Hey, you all ready for the debate tonight? It's playing here at 2am live so I'm planning on staying up to watch it. Should be interesting. There's a good feature at foxnews.com which has an interactive platform page which states where the canidates stand on the different issues. One thing I didn't get from Kerry is his stance on the death penalty. He's against it except for terrorists. So, if someone rapes and murders 35 women that's considered less of a crime than a terrorist who murders even one person? Sounds like a statement from a career politician to me. Looks like the old fingers in the air to see which way the wind is blowing once again.
Did you know that the house and senate of the state of California have put on the Govenors desk a bill that if passed would prohibit the public reading (as in churches and other Christian functions) of certain scriptures that condemn homosexuality. Where's the freedom of speech there? This law is already in effect in other country's like Canada and Sweden. As a matter of fact, Impact World Tour has been banned from returning to Sweden because one of our evangelists read 1Corinthians 6:9-10 at one of the shows. They'll actually throw you in prison for that. This is the direction some would have America go. What the heck is going on? Is everybody losing their mind? It reminds me of Blaise Pascals famous words, "Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established that unless you love the truth, you cannot know it." I'm afraid too many people have bought into the lie of postmodernity and do not even believe truth exists anymore. It does exist and so does he in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me." - John 14:6 How's that for an absolute objective statement. The thing is is that Jesus loves homosexuals as much as anybody, he just doesn't love their sin. He wants us all to turn from our sin, not try to justify it in some way. We all fall short in some way, but in order to enter into His grace we must first acknowledge this fact that we are sinners and turn from our old way of thinking and get in line with His thinking. We don't all change over night, but Jesus has a lot of loving patience for us if our heart is bent toward Him. I know because he has shown a lot of patience towards me. We are all a work in progress, but we have to take that step of faith to let Him do his work.
What the heck, here I am preaching again. Sorry, it just kind of happens.
Bye for now,
Marc
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Sorry the links to the party platforms didn't work. So much for making it easy. Just go to www.wallbuilders.com/ and scroll down 'till you see it listed and click on platform article. That's not too hard. Hope that works for ya. I would encourage you to explore around on the site and be open minded. You might be surprised by what you may learn.
Bye for now.
Bye for now.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Ok, I'm pretty stoked right now as the Eagles are 3-0 after demonstrating to the previously undefeated Lions that they are not one of the elite teams as yet. This looks to be the Eagles year if they can stay relatively healthy. Another reason I am in this rather exuberant mood is that I just found out that there is a Calvary Chapel church plant right here in Stirling. I am a big fan of Calvary Chapel churches because of their emphasis on essential Christian doctrine and commitment to teaching and proclaiming the word. They're not perfect and certainly won't be when I darken their door, but they are going in the right direction. Calvary Chapel Stirling is a plant from Calvary Chapel Motherwell, Scotland. It started about a year ago so it is in the infancy stages and at the present, they only gather on wed. evenings. I am planning on checking it out in the next couple of weeks. Check out the web-sites highlighted above for more information.
Hey, everybody ready to vote? Election day is fast approaching and this is an important one. I'm not going to tell you who you should vote for (I'm trying my best to be diplomatic even though it hurts), but I think we should be responsible and not let the main stream media tell us in their own crafty way who to vote for either. Check out the platforms of both parties and see which one lines up with your world view. If you're a Christian, you should see which party platform lines up best with your BIBLICAL world view. I'll make it easy for you; just click on Party Platforms, and you're there just that easy. Be a responsible voterand do some research. A responsible voter is an informed voter or something like that. Don't buy into all the rhetoric and media spin. There's no such thing as objective reporting anymore (for the most part that is). Everyone has an agenda ie, CBS News with Dan Rather. Talk about the emperor not having any clothes. Dag, cover it up!
I think this country has been hi-jacked and I don't mean 4 years ago, I mean like 40 years ago when it began to steer way clear of it's Christian roots. Now we are having to fight for prayer in schools, Ten Commandments on public grounds, 'One Nation Under God' taken out of the Pledge, and on and on it goes. Enough rambling out of me, check out this web-site about Americas Christian heritage, it's been very enlightening to me. Wake up America or you'll end up as spiritually dead as Europe. They love their religion here but you know what Jesus had to say about religious people. He wasn't too politically correct either. He called them, 'white washed tombs' and 'brood of vipers' and other nice things. Jesus isn't into religion, he's into having a relationship with you. He is offering his free gift of salvation to all if you will just put your faith in him (that means surrendering your life to him). He died for all of us not just the really religious looking people.
What's the matter with me? I started out cheering on the Eagles and now I'm preaching.
'Till next time, check out the sites.
