Colorado Right to Life Gets the National Boot

Colorado Right to Life is no more, at least from the viewpoint of the National Right to Life. Several weeks ago, Colorado Right to Life (CRTL) took out newspaper ads criticizing Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. Here's the story.

From our view, CRTL has always been strong on principle but unwise in their "public sense." Their latest capstone (and headstone) was their criticism of Dr. Dobson. Their recent salvo is nothing new. CRTL has historically burned many bridges with friends and potential allies in Colorado's fight for Life.

RMFC applauds the birth of a new principled pro-life group in Colorado headed by Pat Miller. Pat Miller will bring strong principles plus a winsome approach to the public square.

This is the right move for life in Colorado.

Fighting Through Fear

Here's something different. I think many of us can relate to it- fear. I battle fear every day. For most of us its a normal human emotion. But, it can severly cripple a Christian too.

Scripture tells us to fear God only (Deut. 6:13 et al). This "fear" can be synonimously described as respect, love or obedience. As Christians we are to only fear God but to use it as a catapault towards a loving heavenly father.

Unfortunately, Satan twists this godly. The Devil wants believers to not only lose their fear of God but to become fearful of life itself. His aim is to infect believers with fears of this life, changing their focus from God on to themselves. Fear of anything other than God leads one into selfishness.

The next time something comes through your life which causes fear, step back determine the source. Chances are that its not from God. Your human fears do not originate with our Heavenly Father but conduit their way into our lives by the Devil.

Ouch! Colorado Right to Life Jabs Friends...

You know this saying with a funny twist- "we have met the enemy and its us!" I guess that's the thinking these days with our "friends" at Colorado Right to Life (CRTL).

Earlier this week, the Colorado state chapter ran a full-page ad in the main Colorado Springs paper blasting most pro-family groups in our state. The issue-the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court banning partial birth abortions. CRTL's ire came because certain family groups hailed the decision as a breakthrough in the battle for life.

Oouch! I am not sure who cooked this one up but generally its considered bad form to air dirty laundry in public. Good friends should be able to disagree from time to time but no one wins when allies blast each other in the media. While I applaud CRTL ardor, passion and commitment to the cause, they are shooting at their friends!

Check out the repercussions here.

Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll (Plus a little Bush-bashing too!)

Sex, drugs and rock and roll. Sprinkle in a little Bush-bashing and you have the makings of another great day of public education in Colorado a la Boulder style.

Sounds too good to be true right? Believe it or not it happened at Boulder High School last week.

When I went to high school ages ago, we studied boring subjects like math, english, civics, etc. Makes you wish you could go to high school now!

Check out the story and see if you want your son or daughter a part of such a good time!

PS- Your taxes funded this "fun day of enlightened thinking."

Colorado Teen Pregnancy Crisis

"I guess I thought it couldn't happen to me." Most mom's who don't expect to get pregnant say this after the fact.

For several years now, my wife and I have watched the struggles of a neighbor girl who got pregnant. To her and her family's credit, she had the child. But she is really struggling with all of it as a 17 year plus teenager whose a mom. Its not to say that being a 17 year old mom is wrong but its an uphill battle in today's culture to have a child at this young age.

Colorado is gripped by a growing unintended pregnancy crisis. Read the entire story here.
Here are some numbers for you from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment:
*40 percent of all births in Colorado are unintended!

*75 percent of teen births in Colorado were unintended!

*25 percent decline in teen pregnancies in the past decade. 14 percent of the decline attributable to teens having less sex.

Assumably, other factors contributed to the overall decline such as abstinence education. No matter how you slice it, our culture has little sense of cause and effect. Meaning this: if you have sex you may get pregnant.

I don't think that these trends should surprise us. Our young people live in a sex-whenever culture and many have the false impression that everyone is "doing it." If given a chance, most kids want to reserve their sexuality and not discard it cheaply. Anything other than abstinence poses high risks of disease or unintended pregnancies.

