Two Worship Albums This Year That Make Me Hopeful - Part Two

In my first post on this subject, I wrote about Matt Redman's 10,000 Reasons album. In this post I would like to briefly touch on another album released this year and then give a summary of my thoughts.

The second of the albums is "God of Victory" by The Village (from The Village Church).

With regards to the lyrics, this album has a lot of great lyrics that are theologically rich. In many respects, it has some similar themes as the Redman album. However, there are also some other themes that are sung about - how many modern worship songs do you know that deal with the doctrine of The Trinity as "O God of Our Salvation" does?

O God, The Holy Spirit
Revealing Deity
The fount of life and love divine
Throughout eternity
- O God of Our Salvation

There on the cross He bore our sins
And we became His righteousness
Now we stand here justified
Now we live because He died
- Made Us Alive

In my place, Jesus died
The spotless Lamb laid down His life
The wrath of God was satisfied
In my place, Jesus died
- In My Place

I am guilty but pardoned, by grace I’ve been set free
I am ransomed through the blood you shed for me
I was dead in my transgressions, but life you brought to me
I am reconciled through mercy, to the cross I cling
- To The Cross I Cling

I certainly hope that these Biblical topics cause you to reflect on what God has done by sending Jesus to "to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21) and then by the sending of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and convict us of sin. (John 16:7-13). This is what life is about. This is the proclamation of the Gospel. And it is truly encouraging to me seeing that (mainstream/"popular") worship leaders are using these truths as the foundation of their lyrics.

I would also like to add that I don't want anyone to think I've written off other modern worship artists just because the "theological" content of the lyrics isn't quite as obvious or blatant. I've been very encouraged seeing more music of late with a lot of content that comes straight from scriptures, even if sometimes it seems the song may veer away from that at points. But in addition to just singing along with the songs, I urge you to look in the Bible to see if your favorite songs are rooted in Scripture.

I would love to hear about more musicians that are approaching songwriting like this - let me know of any others. This more doctrinal emphasis in lyrics is very encouraging for The Church!

Finally, and I say this somewhat in passing as I have been listening more to The Village album in particular, there seems to be more of a cadence with the verses than I've noticed on other "praise and worship" albums. They are very rhythmic and it sometimes has the feel of a hymn, which is good. It's not very obvious, but I do get that feel - especially when reading back over the lyrics.

And, as I said in the first post, you really should go get these albums. Now.

Two Worship Albums This Year That Make Me Hopeful - Part One

This year, there have been two worship albums I've purchased that make me very hopeful about the state of modern ("contemporary") worship. In general, here is why I believe this - the lyrics have a deep theological emphasis while at the same time the music is good, modern, but not distracting, and draws people into deeper worship with an expectancy about what God is going to do and has already done for us. In this first part, I will do a mini-review of one of the albums and a follow-up post will be about the other album. I would really urge you to to go out and buy these albums. Now. :)

The first of the albums was more recently released. It is "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman. As this is the most recent album for Redman, you can really tell that his songwriting has improved over the years (I've been listening to his albums since "Heart of Worship" back in 1999 and he's always been blessed by God with songs that have good lyrical content). However, I believe this is his best work yet. You can look around for more reviews, but this one by Zac Hicks encompasses a lot of my initial thoughts on the album as well.

Lyrically, this album has a huge focus on our Justification and Glorification. There is a lot less focus on what we will be doing in the here and now to serve God (part of our Sanctification, certainly) - which is where many worship artists place focus. I could quote from nearly every song as an example of what I mean here, but here are a few lyrical samples in album order.

What heart could hold
The weight of your love
And know the heights
Of Your great worth?
What eyes could look on
Your glorious face
Shining like the sun?
- Holy

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
- 10,000 Reasons

Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no, we never walk alone

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
- Never Once

We couldn't escape
The sin and the shame
That kept us bound
We couldn't break through
We couldn't reach You
So You reached down
- Where Would We Be

O this God is our God even till the end
Standing strong over us, time and time again
Even till the end
- O This God

And, I believe the lyrics that I like the most may be on the last song. They're truly speaking of how Jesus has imparted his righteousness to us through the Cross!

When I stand before Your throne
Dressed in glory not my own
What a joy I'll sing of on that day
No more tears or broken dreams
Forgotten is the minor key
Everything as it was meant to be

As you can see, there is a lot of depth to the lyrics. I hope that many of these songs will stay with the Church and that we will be able to worship through these songs and focus on what God has done for us. I believe that when we focus on The Gospel (the good news of what God has done), then we will be grateful and be more conformed to Christ and then we will be able to do what He has asked us to do. As Jesus said, "My yolk is easy and my burden is light" - this is because we rely on what he's accomplished on our behalf and the overflow of our love for Him will come out in our lives! Although this album has barely been out for over a month, we have used 4 songs in worship already and will be using 2 more new ones in the next few weeks.

El Salvador - We are leaving tomorrow!

Last year, I was blessed to be able to go with a group from my church to Honduras to serve and minister there for a week. The impact of that trip is huge on my outlook on life in general. I was able to use many of the talents God has given me over the years, such as with construction and even recalling a lot of Spanish that I haven't used since high school! One of the great things about the church we attend, Kennesaw First Baptist, is the huge emphasis on missions. Last year our church had 55 people involved in missions outside of Georgia. It's awesome to see how God works through this!

