Thursday, August 12, 2010

C3 Report: Volume 3 Issue VIII (August 2010)

Contents:

  • No August C3 Lunch Meetings!
  • Activities or Actions Worth Pursuing (Selected)
  • “The New Greatest Generation” Good News Etc. Article for August
  • Minute Ministry Tip #5 Election Pre-View Evenings
  • General Interest: Books Read In July (Skousen & Keller)
  • Information – Assistance Offer
  • Contact information

A warm welcome to new subscribers to the C3 Report: Michael, Josh, Jason, Spencer, Jan, Denny and Tom.

No August C3 Lunch Meetings!

  • There are no C3 lunch meetings in August.  Summer months tend to be slow, so it’s a good time to get recharged to face the political chaos in the months leading up to November.  We will begin again in September:

  • 28th of September (Tuesday) - Escondido: Marie Callenders; 615  West 13th Avenue - Lunch from 11:30 to 1:00 (Library Room)

  • 30th of September (Thursday) - San Diego: Marie Callenders; 6950 Alvarado Road - Lunch from 11:30 to 1:00 (Library Room)

Activities or Actions Worth Pursuing (Selected)

Now - Family Value Voter Guide Help!  The FVVG has been a tremendous resource for voters in San Diego for many years.  If you have volunteer time available, and want to help the greater Christian community there’s a lot that can be done to assist this very important work.  Contact Don Smith at donsmith@cox.net  or call 619.698.1872.

13 August - Exodus International.  If you or your church is interested in promoting ministry in San Diego addressing the redemption and healing found in Jesus Christ regarding same-sex attraction and sexual brokenness, I encourage you to contact Paul Webster (Dir. of Ministry Advancement, Exodus Intn’l) for details concerning a meeting this Friday from 1:00 to 2:30 pm.  Contact Paul at: 760.696.2445 or pwebster@exodusinternational.org

14 August:  Mount Helix Park Foundation.  If you would like to support the annual fundraiser (gourmet food, live music and art) for this worthy organization that maintains the site of the 30 foot cross overlooking El Cajon and the surrounding area (also hosts CYT, CCT and many other activities), contact Chris White at 760.547.4885 or go to:

15 August: The Rock Salt & Light Ministry Fundraiser.  This Sunday is a fund raiser by The Rock Church in conjunction with Rubios to support voter registration drives and non-partisan voter guide distribution for the fall elections.  If you would like to participate, contact Alana Sorensen (Salt & Light Ministry) at rocksaltandligh@gmail.com or 619.888.4708.  You will need a flyer to participate:

17 August (Tuesday): Fourth night of a 6 week class entitled: Dual Citizenship: Christ Honoring Stewardship of our American Experience” at Rancho Del Rey Christian Church, 1740 La Costa Meadows Drive, San Marcos.  Contact Christopher White (saltnlightministry.rdr@gmail.com) for more information

September: “CPEDG”:  After an August break, the “Cultural and Political Engagement Discussion Group” continues at Grace Bible Church the 1st & 3rd Saturdays at 0900 am, and the 2nd & 4th Sundays at 12:15 pm.  For information contact frankkacer@hotmail.com.  Next lesson: How to Communicate Effectively

October: Is your church planning on how to engage the State-wide Propositions on the 2nd of November ballot?  See the Minute Ministry Tip #5 below.

Mentoring Opportunity:  I’ve been working on a mentoring course for young men and women to engage the political landscape from a Biblical undergirding.  If you’d like more detail, or would like to participate – let me know.

Tea Parties in the Area:

North County Conservative Events:

My Recent Good News Etc. Article (August):

“The New Greatest Generation”

Rightfully so, those that went through the Depression and World War II are called the Greatest Generation.  Not only did an economic tragedy devastate this country, but total war against fascism was a life-death struggle that steeled us as a nation and a people.   The ultimate collapse during the Cold War of atheist Communism demonstrated our continued resolve against enemy regimes that worshipped a godless, secular ideology over life itself.  Many of us can look back on that generation with pride for what was accomplished through an immeasurable sacrifice of blood and treasure.

I would never purposely detract from the enormity of the threat previous generations faced, or the immense struggles they overcame to defend the liberties and freedoms we and much of the world now enjoy.  But while we’ve experienced explosive prosperity since then, we’ve also watched the unprecedented moral decay of our culture and society.  This corrosion is driven by widespread individual self-absorption and an increasingly complicit secular government motivated by moral relativism and a thirst for power.  I believe this internal threat to our testimony is ultimately just as ominous and destructive to the soul of our nation and its citizens as any we’ve faced from the surrounding world.  Obviously, every generation has its unique fight with spiritual darkness, but ours is a particularly virulent and deceptive home grown variety.