Real Christians of Genius Video Clip

This is how we sound and look at times to the world. The video clip says it all.

Some Thoughts About Sex...

Okay, nobody may see it but you know you are smiling. Sex just does that to us. While I am no sexologist, I am human, a guy and sex is frankly, very appealing. And I am a Christian too...

Christian sex is radically exclusive. Our sex-crazed culture is anything but exclusive. Yet, despite our "sexual freedom" and stimulation, most people are unfilled. Sex outside of marriage is horribly destructive. An ancient parable states that "sex outside of marriage saps a man's soul."

I am not a prude or Elmer Gantry, but only a realist who sees the brokeness of a culture where sex runs out of the banks.

There's a better way.

You see, God archicted sex to be an exlusive bond between a man and a woman. Its a holy convenant. Its an act of love towards your wife or spouse. My wife is the focus on my desires. At the core of our relaitonship is a soulish intimacy no one else has with either of us.

Its a giving away of oneself to another...

Bad News for Colorado Families

Finally, its over. This year's legislative session was one of the darkest in recent memories for Colorado families. A whole host of bad ideas have been passed and Governor Ritter has signed most of them. I fear the path we are heading down will not bring prosperity to our families and communities.

Here's a synopsis of this year's "bad stuff." For more information, visit our web site at rmfc.org.

Health Care/Emergency Contraception: Anti-family forces were finally able to produce a law which will require hospitals and pharmacies to provide emergency contraception (abortion) information and drugs to rape survivors (SB 60). Additionally, Colorado's Immunization Registry has been expanded to require health information on all children born since 1989. Helath care professionals will be required to submit patient information to this data base (HB 1347). Finally, legislators passed a law which establishes a fund for cervical cancer vaccinations and a public awareness campaign (HB 1301).

Education: A new law would require school districts to teach science-based comprehensive sex education. This curriculum will include both abstinence and contraception information. School districts which currently receive federal funding for abstinence education are exempt (HB 1291).

Homosexual rights: Homosexuals were one of the major winners this year. A new law was passed that would grant adoption rights to second parents designated by the main adoptive parent (HB 1330). Additionally, a second possible law granting homosexuals and transgendered people special work place protections is on Gov. Ritter's desk. This law would impact religious associations and groups which accept any federal funding (SB 25).

Marriage and Family: This year's edition of the Colorado Fair Housing Act law includes a redefinition of the family from biological or adoptive to "any two people who live together" (SB 124).

Planned Parenthood: Another big winner this year. They are celebrating a return of state funding for their community services.

Scripture clearly states that we should give thoughtful and considerate answers on what we believe and to salt the culture with godly values (1 Peter 3:15). Thank you for your support and prayers this year...

**For more information on these new laws, please go to www.rmfc.org.

Lowering the Divorce Rate? Maybe...

Are Americans staying married? Are we on the downward side of the divorce scourge in our nation.

Read the latest story here and decide.

National Day of Prayer for the Family

If you missed the news, today is the National Day of Prayer. I don't know about you, but for me, every day has to be a day of prayer. In fact, First Thessalonians 5:17 tells believers to pray continuously not just once per year!

Anyway, here's a little twist on today's prayer event. I think we need a national day of prayer for the family.

Here in Colorado, many of our lawmakers think that family should be "broader; more inclusive." Their bottom line- a definition of the family which a decade ago would have been laughed at.

This is really not a political issue but a cultural one. Now some will say, "what's the harm?' Others would chime in and say that a broadening of terminology only helps those on the outside looking in. For afterall, don't we want people to be happy no matter what "gathering" they choose? Afterall, we are an enlightened and tolerant culture...

These sentiments have caused me to seek for a national day of prayer for the family.

Safer Colorado Schools? Maybe...

Today's Denver Post trumps the "growing success" of making Colorado's schools safer.

I don't know about you, but I would assume and expect that my kids school was always safe. I know that in today's corrosive cultural we cannot expect Mayberry RFD. But, varying degrees of safety does not reassure me when it comes to my kids welfare.

