.” Clinton was understandably encouraging empathy in the context of police and community interactions; however, in order to have a “real conversation” on policing in America there should be an acknowledgment that empathy must be shared if we are to expect tensions within police and community relations to ease. Clinton encouraged the proverbial walk-a-mile-in-one’s-shoes introspection of the African-American experience, an absolutely appropriate suggestion.

But the public would have been better served if instead our nation’s leaders called for all Americans, and in particular those most critical of law enforcement, to put themselves in the shoes of the average beat cop patrolling an American city in the year 2016.

What does it feel like to approach a vehicle with one or more individuals in it when you have absolutely no clue if they’re armed or mean you harm? How might an officer’s attitude toward a person they first encounter be influenced by their past experiences with others in similar situations? Perhaps repeatedly dealing with the collective ills of society might make some officers more insular, guarded, or cautious.

Imagine what it is like to work among these conditions. Now stop for a moment and really imagine what it is like. It is easy to verbalize an understanding of the emotional and physical challenges of being a police officer, but it is much harder to actually put yourself in their shoes.

How many jobs require a person to legitimately wonder if they will make it home to their families at the end of their shift? How many jobs routinely expose a person to physical assault, disease, and the deprivations of society?

It may be easy to dismiss these considerations, to cynically suggest that they’re only meant to justify bad behavior and distract from other issues. But to do so belies a disingenuous and cavalier attitude toward the actual pursuit of an improvement in police and community relations.

Individual incidents should always be judged on their respective merits and conclusions should be drawn only following an objective analysis of all available facts and evidence. Although that may take more time than many people are willing to commit prior to indulging their emotional response, we are far more likely to do so if we employ a sense of shared empathy toward all participants within a given situation.

The public is constantly being told that we need to have a “real conversation” on police and community relations. But until that “real conversation” includes a willingness from all sides to acknowledge the legitimacy of each other’s respective concerns, we will continue to spin ourselves into a circle with those on each side of the ideological divide unsatisfied with the conclusions of the other.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Scott G. Erickson is the president of Americans in Support of Law Enforcement.

#1648 (7/13) "On Freedom and a Fourth of July Abroad"

"ON FREEDOM AND A FOURTH OF JULY ABROAD" - Nolan Peterson / July 03, 2016 / http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/03/on-freedom-and-a-fourth-of-july-abroad/ [NOTE: Be sure to read the excerpt from one of the letters sent for the follow-up article noted afterwards. It explains well why we need more of a foreign perspective on just how much America means to the rest of the world. - Stan]

A U.S. Army soldier is happy to fly the colors in the Baltics during Operation Dragoon Ride, which attracted thousands of supportive Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

PARIS—This will be my second consecutive Fourth of July spent outside the United States. Last year, I celebrated our nation’s birthday in Mariupol, Ukraine. It’s a city only a few miles from the front lines of the still-simmering war in Ukraine. I had burgers and beer with an eclectic group that evening—a Swedish sniper, two former French Foreign Legion soldiers, two former U.S. Army Rangers, and war correspondents from Australia, Belgium, and the United States.The war was still there, only a few miles away. We could get to it in a 20-minute car ride.

Ukrainian soldiers like these two, near the front in eastern Ukraine, tend to be fans of America. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

The occasional thud of a mortar or artillery round from nearby Shyrokyne filled in for the fireworks. Audible reminders that Ukrainian soldiers were (and are) still fighting to achieve the things we celebrate every Fourth of July—freedom, democracy, and a chance to pursue happiness.

It’s almost ritual to express gratitude for the American way of life, or to thank a veteran or a soldier on holidays like Independence Day. The rehearsed nature of it all isn’t the result of insincerity; it’s just that many of us living in the United States have never tasted the alternative. We’ve never actually lived in a place that isn’t free—a place like eastern Ukraine where families still die in the night from Russian artillery. Seeing such things makes you want to kiss the ground when you finally come back home.

Celebrations in war always seem more passionate. There’s a little bit of that end-of-days feeling like it’s officially time to eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow isn’t a given. It was like that in Mariupol last year. One year later, the war hasn’t ended. Ukraine is still waiting for that tomorrow. Artillery and small arms are still fired in anger every day along the hundreds of miles of trenches and fortified checkpoints spread throughout the Donbas. Soldiers in opposing camps still peer at each other across no man’s land. It’s still a war. People are still dying.