This year another group of us are going to a neighboring country of Honduras - El Salvador. The mission trip starts tomorrow, July 9 through July 16. We will be partnering with Miramonte Baptist Church to assist them with their established ministries. Much of what we will be doing is similar to other mission trips – working with children in their schools, day camps (VBS), evangelistic services, outreach, and possibly some light construction. This time, we will be staying in homes of church members as well, so we will be able to build some relationships that way with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador.

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul quoted Isaiah when he was asking us how people could know Jesus without someone preaching to them. He only cited the first part of that verse, but that entire verse actually speaks much to us. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'” (Isaiah 52:7 ESV)

Although we will be serving in many capacities, the core reason that we are going is to take the good news of Jesus Christ to lost people so that they can be disciples.

Pray for our team as we leave tomorrow. If possible, I will try to post some updates here, so check back. Also, updates will be posted at the KFBC Student ministry blog.

Allowing the Intent of the Translators to Be Heard Today

This is actually an essay I wrote several years ago and had on my website. From some conversations at Greg's blog, I thought I would post that essay here in its entirety. I don't really want to get into debates about the newer translations, but I hope this makes some people think who may come from the King James-only camp.

Imagine, if you will, two translators of the Bible into English. The first one had his body exumed and burned over 40 years after his death. The other was imprisoned, put on trial for heresy, and was strangled to death - followed by a burning of his body. Although this may sound like the type of persecution we imagine that translators faced after 1611, these were actually the first two men to publish English Bibles - John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. Their persecution then was due to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church believed that the people should have to listen to their Mass in Latin and that the Latin Vulgate was the only authoritative version of the scriptures. It was a Pope who had John Wycliffe's body exhumed and burned.

Even today, in America especially, the same passion that the Catholics held for the Latin Vulgate is rampant among those who believe the King James Version of the Bible is the one true translation of the word of God - bar none. This essay is not meant to be technical in nature for there are possibly thousands of documents and websites dedicated to either proving that the KJV is the inspired Word of God or that it has been antiquated. Instead the author will rely on the actual preface to the 1611 Authorized Version, which is a note from the translators to the reader, for the majority of the essay. (This may be viewed alongside the present article by clicking here.) The purpose of this essay is to simply demonstrate that the original intent of the translators of the 1611 Authorized Version was to simply make God's Word available to the English-speaking world. The translators would be appalled today at how their work had come to the point of idolatry.

Looking at the 1611 Preface, the translators began by stating "revising that which hath been laboured by others, deserves certainly much respect and esteem, but yet finds but cold entertainment in the world. It is welcomed with suspicion instead of love, and with emulation instead of thanks: and if there be any hole left for cavil to enter, (and cavil, if it do not find a hole, will make one) it is sure to be misconstrued, and in danger to be condemned." It is clear that the translators knew right off that their revision of previous works (as demonstrated below) would be looked upon dimly. The second heading of the preface is in regards to King James' "constancy", or steadfastness, in regards to making a revision of the previous English Bibles. "His Majesty that now reigns...knew full well, according to the singular wisdom given to him by God, and the rare learning and experience that he hath attained to; namely that whosoever attempts anything for the public (especially if it pertain to Religion, and to the opening and clearing of the word of God) the same sets himself upon a stage to be gloated upon by every evil eye, yea, he casts himself headlong upon pikes, to be gored by every sharp tongue." Not only were the translators aware of possible condemnation for their endeavor, but King James was also fully aware of this fact.

In the next section, the translators offer their praise for the Scriptures in general. Quotations from church fathers such as Augustine, Jerome, Cyril, and Tertullian are offered to the reader which extol the Bible. The translators liken the Scriptures to a "whole paradise of trees of life, which bring forth fruit every month, and the fruit thereof is for meat, and the leaves for medicine."

The following section is offers the reasons for which translation is necessary. They begin with the question "how shall men meditate in that, which they cannot understand?" They close the section by stating "Indeed without translation into the vulgar tongue, the unlearned are but like children at Jacob’s well (which is deep) (#Joh 4:11) without a bucket or something to draw with..."

Next we come to a brief survey of some of the earliest translations of Scripture - beginning with the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament). They begin by stating that "While God would be known only in Jacob, and have his Name great in Israel, and in none other place...then for one and the same people, which spake all of them the language of Canaan, that is, Hebrew, one and the same original in Hebrew was sufficient." In other words, since the Jews were God's only people their Bible in a single language was sufficient. The 17th-Century Roman Catholics believed that Scripture should only be in Latin (they used the Latin Vulgate). The 1611 Authorized Version translators countered this by demonstrating that when Christ came the barrier of Jew and Gentile was broken and there was a need for Scripture in the Greek language. We read that "this is the translation of the Seventy Interpreters, commonly so called, which prepared the way for our Saviour among the Gentiles by written preaching.... It is certain, that that Translation was not so sound and so perfect, but it needed in many places correction." They also provide the example that many of the early fathers used the Septuagint for their commentaries. Following the brief survey of the Septuagint, the translators speak of the early translations into Latin. They state that most of the Old Testament translations were "muddy" because they were made from the Greek and not the Hebrew. The translators are indebted to Jerome for undertaking the translation of the Old Testament "out of the very fountain", or from the Hebrew.

