Whispers in the Wind

Today my son Chandler handed me a poem that he wrote in his class at church a few months ago - i thought it deserved publishing!


Whispers in the Wind
Oh God, how powerful you are,
You make the sun and moon shine;
Oh God, how wonderful you are,
You keep the world on its axis;
Oh Jesus You are so merciful,
You forgive me every time I sin;
Oh God, Your voice whispers in the wind.

So thats it - Chandler Ritters first poem about His God... I cant wait to see what comes next!

The Rise of Islam

On Sunday I shared at great length my take on many of the world events that are taking place, specifically zeroing in on the rise in Islamic adherence to Jihad. There are many that believe that the Islamic faith is a peaceful faith, and that we should respect it as so. As well many people would claim that terrible things have been done “In the name of God” by Christians, specifically the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, etc.

I suppose the only problem I have with this line of thought is this: These events were done by “presumed Christians”, and in my opinion the things that were done were in direct opposition to what the bible teaches. In other words, if those people had truly followed the teachings of Jesus, or even the commandments of how God told the Israelites to live, those things would NOT have been done.

Jesus commands us to “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, (Matt 5:44)

This is not the case with Islam. While true the Christian objective is to win the world to Christ, the bible NEVER tells us to do so by the sword, or to kill those who refuse to convert. Quite simply, the Koran does.

So it is my opinion that the rise in Islamic Jihad is not an anomaly to Islam, or an “extreme offshoot”, it is to Islam what true evangelical Christians are to the church. They are simply following their ‘bible’.

Christians can live in peace with Muslims (as evidenced by the fact that they thrive here in the US – the worst they might encounter is some racial stereotyping, which is illegal by our laws), but the same is not true with Christians who live in a Muslim country – you might want to have an exit strategy!

This is not a slam against Muslim people – God loves ALL THE WORLD, even those who hate Jews and Christians. John 3:16 is for everyone! And this is the answer to all the problems and violence and hate – Jesus Christ!