Resurrecting an Old Idea -- The Marriage Project: Knowledge for Unity, Love and Truth

I'm not going to do this.

I threatened to do it just over ten years ago, in 2004.

I wonder if it's time.

Maybe it's past time.

After reading the book "Homosexuality:  Good and Right in the Eyes of God?" by Earle Fox I decided voters in Maine needed to know the marriage status of their rulers.  I sent out an email back then declaring my intent.  I wanted to create a website on which I would publish the marriage status, especially the sexual orientation, of people in the State House.

The charred embers from that firestorm are visible today.  Maine went on to enact the "gay" agenda through public voting.  It wasn't the judges or the politicians that did it in Maine.  It was a majority of the citizenry that voted in 2005 and 2012.  And the political lessons that "gay" activists learned in Maine are being used globally.

Evangelicals (aligned with the Christian Civic League of Maine) in the pine tree state decided in the early 1990s to force "gay" issues to the ballot box.  We reasoned that institutions and the state house were already lost.  We determined that our only hope lay in appealing to the people.

Of the Father's Love Begotten

I am proud of my wife, Paulie.  She started young loving Jesus.  She gave her heart to Him when she was seven years old.  Her mother guided her to the foot of the cross.  And there she has remained.

Paulie's most recent song is titled Of the Father's Love Begotten.  It is an ancient hymn that she discovered.  She appreciated the words, and worked with Peter Vantine to create an original arrangement.

The hymn is a christmas carol that is based on a poem written by the roman writer Aurelius Prudentius.  He lived in the latter half of the third century AD.  After practicing law he retired to an ascetic life.

According to wikipedia his poetry is "influenced by early Christian authors, such as Tertullian and St. Ambrose, as well as the Bible and the acts of the martyrs."

While all the verses of the hymn are worthy of thought and meditation, this stanza tickled my fancy this morning.

Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live, 

On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;

Who at last in vengeance coming

Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

 It is comforting to realize that Christians have a King.  He is our loving heavenly Father.  And He has a son.  His name is Jesus Christ.  And these sent the third person of the trinity to dwell within us.  He is the Holy Spirit who empowers us.

We don't elect this King.  He existed before elections, republics and nations.  As Prudentius observes, "On the Father's throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive."

In a couple weeks Paulie and I will fall on our faces and pray in front of America's Supreme Court building in Washington D.C.  We won't be there appealing to the nine judges who make up the court.  We are going to pray to the righteous judge of souls departed.  The righteous King of them that live.

America imagines that, in her might, she can prevail over this King, over God.  But our power is nothing.  It is not a matter of winning or losing.  It isn't even possible to strive with this King.  This fight with God, this attempt to redefine marriage, is a figment of our imagination.  God isn't even fighting.

None in might with Thee may strive.

And the answer to the oft-repeated question by all people of good will who ponder the trajectory of "gay" rights -- "What's next?" -- is:

Who at last in vengeance coming

Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

Our King will bring an end to the insanity.  Fathers don't marry sons in the Kingdom of God.   And museums don't honor perversion.  The heavenly kingdom makes sense.  Insanity is banished.

Paulie has written and produced over fifty songs.  We LOVE to give her music away.  We want to be  a blessing.  We want to build up your most holy faith.

Check out her music today.  Visit her online at www.paulieheath.com

An Old Geezer at an Old Geyser -- Pray for Truth Road Trip --Part 9

An old geezer at an old geyser

Solomon wrote in the Proverbs, "Old people are distinguished by grandchildren."  This is surely true.  This old man is not, however, distinguished by his dress.

I titled this image from our Pray for Truth Road Trip "An old geezer in front of an old geyzer."

Solomon concluded the Proverb, "children take pride in their parents."

While my untucked shirt distinguishes me as an old geezer, and probably embarrasses my children, I pray that my faithfulness to God will be a source of pride for them.  I hope our commitment to Jesus "distinguishes" Paulie and me as we mature.

The geyser is called faithful.  It was given that name because it spouts off every hour or so.  It faithfully presents the same show every hour year after year.  Old faithful doesn't swing wildly between extremes.

The brilliant British 20th century writer G.K. Chesterton observed, "The whole curse of the last century has been what is called the Swing of the Pendulum; that is, the idea that Man must go alternately from one extreme to the other. It is a shameful and even shocking fancy; it is the denial of the whole dignity of mankind. When Man is alive he stands still. It is only when he is dead that he swings."

Many people believe that America is swinging to an extreme right now, and that it will swing back from practices like sodomy and abortion.  In truth this thinking is evidence that we are slipping the hangman's noose around our neck.

Shouting from the Rooftops: Exposing Chicago's Perversion Shrine -- Pray for Truth Road Trip -- Part 8

Innocent neighborhood children walking past
Leather Archive on Friday morning

On Friday morning, May 22, Peter LaBarbera and an assistant distributed 1000 flyers in the neighborhood surrounding the Leather Archive and Museum in Chicago, Illinois.  A 10:30 press conference followed the 4:00 a.m. flyer distribution.  I spoke at the press conference.