Next, we come to the translators' section regarding "The Translation of the Scriptures into the Vulgar tongues." In this section the translators go briefly through many previous translations into various other "vulgar tongues" - or the common languages of a particular nation. Following this is a brief section on the general "unwillingness" of the Roman Church to allow the Scriptures to be translated into Vulgar Tongues. The Roman Church could claim that they did allow this, but there had to be a request for a license to do this. The translators are basically stating that the Roman Church did not want the Scriptures to be translated because "So much are they afraid of the light of the Scripture, ("Lucifugae Scripturarum", as Tertulian speaks) that they will not trust the people with it....so unwilling they are to communicate the Scriptures to the people’s understanding in any sort, that they are not ashamed to confess, that we forced them to translate it into English against their wills. This seems to argue a bad cause, or a bad conscience, or both."

We now come to a section dedicated to what others (both friends and foes) had to say about this translation. The first question raised was whether the Church has been deceived this whole time. Their response to this question is a quote from Jerome - "Do we condemn the ancient? In no case: but after the endeavours of them that were before us, we take the best pains we can in the house of God." Then we come to some almost cynical questions - "Was their Translation good before? Why do they now mend it? Was it not good? Why then was it obtruded to the people?"

In the following section the translators offer "satisfaction to our brethren". The very first sentence sees the translators stating that they "are so far off from condemning any of their labours that travailed before us in this kind...that we acknowledge them to have been raised up of God, for the building and furnishing of his Church, and that they deserve to be had of us and of posterity in everlasting remembrance." This should be an example of all believers - to acknowledge that previous translations, insomuch as the translator did not set out with an ungodly agenda, should be respected for how God used it to "build" and "furnish...his Church." An analogy is drawn that we may have a wonderful composer but his work would not be so revered if it were not for his instructor or predecessor. They next ask what could be better "than to deliver God’s book to God’s people in a tongue which they understand?" They express the Godly hope that no-one would dislike them for trying to improve upon something that was already good. We go on to read "that whatsoever is sound already...the same will shine as gold more brightly, being rubbed and polished." Throughout this preface we have seen that the translators never once thought that God was using them to do anything but improve upon earlier works. A key phrase from this section is that they hoped to not be disliked but thanked for trying to improve upon the previous translations.

I believe that the next section of the preface begins with a statement that should make all Christians who believe that the King James Version is the only true word of God reconsider their belief. It is perhaps the most concise statement answering the objections current translators receive from King James Version advocates. "Now to the latter we answer; that we do not deny, nay we affirm and avow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession, (for we have seen none of theirs of the whole Bible as yet) contains the word of God, nay, is the word of God." The translators would "affirm and avow" that even the "meanest translation" not only "contains the word of God" but "IS the word of God." (To avow means to "declare assuredly, openly, bluntly, and without shame" and "meanest" is "of poor shabby inferior quality or status or worthy of little regard." - Webster) Here the translators are unashamedly stating that even the worst translations in English are the word of God. Their intent is a far cry from what we hear today.

In the same section we have the allusion to the Romanists burning translations. They also reference the Seputagint once again. They state that even though it "dissents from the Original in many places, neither doth it come near it, for perspicuity, gravity, majesty; yet which of the Apostles did condemn it? Condemn it? Nay, they used it." The translators again prove their point that poor translations are used by God. This is done by their stating that even though the Septuagint is a flawed translation the Apostles actually used it. A final paragraph of this section is an attempt by the translators to give a reason for their "altering and amending our Translations so oft." They state that one should go back over his work and "amend it where he saw cause."

We next come to a section about their purpose and the manner in which they translated. If one still wonders what their intent was they make it perfectly clear here. "Truly (good Christian Reader) we never thought from the beginning, that we should need to make a new Translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one...but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavour, that our mark." Their "endeavour" was to improve upon previous translations. Many humble men were chosen to perform this task. They quote Jerome and Augustine for their next point. They are stating that they used the Hebrew Old Testament and Green New Testament for their present work. They claim that they were not rushed to complete it, as the Seventy reportedly completed the Septuagint in 72 days; nor were they kept from reviewing and revising their work.

The next section offers their reasons for marginal notes. These notes may be due to a word being seldom used or because of "many rare names of certain birds, beasts and precious stones." They state that wise people should rather offer different readings instead of tying the reader to one. Next they state why they did not stick with particular phrasing. They were apparently accused of deliberately changing wordings, but they felt that they should try to keep some uniformity. They ask "is the kingdom of God to become words or syllables? why should we be in bondage to them if we may be free, use one precisely when we may use another no less fit, as commodiously?" They conclude stating that "desire that the Scripture may speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar."

I will leave you with their complete conclusion. My simple prayer is twofold. If you believe that modern translations are Godly I would pray that you take care in your dealings with those who do not. Your love for one another is what demonstrates your faith. If you believe that anything other than the King James Version is not God's word, then I pray that you would truly take to heart what the intent of the translators was when revising the previous Bibles into what we have as the 1611 KJV. Keep in mind that their intent not only allowed for revisions of their 1611 text that you currently read but it also allowed for newer translations to improve upon their work. If you cannot believe this now, then you are truly not with the spirit of those who translated your Bible.

