Love, acceptance and truth

[This was addressed to a "website" which had a lot of info about sexuality, homosexuality and acceptance. I could not find any statement of beliefs. It called itself a Christian Community but seemed to dwell on the love and acceptance of people the Bible would call sinners, as we all are, but not mention that God is not happy with sin of any kind. I wrote this to see if they would clarify their beliefs.]

LOVE? YES! ACCEPTANCE? YES! TRUTH? YES! YES! YES!

"Stumbled across your site by accident. I tried to find an "About" or "Contact" or "What We Believe" to no avail.

Your site disturbed me a little for the above reasons.

Why do you not just explain what your point of view is instead of hiding it. The only way I can see anything about what you believe is by looking at the book advertisements. So since that is the only info I have I felt I must write to you about that.

First I have to say, we are to love everyone. We are to love Hitler, someone who may have sexually abused us or raped us, or killed our kid.

The phrase "Church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints." is very appropriate.

I think your site is a reaction to the church ignoring these matters. And that definitely may be a failing. Perhaps they think that since the 60's teens have had "sexual education" and yet for many years the number of unwanted pregnancies kept going up. Not sure of latest stats. However there certainly are way too many single parent families which educationally and economically deprive the majority of higher educational or economic goals.

However certain phrases [in the absence of your beliefs] bothered me somewhat.

If you are a Bible-believing "church", indeed if you are a church at all, then you know that the Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin. We love the sinner, since we all are, but we hate the sin.

Romans 1 explain what happens to men who leave God's principles.

• God's wrath is revealed against godlessness and wickedness
• His principles should be plain to see
• His nature should be plain to see
• Knowing God doesn't mean we give him any credit for his principles
  
• "Knowing" stuff is not a substitute for knowing Him personally and his principles
• Wise can become fools
• Thinking can be futile
• We can worship ideas, images, people, instead of God the creator
• We can exchange truth for a lie
• We have sinful desires
• We can be sexually impure
• We can have unrighteous thoughts and lusts
• We can abandon natural sexual relations between a married husband and wife
• We can accept unnatural relations between women and other women and men and other men as "natural"
• We can have depraved minds
  
• We can have penalties of health due to our unnatural lifestyle
• We can abandon all Godly principles and do these unnatural acts or approve of those who do

When we leave God's principles behind we become foolish, thinking at the same time that we are just SO wise. But we are not wise but otherwise.

As one example, I taught Grade 8 science... I taught a section on living things, and the difference between life and non-living things that can look similar when you see some seeds and some pebbles.

Then the students had pictures of various natural items and were asked to tell if they were living or not. When looking at an unborn baby in the womb, I NEVER had even one student say that it was non-living. Students inherently know, unless confused to think otherwise, that life comes from life and rocks are not about to have babies, but seeds can when they grow up to be trees.

And yet when some of them get "higher" education in Secondary School or College, almost half by the latest polls think that a baby in the womb is a "fetus", not an unborn baby. I don't know why we don't call it a "headus", a "heartus", or a "handsus", or even a "feetus" because all of those are present in the womb. The heart beats. That is a living thing. When they were young they knew instinctively that an unborn baby and a baby are one and the same except separated by a months, a few weeks or a few days in time.

So in their "higher" education, they somehow started to rely on the "wiser", really "otherwiser" people who taught them to not believe their instincts.

That is how the wise can become fools as shown in Romans 1. Just one example. There are many more.

I don't know what you believe because I cannot find a place where you state it. However I do know that what I have said above is truth.

Sincerely,

Charles G. Pedley

Israel: The Promised Land

[This was written as an answer to a Pastor John who does not understand the importance of Israel.]

Pastor John’s Problem is the same as the rest of us. Ignorance knows no boundaries.

We are all ignorant of one thing or another. Some are ignorant about computers, others about music and many about Israel.

There are really ONLY TWO CHOICES..

1) Either you BELIEVE the God of the Old Testament when he makes a promise.

OR

2) You DON'T BELIEVE him when he makes a promise. Now if you don’t believe him, you cannot be a Christian because the founder of the church, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah believed him and believed the promises he gave in the OT.

It is a simple choice. This God also happens to be same God of the New Testament.

In the OT we see many promises reiterated over and over again to Abraham and his seed, the children of Israel.

If we won’t believe one, then we won’t believe many, so for simplicity I give you one.

Gen13:14 NASB

The LORD said to Abram, ..... "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

15for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. [referring to the land of Canaan] NASB

I looked up the meaning of forever and it means FOREVER! Eternal, not changing, to the end of the age, everlasting .... FOREVER.

This is what God promised Abraham and his descendants the Israelites. If you keep looking through the Bible you will see this was affirmed over and over again to his descendants.

Let’s suppose that God changed his mind about stuff like this. Then he can also change his mind about ETERNAL life given to those who believe in and follow him.

Imagine God saying “For those who believe in me and my son Jesus, I will give ETERNAL life UNLESS I change my mind later.” I hope you don’t follow that God!

