by Wade Crews | Sep 1, 2015
If I told you more people are killed by this one thing every year than we lost in the entire Viet Nam war and we could eliminate it, would you be in favor of that? Would you think we need an exit strategy? I doubt it. I think most people are fine with it and don’t really care.
That one thing is loss of life from drunk driving. For almost 50 years (roughly from 1960 to about 2010), we averaged between 40,000 and 50,000 deaths on the roadways. Nearly half of those from drunk driving.
According to the CDC, every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes.
The CDC also reports that a baby is aborted in this country about every 45 SECONDS. Planned Parenthood calls this Reproductive Health Care. I call it vile.
Exodus 1:17 says “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.”
You know, everyone killed in a drunk driving accident had parents, and their death wasn’t planned. The men and women who choose abortion as a convenient form of birth control don’t want to be parents and didn’t plan to get pregnant. So help me understand how they can call themselves “Planned Parenthood.” I’ve never seen a daycare option there while mom goes to work. Free lunch program? Kids can come by after school until mom or dad picks them up? Tutoring or basketball leagues? Just what part of the parenthood portfolio do they help with?
Mostly I think they are Anti–Parenthood. Come on, let the babies live.
by Wade Crews | Aug 27, 2015
Recently God made it clear to me that He doesn’t demand that we all be activists, but He does require that we are all active. See the difference? Col 3:17, right? “Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord.”
So from the “How did that slide by?” file, where we also keep the documents on “The Supreme Court will never make same sex marriage legal” and “Abortion won’t be used as convenience for birth control”, we bring you the “They’ll never restrict religious liberty” story.
In my last blog When Unconstitutional is Unconscionable, I spoke about the recent Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling (based on the constitution of the state of Oklahoma) that required the Ten Commandments monument be removed from the State Capitol grounds. In that blog, I talked about how this Blaine Amendment is restrictive and limits the free exercise of a person’s faith. In this blogger’s humble opinion, our state constitution violates the first amendment in the Bill of Rights of our Constitution of the United States.
So how did that slide by? Sadly, I must report it may be much worse than even I had feared. I recently had this same discussion with some older and wiser folks and anonymous legal professionals who opened my eyes to some bad things. Here is the amendment in question.
Section II-5: Public money or property – Use for sectarian purposes.
No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.
What I want everyone to see and what has been made known to me is that the State Constitution supersedes all county, and municipal laws, and even overrides Governor signed legislation, (see the recent Supreme Court decision on the Ten Commandments). I was also informed, this language is way too restrictive, especially if you read it slowly and plainly. Each contention in the amendment can be used as a separate item. Let me give you an example.
“No public …. property shall ever be…used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit or support of any … church, denomination or system of religion or for the use, benefit or support of any priest, preacher, minister or other religious teacher …..”
Do you see what this really means? It doesn’t say “State property;” it says “No public property shall ever be used.” It doesn’t matter what it “meant;” it matters what it “says.”
No city park, no public arena or stadium, no campus, no lake, no city, county or state building, no road or public way, no prison, no state park, no softball field, no river……. NO PUBLIC PROPERTY !
Whoa! How did that slip by? This is not just about a slab of granite…..
The following are currently probable violations of the state constitution (based on S 2-5):
- FCA Meetings in schools
- See you at the Pole
- Church Youth Group retreats at a State Park
- A picnic and devotion under the pavilion at the city park
- A Franklin Graham festival in a public arena
- Chaplains in state hospitals and prisons
- Religious organizations on college campuses
- ….and if strictly enforced, your church bus or van can’t get on a public road to take kids to church camp
Call your or write your state legislator and senator. Let them know this is bad and violates our religious liberty. Let them know how you feel. This is very low-hanging fruit and shouldn’t be able to stand up to a United States Supreme Court decision, but we thought that before.
I don’t know how this slipped by…….but it has to go.
by Wade Crews | Aug 12, 2015
As many of you know, our Oklahoma Supreme Court voted in a recent decision on June 30 (and later upheld their decision in appeal) that the Ten Commandments monument was unconstitutionally displayed on the state capitol grounds. The vote was 7-2, so it was not a slam dunk. The part of the state constitution cited was Section II-5: Public money or property – Use for sectarian purposes.
“No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.”
Often called a Blaine amendment, because it was inserted into our constitution parallel to efforts by U.S. Representative from Maine, James Blaine in the late 1800’s. There are many ongoing debates and opinions about Congressman Blaine’s motivation over 100 years ago, but I would suggest the results are as unacceptable today as they should have been then.
This spills over into religious liberty and the free exercise thereof. In other words, this section and article in the Oklahoma Constitution is itself unconstitutional and a violation of our First Amendment as citizens of The United States. As I read this part of my own constitution, I have been in violation. This is a bad section of our constitution that must be removed. The way it reads, and if strictly enforced, means no church in Oklahoma would be able to go to a state park and have a picnic, play volleyball, sing praise songs or hymns and then let the pastor get up and speak (i.e. have an open air/brush arbor worship service).