"Many other things we might give thee warning of (gentle Reader) if we had not exceeded the measure of a Preface already. It remains, that we commend thee to God, and to the Spirit of his grace, which is able to build further than we can ask or think. He removes the scales from our eyes, the vail from our hearts, opening our wits that we may understand his word, enlarging our hearts, yea correcting our affections, that we may love it to the end. Ye are brought to fountains of living water which ye digged not; do not cast earth into them with the Philistines, neither prefer broken pits before them with the wicked Jews. (#Ge 26:15 Jer 2:13) Others have laboured, and you may enter into their labours; O receive not so great things in vain, O despise not so great salvation! Be not like swine to tread under foot so precious things, neither yet like dogs to tear and abuse holy things. Say not to our Saviour with the Gergesites, "Depart out of our coast" (#Mt 8:34); neither yet with Esau sell your birthright for a mess of pottage (#Heb 12:16). If light be come into the world, love not darkness more than light; if food, if clothing be offered, go not naked, starve not yourselves. Remember the advice of Nazianzene, "It is a grievous thing" (or dangerous) "to neglect a great fair, and to seek to make markets afterwards:" also the encouragement of S. Chrysostom, "It is altogether impossible, that he that is sober" (and watchful) "should at any time be neglected:" (S. Chrysost. in epist. ad Rom. cap. 14. oral. 26.) Lastly, the admonition and menacing of S. Augustine, "They that despise God’s will inviting them, shall feel God’s will taking vengeance of them." (S. August. ad artic. sibi falso object. Artic. 16.) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; (#heb 10:31) but a blessed thing it is, and will bring us to everlasting blessedness in the end, when God speaks to us, to hearken; when he sets his word before us, to read it; when he stretches out his hand and calls, to answer, "here am I, here we are to do thy will, O God." The Lord work a care and conscience in us to know him and serve him, that we may be acknowledged of him at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Holy Ghost, be all praise and thanksgiving. Amen."

Retrospect: Update From Honduras Mission Trip

First of all, I would like to thank you so much for your prayers and/or financial support!! The trip to Honduras was a huge blessing not only to me personally, but also to everyone who went and those to whom we ministered. We saw God do some wonderful things through us there and I know it has changed me in many respects. I do believe that this will be the first of many more trips that I (and my family later!) will be going on in the years to come where God may lead us. Jen and I still feel a burden for missions in our lives and it is really amazing being able to attend a church with an emphasis on missions. Below, I would love to share some of the things that we did which had an impact on me.

Since Honduras is nearly a third-world country in many respects, we saw a lot of poverty. This kind of poverty is something that we really do not "see" in The States. If any of you are familiar with Blackmon Road in Rock Hill, that kind of poverty was a common sight in Honduras – even in the large city where we were ministering.

One of the things that we did while we were there was to paint the inside and out of a daughter church plant as well as build a shed for them to store some equipment – all in a day's work! This, along with some cleanup there, will help this church minister in their community. Through this work God brought us to do, it opened the door with an older lady next door (who previously only peeked through her windows) about her relationship with Jesus!

We also visited a couple of community schools that basically had open-air classrooms. We were able to have Bible studies, puppets, crafts, and games with the children there. It was refreshing to be able to be so open about the Gospel in these classrooms. One of the schools was more of an inner-city location and we were able to feed breakfast to the children - usually the only meal many of the kids will have for the day. This is one of the ministries that the local church's pastor has at the school.

The last two afternoons we were there, we spent time with kids of all ages at an orphanage. On the first day, a couple of our guys and myself were able to sit down with several of the guys who were 14-17. They had all lived at the orphanage nearly their entire lives (the ones there the least amount of time got there when they were 3). They expressed that they needed prayers for their country as well as for them living there among other general prayer requests. But perhaps the most striking thing to me was the realization that they all had siblings who lived at other orphanages in the area. It is sad that these kids are not even able to live with the people they should be closest to! The next day at the orphanage, one of our girls and her mom were able speak through one of the translators with 4 of the older girls and were able to see them led to faith in Jesus! We pray that as these girls grow in their relationship with Christ that they will be a great example for the other kids there!

The orphanage will always be on my mind and heart. There were maybe 125-150 total kids there, but due to some damage from an earthquake in the past year there are 4 damaged houses that would be able to hold 9 more kids each. This means that there are 36 kids who could be in an orphanage but are not and they are likely on the streets. Dan Moran Ministries, the ministry we went there with, is planning on collecting funds to repair these homes in the very near future. Sadly, Honduras has a closed-border policy for adoptions – meaning that they can only be adopted by others in the country, but we found for $20 per month we can sponsor one of the kids and provide their way to stay at the orphanage.

Again, thank you for your support for me on this journey! God is amazing and I was blessed to witness some great things happening in Honduras through the partner churches there. Continue praying for me, my family, church, and the Honduran people. These words from the Apostle Paul to the Roman church were constantly on our minds and in our hearts while we were there: For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:13-15)

May God continue to bless you!
Chris Whisonant

Honduras Updates Days 4 and 5

On Tuesday, we started the day at a school in the area near Santa Fe Baptist Church. We did puppets, crafts, Bible stories, and games with the kids there. After lunch, we came back and did a door-to-door campaign with our translators through the neighborhood there at Santa Fe. It was great to see the youth coming out of their shells some to go up to the doors of people they don't know and invite them to the church that night. After this, we had some services at the church for kids and adults. With some spare time beforehand, Jody did some magic tricks with red foam balls and the kids thought that was great. Then we did some other songs with puppets and a different Bible story with the Kids. At the same time, Evans was preaching for the adult session. Jody has some pictures and more information here.

