Christians Get Focused! Spare the Drama!!

As the northern kingdom of Israel stumbled through their 210 year history which ultimately ended in the Assyrian dispersion in 721 BC, their kings were continually recorded as never having repented of the sin of Jeroboam, the very first king of Israel in the north. This sin included Jeroboam's re-writing Israel's history, introducing new gods and establishing a new philosophy to live by. With out the road map of history Israel could never return to where they had derailed from God's plan. Thus, they could never really identify their sin and repent. History, that is correctly recorded and taught, is the truth that is necessary for a nation to judge itself by. Incorrect history is not truth. Re-written history is a lie and will lead to wrong conclusions.

Some modern errors in the church need to be identified with a little more precision. I am thinking about churches and Christians, including my church and myself, who are quick to point out the sin of homosexuality, the blaspheme of public schools as they forbid prayer while claiming to be non-religious and the failure of our government to honor the constitution while American citizen's race into social error, ignorant of American history and world history. But, these are not the heaviest pivotal points for our society!

How can churches blame homosexuality when adultery and divorce are what actually destroy marriage, families and children? How can churches accuse public schools of not praying when we do not hear prayers of repentance and intercession from the church itself? How can the church accuse politicians of forsaking the Constitution and bemoan the ignorance of public knowledge of our history when the vast majority of churches have forsaken the Scripture and the average Christian's knowledge of the Bible is so pathetic that they would fail an entrance exam into a fifth grade Sunday school class, let alone a college entrance exam.

We, the church, have "redefined" marriage and are destroying children, the next generation!
We, the church, are the one's who refuse to pray, even when we are allowed to pray!
We, the church, are forsaking the Bible and are ignorant of its contents.

Indeed, homosexuality is a sin against God, against man and against natural law. Public schools do oppress Christianity, our Constitution is forsaken and the public is ignorant. But, don't you think it is time for the church to take the beam out of its own eye before they attempt to surgically eradicate evil in human society?

Galyn Wiemers
http://www.generationword.com

Do Not Fear Truth

This is my response to a good blog by Shane Vander Hart.

I agree there is a problem with the evangelical mind of today that is somehow connected back to the revivalism of the 1800’s. This revivalism and the “disestablishment” that followed would be the obvious result of the Reformation. The Reformation was good. The Revivals of the 1800’s were good. Also, the Fundamental movement of the 1920’s was good. Heck, I even enjoyed the Jesus Movement and the Charismatic movement in the ’60’s and ’70’s. Who would complain about the Great Awakening that we saw in the 1700’s? The problem with the Revivalism was not the movement but man’s nature. Free enterprise is good even when dealing with the truth. I mean, start a church, preach the truth and those with ears to hear will come. But, man’s nature (as in preachers and church people) doesn’t want to deal with the failure of being rejected by those without ears to hear. Fear of failure leads to compromise and is followed by the establishment of some form of institutionalism to defend against further challenges and growth. Thus, as foreseen in your quote above, “pragmatic concerns would prevail over principle” (simply put, “fear stifles truth”). For me it is as simple as “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct , rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.” To be truly successful in ministry we must follow the principle of the cross before the crown even in the midst of potential church growth and revivals. In other words, you can not be afraid of failure and rejection which must occur when teaching the Word of God and the orthodox theology found in scripture. Jesus and Paul promised that if you teach truth you would be met with rejection and failure, but credited with being faithful. I believe when enough people reject institutionalized evangelicalism and once again seek the truth as found in the Scriptures they will themselves experience reformation, great awakening, revivalism, and what is more, they will find THE TRUTH DOES WORK. Put truth first, and functionality follows. (I enjoy your blogs.)

Galyn Wiemers
http://www.generationword.com

White House Collects Disinformation Sources?

What is this? The White House website is asking citizen's to report other citizen's who are spreading "disinformation"? What are they going to do with all the news papers and TV news stations that get reported? Here is a quote from the web page:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Isn't disinformation based on what you think is true information? I think atheist teach disinformation. Atheist think I teach disinformation. Can you see that this can only lead to a huge change in our culture? We are finding out that those who teach us tolerance really mean accept and submit. This is why you have to practice true tolerance (respecting others with different opinions) but always debate the definition when someone uses it.

Read the White House page HERE and watch the crazy little video they provide. How dumb do they think we are?

Galyn Wiemers
http://www.generationword.com

Excavation on Western Wall Plaza

Excavation just to the west of the Western Wall in Jerusalem began in 2007, soon after we left Israel after having taken classes at the Jerusalem University on Mount Zion. Some of the finds include:

• a portion of the lower aqueduct which brought water from Solomon's Pools to the Temple Mount during the days of Herod.
• another mikva (ritual bath) from the time of the Second Temple (built by Herod)
• a colonnaded street which most is most likely the eastern connection to the Cardo, a Byzantine main street
  
• a covered stoa
• a row of shops

In the photos below (found at bibleplaces.com blog and the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) we can see an ariel view of the Old City of Jerusalem showing the location, a view of the Western Wall Plaza looking east, and some of the details of the excavation.




The above photo is marked by the yellow box in the view in the top photo. I remember arriving in Jerusalem late one night in June of 2007. Toni, Ryan and myself left our things in our rooms and headed out into the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem around 10:30 pm. We walked through the winding stone streets and quickly arrived at the stairway leading down to this Western Wall Plaza. It was a stunning view lit up and still active at 11:00 at night. I remember standing there taking in this amazing view of the ancient Temple Mount's western wall which was surrounded with the sounds and motions of the modern worshipers and pilgrims. Today this view is interrupted by the excavation as seen in the photo above. If we were take this same view today we would be looking over the green walk way across the lower part of the photo and over the excavation to view the Western Wall.


This photo is of the Byzantine Cardo located in the red box above.

The excavations are being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authorities at the request of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation who are planning on building the Western Wall Heritage Center here once the excavations are completed.

View live cam of the Western Wall Plaza here

Galyn in front of the Herodian blocks of the Western Wall

Galyn Wiemers
http://www.generationword.com