Pastor Bruce’s blog

It’s hard to believe that 2008 is finished and that 2009 is about to begin!  There’s two thoughts we ought to have fixed in our hearts as we make this annual transition.  One, gratitude for what the Lord has done in the past year.  Look back on what happened and what didn’t happen; hasn’t He blessed you?  I’m sure you’ll find that in the past 12 months you have grown in your faith, found new truths, established new relationships and in every way saw God’s involvement in your life. 

The other thought in your heart ought to be trust.  The Lord is sovereign over the affairs of men.  Sure, there are lots of uncertainties, financial, political and otherwise.  But His promise is that He will personally work all of them out for good in you.  You may not become a millionaire this year, but you will be preserved, grow and increase in what’s important.  Trust Him as you make your plans, seek Him for His heart and you’ll be so peaceful when surprises come our way this year.  Surprises?  Yes, but kept in check by the One who loves you and works it all together for good.  New Year’s blessings, PB

Yup, sitting here in a waiting room.  It’s a funny thing, but we all seem to end up here at one time or another.  I’m at the hospital, awaiting my friend Pastor Mark’s emergence from an MRI.  Yes, it did take longer than anyone thought, although, that’s not a problem.  It’s always the question of changing your plans and whether or not that’s going to pose a problem.  And somewhere in the middle of the waiting you’re thinking, did the Lord really orchestrate this?  The answer is always yes.  Because He actually orchestrates all of those little and big things that are out of our control.  And that gives one a great sense of peace, as long as you know that He is gracious and merciful!  Still hanging out, but feeling like I’m in the palm of His Hand!  Blessings, PB

Okay, I’m really pretty perturbed after reading the cover story of Newsweek last evening.  The photo on the front cover shows a Bible with a rainbow colored bookmark extended from it.  The point of the front page article?  Apparently, to somehow educate us all that the Bible is for homosexual “marriage.”  I am absolutely offended!  The clear teaching of the Bible is that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman.  And if I may go further, the Bible also teaches that the practice of homosexuality is in the same category as adultery, fornication and other sexually immoral practices.  Is Newsweek a news magazine or is it an editorial publication that should be renamed “Conjecture Weekly?”  The woman author of the article is neither Biblically literate nor is she objective.  It wasn’t “news.”

The culture war over homosexual “marriage” and abortion will never be over.  Those of us who believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that it teaches us what God thinks about life and how we should live it will never be able to explain away the plainly understood truths written there.  There will always be millions of Americans who will not agree with those who attempt to modify the collective conscience to accept the unacceptable.   We can never hate, persecute or harm those who disagree with God’s Word, but we can never captitulate under the assertion that somehow God’s Word supports these, and other, immoralities.  It doesn’t.  Sorry Newsweek, but you’re absolutely wrong.  And by the way, would you ever have dared to show a photo of the Koran with a rainbow bookmark on your front cover?  I don’t think so.  PB

I was reading an article this week regarding kids cheating in school.  In this article were the conjectures of people trying to explain away the fact that in a recent survey, some 65% of students admitted to cheating.  It included plagiarism of essays, traditional test cheating; the whole range of dishonesty when it came to their academics.  The reason given as to why more kids are admitting to cheating today was the great pressure our children are under today, along with the new tools available to carry out the deed, such as the availability of the internet.  There were no steps toward changing this behavior that I remember being put forward in the article. 

Is it really surprising that more kids are cheating and admitting to it?  Not really.  For decades now the prevailing philosophy toward morality is that morality is relative.  You might think something is wrong, but someone else might not, so there’s really no absolute standard of right or wrong.  It’s relative to you and your situation.  Sound familiar?  That’s because our society at large seems to have embraced and taught moral relativism, as evidenced in the expressed philosophy of many educational institutions.  For example, the Ten Commandments, once prominently displayed in public schools have been removed, as I read in one commentary, for concern that children might follow them! 

Is it really the fact that kids are under so much pressure now the reason that more admit to cheating?  I don’t think so.  Kids are people.  We all have defective hearts that will pursue evil if allowed.  Kids need to be taught that morality is absolute; that it’s absolutely wrong to cheat, to lie, to steal, to be sexually immoral and on and on.  And then we need to hold them to that standard by applying consequences, reasonable ones, for violating those rights and wrongs.  When we do, we’ll raise a generation of people who will carry honesty, integrity and morality into their adult lives and live happier and more fulfilled because of it.  We can’t let our kids grow up believing that they are the helpless victims of forces beyond their control.  Let’s love them enough to confront them in a loving but firm and consistent manner.  They will thank us later.  Blessings, PB