On Wednesday, we had another great day. We started the day at Japon school. Just 10 years ago, this school was in shambles and had very few students enrolled. The pastor at the church on that street felt a call from God to start a feeding ministry each morning for all who were enrolled in the school. Now, 10 years later, the school is nearly full (probably 150-200 students) and they are still providing breakfast for the kids - for most of them, this is their only meal of the day! And the school also has a brand new computer lab (with new computers donated by the Honduran President and, I believe, the mayor) because of their tremendous progress. Also, they have won some other awards for being such a great school in the county. Here, we also did puppets, crafts, Bible stories, and some futbol/games with the students. In the afternoon, we went to the SOS orphanage. Many of the kids here (up to 17 years old) have lived there for their entire lives! We ministered to the kids there for a little while, and will be going back there this afternoon. Jody also has a Day 5 blog post here.

Honduras Days 2 and 3

Thank you for your continued prayers for us here! It's been a great trip so far. Jody posted an update on what we did on Sunday (Day 2), so I won't spend much time on that. But I will reiterate the awesome times of worship that we had. I didn't recognize any of the melodies from the Sunday morning worship, but there were several from the Sunday night service at the mother church that were familiar. I know enough Spanish to recognize the phrases that we were singing. It was very powerful to konw that there are Christians all over the world worshiping the same God! Also, our youth that are here did a great job at stepping right in and working with the kids and youth here.

Today, we spent the day working on building a shed for one of the 10 church plants as well as painting their building inside and out. They are in a new 2-room facility and it was a blessing to help them do some of these much-needed things as well as do some cleanup outside in the area where their kids will be playing and learning scripture. It's been a long, hot day! And again, it was great to see all the youth step in and get dirty and covered in paint alongside the adults.

We're now getting ready to hit the ground running tomorrow with more ministry to children in the area. Continue praying for our team!!

Honduran Soccer anyone? (Day 1 of Mission Trip)

We had a great day to start off yesterday here in San Pedro Sula! We're getting acclimated to the time difference and meeting lots of new friends. Last night, we went to Jerusalem Baptist Church to work with their youth group. Before the worship and preaching, we were asked for 5 US and 5 Honduran male volunteers. Turns out it was so that we could play a pickup game of Soccer. And I was a volunteer for this! :) Umm, yeah let's just say we didn't fare too well haha. But our girls team did!

Then we had a time of worship (in Spanish) and we had two youth (Lauren and Joseph) give their testimonies with the translator. Great job guys! After this, Jody preached from Titus 2 and had a wonderful analogy to start with. Trapeze artists can do some amazing things, but they would be severely hindered if they didn't have a net. Christ is our net to fall back on and he wants us to live for him! (There's more to the message, but I don't have much time).

Also, Jody updated the KFBC Students blog with an update from yesterday too.

So continue praying for our team as we are ministering here. Thank you.

How can you support me on a mission trip to Honduras?

The book of Acts is full of accounts of the Apostles and others in the Church who were called to minister in specific locations. We know that these ministries were God’s purpose. While at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13), Paul and Barnabas tied their calling back to Isaiah’s prophecy that God has “made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” And God showed his purpose to Paul and Barnabas through the salvation and changes in the lives of the people they were reaching. Just as God called Paul and Barnabas, God has called us all to be missionaries either locally or in foreign lands.

After Jen and I felt a call from God that we needed to be more active in mission work, I sensed God’s leading me to participate with a foreign missions team. Please pray with me as I prepare to journey to San Pedro Sula, Honduras on June 19-26, 2010. The people of Honduras truly have a need for God and Dan Moran Ministries has been ministering in Honduras and other Central American countries for 20 years. Our church, Kennesaw First Baptist, is partnering with them and will be sending a team to continue missions activity in this area.

The ministry activities I will be involved with include evangelism, VBS, construction projects, and working in day care centers, orphanages, and local schools. The week will be very busy and we are expecting God to continue doing amazing things in Honduras. I feel that many things in my life have prepared me for this opportunity to serve God in Honduras – from the years of Spanish I took in high school to being involved in construction as well as past VBS experience along with leading in worship.

As I mentioned earlier, I need your prayers for the trip preparation, for opening the hearts of the Hondurans, and for our team as we work to raise funds. I’m reminded by Paul to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Along with this letter, you will also find a support team response form. I do rejoice and am grateful for this ministry opportunity before me. I would love to pray for you and hope that you will commit to pray for this work in Honduras. I will also keep you updated as the trip approaches and will share with you the blessings of this trip. If you are so led, I would also greatly appreciate any financial support you could add to your prayers.

Thank you for your friendship, your love, and your support.



If you feel led, feel free to copy and paste the response form below into a message and send to me and I'll add you to our Support Team Mailing List. My email address is chris.whisonant at gmail.com

Support Team Response Form
San Pedro Sula, Honduras – June 19-26, 2010
“When you have done it unto the least of these…you have done it unto me.” Jesus

Name and Contact Information (address, email, and/or phone number)

_____Prayer Support
_____Funding Support


Your missionary investment is tax deductible. If you feel led to support me in this manner, please contact me and I will let you know how to donate.