Now I know that no pastor would make decisions about Israel based on political rather than spiritual considerations. However in case there are some reading this who do not know history, let us mention the political.

The land of Israel [at the time a protectorate of Great Britain] by the Balfour Declaration of 1917 were given a MUCH LARGER ISRAEL than present. In fact the Arab representative agreed that this was the homeland of the Jews from ancient times.

Unfortunately, shortly after some other Arabs thought he was including too much land, he disappeared and Israel was pushed back to approximately its present borders.

In 1947, the United Nations, reaffirmed that Israel had been and was to be the homeland for the displaced Jews who somehow survived the Nazi holocaust.

“Resolution 181 laid a foundation within international law and diplomacy[9] for the creation of the state of Israel; as it was the first formal recognition by an international body of the legitimacy of a Jewish state, to exist within a partition of the territory along with an Arab state." Israel's declaration of independence soon followed on May 14, 1948.

So here we have two proofs that Israel has a right to its own land, both politically and by God’s spoken promise.

It was their homeland in ancient times, B.C., there were always some Jews who lived in the land, and it was formalized twice by Britain and by the United Nations.

Personally believing God should be good enough for those who call themselves Christians.

I believe that when God says ETERNAL LIFE, he means ETERNAL LIFE and when he says he gave the land to Abraham and his descendants, FOREVER, I believe he means FOREVER. If you don't I pray for you.

Charles Pedley
http://charlespedley.blogspot.com

Lost a Job?

This doesn't make the necessary grieving process any easier but it might make it more meaningful.

I am sure you already know this but when God allows hard times, it is always because he has something better for you to do.

Psalm 139 became so real to me after the loss of my daughter's first husband to Hodgkins. [See JoyfulMourning and BrokenClay ]

"13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be. NIV

Notice especially V 16 ... How could God "ordain" ALL MY DAYS before ONE of them came to be?. I know He can do anything but if you add up all the people in the world and multiply by 365 ... and that is only one year.... All I can say is that He must have a massively good computer to keep track of all those days!

But the biggest wonder is how he cares even for our DAYS. If you as a female live to the average age of 84, that gives you, I hesitate to say, ONLY 30,660 days of life. If that doesn't seem very long, then try seeing how much of MY life is left according to stats. Only 5475 days left! Yipes!

And yet God cares about every too-short one of them! And even has a plan for EVERY one of them!

God bless you!

Digsby. Wow!

Have you heard of Digsby yet? No? Yes you have I just mentioned it! Ok. Ok. I know pretty lame. Makes you feel superior doesn't it? Good that is the intention. Most people need more feelings to lift them up not put them down.

That has nothing at all to do with Digsby, my new discovery. I am sure you know what an instant messenger is right? You know, Yahoo Messenger, AIM [AOL Instant Messenger], Windows Live Messenger, the original messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, and so on.

Some of you also know that there are several IM's which let you tune in on one or more of the other messengers, just in case your friends do not use the same one as you. There is Trellian, Miranda, Pidgin, and others. Then I discovered that my favorite web suite, at Zoho.com, now includes Zoho Chat which can connect with most other messengers. But the most fun was yet to come. I discovered Digsby!

Digsby? Yes, Digsby. Digsby not only can tune in to all your friends on all the other IM's, but check your email, AND your social networking site, like Facebook, Twitter, etc. And yes it transfers files and can turn on your video camera so you can video talk!

I just tried it today. I am very impressed so far. Ask me next week if I love it as much. The constant facebook popups telling me what my friends were doing became a bit annoying. However I am going to turn that off. I don't WANT to know. I will find out all in good time if it is important.

So give Digsby a try. You may fall in love again, this time with Digsby!

Grandcentral becomes Google Voice

Hi

I always sign up for Google free stuff because if it looks the least bit interesting, Google will be changing it, modifying it and improving it. And sometimes combine it with something else to make it very powerful. That is what is just happening at Grandcental. It is becoming Google Voice.

So why would you care? Look at the features below. That may help you decide.

I signed up for gmail way way back. It is getting more and more useful all the time. It looks like it is about the merge soon with Google Voice. You can NOW email from Grandcentral, er excuse me Google Voice.

Here is the description when you go to www.grandcentral.com

Google Voice: Coming soon

Print

Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is as easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.

Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon. In the meantime, please leave us your email address and we'll notify you as soon as Google Voice becomes available. To learn more about Google Voice, check out our feature videos.

When can I sign up?
We expect to have the service ready for new users in a matter of weeks, and are focused on opening it as soon as possible.

What if I reserved a number on the GrandCentral site before?
We will be emailing you when Google Voice is open to the public to sign up for the service.

How much does it cost?
The service is free.

What do I do if I am already a GrandCentral user? Over the next few days, instructions will appear at the top of your inbox on how to upgrade your GrandCentral account to Google Voice. Thanks for your patience.

I think it would be very good to leave your email address with Google so they can let you know when the transition is complete.

Google is famous for its vast array of freebies. However the freebies can often be upgraded to Premium Quality by paying a small fee. If you don't need the premium support, then you just keep using the FREE version. Life is good.