Yet, I retain hope Ukraine will one day celebrate its Independence Day like we do. One day the explosions will be from fireworks and not weapons of war.

Common Thread
     This past year I visited Tibetan freedom fighters living in exile in India and Nepal, veterans of a secret CIA-backed guerrilla campaign against China during the Cold War. In eastern Ukraine I visited Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines against Russian aggression. And in Iraq I embedded with Kurdish peshmerga soldiers on the front lines against ISIS outside Mosul. A common thread united these disparate bands of soldiers divided by culture, history, and geography. For all of them, the United States symbolized what they were fighting for.

Some of the Ukrainian soldiers I met on the front lines wore American flags on their uniforms. For Ukrainians, the U.S. flag long had been a symbolic pushback against the Soviet Union and the Kremlin’s authoritarian rule. And now, 25 years after the fall of the USSR, as Ukraine again finds itself on the receiving end of Russian aggression, some have turned to symbols of America once more as a way to represent their independence and annoy their enemies. I met one Ukrainian soldier at a machine gun nest in the trenches who wore a Ronald Reagan Presidential Library T-shirt. I asked why he was wearing that shirt in combat. He told me: “Because Reagan won the Cold War, and it would piss Putin off.”


Tsering Tunduk fled Tibet in 1959 after Chinese soldiers executed his parents. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

The Tibetan freedom fighters I met, now old men living in solitude in lonely Himalayan villages, told me U.S. military support inspired them to fight back against China’s invasion and genocide. These soldiers, many of whom were former Buddhist monks, fought the mechanized might of China’s People’s Liberation Army while on horseback and with World War I rifles. “I have a deep appreciation and a great respect for America,” Sonam Dorjee, an 81-year-old former Tibetan resistance fighter told me during an interview last year in McLeod Ganj, India.

‘Friends Forever’
     This May, I embedded with Kurdish peshmerga soldiers on the front lines outside Mosul. I saw smiles creep over the Kurds’ faces as U.S. warplanes pummeled Islamic State fighters a couple miles away across no man’s land. For the older peshmerga soldiers, the sound of U.S. jets held special significance. They remember how Saddam Hussein’s warplanes used to inspire terror.
     Before a U.S.-led coalition deposed him, the Iraqi dictator killed hundreds of thousands of Kurds from the air with chemical weapons and conventional bombs in operations such as the genocidal al-Anfal campaign. Now, the peshmerga rejoice at the sound of jet engines, knowing the crackling roar symbolizes their American ally punishing the enemy.


A soldier mans a Kurdish peshmerga position near Mosul, Iraq. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

“We will be friends with America forever for the help they’ve given us,” peshmerga Gen. Omar Hama Ali Farag told me on the front lines outside Mosul. He went on:  "We had the Anfal genocide and many sufferings, but the peshmerga have always seen America as our friend. We could have never gotten rid of Saddam without George W. Bush. And we can never have our independence without America’s help."

North Star

This woman with the American flags was among thousands of civilians who came out to welcome a U.S. Army Stryker convoy traveling across the Baltics. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

     Our country’s flag and the men and women who wear it on their uniforms are still seen as a force for good in many places around the world.
     That was evident in February as I traveled with a U.S. Army Stryker convoy across the Baltics. The convoy, called Dragoon Ride, was meant to show U.S. resolve to defend NATO’s Baltic members from Russia. Along the way, thousands of Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians lined the roads waving American flags to welcome our troops. Fathers had children on their shoulders. Young women blew kisses to the troops. At each stop, in each little village, hundreds of local people gathered to take selfies with the American soldiers and shake their hands.  I wish you could have seen it; it would have made you proud to be an American.

Maintaining a dominant military with a global presence is not just about quantifiable metrics of national defense or international stability. Our military is also the torchbearer for our country’s values and a beacon of hope for people in times of peril.

On the Fourth of July we celebrate the achievement of a dream that, whether we know it or not, still serves as a North Star to people around the world brave enough to fight for a better life.

An appreciative observer of the U.S. Army's Dragoon Ride across the Baltics. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Nolan Peterson, a former special operations pilot and a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is The Daily Signal’s foreign correspondent based in Ukraine.