I would like the privilege to pray for you as you join with us in ministry. In the space provided below, please write any needs or requests that you would like me to place on my prayer list.

Follow-Up To My Last Post (and, I'm BACK!)

Yes, it has been a while since my last post at this blog. But I have now updated my blog theme and may try to have some more activity here.

My last post was about the information given to us at the Recovery.gov website and how it was somewhat misleading. Well, if that wasn't enough, we now have to deal with them giving us inaccurate data which leads one to think that at the very least there is some poor oversight with regards to where our money is going!

Exhibit A: ABC News Article - Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist:

• 30 jobs created in Arizona's 15th congressional district - Arizona only has 8 districts
• 25 jobs created in Connecticut's 42nd district (nonexistent) with zero dollars spent!
• The real kicker is that we've boosted the economy of the US Virgin Islands by around 5% by giving over 75 million dollars for them to create 112 jobs!

Exhibit B: South Carolina - There are currently only 6 congressional districts in SC, yet the Obama Administration and the Recovery Act, under the keen oversight of VP Joe Biden, has managed to create 50 jobs in 7 districts that don't even exist for a total of $40,729,993 - just over $814,000 per job!

So, what can you do to help? I'm going to use the Recovery.gov website's tool to Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse and notify the site that their own spending tracking is either malfunctioning or money is being reported improperly.

Kid you not - when I'm submitting this, I see that the captcha on the form submission reads "George condemn" - why, yes, I do believe that George Washington would condemn the actions being taken by our government!

Word Bending

While listening to some old Toad the Wet Sprocket music this yesterday morning, I heard this line from "Nanci": "I can't believe you - you bend your words like Uri Geller's spoons"

This got me thinking about the new Recovery.gov website. At the bottom left of the main page, we see this chart:

This leads many to believe that this colossal spending bill is around 1/3 "tax relief". Actually, we should all take a look at this a little differently. First of all, here's a pie graph representation of the bill using The Administration's numbers from above:

Yes, that's a huge slice of pie that's tax relief! But if you dig deeper into the site and go to the "Where Is Your Money Going?" page, we can see that 42% of the "tax relief" dollars are actually tax breaks allocated for some of the other parts of the pie. What happens if we re-allocate those "tax relief" dollars over into the separate sections? We see this:

As you can see, it's much more evenly distributed. But without the words (and numbers) having been bent like the spoon above, the public perception of the bill may be drastically shifted. Certainly we're still seeing a big chunk as pure "tax relief" [that I understand much of which will be allocated to taxpayers who should be seeing around $13 per week "extra" on our checks ($400/year single, $800/year couple)]. I won't go into the arguments for or against that here. But one of the other things about the "tax relief" is that $61,000,000,000.00 (yes, Billion) will be going to "Protecting the Vulnerable" (defined here as "low-income and vulnerable households"). This is in addition to the other $81 Billion dedicated to this group. Am I saying that we as people should not be helping out those less fortunate? Far from it! But, monetarily speaking, we should not be calling part of this "tax relief" because many of those people do not even pay taxes. It is estimated that $264 Billion of this spending bill will be welfare spending in some form or another. Sadly, this will be undoing a lot of what President Clinton changed in regards to welfare. (Did I just say it was sad to undo something President Clinton did?!?)

You may not agree that President Obama is bending spoons with his rhetoric, but it is pretty plain to see that he wants people to believe that this is one big "tax relief" +spending bill. I hope you do not get pulled into thinking that or that Republicans should just be onboard with it because it has tax cuts. A tax cut does not a conservative make... (nor does being a Republican mean one is a conservative).

Here's a nice quote from the "Tooth Fairy Economics" article:

"We should not want to "stimulate" an economy based on debt and
overconsumption back into existence. We should want to restructure it
along sustainable lines."

Think about that. Our leaders really do think that this version of our economy is what needs to be revived. It's not! We do need to seriously reconsider what we're doing. For one, the FairTax is a good start as I've said before. A bad idea is spending another $275 Billion to help with mortgages. Even if this bill passes, I've heard estimates that even 40% of those affected won't even be able to pay their mortgages if the interest rates are reduced to 2% on their loans. That estimate can be heard in this video.

Free Christmas Music!

Over at Amazon, they are doing 25 Days of Free - a free Christmas MP3 download every day in December through Christmas day.

Also, hat tip to Greg for letting me know this! There are also a couple of free Brian Setzer Christmas tracks there: Angels We Have Heard on High and Take a Break Guys.

Happy Downloading...

Bailing Out Local Governments?

So there are now many big cities seeking bailouts from the federal government. Atlanta is one of these cities - right down the road from me. Yesterday, in his Nuze, Neal Boortz outlined a plan for how Atlanta should make some changes that would prevent them from having to worry about some of the economic problems. Many of those things can be generalized and implemented by other local governments instead of them asking for federal assistance or raising taxes.