Really? What about Rose Day? Does that come to a screeching halt now? I can go on and on. Let’s write our representatives, and call their offices. Let’s do something. This is not about a monument; it is about a movement. Then let’s go to our state parks and play volleyball, sing praise songs and do devotionals. Let’s have “Preach-Ins”! Then let’s have church and praise Jesus on the Capitol lawn and steps. I don’t need a ton of granite to know the great I Am is the Lord my God.
Yogi said it best “It ain’t over until it’s over!” Guess what? Jesus hasn’t come back yet…..It ain’t over!
by Wade Crews | Jun 10, 2015
How do you know where you really stand with someone, if you’re really a friend? I was reminded recently that time reveals priorities.
Leading up to a recent summer missions trip, I excitedly asked some other families to go. Unfortunately, I got some sad responses, including “Well, we cannot go because our child is on a select baseball team that travels all summer.” This trip takes them out, not just out of a mission trip, but out of church altogether as well.
Now I’m not judging someone for having other commitments. My family is busy too. But it hurts my heart to remember how easily we can put good things, like sports or an achievement, ahead of church.
If we step back to analyze this, what priorities reveal is what we worship. If it is the wrong thing, it can even become an idol. Whether the idol is sports or something else, if it prevents you and your family from worshipping together it is not God’s will. Jesus tells us in Matt 6:33 when talking about the worries of getting ahead in the world “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you”.
I can assure you from some recent personal blessings, God will reward you in ways you never expected if you put Him first.
Related to this, we recently drove past several convenience stores on the way to church on a Sunday. Each time, I always saw someone in shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops carrying a case of beer out of the convenience store at 8 a.m. in the morning. I don’t think they are trying to go to church, much less seeking His kingdom.
My point is not to judge those people. My point is to say many of us who claim God is our priority don’t show it in the way we live.
“Hey! This is my life and my kid and my career. Who are you to judge?” I’m not. But I know this. He considered you enough of a friend to die for. Shouldn’t we consider Him enough of a friend to live for?
The God of summer should be the one Who created it, not the one who recreates in it.
by Wade Crews | May 25, 2015
By definition, your worldview is how you view the world, to include what influences on that view and your perspective. In other words, your impression of what is most important in life and how you set your priorities. A worldview is one way we define ourselves as individuals and communities. It helps develop the social mores and rules/laws by which we choose to live.
At Word Slingers, we believe in a Scriptural Worldview. One which is defined by God’s Word and His law and requirements for our lives. As Prov. 3: 5-7 says, we try to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”
As opposed to a Secular Worldview, which does not include God or His “ways”, a Scriptural Worldview impacts our decision matrix in a way that has eternal consequences. There is a challenge a Scriptural Worldview places in front of most people. As the words in Proverbs state, to embrace the Scriptural Worldview, we must come to grips with several truths. Let me run some of them down. 1. There is a God and a Creator of the universe. 2. God has imparted His Word to us. 3. His ways are better than ours. 4. Evil does exist in this world, and we should not move toward it.
Most people take umbrage with a Scriptural Worldview. They do not embrace it as truth or even real. The movement today is toward a Secular Worldview, because absent of God’s Word and direction, they can decide what is right or wrong for themselves. They literally do lean on their own understanding and do not acknowledge God. They do not accept God’s Word as truth, even to the point of taking communities and people with a Scriptural Worldview to court in order to eliminate it from public view. It “offends” them.
The reason God’s Word and our Scriptural Worldview offends them is the truth will always offend people who want to live a lie. A Scriptural Worldview says put yourself last. The Secular Worldview declares your desires come first. The Scriptural Worldview is black and white/right and wrong, while the Secular Worldview has 50 shades of gray. The Scriptural Worldview serves the Lord and worships the Creator; the Secular Worldview serves self and worships the creation. The Secular Worldview objectifies women and sexualizes everything to be conquered next. The Scriptural Worldview understands the difference between intimacy and illicit behavior.
We can discuss and debate many topics through these different worldviews. Marriage, The Constitution, Religious Liberty, and Gender Roles are current hot topics in the land today, but only because most people in the land have given up on public prayer, abortion, Christmas, divorce, and other topics too numerous to mention. There is a slippery slope, and we are on it as we slowly slide away from a Scriptural Worldview toward a Secular Worldview.
For instance, a Secular Worldview is not overly concerned with Christians having their heads chopped off by savages who kill those with whom they disagree, while they vilify anyone who would stand up for the innocent life of the unborn. The Scriptural Worldview does not seek its own way, but rejoices in the truth. The Scriptural Worldview would have us approach life like we are encouraged in Col. 3:17 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
God wants you to have an abundant life. What is your worldview, and whose understanding do you lean on?