"‘Uplifting’: Fourth of July Feature Strikes Chord With Daily Signal’s Audience" - Ken McIntyre / July 11, 2016; http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/11/uplifting-fourth-of-july-feature-strikes-chord-with-daily-signals-audience/"So often during our national discussion we forget the larger duty America has to oppressed peoples and nations throughout the world. We forget that the true power of American support comes not only in the form of soldiers and money and materiel, but in hope: renewed faith that dreams of freedom, equality, self-determination, and basic protection of civil liberties will not long be dreams deferred. I struggle to this day to divine where I stand on war and violence and the role of the American military in the world, and it is because your article provided me with a modicum of clarity that I write to you today. Your article reminded me of the great spark of hope that America and her military can inspire in the souls of men and women downtrodden and oppressed—something I often forget. This must be something that I consider more frequently as I move forward with my discernment. For your reminder, I say thank you..."

#1647 (7/12) "America’s Next President Must Fix Autopilot Entitlement Spending"

"AMERICA'S  NEXT PRESIDENT MUST FIX AUTOPILOT ENTITLEMENT SPENDING" - Christian Chelak / Romina Boccia / July 06, 2016 / http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/06/americas-next-president-must-fix-autopilot-entitlement-spending/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CapitolBell&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkRkbE5XTmpZV1kxWkRrNSIsInQiOiJISGQ0U2ZjNkM5bTRHb1dHNmh6NjlzTTArdTByNzlxNUF0Zys1T3Zlb2hRRWdDUUpjcmNcL1pMMzF2Y3lHTGgrcmxpUkxmcWdcL2hKcmpXQXNFRjlLdmdZdnh6RVN2bk5CUWlWK3RBK1BaODlFPSJ9

A recent report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget raises concerns that proposals by this year’s presidential candidates would further increase the national debt.

America’s major entitlement programs—Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and Social Security—are driving the nation’s greatest fiscal challenge, and yet Americans have heard very little about how the candidates will address these programs.

Autopilot entitlement spending on federal health care programs and Social Security, along with the net interest the nation must pay on the federal debt, are projected to consume all federal tax revenues by 2033.

Under this scenario, there would be no revenue left to fund other national priorities without significant tax hikes or immense debt burdens.

Congress masks much of this entitlement spending in the budget by classifying it as “mandatory,” which allows spending on these programs to grow on autopilot every year without the need for an annual appropriation. Spending on federal health care programs and Social Security has grown so rapidly that these programs now make up a majority of the federal budget and will comprise an even greater portion of the budget in the coming years.

In 2015, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 52 percent of all federal spending. Conversely, spending for other national priorities like defense declined.

Moreover, spending on both Social Security and federal health care programs is projected to drive more than half of the projected increase in spending over the next decade (assuming discretionary spending is not increased above current law). Younger generations stand to lose the most in the future as a result of fiscally irresponsible government policies.

It’s critical to addressing the root causes of high deficits and debt to recognize that the federal government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Although there is a need for comprehensive tax reform to create a simpler and less complex tax code, higher taxes will not solve the nation’s fiscal crisis because entitlement programs are outpacing economic growth and revenue cannot grow faster than the economy in the long run.

America’s next president should acknowledge the problem at hand and exhibit leadership to build support for necessary changes to America’s most popular, but also most unsustainable, programs.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Christian Chelak is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. Romina Boccia focuses on federal spending and the national debt as the deputy director of Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies and the Grover M. Hermann fellow in federal budgetary affairs at The Heritage Foundation. 

"Social Security Programs Face Depletion in Near Future" - Romina Boccia / Rachel Greszler / June 28, 2016; http://dailysignal.com/2016/06/28/social-security-programs-face-depletion-in-near-future/

#1646 (7/11) "The Gospel in the Aftermath of Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Falcon Heights - WHERE TO FROM HERE?"

"The Gospel in the Aftermath of Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Falcon Heights - WHERE TO FROM HERE?" - John Stonestreet|

Breakpoint.org: 7/11/ 2016; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/29547 [AS I SEE IT: The one place I would diverge from this commentary is the flat statement that we have "a race problem." I think that we must be sure to acknowledge that "race problems" exist in some form everywhere in our world and that in the past half century America has come a long way in addressing it's race problem. I think we need to be aware that there are a few who only want to stir the passions of hate rather than trying to bring about real peace among the races. Hopefully those few will be noted for who they are while the rest of us seek to bring about real peace and reconciliation. - Stan]

Last week seems like a bad dream, but it wasn’t. Is it even possible to make sense of such cultural chaos?