Marc
Hey, everybody ready to vote? Election day is fast approaching and this is an important one. I'm not going to tell you who you should vote for (I'm trying my best to be diplomatic even though it hurts), but I think we should be responsible and not let the main stream media tell us in their own crafty way who to vote for either. Check out the platforms of both parties and see which one lines up with your world view. If you're a Christian, you should see which party platform lines up best with your BIBLICAL world view. I'll make it easy for you; just click on Party Platforms, and you're there just that easy. Be a responsible voterand do some research. A responsible voter is an informed voter or something like that. Don't buy into all the rhetoric and media spin. There's no such thing as objective reporting anymore (for the most part that is). Everyone has an agenda ie, CBS News with Dan Rather. Talk about the emperor not having any clothes. Dag, cover it up!
I think this country has been hi-jacked and I don't mean 4 years ago, I mean like 40 years ago when it began to steer way clear of it's Christian roots. Now we are having to fight for prayer in schools, Ten Commandments on public grounds, 'One Nation Under God' taken out of the Pledge, and on and on it goes. Enough rambling out of me, check out this web-site about Americas Christian heritage, it's been very enlightening to me. Wake up America or you'll end up as spiritually dead as Europe. They love their religion here but you know what Jesus had to say about religious people. He wasn't too politically correct either. He called them, 'white washed tombs' and 'brood of vipers' and other nice things. Jesus isn't into religion, he's into having a relationship with you. He is offering his free gift of salvation to all if you will just put your faith in him (that means surrendering your life to him). He died for all of us not just the really religious looking people.
What's the matter with me? I started out cheering on the Eagles and now I'm preaching.
'Till next time, check out the sites.
Marc
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Hooooray!!!! We've got a web-site. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Frank our graphics genius, we now have a website. Of course I'm talking about an Impact World Tour web-site. We are in the early stages of developing our own Hamer family site. We'll let you know when it's up.
That's all for now.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Just one more thing:
Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory,
Fly Eagles fly, score a touchdown 1,2,3
Hit 'em low, hit'em high,
and watch our Eagles fly,
Fly Eagles fly,
On the road to victory.
E*A*G*L*E*S
Eagles 27 Minnesota 16
Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory,
Fly Eagles fly, score a touchdown 1,2,3
Hit 'em low, hit'em high,
and watch our Eagles fly,
Fly Eagles fly,
On the road to victory.
E*A*G*L*E*S
Eagles 27 Minnesota 16
Greetings once again.
We had a great time hosting the Canters. They're a family of five from the states who are serving with YWAM Scotland in West Kilbride. They were speaking at Stirling Baptist this past weekend so we had them up for the weekend for some food, fun and fellowship. We all had a blast. Kayleigh and Liam got along great with their children (Haley and Josiah) and had fun playing with the wee one (Channing). The rest of us had a great time as well munching on Julie's great cooking and talking 'till the wee hours of the morning. We even had a great time hiking in the pouring rain up to Castle Cambell. Rain is not an obstacle here, just a variation.
Anyway, blessings to the Canters.
Yesterday Frank and I (Marc) had a meeting with the Church of Scotlands director of evangelism and missions. It was a chance to share with him about Impact World Tour and also hear about his ministry. He was a great guy and seemed genuinely interested in IWT. We'll see how this pans out in the future.
Thursday we have a meeting with another Christian leader in the Dunblane area and on Oct. 7th we have a very important meeting with the pastors of Kilmarnock, Scotland. Pray that they will catch the vision and want to jump on board. This could be a break through meeting. Right now we are looking at Spring of '06 for the first campaign. If things go well in this meeting, Kilmarnock could be the inaugural campaign.
We are also considering having a Discipleship Training School outreach here in November and December. Pray that we would have God's wisdom in this.
Thought of the day:
According to a recent Barna poll, only 4% of those in America who would identify themselves as Christians would refer to their faith in making decisions in their lives. What kind of Christianity is that? It's no wonder we pray that same prayer every year on the national day of prayer (2 Chron. 7:14) and nothing seems to change.
Here are some interesting articles to check out. I agree with them completely.
www.equip.org/free/cp1302.htm
www.str.org/free/commentaries/abortion/callinga.htm
www.harvest.org click on study (under media center) and then click message, "Christians In Civil Government". Great lesson on Americas Christian heritage.
We had a great time hosting the Canters. They're a family of five from the states who are serving with YWAM Scotland in West Kilbride. They were speaking at Stirling Baptist this past weekend so we had them up for the weekend for some food, fun and fellowship. We all had a blast. Kayleigh and Liam got along great with their children (Haley and Josiah) and had fun playing with the wee one (Channing). The rest of us had a great time as well munching on Julie's great cooking and talking 'till the wee hours of the morning. We even had a great time hiking in the pouring rain up to Castle Cambell. Rain is not an obstacle here, just a variation.
Anyway, blessings to the Canters.
