There are currently many emails going around saying that cell phones will be subject to telemarketing calls.

THIS IS NOT TRUE!

I went to the FTC web site (http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall) and found the following message:

“Cell Phones
You may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Registry.

You may have received an email telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database; however, that is not the case. Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. “

On the otherhand - you can register your cell phone with the National Do Not Call Registry by dialing 1-888-382-1222. It is a FREE call and only takes a few seconds. You must make the call from the cell phone that you want to register.  Then you will be done and do not every have to worry about these type of emails again!

Or - You can choose to just ignore the email:-)

God has given us an amazing power to make choices and to reap blessings as a result of those choices!

This is my closing video for my Father’s Day message next week at our church, New Hope Christian Fellowship (click on name for map). And my main point.

However, there is a lot More.  God has given me a very special message to fill in all the cracks that may be in our relationships with our Dads and with our Heavenly Father.

I will have the message recorded for those who can’t be there in person.

May God’s blessings flow out of your positive choices!

 Are you looking for a worthy Cause to support with your finances and or time?

I have found one for you!

 My friend Howard Unger is president of Operation Smile and just invited me to have a tour of its headquarters in Norfolk, VA.

I told Howard he must be a good fisherman, because he set the hook then reeled me in.

Operation Smile is a cause based organization and what a cause- changing the lives of little children. OS operates worldwide from modest facilities in Norfolk to provide facial plastic surgery on children scarred from birth. The before and after pictures and videos are compelling.

You can see others on their web site, http://http://www.operationsmile.org/about-us/videos/. WARNING, don’t look at these unless you are willing to have your heart stirred!

As a Christian, I feel this is the kind of mission where the rubber meets the road and men and women and children of many faiths can work together in unity.

I taught our youth group a new word this week - syncretism.

Wikipedia definition- The attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought…

Its a fancy word for the “Frog in a Kettle” concept. Many of us have heard this before. How do you boil a live frog? Put him in a kettle of cold water and slowly raise the temp. He just sits there as the temp goes up and boils to death.

This is how the evangelical Christian church has slowly lost its savor in this country. Research by Barna and Gallup suggests that the statistics of “bad behavior” doesn’t differ much between the general public and the evangelical church. Divorce rates, infidelity, pornography etc……

What’s up?

The Bible tells us to not be conformed to the world. So I guess Sync has been happening a long time!

In the world of technology sync is used to mean when 2 databases are conformed into identical copies of each other. What is good for databases stinks for Committed Christians. When business people are Synced we call this operating like Babylon, where money is the only “good” and integrity, loyalty, and service take a back seat.

So if Sync Stinks, what is the answer?

Well, we may not like the answer- The Bible says to let our minds dwell on what is good, to protect our eyes and ears, to not love the World but instead set our eyes on Jesus, and set our minds on the things above.

The bottom line is the fire is getting turned up. Movies and TV are no longer safe for adults to watch much less children. Political correctness is seeping in to our churches. people don’t confront bad behavior. We were hooked on new technologies only to find they are portals to pornography and other temptations. We are too busy to read our Bibles and soak in meditating on what we read. Memorize scripture and study theology so we know principles and can use them in specific circumstances - no way, too time consuming and difficult. I am too busy.

Its not easy to get off the stove, but:

Lets read our Bibles, ask the Holy Spirit to open the meaning up like a beautiful flower after a spring rain, memorize passages so we have them at our finger tips, constantly ask the Holy Spirit to talk to us about every situation we are in and ever person we talk to, praise our heavenly Father for our blessings and hard times, hold each other accountable for bad behavior, and ask to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit:

Love; Joy; Peace; Patience; Kindness: goodness; Gentleness; Faithfulness; and Self Control.

Ouch - I just put myself under conviction:-)

Sync Stinks!