We wake up this day as a nation wishing the events of last week didn’t actually happen—the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, of Philando Castile in Minnesota, and five police officers, still unnamed as I write this, in Dallas. A demonically insidious string of events, hitting our nation like a series of pounding waves.

The endless articles, tweets, blog postings, and conversations reveal just how bewildered we are. Honestly, it reminds me of mentally trying to muddle through the events of 9-11. Only, this is different. Not worse, just different. On 9-11, we were reeling from an outside attack. Today, we reel from a brokenness within.

While confirmation bias tempts us to retreat to our pet causes, explanations, and scapegoats, we’d be wiser to listen to the tweeted words of Florida Pastor H.B. Charles, “The Bible exhorts us to weep with those who weep. It doesn’t tell us to judge whether they should be weeping.” In particular, two communities in our midst weep: African-Americans and law enforcement officials. We can and ought to be distressed by the brokenness on both sides.

Let us first and unequivocally say every human life is precious and valuable because it bears the very image of God. C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory, “You’ve never met a mere mortal… Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.”

Let’s also say that the week’s events are a surface explosion of issues long present in our society. As my friend Pastor Chris Brooks said to me Friday, those asking “where did this come from?” reveal they’ve not been watching or listening. Alexander Solzhenitsyn saw it back in 1978, when he remarked (in a speech fittingly called “A World Split Apart”) the smooth surface film of our society was thin indeed, with only illusions of stability and health.

We’re not okay, folks, and we haven’t been in quite a while. These horrible events are not creating unrest; rather they are revealing it. Our society is weak in its middle—at the “social glue” level of local communities and civil society. And, we have a race problem. We might disagree on why, but it won’t do us any good to say it doesn’t exist. Here we are – and there’s no way out of this except by confronting it.

Third, and most important, let us proclaim, “Christ has risen!” It is true about this moment as it is about every other moment of history – good or bad.

And now, Christian, what might we do?
     First, pray. It sounds trite and expected, but it isn’t. I’m spending today praying for the pastors tasked with shepherding congregations through this on Sunday. I’m thankful Russell Moore has pointed out that happy, clappy worship songs in church won’t do at such a cultural moment. There are times to lament. This is one of them.
     I am also praying for Christians tasked with talking about this with colleagues, families, and neighbors on Monday. I am praying we will be Gospel-shaped in our words and tone.
     But mostly, I pray today for mercy using ancient, tried, and tested words: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Second, we can, in the words of the Apostle James, be quick to listen and slow to speak (1:19), particularly to those with whom we agree on the Gospel but differ in experiences as citizens.

Third, we can focus efforts on rebuilding those institutions able to address the problems we face. Government has a role, but the state cannot lead us in reconciliation, virtue formation, or trust building. God has uniquely equipped the home and the church for those tasks.

It looks bleak, but we worship the same Christ whose Gospel has brought healing to post-adultery marriages, post-riot cities, even post-genocide Rwanda. It can here too. There is, in fact, no other place to look.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

RESOURCES
"How Pastors Can Address the Shootings This Sunday" - Russell Moore | RussellMoore.com | July 8, 2016; http://www.russellmoore.com/2016/07/08/preach-shootings-sunday/

"Biblical Thinking in Tragic Days, audio link" - Chris Brooks | Equipped Radio Program | July 8, 2016; http://www.moodyradio.org/Equipped-with-Chris-Brooks/2016/07-2016/2016-07-08-Biblical-Thinking-in-Tragic-Days/

"Lamenting, listening, praying and participating our way to change" - Anthony Bradley | WORLD Magazine | July 9, 2016; https://world.wng.org/2016/07/lamenting_listening_praying_and_participating_our_way_to_change

"A World Split Apart" - Alexander Solzhenitsyn | Harvard Commencement address | June 8, 1978; http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm

As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda - Catherine Claire | Zondervan | February 2009

"BreakPoint This Week" - John Stonestreet and Ed Stetzer | BreakPoint.org | July 8, 2016; http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/discourse/entry/15/29551
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"An Act of Terror Against the Men and Women of Law Enforcement" - Scott Erickson /  July 08, 2016; http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/08/an-act-of-terror-against-the-men-and-women-of-law-enforcement/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CapitolBell&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWlRNME9ERmhObUl3WVdOayIsInQiOiJvZVRQQkM3TUtCeHBIWDVTY2d5bjhQdmF5YWkrRkNWQ3NTN0x4clNFZlhrblR1aE9sS040SVE5d0Z6dHZqU1o0TnJnYnJrM0pXbmdhYU91cko3SlA1RldScDFodndWUkhJUG1hWm0xNCs2Zz0ifQ%3D%3D

#1271 (7/10) SUNDAY SPECIAL: "When the Good News Isn't Proclaimed - EVANGELIZATION ON THE WANE?"