Yesterday Frank and I (Marc) had a meeting with the Church of Scotlands director of evangelism and missions. It was a chance to share with him about Impact World Tour and also hear about his ministry. He was a great guy and seemed genuinely interested in IWT. We'll see how this pans out in the future.
Thursday we have a meeting with another Christian leader in the Dunblane area and on Oct. 7th we have a very important meeting with the pastors of Kilmarnock, Scotland. Pray that they will catch the vision and want to jump on board. This could be a break through meeting. Right now we are looking at Spring of '06 for the first campaign. If things go well in this meeting, Kilmarnock could be the inaugural campaign.
We are also considering having a Discipleship Training School outreach here in November and December. Pray that we would have God's wisdom in this.
Thought of the day:
According to a recent Barna poll, only 4% of those in America who would identify themselves as Christians would refer to their faith in making decisions in their lives. What kind of Christianity is that? It's no wonder we pray that same prayer every year on the national day of prayer (2 Chron. 7:14) and nothing seems to change.
Here are some interesting articles to check out. I agree with them completely.
www.equip.org/free/cp1302.htm
www.str.org/free/commentaries/abortion/callinga.htm
www.harvest.org click on study (under media center) and then click message, "Christians In Civil Government". Great lesson on Americas Christian heritage.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
I had a great time with the XY men's group from Stirling Baptist Church this past weekend up in the highlands. They had asked me to be the speaker for the weekend and after I accepted I grew a bit nervous knowing that I would be the only American there surrounded by Scottish men in a very remote part of the world. I thought if I could just blend in a bit I would be ok. So, I decided to wear a plaid skirt on the first night and see how things would go from there. They loved my tartan and we all got along just splendidly. It was somewhat troubling though that they were a bit short on tea. I must say though the scones made up all too well for the afformetioned travesty...That was all a joke in case you couldn't figure that out.
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
Ok, this is not a new post from today, (actually from about a week ago) but I accidently deleted it... who knows how! So here it is again... I think (sorry Marc!)
Greetings once again from Haggis central. Just wanted to point y'all (I just learned yesterday that this was a Scottish expression in origin) to what I thought was a fascinating interview Bill O'reilly from Fox news had with Bono, the lead singer of the band 'U2' . I would say it was enlightening as a matter of fact in many ways. It was great to hear someone come on a show and talk about an issue in an intelligent manner instead of broadbrushing and name calling a particular party or group. So often we just hear the Republicans labeling the Democrats as tax and spend social liberals and the Democrats broadbrushing the Republicans as big money fat cat cigar smoking religious zealots, and nobody ever actually gets to the issues. I appreciated the fact that Bono right from the start of the interview makes his non-partisan position clear, and then moves on to the issue at hand. That issue being the aids crisis in Africa and why the press is not covering it. You can check out the interview by going to: www.foxnews.com , click on FNC TV, O'Reilly Factor and when O'Reilly Factor page comes up click Bono's face then click video. I think as Christians we should be educating ourselves to the horrible sufferings of so many around the world and pray to God for wisdom and ways in which we may be able to help. As a matter of fact, this is not optional, Jesus has commanded us to do this.
Check out this passage, it is very sobering, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' -Matt. 25:31-40 Following this is one of the most sobering scriptures in all the bible. Check it out!!!
I would encourage us all to pray also for someone of Bono's stature to rise up and be a clear and passionate voice for the 1.4 million innocent human beings being killed annually in America under the guise of choice. If anyone deserves to live it's these little baby's which have yet to sin as opposed to the rest of us (Romans 3:23) . This is by far the greatest blight on our nation. We need to pray and do something to bring it to an end. Pray for our political as well as church leaders (2Chron. 7:14; James 3:1) that they will seek the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD, not just the parts that are convenient. God bless you all! Marc
(I also somehow deleted Frank and Beckys link, sorry Becky, thought I was cleaning out the old drafts... Ill get that address again.) Over and out!
Greetings once again from Haggis central. Just wanted to point y'all (I just learned yesterday that this was a Scottish expression in origin) to what I thought was a fascinating interview Bill O'reilly from Fox news had with Bono, the lead singer of the band 'U2' . I would say it was enlightening as a matter of fact in many ways. It was great to hear someone come on a show and talk about an issue in an intelligent manner instead of broadbrushing and name calling a particular party or group. So often we just hear the Republicans labeling the Democrats as tax and spend social liberals and the Democrats broadbrushing the Republicans as big money fat cat cigar smoking religious zealots, and nobody ever actually gets to the issues. I appreciated the fact that Bono right from the start of the interview makes his non-partisan position clear, and then moves on to the issue at hand. That issue being the aids crisis in Africa and why the press is not covering it. You can check out the interview by going to: www.foxnews.com , click on FNC TV, O'Reilly Factor and when O'Reilly Factor page comes up click Bono's face then click video. I think as Christians we should be educating ourselves to the horrible sufferings of so many around the world and pray to God for wisdom and ways in which we may be able to help. As a matter of fact, this is not optional, Jesus has commanded us to do this.