Our collective national "psyche" is a bit bruised right now with the Virginia Tech tragedy.
Perhaps there's some linkage to school violence and the "expulsion" of God from our public schools

To me, its a sad day when we have to have armed guards in our classrooms and hallways.

Who Lost the War?

I apologize for deveating from my normal line of thinking, but I could resist asking this question to fellow Coloradans (and Senator Harry Reid), who won the war?

If its true that we have lost the war in Iraq, then I like to know who they think won it? I also shudder what our world would have been like if these same defeatists were alive in 1942.

The war in Iraq has not been lost- yet. However, our "Vietnam" generation seems bound and determined to take us down that path again, where we win it on the ground but lose it between our ears.

Colorado's Black Eye on Abortion

In 1967, a freshmen state representative named Dick Lamm successfully passed a bill which made Colorado the first state to liberalize its abortion laws.

For forty years, our state has snuffed out a lot of lives. Most of these unborn children lost their lives because their mother's lives would have been inconvenienced.

Despite its restrictive nature, this measure opened the door to abortion on demand and sowed the seeds for Roe versus Wade in 1973.

Read and weep about the history of Colorado and abortion in this Rocky Mountain News article...

Public Education-Your Choice Is Your Choice

Today's feature news article in the Rocky Mountain News fuels the ongoing debate over the efficacy of public schools, particularily the "crashing and burning" of the Denver Public School system.

"Denver Public Schools lost about 5500 Denver students to suburban schools last year. Nearly half the Denver kids ages 5 to 17 who go to suburban schools live in southwest Denver."

No mysteries with this fact.

Simply, many families have left poor DPS schools for better educational options. Southwest Denver, in effect, has educational competition, something that educational choice advocates have always wanted.

Grace Harris, the 6 year old in the article's first page, represents the choice which suburban families are making- they are leaving bad schools and going to quality schools. Their rationale- they want their kids to be in the best schools possible. Like any other "product" people want the best. In a perfect world, good schools would flourish while those who offer a poor educational product would go out of business.

The winners here are the kids and their families. School choice does work.

Colorado Legislature Okays Adoption by Homosexual Couples

Colorado's Legislature okays adoption by homosexual couples.

Surprised? Don't be.

This headline sort of slipped under the radar screen last week. Buried by the avanlanche of "news" about the paternity story of a dead playboy's daughter and a story about the racist comments of a New York shock jock, this one went by unnoticed for the most part.

The impact of this misguided proposed law will be huge. In essence, if signed by Governor Ritter, Colorado's definition of what a family is will be changed.

What's startling about this new measure in "family correctiveness" is that Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar scheme last November when asked to approve adoption right for domestic partners.

Now, folks are already shrugging their shoulders in apologetic motions. Some claim that the definition of a family needs to change with the times. And this definition would radically accomplish this purpose.

Shock and Horror

Today's campus shooting at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia is sending a tremor through our nation's collective conscience.

When will we wake up and stop our cultural sewer? Last week it was the racist comments by shock jock Don Imus. This week a bloody college campus.

Friends, our nation is facing a moral crisis.

While we will deplore this heinous crime, a deeper look at our culture must be warranted. There will be those apologists who will say that there is no connection between these events. But, when life becomes cheap, the trickle down effect touches all parts of our society. Whether its racist demeaning comments intended as a "joke", or a brutal murderous college rampage, there is a connection.

To think otherwise is thoughtless.

What we put into our culture will come out in some form. Flip on the television or engage in most of the popular media and it doesn't take long for the sewer of our culture to lap its banks poison your life.

Words Matter

Words matter. Words establish the meaning of your heart. They tell others what you think and believe. There used to communicate our deepest beliefs and our jokes. And what you say will be used to measure who you are by others.

I don't know Don Imus. But his comments of last week and over the years paint a picture of who he is. Even though Mr. Imus claims that what he says is all in jest and fun, many people don't see what he says that way.

