True Christian ministry must tear down those strongholds and present the truth of the gospel message and simplicity of devotion to Jesus Christ. This is what RCM exists for: To build the church, teaching how to defend the faith and make disciples of Jesus Christ. God is opening doors allowing me to get into the fight. 

This year has marked a turn or return for me as I’ve returned to international travel. I am exceedingly thankful for the missions department of Southern Evangelical Seminary for including me as part of their team, T.E.A.M. (Truth, Evangelism, Apologetics, and Mission). In my last update I shared on our recent trip to Greece. It was just the beginning of several future trips. 

I’m scheduled to go with the team to South Africa in May (5-17). Noted philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig is scheduled to travel with us to debate a leading atheist or Muslim cleric. Those details are still being worked out. We will have the opportunity to learn from Dr. Craig first hand. We will also hold conferences, Dr. Craig will debate, and we’ll visit churches and campus groups to minister.

I’m also scheduled to go to Italy with the team in June. The dates for that trip are pending. T.E.A.M. , has a long term plan for establishing an apologetic center or centers in Italy. This will be the third trip to Italy and will build on the previous trips. God is helping to establish this work through good teaching and receptive hearts. It is exciting to see how God is bringing this together.

There will be future trips to Greece, too. We just opened the pipeline to get into the country. There is so much to be done and people are asking for help. We trust God will allow us to continue to participate and train people to do the work of evangelism.

In all of this I remain humbled and grateful for God’s faithfulness. I believe I am being used in a way that God has designed me. I’m not a great fan of plane travel, but I thoroughly enjoy working with different cultures. I hack at languages and work to get myself understood. More than than, I love teaching apologetics - I have yearned to do so, not to shine but to illuminate others.

So, there are several opportunities in front of me. I’ve already purchased my tickets to South Africa. I sensed the time was right to do so. The preparations for this trip are being finalized.

Once again, I’m asking you to participate with me in these trips. I’m looking for people who will commit to fast, pray and contribute. I won’t make unrealistic appeals telling you how you’ll be blessed because you give. I will tell you that when you help me you do help the people I go to. If you’re familiar with my teaching content, style and such, you then know what I’m able to bring. Knowing that I’m equipping people to stand for Christ in adverse circumstances is a great reward.

Knowing there are people praying and fasting for me and the team is reassuring. On this last trip one church covered all the days of the trip with fasting and praying. Others participated as well. It was no coincidence when God met us in unusual circumstances, providing all our needs at the right time. We knew it was God who helped us.

Financially, I’m dependent on God’s faithfulness. Will you consider helping me get to these places? Joanne and I have lived on a “faith based” income for over 30 years. God has always been faithful to us and we continue to look to him for this. And, we need your help too. Would you consider picking up a piece of these trips? I can tell you between these two trips I need to raise $5000. I’ve already put out $1350 for the trip to South Africa. 

The trip to Italy is extremely important as I mentioned, we’re building on past visits. One need surfaced especially on the last trip - women who can minister one-on-one to other women. Often the need arises when a conversation turns into a counseling session. It is awkward for men, especially young men to be counseling these women. For this reason, I want to take Joanne with me. Folks, this is no holiday. Most days are 14-18 hours of meetings, conversations and travel. When we get a day off, we’re thankful! Thanks for your consideration

On the home front I continue to work to bring a teaching center for apologetics to the Northeast, particularly New Jersey. The church Joanne and I belong to (Long Branch Covenant Church) has been supportive in this effort by hosting our yearly apologetic conference and quarterly seminars. We’re just beginning here as well.

We see our young people struggle with their identity as Christians. We see how the muddled messages keep them from commitment to Christ. We see them disarmed when confronted with questions. In all, we see a great need to equip young people with the right tools to defend their faith. We also see how the older folks need to be awakened, shaken, and straightened out.