Hope you had a good GOOD FRIDAY and will have a great Easter celebration !
Blessings and remember

He has promised "I will be with you always, even unto the ends of the earth"

Yes he is there right now!

Charles

Earth-Shattering News

Church Websites - Fun For All

Problems with Church Websites

[from personal experience and researched data]

1. Churches often believe they need a website but have not really thought out what they want it to do.
2. A techie does the site, but then leaves the church or becomes too busy. Site grows out-of-date.
3. This often gets repeated many times as it has in our church.
4. No one but the techie can change it, so soon it is not really up to date.
5. It does not encourage communication between members the way Facebook and other social sites do.
6. Often a professional is hired and makes a beautiful site for a BEAUTIFUL price. Seldom is it built for easy updating or communicating new info to members and the public.
7. If you want it updated the pro has to do it and that costs MORE money.
   
8. Does it really communicate what your church's purpose is to the world of cyberspace?
9. Does it connect your members?
   
10. All-in-one websites are very satisfying and accomplish many purposes.
1. Informing visitors and members about what is going on currently
2. Connecting people and groups within your church
3. Can be updated by anyone with very little training if you can use a word processor
4. Can inform members of sudden events between Sunday's such as the death of a senior member, the birth of a baby, a victory in someone's life so that all may celebrate
5. Appear to the general observer looking for a church that here is a church which is up-to-date, active and alive

Here are three of the sites I have found, each of which is a solution for most of the problems presented above.

Hosting, informing, domains, updating, newsletters, event calendars are all contained in one place.

Each of these sites have free trials.

Advanced Ministry ranges from free to so comprehensive that you can a store so that members can have access to purchasing materials and books being studied in various groups within the church. The price range is the best I have found anywhere.

Just recently I helped a small church here in Niagara to get a website that they could maintain themselves. If you are interested see WindMill-Point-Church

This Church has a different philosophy which gives you everything available on the site but just a bit less storage space for smaller churches.

More and more churches are turning to comprehensive all-in-one websites like those at Advanced Ministry, or This Church or ChurchFlock.com [a demo site for MyFlock]
Probably the MOST important use for these sites is that ANYONE with a little instruction can update the section of the site for their small group. The church secretary can update the event info weekly or as often as needed.

No professional is needed [with apologies to web pros]. A workman IS worthy of his hire.

Any discussion about this would be welcome. Constructive disagreement is NEVER disagreeable (:-).

I have spent many hours poring over sites on the web and forums and listening to the tribulations of churches with out-of-date websites which are not a good witness to the world about your church.

I have found sites which give excellent tips for effective church sites. Contact me directly at churchmedia@cpedley.com or through the group as you prefer if you would like individual help with this changing field.

We live in an age of connection. People are "crying out" to be noticed. If this were not true why is Facebook so successful EVEN among Christians? Why is there a Twitter? Why has GodTube changed to Tangle?

It seems that every time I do a bit of web searching I find new sites which tend toward social interaction. A few years ago Plaxo was a way to store your email addresses on the web so you could get them from anywhere. Now it too is changing into a social interaction site.

It is a phenomenon that a church which wants to minister to the current needs of society cannot ignore forever.

At the same time it solves the problem of static, out-of-date websites which do not represent your active church or which drain too much money from church coffers which could be used for the ministry that Jesus left for us.

The Great Commission

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV Mathew 28: 16-20

Is there any better use for the Lord's money or your time?

Sincerely,

Charles G. Pedley
905-228-2161

URGENT for Mr. Kenney - RE JOB NEEDS -

Hello Senator Kenney!

After seeing your article in the National Post about the jobs that need to be filled, I am applying for a job or perhaps, JOBS.

My pension which is totally subject to market conditions went down a lot when Honourable Jim F. announced the change in income trusts. [I understand why he did this but our "pension" funds did go down and have not returned to previous levels.]

Also the current market conditions have knocked it down about another 20 plus per cent.

If it were not for my wife and I having planned ahead to become 65 in 2008, we would NOT have enough money to live on.

My wife mentioned that you are short of soldiers, cops, spooks and border guards.

Okay what do I have to do to apply?

I am in excellent health except for a bit of extra weight I am carrying around. However I am sure that it is NOT even as much as a soldier's backpack!

I have been told that I was "spooky" in the past by my students when I sneaked up on them inadvertently, of course. Also when a mere youth, I was one of the top "secret agents" when we played.

And border guards! I would have NO problem sitting on my duff in a booth and questioning people about their purchasing activities. Having been a teacher in charge of the security of classrooms full of VERY diverse individuals with NO deaths or even taser accidents, I assure you I am abundantly qualified for that job!

Soldier? Well depending on how strenuous the activity, that might be a "wee" problem as the Scots say. However I am excellent in customer relations, and computer skills and I am sure that would go a long way as most office people I have found when in business do not know much about computers, except "show me where to type".

Please forward the applications or tell me what is required so that I can apply for the most appropriate job to serve my country in its time of need.
Sincerely,

Charles G. Pedley

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