Here is a summary:
- Sell off some land for development
- Privatize some things like garbage collection and the servicing of fleet vehicles
- Trim spending in other areas
- Specifically for Atlanta, the airport should be privatized - good details on this above

This is very important that we start with reduction in local government spending and try to get that to "trickle up". We have way too many unsustainable entitlement programs already in our Federal government, and I'm shocked that doesn't bother some people.

Apple Folks, help!

OK, iPhone support website is HORRIBLE!!

First of all, the choice of only 5 "descriptions" of the problem is really poor - none allow for an actual problem with the device, only for accessories. I guess I'll be calling them later. Here's the issue I'm having - can anyone help? This is on an original iPhone 8GB that I've had almost a year, so it's still under warranty... :)

Yesterday, I started getting this error message when synching my iPhone: "this iPhone cannot be synched. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." I decided to restore from a backup but I continued to get the error. After working with this some more last night, I have found that I ONLY get that error when I try to sync my Photos. This sounds to me like there is some type of corruption on the flash drive. Also, when I try to sync my Google Contacts, the sync never completes or times out - it's been doing "Syncing contacts with 'Chris' iPhone'" for 30 minutes now. Whereas prior to yesterday my syncs would only take a couple of minutes at the most. I am running firmware version 2.1 and have been since the day it was released and I have only installed a handful of apps (which all sync fine). I've never had any problems with this great device, but now it appears that the drive is corrupt! Online searches don't help me out too much, either.

Georgians: Remember to VOTE on December 2!

There are many pundits on both sides of the aisle watching Georgia's Senate runoff between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat challenger Jim Martin very closely. If you live in Georgia, like I do, then you need to make sure that you vote on or by December 2. Advance Voting will start on November 24. This site should hopefully have information soon on where you can vote early. If you need an absentee ballot, you can follow instructions here.

As we currently stand, the Democrats may have 59 seats in the US Senate. This is because the Alaskan and Minnesotan are extremely close and are in recount phases. Some of you may be thinking that 60 Democrat Senators is exactly what this country needs. Senator Clinton believes that this is needed to bring about a certain change and I've seen a quote from President-Elect Obama from several years back stating that the only way to bring about the sweeping change that he feels is needed is with a Democrat President and a supermajority in the Congress.

But I know I'm not the only one who doesn't think this is a great idea - whether it's a Republican or Democrat supermajority. I also know others who have said they don't think it's the best idea to have a single party running both branches - much less a blank check. I know that the House is still not a "supermajority" but it doesn't matter since they don't have filibuster privileges. Dick Morris also has a good column on this.

But really, no matter how you vote, make sure that you make your voice known again on December 2. Perhaps by then we will know if this is truly a case for preventing a supermajority, but you should still vote.

As a side note, I'm really tired of the misleading ads that Jim Martin is running regarding Saxby Chambliss' support of the FairTax. I've written about the FairTax plan here in the past. If you are not familiar with it, I urge you to look into it and give it some thought.

5 Years Ago

Our wonderful daughter was born!! I can't believe that it's been 5 years... She's growing up way too fast too.

Happy Birthday Emma Grace!!!!

Then

Now

ESV Study Bible Out This Week

The ESV Study Bible is now available for purchase online. It hit the stores on Wednesday, but you can pre-order it from the link above. I've been using this translation since it was first published in 2001. It's very readable, literal, and has taken advantage of many of the advances that the translators of the KJV desired to see so that their work of improvement on previous English translations would be still further improved. You can read from this version here.

Go check out this Study Bible - there are tons of resources available in it (check out the Blog section of the Study Bible site for many of these). I plan on getting one soon (probably for Christmas). Along with the resources available in the Bible, everything will also be available online at no additional cost if you own a copy of the Study Bible. Here is a video demonstrating some of the features:

7

Around this exact time of day 7 years ago I was sitting at work when my mom called to tell me that a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought she was crazy until I turned on Fox News in our server room and got my colleagues in there watching. Then hearing reports that the Pentagon was hit. Then the second plane hit the other tower and a plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Then the towers fell... It was really surreal and words can't describe it. Last year, I took the picture below. It's a shot of two flags standing at the site of the World Trade Center with a plane flying just overhead...



And here was a shot of the construction that's happening at Ground Zero:


It was really odd to see this site nearly 6 years later. I wish they had it a little more open - there was a wrap around the fencing and you could only find gaps to look through.

For the past few years I've posted the lyrics to Dream Theater's Sacrificed Sons about 9/11. It's a pretty powerful song. You can find those lyrics here.

And here is a video of them playing the song live in Rome.

A Courageous Story

One of the few podcasts I listen to is Albert Mohler's, and he has a great blog too. Way back on May 6, 2008, he posted a blog titled Welcome to the World, Trig Paxson Van Palin about Governor Sarah Palin's pregnancy and the birth of her son with Down's Syndrome. I urge you to go read it and the AP article to which it links.

She loves her baby boy and is proud of him. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin told the Associated Press. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"

Trig Paxson Van Palin has an extra chromosome, two proud and loving parents, four very happy siblings, and he will bring his own joy to untold numbers of lives.

He will face some unique challenges, but he has a loving family who will face those with him. They will learn together the wonder and beauty of a Down syndrome child and will learn to see the glory of God in his trusting face.

Mothers Day 2008 is certain to be a special day in the Alaska Governor's Mansion. What an unspeakable tragedy that so many other homes will have aborted that joy.