The "museum" celebrates vile sexual practices.  They are so bad that I'm not going to describe them here.  The building that houses the "collections" features a large sign on the front with tall letters spelling out "LA&M."

We were able to park in a grocery store parking lot just across the street.  It was a sunny spring morning.  A day care is located 100 feet from the front door.  Three times as we waited for the start of the event young children were paraded past the building on the sidewalk.

Time to Repeal Anti-Christian Gag Orders

I heard about Linda Harvey a number of years ago.  Her courageous stand for common sense brought her to my attention.  For years she's been in the trenches standing against the homosexual cause.  This is her latest clarion call.  In 2005, after three decades of political work "gays" and their allies in Maine enacted the law she is describing here.  They went on to put the final nail in marriage's coffin in the Pine Tree State in 2012.  Now they are working overtime to add letters to their acronym of perversions -- LGBTQABCDEF ... The solution to this is to remove "sexual orientation" from the law and restore the sodomy law with appropriate rules of evidence and penalties.  Linda writes, "Every 'ENDA' law out there needs to be challenged and turned back."  ENDA stands for Employment Non Discrimination Act.  It is the camel's way of disguising his nose.  While I'm writing about Linda let me urge you to please get a copy of her excellent book, Maybe He's Not Gay.  Give it to anybody you know who is being drawn in by the propaganda.  -- Mike Heath

By Linda Harvey of Mission America

Did you know that in many parts of the country, you can be fired or driven out of business just for being a faithful Christian?

It’s true. And the “gay” lobby gleefully hopes for more such laws in the near future. Not content with trying to wreck marriage, Big Gay has announced a push in coming months for more so-called “employment non-discrimination” (ENDA) laws that include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

Pray for Truth Road Trip: Part 3

Jared in front of Founders Monu-
ment in Plymouth Mass-
achusetts last year

My Marine Sergeant son, Jared, and I are going to Seattle, Washington next week.  This is Helping Hands Ministries Pray for Truth Road Trip. We will leave on Wednesday, May 20th.  As we travel through the following states we will read the New Testament.  We'll literally drive the Truth through:

• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Massachusetts
• New York
• Ohio
• Indiana
• Illinois
• Wisconsin
• Minnesota
• South Dakota
• Wyoming
• Montana
• Idaho
• Washington

I'll be leaving Jared in Seattle.  He is staying in the Northwest for the summer.  He is now a Christian college student.  He spent 8 years in the Marines.

Girlie Fighters

Years ago I met the Coach.  I remain impressed with his direct Christian approach.  He started a recent column, "Christian leadership is soft. They think that talking and praying constitutes ‘fighting’. War, to them, is arguing with Juan Williams on Fox News, when in fact, words mean nothing. Words are the weapons of girlie fighters."

Girlie fighters.  Yea, he said that.

After quoting James Dobson's now infamous quote about the failure of the pro family movement

“We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action. We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles."

the Coach names names, "So now, they say it is time to disobey. WE WILL NOT OBEY! I hear them bombasting in regard to their anticipated defeat in the Supreme Court’s homo-marriage decision. Really? They are going to go to jail? James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Matt Staver, Franklin Graham, Jerry Johnson, Rick Santorum, Keith Fornier, Rick Scarborough—they’re willing to go to jail? REALLY?"

The Whole World as a Gift

When Indiana Jones unfolds a worn and tattered map, or when Laura Croft examines a dry and dusty manuscript with the largest of magnifying glasses, we know they are both in search of hidden treasure. But the finding of hidden treasure is not confined to tales of fiction. The archaeologist armed with pick-ax and shovel now and then finds a broken piece of pottery on which are written strange words and cryptic characters; or he may find a monument bearing strange inscriptions, and by deciphering these words he may find the key to an entire historical epoch.

A friend recently made such a discovery, not so earth-shaking perhaps, but startling enough to make him change the way he views history and current events. In an idle hour at the library, he came across a history of the Philippines, remarkable for its mammoth size and scrupulous detail.  Published during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, this ponderous fifty-five volume history contains hundreds of letters and official communiqués between Spain and the newly-discovered colony of the Philippines.

The very first of these documents is the Papal Bull of 1493, also known by its Latin title, Inter Caetera, which I am told, means “Among Other Things.”  But this letter from Pope Alexander VI to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain is anything but a collection of miscellaneous, routine matters. Instead, this letter gives Ferdinand and Isabella all the lands to be discovered by Christopher Columbus; and this included Canada, America, Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, South America, and the islands of the Pacific. This grant was not merely jurisdictional; all these lands became the personal property of Ferdinand and Isabella.

But why would Pope Alexander VI give Ferdinand and Isabella such an unimaginably large gift?  The reason for the grant, as explained in the letter, was the piety of the King and Queen, and their great desire to spread the Christian faith, as proven by their liberation of Spain from Moslem rule, referred to in the letter as “the yoke of the Saracens.”  Ferdinand and Isabella did indeed free Spain from the Moslems, and in the words of the letter:

as your noble and worthy deeds have declared in manner to the whole world, in that with all your study, diligence, and industry, you have spared no travels, charges, or perils, adventuring even the shedding of your own blood, with applying your whole minds and endeavors hereunto, as your noble expeditions achieved in recovering the kingdom of Granada from the yoke of the Saracens in these our days, do plainly declare your deeds with great glory of the divine name. For the which, as we think you worthy, so ought we of our own free will favorably to grant all things whereby you may daily with more fervent minds, to the honor of God and the enlarging of the Christian empire, prosecute your devout and laudable purpose most acceptable to the immortal God.