"When the Good News Isn't Proclaimed - EVANGELIZATION ON THE WANE?" - By: John Stonestreet| Breakpoint.org: March 10, 2015; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/27005?spMailingID=10839360&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=500642403&spReportId=NTAwNjQyNDAzS0 [AS I SEE IT: (This was a post I neglected to publish last year but the subject is still quite relevant.) As I shared in my church neighborhood group, we are all missionaries - with just a relatively few of us that mission field is in another country. For the vast majority of us here in post-Christian America, our mission field is wherever God has placed us - whether our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, the person we "happen" to sit next to at a sporting event (for hours!) or on a plane, or whoever. Everywhere we are in contact with a non-Christian for more than a few minutes we have an opportunity - given to us by a sovereign God - to share the gospel. Unfortunately, for too many of us, we don't have a sense of urgency or an understanding that - like the man pictured falling off the edge of the cliff in the picture below - anyone without a relationship with Christ at any time can slip into a Christ-less eternity. Christ's Great Commission will never be fulfilled until every believer sees the mission field around him/her and determines to reach as many as possible with the Good News. - Stan]

While we rightly work at cultural restoration, we mustn’t forget the necessity of changing hearts and minds too.

Here’s an uncomfortable question for all of us: When was the last time we shared the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ with anyone? [The last time we told someone that Jesus died so that God could forgive their sins, and that we must receive that gift in trusting faith?] According to the Barna Group, although 100 percent of “evangelicals” believe they have a personal responsibility to evangelize, a full 31 percent admit to not having done so in the past 12 months.

Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, notes that his church—the Southern Baptist Convention—is reaching non-Christians only half as effectively as it did 50 years ago. Rainer calls the trend “disturbing.” And indeed it is. “By almost any metric,” he says, “the churches in our nation are much less evangelistic today than they were in the recent past.”

Southern Baptists say that reported baptisms have fallen in seven of the last nine years. “I am grieved we are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness,” Rainer told Baptist Press. “May God renew all of us, including me, with a greater heart for the lost.”

To find out why this is happening, Rainer conducted an unscientific Twitter poll, with the question, “Why do you think many churches aren’t as evangelistic as they once were?” I’ll give you the top five, and you can come to BreakPoint.org for a link to the rest. It’s painful to read. #1, “Christians have no sense of urgency to reach lost people.” #2, “Many Christians and church members do not befriend and spend time with lost persons.” #3, “Many Christians and church members are lazy and apathetic.” #4, “We are more known for what we are against than what we are for.” And #5, the churches too often are using ineffective evangelistic strategies. Ouch!

It’s not just Southern Baptists, of course. Barna found that the practice of evangelism is falling among self-identified “born-again” “Baby Boomers” and “Baby Busters.” However, evangelism is actually growing among a group you might not expect—“born again” Millennials. Some 65 percent of Millennials shared the Gospel in 2013, compared to 56 percent in 2010. That’s a good trend!

So what do we do? Well, Ed Stetzer of Lifeway says in Christianity Today that while the message of evangelism should never change, our methods—in response to a changing culture—must change. Stetzer points out that in past decades, radio ministries, bus ministries, and evangelistic crusades reached many—and of course still do. But one thing that’s always been constant, and is more important today than ever, is relational approaches. As Stetzer says, “I lead a small group in my neighborhood every Sunday night . . . I might not be able to take them to a Billy Graham crusade, but I can invite them to my home because they already know me and trust me.”

Also, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association reports very encouraging results using online evangelism. According to CT, “Of the 1.6 million people who told the BGEA they prayed ‘to accept Jesus Christ as [their] Savior’ in 2014, less than 15,000 did so in person, while more than 1.5 million did so with the click of a mouse.”

Of course, evangelism is not the ultimate goal—discipleship is, seeing hearts and minds changed by the increasing realization of the Lordship and sufficiency of Christ which leads to a life of obedience—that’s the summary of the Great Commission. But there’s a first step, isn’t there? So let’s all recommit ourselves to sharing the Gospel with friends and neighbors—in whatever way the Lord leads and however He has equipped us.