Jesus Christ is known as the Word of God. Scripture is referred to as the Word of God. God has establised His identity through His Word.

What you say matters. For believers, are speech is to be seasoned, meaning that our words are to glorify God and bring wisdom into every situation. The Apostle Paul writes,"Let your conservation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone"-Col. 4:6

Three Reasons Why America Needs God

Its amazing to me but we live in a time where many Americans (whether they are of faith or not) have forgotten the blessings of "Providence."

Our founders had no confusion on this issue. The architected a system which reflected that belief in Providence at every turn. John Adams wrote in 1798 that, "our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

So for those who have either forgotten or simply disagree why America still needs God, here's are the arguments.

William Federer, best-selling author and president of Amerisearch offers these argument...

First, our rights. At the soul of our Declaration of Independence is the idea that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..." The origin of these rights come from God. They are not issued by a government but their protection and equal application becomes the purpose of a government.

Second, our equality. President Calvin Coolidge stated in 1924 that, "the right to equality has for its foundation reverence for God. If we could imagine that swept away, our American government could not long survive." This idea was central to our nation's founding, that every citizen was equal before the law having an equal vote in all elections. The origin of this idea was based on the biblical principle of equality before a Supreme Being.

Third, few laws. To be a nation with few laws requires a citizenry with private moral restraint. Men and women must be controlled by either an internal power or a power without them-either the Word of God will temper our actions or the strong arm of government. Our founders believed in an after life where one's earthly actions would be judged by God. That knowledge would prove to be a powerful force for human activities and the promulgation of moral restraint.

President Reagen summed it up best in 1984, when he stated that "without God there is a coarsening fo the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure...If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."

Go Coach Go!

AP News Flash---
Alexander City, also. (AP)- Central Alabama Community College baseball coach Don Ingram has resigned because the school removed two signs on the outfield fence carrying religious messages. The eight foot by 12 foot signs, sold to sponsors for one-thousand dollars apiece, were taken down after the school received complaints. An individual paid for a sign reading "John 3:16" that was sponsored by the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. The second sign, sponsored by a local Baptist church, read: "True success is finding out what God wants you to do, then doing it." In a letter to his latest signing class, Ingram said, "I resigned because I will not compromise my commitment to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." He will remain as coach and athletic director until his contract expires August 31st.

Just when you think that most Christians have sought cover from our modern corrosive culture, a hero of the faith stands up. I am reminded of the classic OT passage where Elijah complains to God that every Jew no longer followed God. Well, God smashed Elijah's pity party, stating in First Kings 19:8 that, "I reserve seven thousand in Israel whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." In those dark times, God had preserved a remnant that still served Him and which was not corrupted by the culture of that time.

Numbers mean little to God. It may appear for a time that the forces of evil are and will prevail. But if we look a little closer, God is still in control and there is still a vibrant and faithful remnant today.

Steely Resolve-Badly Needed in the UK

In today's New York Post, columnist Ralph Peters sarcastically asks the rhetorical question that many of us have been thinking of late, "Was Margaret Thatcher the last great man in Great Britain?" I would imagine that Winston Churchill is doing multiple flips in his grave over the weakness being displayed front and center by the current crop of British leaders the hostage crisis with Iran. Those of us Americans old enough to remember our own hostage crisis with Iran in the 1970's remember our weak and tepid response. It was a shameful chapter for America.

Remarkably, a recent British poll showed only 7% of the British public believed that military force should be used against Iran while only 44% believed that military force should be used in any case to resolve the current crisis.

It is sad to see few Britishers with their proud heritage of fighting tyranny world wide blink in the face of naked aggression by a terrorist state.

I still hold hope though that the ghosts of great British leaders like Lord Nelson, William Wilberforce and Winston Churchill will summon forth Britain's deep national pride to push back the latest incarnation of evil.

Rule again Britannia!