The preparation for our conference is coming along nicely. We’re getting ready to begin our media campaign with radio and FaceBook ads. The schedule is pretty well set with Drs. Geisler and Copan taking the “lion’s share” of the teaching.

Will you consider underwriting some of this? If you donate $200 we’ll give you a set of the conference DVD’s for your donation. That’s 8 DVD’s which will sell for $75 at the conference. If 12 people donate $200 that will cover our radio ads which will begin around the middle of February. Tune in to Star 99.1 FM to hear our ads!

Thanks for taking the time to consider these requests. As always, we are thankful for you participation.

From Obama’s side of things it appears he wants comprehensive health care reform. One has to ask, “What is driving that?” Is it the number of people who reportedly have no health care? Is it a health care crisis? Is it the amount of money insurance companies or doctors make that he wants to curtail? After all, he has been cited as saying he wants to “spread the wealth around.”

Cries from the other side sound the alarm that this is a ploy of socialist takeover. The government wants to run everything in our lives. Obamacare, as it is labeled, is all about the government’s intrusion into the lives of everyday citizen’s. After all, almost everyone with healthcare is happy with what they have. Why change it? Both sides may have legitimate fears and arguments. But, I think there’s something deeper.

What I keep hearing from the snippets of information I get from the proposed healthcare bill is a change in orientation in how we view life itself. There are two competing worldviews presented here. Obama’s heath bill comes from a particular philosophy of life, one that is touted every day in the halls of congress. It is simply pragmatic, consequentialist philosophy. Peter Singer probably likes this bill proposal. If it does pronounce a consequentialist philosophy, as it seems it does, it does not allow for the sanctity of life in any form. This would make Peter Singer very happy.

In the Charlie Gibson interview where he helped to stabilize Obama’s plan, a woman asked a question about her very elderly mother who needed a hip replacement and a pacemaker. Her question to the president asked whether her mother would get the medical care she needed. Obama’s answer was indirect but ended up with “maybe she should take the pain-killer.” In other words, “Under my plan, we wouldn’t spend the money on your mother’s quality of life because she’s passed the productive part of life. So, we’d just ease her pain until she passes.” This was more revealing than much else that was said and what I suspected about Obama.

He doesn’t believe in the sanctity of life per se, but for people who are productive or have the potential for being productive. He is not only pro-abortion, but a consequentialist. He believes that the end justifies the means and what is best practically for the greatest amount of people is the best choice. There is no biblical referencing in his thinking, no matter what he says about being a Christian. He is nowhere near being a “natural law” theorist or ethicist.

This is not surprising. His position on most things has come from a “progressive thinkers “camp. Conservatism as a worldview must be anchored in something solid. Unlike progressive thinkers who want to distance themselves from anything established. The good of progressive thinkers is that they would like to question things, especially things that do not work - there’s that pragmatic thing again. There’s nothing wrong with questioning - it is questioning everything that becomes absurd. Of course, they don’t want to be questioned as some of these town-hall meetings have revealed. Ironically, they don’t want to question the removal of things when they’re removing them either. There’s an old Asian proverb that say, “before you take the fence down, you ought to ask why it was put up there.” Sometimes the answer to that question may  be, “elephants.” 

So, the fundamental difference on how people look at life in this case is whether there is intrinsic value in human life and that human life ought to be saved and preserved as a priority, and determining worth by what a person contributes to the human race. Determining a person’s worth based on what their contribution to the human race is is looking at things from a completely different vantage point. This is what leads to euthanasia. Obamacare is not declaring euthanasia as part of its bill, but critics say it will lead there. It certainly opens the door.

When our moral conscience as a people takes a back seat to expedience, or worse, a price tag, we are in seriously deep trouble. However, this is the trend we’ve been on. There is no anchor point, no fixed position, no true north, just what will work best. The fundamental difference is whether we believe in the value of human dignity based on religious beliefs or whether human beings are only worth something when we contribute to the human race. Those who are too young to contribute or have outlived their usefulness have little worth. This is what is actually on the table here.