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FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION
     As John pointed out, our first step is sharing Christ's love and forgiveness, and encouraging others to be His followers. After all, Jesus' command to us is pretty clear, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15) And Paul urged us to proclaim the good news of Christ, professing "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believe" (Romans 1:16).
RESOURCES
"Fifteen Reasons Our Churches Are Less Evangelistic Today" - Thom Rainer | theaquilareport.org | February 24, 2015; http://theaquilareport.com/fifteen-reasons-our-churches-are-less-evangelistic-today/
"Evangelism Never Changes, But the Methods Do" - Ed Stetzer | Christianity Today | February 6, 2015; http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/february/evangelism-never-changes-but-never-stays-same.html
Love, the Ultimate Apologetic: The Heart of Christian Witness - Art Lindsley | IVP Books | May 2008
Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith - Bill Hybels | Zondervan | July 2012
The Mark of the Christian - Francis Schaeffer | IVP Books | January 2007

#1645 (7/9) PRO-LIFE SAT: "St. Louis Planned Parenthood Sends 60th Patient to Emergency Room

"ST. LOUIS PLANNED PARENTHOOD SENDS 60TH PATIENT TO EMERGENCY ROOM, ILLUSTRATING NEED FOR OVERSIGHT" - July 4, 2016 By  Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue; http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/st-louis-planned-parenthood-sends-60th-patient-to-emergency-room-illustrating-need-for-oversight/


St. Louis, MO — Less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court nullified certain abortion safety laws, a medical emergency at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in St. Louis, MO, has illustrated how women have been left in jeopardy by the nation’s High Court.

It happened on Saturday, July 2, 2016, a heavy abortion day. Paramedics were photographed by pro-life activists as they removed a Planned Parenthood patient from the abortion facility and loaded her into an awaiting ambulance. Abortion workers and an armed security guard attempted to conceal the incident by holding up large brown tarps.

This medical emergency represented the 60th time since 2009 that ambulances have been dispatched to the St. Louis Planned Parenthood to render aid to patients that Planned Parenthood was not equipped to provide.

Planned Parenthood is currently the only abortion facility in Missouri.

Provisions that were struck down by the Supreme Court [last month] included required hospital privileges for abortionists that must be maintained within 30 miles of their abortion facilities. Missouri has a similar law, and if that is eventually nullified, Missouri women will be left with few, if any, protections against substandard abortionists that cannot qualify for hospital privileges.

“The situation is Missouri is bad enough without stripping way one of the only safety measures in place to protect women. If you don’t think they need protecting from quack abortionists, you have never heard of Kermit Gosnell, Steven Brigham, James Pendergraft, or any number of currently practicing abortionists that no concept of medical or ethical standards,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.

In response to a lawsuit filed by Operation Rescue, the St. Louis Fire Department recently released a list of 58 medical emergencies at the Planned Parenthood facility from January 1, 2009 through April 6, 2016 – nearly twice the number expected. The list included the type of injuries sustained by patients, which ranged from allergic reactions to serious hemorrhaging. It did not include yet another medical emergency at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood facility that occurred on May 13, 2016.

“In the current rush to abandon safety regulations in response to the Supreme Court decision, we should remember that abortion facilities in America remain under-regulated with little or no accountability, even to regulators, legislators, and law enforcement,” said Newman. “When abortion businesses operate without regulatory oversight, women suffer, women die, and babies die. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court drank the Planned Parenthood Kool-Aid, and now, tragically, we can expect to see many more injuries inflicted by arrogant abortionists who hold themselves above the law.”

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
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"Investigation Finds Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz So Bad It “Borders on Outright Medical Malpractice”" - Micaiah Bilger, JUL 6, 2016 ; http://www.lifenews.com/2016/07/06/investigation-finds-planned-parenthood-abortion-biz-so-bad-it-borders-on-outright-medical-malpractice/
"Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Recently Closed a Clinic, What It Left Behind is Shocking" - Jay Hobbs, July 7, 2016;http://www.lifenews.com/2016/07/07/planned-parenthood-abortion-biz-recently-closed-a-clinic-what-it-left-behind-is-shocking/

#1644 (7/8) "First They Came for the Florists..."