Check out this passage, it is very sobering, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' -Matt. 25:31-40 Following this is one of the most sobering scriptures in all the bible. Check it out!!!
I would encourage us all to pray also for someone of Bono's stature to rise up and be a clear and passionate voice for the 1.4 million innocent human beings being killed annually in America under the guise of choice. If anyone deserves to live it's these little baby's which have yet to sin as opposed to the rest of us (Romans 3:23) . This is by far the greatest blight on our nation. We need to pray and do something to bring it to an end. Pray for our political as well as church leaders (2Chron. 7:14; James 3:1) that they will seek the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD, not just the parts that are convenient. God bless you all! Marc
(I also somehow deleted Frank and Beckys link, sorry Becky, thought I was cleaning out the old drafts... Ill get that address again.) Over and out!
I had a great time with the XY men's group from Stirling Baptist Church this past weekend up in the highlands. They had asked me to be the speaker for the weekend and after I accepted I grew a bit nervous knowing that I would be the only American there surrounded by Scottish men in a very remote part of the world. I thought if I could just blend in a bit I would be ok.
So, I decided to wear a plaid skirt on the first night and see how things would go from there. They loved my tartan and we all got along just splendidly. It was somewhat troubling though that they were a bit short on tea. I must say though the scones made up all too well for the afformetioned travesty...That was all a joke in case you couldn't figure that out.
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
So, I decided to wear a plaid skirt on the first night and see how things would go from there. They loved my tartan and we all got along just splendidly. It was somewhat troubling though that they were a bit short on tea. I must say though the scones made up all too well for the afformetioned travesty...That was all a joke in case you couldn't figure that out.
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
Saturday, September 04, 2004
I woke Kayleigh up on Wed. (my birthday) with a kiss and she said to me... "Mommy, ... it looks like you have more than 2 wrinkles on your forehead." What a way to say happy birthday! I love kids to bits and the way they are so free and open to share what they observe. Shes right, but I was making a funny face too!
Anyway, we spent the day with people that we did not know well in Edinburgh, but it was fun anyway! We were debriefing the YWAM Edinburgh Staff that had been organizing the Shine ministry for the Edinburgh Arts festival. HUGE job! The Shine ministry I mean! It was great to hear them share their experiences, challenges, leadership whoas, and celebrations as well and be a part of that! Its so cool that there are people willing to be such a light in such an incredible dark culture there!
Well, after our 7 hour or so debriefing, we quickly went home to relieve Becky (who so graciously picked up Kayleigh from school and "child minded" Liam as well). We were greeted with festivities at home! Packages, (some from the mail too... Thanks!!!) , home made banners, a cake from Frank, and a live finger puppet show by the Hamer kids. How cute! Becky even helped them make a theatre stage! How cool! ANYWAY... all in all it was a good day!
Ok, who doesn't love Sundays!?! A morning of worship with like minded believers in Christ... (one would hope) and then a day to kick back and do nothing or something... whatever you want! (Except for Church workers, I know this one is tricky and your day of rest must come another day.)
Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrows post Church festivities... Its a Monty Pythons Holy Grail Festival at the Doune Castle where it was filmed! Should be a riot! Coconut shells and all! (Im sure that most of the attenders will be Americans as every British person that I have spoken of it with has wrinkled their nose at the thought of the film.) (And really we are going because for us its free and local... party on!)
Anyway, we spent the day with people that we did not know well in Edinburgh, but it was fun anyway! We were debriefing the YWAM Edinburgh Staff that had been organizing the Shine ministry for the Edinburgh Arts festival. HUGE job! The Shine ministry I mean! It was great to hear them share their experiences, challenges, leadership whoas, and celebrations as well and be a part of that! Its so cool that there are people willing to be such a light in such an incredible dark culture there!
Well, after our 7 hour or so debriefing, we quickly went home to relieve Becky (who so graciously picked up Kayleigh from school and "child minded" Liam as well). We were greeted with festivities at home! Packages, (some from the mail too... Thanks!!!) , home made banners, a cake from Frank, and a live finger puppet show by the Hamer kids. How cute! Becky even helped them make a theatre stage! How cool! ANYWAY... all in all it was a good day!
Ok, who doesn't love Sundays!?! A morning of worship with like minded believers in Christ... (one would hope) and then a day to kick back and do nothing or something... whatever you want! (Except for Church workers, I know this one is tricky and your day of rest must come another day.)
Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrows post Church festivities... Its a Monty Pythons Holy Grail Festival at the Doune Castle where it was filmed! Should be a riot! Coconut shells and all! (Im sure that most of the attenders will be Americans as every British person that I have spoken of it with has wrinkled their nose at the thought of the film.) (And really we are going because for us its free and local... party on!)
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