"Darlin', please don't go into that building," my friend pleaded as we stood outside the abortion clinic.  "That is a place of death.  You are going to walk in there a mother of a beautiful child, but when you leave you will still be a mother, but the mother of a dead child.  You will never forget this day...you will regret it for the rest of your life.  Please let us help you, avoid this terrible decision.  We will help you keep your child.  Jesus loves the little children."

Sheepishly, and forlornly, the teenage mother turned to my friend and whimpered,

"I have Jesus in my heart.  He understands the position I am in and He will forgive me for my sins. I am a Christian who made a mistake."

I don't know if you are a football fan or not, but I am. I find a great many lessons about life can be learned on the old grid-iron. In fact, I think that in many ways churches are like football teams and pastors are like coaches. Allow me to develop this analogy a bit.

I love watching the Ohio State Buckeyes this year. They are the consensus Number 1 college team in America and recently they scored 42 points against Michigan which had what was believed to be the best defense in the country.  I apologize if you don't like football. Stay with me.

How did they do that, score so many points on the Maize and Blue?  Most would say that it was the Buckeyes' versatility, that they had too many weapons for the Wolverines to guard against. No matter whom the defense focused on there was always a mismatch somewhere, and the Buckeyes did a great job of exploiting the weakness in the Michigan coverage. Certainly Ohio State had great players, but so did Michigan. Why was it every time the Bucks needed to make a play they were able to find somebody open?

My heart goes out to Ted Haggard, and especially to his family. The collateral damage to sin is devastating. Let us never forget the impact our actions have on others.

Mr. Haggard doesn't need a kick in the ribs from me. Sadly, we all struggle with sin. I am no exception.  It is a sad, sordid story that is repeated daily in America. Ted Haggard's fall seems greater because people had elevated him so high; putting him on a pedestal that he didn't deserve. He is a sinner, just like the rest of us.

We are treading on dangerous ground in the American Church. We love to engage in hero-worship, and unfortunately, pastors are most vulnerable, gleefully receiving the flock's adulation. The pastor is only one of the parts in the Body of Christ. Sadly, in most churches, Sunday has become a spectator sport where most sit and watch the man in the pulpit perform. He becomes the show, and in some cases thousands flock to feed off of every word that spills from the pastor's lips. Glorification of personality, especially in the Church, grieves the heart of God.

I warned you in March that “Conservativism” is counterfeit salt. It made a lot of people mad….especially church leaders. They thought Jesus was arriving aboard Air -Force One.

As Rush would say, “See, I Told You So”….except he didn’t.

We have reached a day in the American Church where to criticize the president or the Republican Party borders on blasphemy. Believe me, I have felt their wrath. Now after the election, look at our “Christian leadership” abandon ship. Sadly, this is where pragmatism over principle has taken us.

I don’t know if they are doing it on purpose, or if they really don’t know. Our President and elected officials I am talking about.

If you are like millions of Americans who have trouble sleeping at night I have a great exercise for you in the wee hours of the morning. Instead of watching re-runs of Friends, why don’t you grab a piece of paper and a pencil and settle in front of your TV and take your own poll. As you flip around the news channels listen to the interviews with those elected to govern us. Instead of counting how many times they lie (not enough lead in your pencil) keep a tally of how many times you hear them mention the word “democracy.” For me it has begun to rival fingers scraping the chalkboard. The sound of that word makes me cringe.

I have been a Christian since 1987, but it is only recently that I have begun to think like one.

That, in my not-so-humble opinion, is why I think America is in the trouble we are in. Most Christians don't think like Christians because they have been trained to think like Humanists. Why would we be surprised? Few regularly read their Bible, they fill their brain with "conservative" talk and opinions, they immerse their children in godless schools, and precious few pastors preach the Truth.

I'm not trying to insinuate that I am special, or smarter than anyone else. It has been a process for me as well. But I can tell you that unequivocally most Christians do not have "the mind of Christ."

We are so shortsighted in America.  Most of us are so burdened down with earning a living that it is hard for us to focus our attention too far down the road.  Get up, go to work, attend our kids' ball game, and go to bed.  Do it again tomorrow.  Before you know it another month has passed, and soon a year.  Life just seems to happen.  We become victims of our own busy-ness. 

It is especially true in the political realm.  Most Americans wake-up a month prior to an election, are bombarded by political commercials, cast a vote on Election Day, and quietly return to their daily routine.  So much of what happens in America seems to be out of our control.

What's that smell?

Every time another scandal is exposed in Washington I ask myself that question. I'm not talking about the politicians. I think we all realize that there is no bottom to the cesspool into which degraded man can sink. Washington, the apex of power in America, is nothing more than a hazardous-waste landfill. Sadly, we in America, think we are going to change the smell of this nation by changing the party that dumps the waste into the tank.

As we have watched the media gobble up the Mark Foley story like maggots on dog-dung, I have once again been amazed by the reaction of our "conservative leaders". Ooops, I may have misspoke. There are no conservative leaders, only conservative spokesmen. The bilge belching from their mouths is nothing more than halitosis. Unfortunately, we are getting used to the smell.

Note to reader: Please forward to all Christian leaders that you know.

I write this letter to you as an admirer, and as one who is eternally grateful for all that you have done to fight for Christian values in America. Although fine Americans such as Don Wildmon, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Tony Perkins, Phyllis Schlafly, The Arlington Group and others have fought the fight as well, you more than anyone, are the face of the pro-family movement. You have the scars to prove it and I consider you an American hero.

But Dr. Dobson, it is time to build an ark. It is time to leave the Republican Party. Jesus will not ride into town on an elephant.

"When all of the shootin' starts, first be sure all of the enemy is in front of you."----A wise old man. I am no theologian. I don't claim to be one. I haven't attended Bible College, studied in depth eschatology, nor have I been trained in exegesis and hermeneutics. But I can read, have studied the Bible, and spent a great deal of time in the school of the wilderness.

I was raised a Catholic, attended catechism, first communion, and confirmation. My wife and I were married in the Catholic Church. But in 1987 after 35 years of regular church attendance, I met Christ in an evangelical church.  He radically changed me. I jokingly say to others that Jesus did for me what a phone booth did for Clark Kent....changed me into a brand new creature. The transformation was real.  I have been following hard after Jesus ever since.

When I was about 14, I remember asking my Protestant mom, "Are Catholics considered Christians?" She reassured me that we were, at least to the depth that both of us understood that term.

Let me stop right here a moment. Please do not flood me with emails about how the Catholic Church is the "whore of Babylon," that Catholics are not saved, etc. That is not what this article is about. Save your time. And also, Catholics please don't send me emails exhorting me to return to the "Mother Church." I am not as dumb or as blind on both issues as many readers like to assume I am. Can we please stay on topic? I believe that Catholics can be saved, just like some Baptist who think they are, aren't.