Anti-Obamanomics

Just reading a good article at Mises.org titled: Anti-Obamanomics: Why Everyone Should Be in Favor of Reducing Taxes on the "Rich" Generally, the economists at the site don't post about particular candidates. But with so much focus on the election now, I urge you to go read some from it. It's actually a response to an article in the New York Times Magazine:

Are the American people being primed to elect as President of the United States a home-grown version of Hugo Chavez, in the person of Barack Obama? This is a question one can come away with after reading "Obamanomics," the featured article in this last Sunday's (August 24, 2008) New York Times Magazine. Written by Times' columnist David Leonhardt, the article provides insight into Obama's thinking on economics and the economic policies he would be likely to pursue if he were elected President.

Some of the highlights are as follows:

Two major impediments make it difficult for people to recognize the fact that everyone would benefit from reductions, or, better still, the total abolition of all of these taxes on the so-called rich — made possible, of course, by equivalent reductions in government spending. The first is simply massive ignorance of economics, especially of the general benefit from private ownership of the means of production. People have not grasped the profound insight of Mises that, in a market economy, in order benefit from privately owned means of production, one does not have to be an owner of the means of production. This is because one benefits from other people's means of production — every time one buys the products of those means of production.

I think I know a lot of extremely smart people who say they just don't "get" economics. I don't "get" a lot of things (like chemistry or physics), so that's understandable. But when we're talking about massive redistribution of wealth, this affects us all, so people should try to comprehend economics. And to pre-empt the comment that the Republicans are the ones who have allowed spending to get out of hand - I cede that point. I don't agree with that, but I'm a Conservative and not a Republican. There is a difference! Further, and with more pre-emption in mind, take a look at Senator Obama's acceptance speech. I was going to go through and count the new programs he's wanting to instate that "the government" will pay for, but could not stomach reading past the first few paragraphs of partisan politics and pandering. But you can go here or here for more information on how he's misleading us and how he will increase spending as well. Until Congress decides to buckle down, we'll have to keep raising taxes to pay for the pork.

The redistribution of wealth is allegedly necessary to enable an individual who does not own the wealth presently owned by others to benefit from that wealth. Only as and when their property passes to him can he benefit from it, the redistributors believe. This is the kind of "largesse" Obama intends to practice. It is taking funds from those most prodigious at accumulating capital, capital that would benefit all, and then giving the funds to others to consume. Meeting the needs of the poor with the consumption of capital is Obama's formula for prosperity.

Small business owners will have a hard time growing their businesses when their capital is further taxed. Less growth also means less new jobs. And further, increased taxes on businesses will likely lead to increased cost of goods - which leads to increased prices at the counter. So while the personal income taxes may be less for a person, how much will that be offset by the increased costs incurred because the manufacturers of goods and services now have higher costs?

Starting with tax cuts for the so-called rich — based on equivalent reductions in government spending — is the only hope for the resumption of significant economic progress, indeed, for the avoidance of economic retrogression and growing impoverishment. Because of this, it is actually the quickest and surest road to any major reduction in the tax burden of the average wage earner. It holds out the prospect of the average wage earner being able to double his standard of living in a generation or less. The average standard of living would double in a single generation if economic progress at a rate of just 3 percent a year could be achieved. Such economic progress would also mean a halving of the average wage earner's tax burden in the same period of time — if government spending per capita in real terms were held fixed, for then he would have double the real income out of which to pay his present level of taxes. And then, of course, once all the taxes that most stood in the way of capital accumulation and economic progress were eliminated, further reductions in government spending and taxation could and should take place that would be of corresponding direct benefit to wage earners, that is, show up in the reduction of the taxes paid by them.

This analysis makes clear that an essential flaw of so-called supply-side economics — the policy both of the Reagan administration and of the present Bush administration — was the failure to face up to the need to reduce government spending. While the policy of reducing taxes by both administrations was perfectly correct, most of the potential benefit of the tax cuts was lost through the corresponding enlargement of federal budget deficits. Regrettably, both administrations and their supporters lacked the courage required to abolish government spending programs to make those tax cuts possible without deficits.

Their failure to have done so explains why the great mass of the American people have not benefitted from the tax cuts as they should have. The explanation is that, absent equivalent reductions in government spending, the tax cuts did not translate into increases in capital formation, but the opposite. Instead of there being more demand by business for labor and capital goods, there was less; instead of more rapid economic progress and rising real wages, there has been economic stagnation or outright decline, along with stagnant or falling real wages.

Of course, in a further display of their ignorance and blindness, members of the Left will undoubtedly characterize the line of argument I've presented in this article as the "trickle-down theory." There is nothing trickle-down about it. There is only the fact that capital accumulation and economic progress depend on saving and innovation and that these in turn depend on the freedom to make high profits and accumulate great wealth. The only alternative to improvement for all, through economic progress achieved in this way, is the futile attempt of some men to gain at the expense of others by means of looting and plundering. This, the loot-and-plunder theory, is the alternative advocated by the redistributionist critics of the misnamed trickle-down theory. The loot-and-plunder theory is the theory of Obama, of the Democratic Party, and of much of the Republican Party. It is time to supplant it with the sound economic theory developed by generations of intellectual giants ranging from Smith and Ricardo to Böhm-Bawerk and Mises.