The destructive and self-feeding influence of post-modernism, multi-culturalism, and an openly anti-Christian bigotry throughout all levels of government, public education, culture, and the major entertainment and news media is too obvious to ignore.  If we think we can sit on the sidelines and enjoy our lives and our Christian fellowship without being dramatically impacted we’re sadly mistaken.  Think about it, when has spiritual darkness ever been satisfied with the status quo (1 Peter 5:8)?  The conflict our generation is witnessing is an all out attack on every moral value and duty we hold dear: the sanctity of life and marriage; our freedom to worship, preach and share God’s truths, the offering of hope to the dying, weak and idle, and the fulfilling of both the Great Commission (Matt 20:19-20) and our Cultural Mandate (Matt 5:13-16; 22:39).

My question to all of us is: where’s the wider Body of Christ in this war?  Where’s the open moral outrage for the destructive path our nation is on (Eph 5:11), and it’s not so subtle desire to silence us, capture our children, and obliterate our Christian testimony?  Though we’re at war, by and large the Christian community, and much of its spiritual leadership, is in denial over the extent and imminence of the threat.  Multiplied tens of millions of lives were destroyed during the Greatest Generation’s warfare, but just as many lives are being lured to destruction all around us.  Satan has declared war on Christians, and we sit on the sidelines watching – not realizing how high the stakes are. 

With Christ as our Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), and God’s word as our sword (Heb 4:12), our battle isn’t just the next election, it’s for the heart and soul of this nation and all that live in spiritual blindness.   We’re truly in a life-death struggle against spiritual forces of evil around us, but many still sit back and enjoy Bible studies and sermons that don’t thunder with our duty to engage darkness (the gates of hell) for the glory of God and the saving of souls.  Our generation, you and I, will either example the liberties we share in Christ and the freedoms we still enjoy to convert and change the world, or we‘ll answer to the next generation for what has been squandered.

Are we like the men of Issachar (1 Chron 12:32), who understood the times and knew what to do, or will we and walk away from being the new Greatest Generation for the cause of Christ?    The decision is ours.  Where are you and where are our leaders?  May the Lord help us to be worthy of the challenge ahead of us, and faithful to our duty to engage the darkness for God’s glory.

Minute Ministry Tip #5:

Election Pre-View Evenings.  As voters, Christians have an obligation to our nation, our community and our families to vote wisely and with Biblical convictions.  In California we vote to approve or disapprove ballot Propositions virtually every election.  An excellent way for a church to engage these questions is to conduct what I call an Election Pre-View Evening.  This is where several from a church will host an evening for all members to address each Proposition from a Biblical perspective.  It takes planning, and some research, but is a rewarding experience allowing church members to sharpen each other and grapple with applying their Biblical understanding to the issues of the day.  If you would like a free booklet that would help guide you through this process – just ask – I’d be pleased to send you one.  The title is: “Equipping the Church to Vote – Exercising Christian Citizenship in a Church Environment”

General Interest - Books Read In July:

“The Naked Capitalist”: by W. Cleon Skousen (1970) (130 pages including Appendices).  I’ve heard of this book over the years and finally got a copy to read.  Basically it’s a critical analysis of a 1966 book (Tragedy and Hope – A History of the World in Our Time) by Dr. Carroll Quigley, a self-proclaimed insider of the “secret power structure” in the world.  At first I tried to dismiss the material as conspiracy nonsense, but by the end of the book I found it compelling – particularly since it warned of world financial and socialist movements that are becoming more and more obvious in our day, and it answers the question of why the richest people in the world seem to actively support socialism (and before its setbacks – communism).

“The Reason for God – Belief in an Age of Skepticism”: by Timothy Keller (2008) (240 pages).  Although I have not finished reading this book, I like it a lot.  We can quibble over small theological nuances, but I find Keller’s writing style, thoughtful treatment, and exceptionally insightful handling of the most common challenges to our Christian faith in our time excellent.  In the second half of the book he deals with the major reasons underlying and justifying our Christian beliefs – this is also exceptionally well done.   As we engage the culture around us, we need to be equipped to handle the challenges posed to us - I highly recommend this book to help us in that task

Information – Assistance Offer:

Is there a pastor or ministry leader that’s receptive to establishing a Christian Citizenship (or Salt & Light) Ministry in a legal, Christ-honoring, Biblically balanced way?  I’ll take them to lunch to discuss how to go about it.  Just let me know. 

Contact Information:

Frank Kacer
Executive Director of the Christian Citizenship Council (C3) of San Diego
C3 is a 501(c)3 organization, serving the Christian community since 2004

As always, if you wish to be taken off the distribution list, just let me know.


C3 Vision Statement

“The Christian Citizenship Council of San Diego exists to encourage and equip Churches and believers to apply biblical principles to all spheres of the culture around us, and to all of life”
(Matt 5:13-16; 16:18; 22:39; Jer 29:7)

“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan”
(Prov 29:2)