CONFERENCE PREP

I haven't had much time this week to blog much as I'm neck deep in the preparations for the National Conference on Christian Apologetics starting tomorrow evening at Central Church in Charlotte. Southern Evangelical Seminary has been sponsoring the Conference for 10 years and we attract Christians from across the country to hear some of Christiandom's leading apologists sharing about the challenges to the Biblical worldview. I hope to squeeze in a few blogs during the two day event. Keep checking here over the weekend for updates!

SPEAKING THE TRUTH PLAINLY

On Betsy's Page, a conservative reader commented that President Bush's inarticulateness was best illustrated by the fact that he only talked about WMD as the catalyst of the Iraqi War. While I agree that W is a rather poor orator when compared to the three presidents who preceded him, I donnot agree that he was unable to articulate more than one justification for invading Iraq. That charge has been the primary route of attack against the war by the President's challengers and the Main Stream Media (MSM). The truth is, however, much different. I vividly remember President Bush's remarkable speech to the UN in 2002. In the speech, Bush enumerated to that impotent group of appeasers, to Saddam and his sons, and to the rest of the world at least five indictments against Saddam's regime:

1. If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately and unconditionally forswear, disclose, and remove or destroy all weapons of mass destruction, long-range missiles, and all related material. 2. If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately end all support for terrorism and act to suppress it, as all states are required to do by U.N. Security Council resolutions. 3. If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will cease persecution of its civilian population, including Shi'a, Sunnis, Kurds, Turkomans, and others, again as required by Security Council resolutions. 4. If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will release or account for all Gulf War personnel whose fate is still unknown. It will return the remains of any who are deceased, return stolen property, accept liability for losses resulting from the invasion of Kuwait, and fully cooperate with international efforts to resolve these issues, as required by Security Council resolutions.

5. If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately end all illicit trade outside the oil-for-food program. It will accept U.N. administration of funds from that program, to ensure that the money is used fairly and promptly for the benefit of the Iraqi people. If all these steps are taken, it will signal a new openness and accountability in Iraq. And it could open the prospect of the United Nations helping to build a government that represents all Iraqis -- a government based on respect for human rights, economic liberty, and internationally supervised elections.

The United States has no quarrel with the Iraqi people; they've suffered too long in silent captivity. Liberty for the Iraqi people is a great moral cause, and a great strategic goal. The people of Iraq deserve it; the security of all nations requires it. Free societies do not intimidate through cruelty and conquest, and open societies do not threaten the world with mass murder. The United States supports political and economic liberty in a unified Iraq.

WITHERING ON THE VINE

Conservative evangelicals often quote statistics showing a dramatic decline in the liberal gene pool of liberal mainline denominations:

The United Churches of Christ lost 14.8 percent of its members during the 1990s.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was down 11.6 percent. The United Methodist Church fell 6.7 percent and the Episcopal Church another 5.3 percent. But there was nothing earth shattering in the Glenmary Research Center's 2000 data. The Protestant mainline has been fading for a generation.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of evangelical Christians actually talk about their faith to people outside their church comfort zone. Terry Mattingly puts it well:

Christians have all kinds of excuses for why they don't talk to other

people about faith and forgiveness, heaven and hell, he said. It's easy to

say that modern Americans believe that "soul winning" is rude and

intolerant or that all religions are paths that lead to the same eternal

destination. Truth is, some people don't want to talk with real people who

are facing real problems in the real world, he said.



"It's no harder to talk to people about Jesus today than it ever has

been," he said. "The problem is that we've been frightened away from even

trying. We've become content to wag our finger at the world and tell it

how sorry it is and how good we are, instead of telling people about the

grace of God. We've got to get over that."

This election has created a huge "window of opportunity" for Christians to demonstrate, declare, and defend the truth of God's revelation. Please ask God to give you "divine appointments" to express the truth with respect and compassion.

PARADISE SPOILED

My buddy Jack and I have been talking for years about retiring overseas to escape the horrors of liberal America. We had narrowed the choices down to Costa Rica and New Zealand. I have lots of Kiwi friends but I lean toward Costa Rica since I've been there and love the Ticos. Jack had his heart set on New Zealand. Looks like New Zealand may be dropped from our list, however, according to this article.

New Zealand also boasts vocal environmental, anti-globalization and anti-war movements.

Its parliamentary website offers just two media links, and one of them takes users to a left-wing "news service" which carries a range of press releases - but also routinely runs anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli commentary (including this week writings suggesting the U.S. election was a rigged "coup.")

The bad news is New Zealand is becoming LiberalLand. The good news is if the liberals leave, we can stay home!