“Adventuring even the shedding of one’s own blood” refers to the fact that Ferdinand and Isabella followed their armies into battle and encamped beneath the walls of Granada, the last Spanish city to be liberated from Muhammad XII, the Moslem ruler. After reading this document, one cannot be free from the impression that the grant of the New World to Ferdinand and Isabella was a reward for expelling the Moslems from Europe.

Also found in this fifty-five volume history of the Philippines are many letters written over a span of centuries requesting protection from the Moslem inhabitants of the Philippines, the Moros. One letter, written in the early 1500s, reports that out of all the native inhabitants of the Philippines, the Mohammedans were the one group most violently opposed to Christianity; and the writer of the letter refers to them as Ismaelites, warning that “Genesis 16 is written on their hearts,” and that “Ismael, the son of Hagar, the servant girl of Abraham, will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s against him.” (Genesis 16:12) Piratical attacks by Moslems are another constant theme of the letters.

Left click the image to learn more about the artist

What then is the hidden treasure to be found by re-discovering this long-forgotten document?  The hidden treasure is this. America exists primarily not for the purpose of liberty, equality, tolerance, or increased material prosperity, but for the furtherance of the Gospel; and far from being a nation in which Christianity is to be excluded from government, America must look to divine providence as the explanation for her origin, her higher purposes, and her ultimate destiny.

More information about how Ferdinand and Isabella sent Columbus on his voyages of discovery after freeing Spain from the Moslems can be found in Oliver Otis Howard’s book “Isabella of Castille,” available online at the Baldwin Project, a resource for homeschoolers.  
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=howard&book=isabella&story=_contentshttp

My son, Sean, and my brand new daughter-in-law,
 Kimberly, in front of their muddy "Heep"

The Psalmist observes that children are God's best gift and that the fruit of the womb is his generous legacy.  The writer of Psalm 127 also says that God enjoys giving rest to those he loves.

This weekend has been a great blessing to me in that regard.  On Friday I met with my mentor of the past eight years, the retired Reverend Bob Becker.  Bob is part of an official mentoring program for Christian leaders that is overseen by Reverend Bob Frederich.  Rev. Becker and I have been meeting occasionally for prayer and a meal over the past eight years.  Friday he came to my house for a hamburger.

Just before he arrived my son came roaring into the driveway in what we affectionately call the "Heep."  It was looking more heepy than ever.  He took a friend fishing at a pond way back in the woods of Vassalboro.  The trip to the pond required some mudding.

Now it's about bathrooms?!

Remember when certain things were unmentionable.  It wasn't that you couldn't mention them.  You just didn't mention them because it didn't occur to you that you should think about them.  You know, issues like what defines a family and marriage.  Remember the days when there wasn't always emerging discontent over sex?

Now it's not enough for media and political leaders to feed the public a steady diet of "debate" about "gays."  The revolutionaries among us are going to assure that it is safe for boys to compete on girls sports teams, after they spend some time in the girl's locker room ... of course.

I know, I know.  Who am I to judge?  I'm supposed to be a good Christian and love everyone, no matter what they do.  All good Christians love GLBTQI people.  We don't hate.  And maintaining reasonable definitions of right and wrong about sexuality is definitely hateful.

On Monday of this week the Maine Human Rights Commission met in Augusta.  Late last year they met with radical homosexual leaders behind closed doors and cooked up a set of guidelines to assure that confused men and boys have access to women's restrooms and sports teams.  This bizarre activity drew little resistance, mostly because reasonable people find the whole discussion distasteful and weird.  It was also flying under the radar because the Commission was trying to pass the guidelines without a public hearing.

Some stalwart citizens objected and the Commission came to its senses.  They decided to hold a public hearing later this year.

Some Christian leaders stayed away from the work session (a public meeting where only commissioners and staff can speak) arguing that it wasn't important because the Commission is only making rules, not laws.  One leader in particular called on Christians to stay away, and suggested that citizens who showed up were not being politically prudent or thoughtful.

This confused and tragic political landscape exists because the Church is not speaking clearly about sin -- especially in the public arena.  Sex outside of marriage is simply wrong.  All of it, homosexual or otherwise.  No Christian can, in good conscience, support any law, guideline or policy that protects sexual sin.  I would argue that Christians of good will have an obligation to act on their knowledge about family formation, marriage and proper relations between men and women.  We must resist the aggressive politiking of the death culture that upholds the practice of abortion and homosexuality.

I commend Paul Madore and Bob Celeste for showing up on Monday.  Steve Martin brought a small group all the way down from Aroostook County.  These are all fine Maine citizens who deserve our full throated praise for their work on this emotional issue.  God bless you all!