"First They Came for the Florists - THE THREAT TO PASTORS' RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN IOWA" - By: John Stonestreet| Breakpoint.org: July 7, 2016; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/29538

A so-called “clarification” on anti-discrimination laws in the heartland makes the state the arbiter of sermons and services.

In 2007, Iowa enacted a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The law applies to what are known as “public accommodations.” Now federal law typically considers “public accommodations” to be facilities like restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, retail establishments, and parks.

But recently, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission added something atypical to that list: church services. In its “Provider’s Guide,” the Commission offered an answer to the question, “Does this law apply to churches?” with a resounding “Sometimes.” What follows is troubling: “Iowa law provides that these protections do not apply to religious institutions with respect to any religion-based qualifications when such qualifications are related to a bona fide religious purpose.”

I say troubling because implied in that statement is that the state gets to determine what is and what is not a bona fide religious purpose.

And what follows that goes from troubling to outrageous: “Where qualifications are not related to a bona fide religious purpose, churches are still subject to the law’s provisions: For example, a child care facility operated at a church or a church service open to the public.” Which, as the Alliance Defending Freedom rightly pointed out, “encompasses most events that churches hold.”

If the Commission interpretation stands, then churches—at any service open to the public—would be prohibited from doing or saying anything that would “ ‘directly or indirectly’ make ‘persons of any particular . . . gender identity’ feel ‘unwelcome’ in conjunction with church services, events, and other religious activities.”

Given the almost limitless capacity for people to take offense or feel “unwelcome,” this would effectively ban sermons or other religious instruction about traditional Christian sexual ethics. This is what the Supreme Court famously dubbed a “chilling effect” on the freedom of religion and of speech.

Now if you’re wondering “how is this even legal?” you’re not alone. Paul Gowder, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Iowa, told the Des Moines Register that any attempt to regulate the content of sermons is “blatantly unconstitutional” and “absurd on its face.”

That’s why the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing two Iowa churches, has filed what is known as a “pre-enforcement challenge,” which challenges the constitutionality of the measure before it even takes effect. 

Let’s hope and pray that the ADF prevails. But even if they do, it’s a sobering reminder of three things.

First, this didn’t happen at the Supreme Court or in left-leaning Washington State: it happened in the heartland, in Iowa. Religious freedom is in a precarious condition.

Second, it shows how wrong those who insisted, “‘Oh, they’ll never make pastors do this," or "They’ll never make churches do that” really were. The state of Iowa is pretending to arbitrate what counts as a bona fide religious purpose. Everything a church does should have a religious purpose, especially outreach. That’s why every church service is open to the public.

Finally, it brings to mind Martin Niemöller’s famous line about failing to stand for others until there was no one left to stand up for him. Too many pastors failed to stand up for the freedoms of people in the pew because, well, they weren’t bakers or photographers or florists. And the pastors assumed they were safe. Clearly they aren’t.

The unprecedented attempt to regulate religious speech in Iowa shows the lengths to which enemies of religious freedom are prepared to go, proving it was never about cakes or photos in the first place.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

RESOURCES - The  threat to religious liberty is no longer something that can be ignored.  Click on the resources below to be prepared and equipped to engage this issue on the local level.

"Churches challenge state on gender identity law" - William Petroski | Des Moines Register | July 6, 2016; http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/05/church-sues-state-iowa-over-transgender-bathroom-rules/86700392/

"Federal Definition of 'Public Accommodation'" - Legal Information Institute | Cornell University Law School;https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/12181
"Sermons on biblical sexuality illegal in Iowa?" - Christiana Holcomb | Alliance Defending Freedom | July 5, 2016; http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/10015
"Religious Liberty: The Necessary Fight" - David French | National Review | April 28, 2016; http://www.nationalreview.com/article/434727/religious-liberty-protections-are-vital
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"Pastor Says State Law Threatens His Right to Teach the Bible in His Church" - Leah Jessen / July 06, 2016;http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/06/pastor-says-state-law-threatens-his-right-to-teach-the-bible-in-his-church/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTlRWaU4ySTNPV0U1TW1WayIsInQiOiJxNVNka2doNlNlWGx4WGw0bXhrUm83N051RGZtbkhCd0dNSFVqTG1GQjJ3UHdKdHJYTUZlQTRwSkVIZEJrWUNhM21LdDJIV1JOWnZpMU5UcjRiRWhuaEhGd3RiRktEcklmaXpxZWN5cnUyND0ifQ%3D%3D