THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Three kinds of bills of rights exist for particular groups of people. An entrenched bill of rights is adopted separately from a country’s constitution and is not necessarily recognized by the country’s government. An unentrenched bill of rights is recognized by the government but may be weakened by subsequent acts passed by the legislature. A statutory unentrenched bill of rights, which is passed by a legislative body separate from the constitution, can be changed by the authority of that same legislative body.
The third kind is a constitutional bill of rights, which we have here in America. These rights cannot be changed except by a popular vote of the people. Not every jurisdiction enforces the protections of the rights stated in their bill of rights, but in America our rights are enforced by law if necessary.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights …” This was changed to unalienable by John Adams at the time of printing the Declaration.
So, these rights are not rights granted by human wisdom or the law of the land, but these are natural rights granted by God himself. Our founding fathers realized this and wrote the rights into our founding documents. These rights became the first ten amendments to our constitution.
These are the rights for which we fight our wars. These are not rights given to us simply by government but by God. Those attempting to take away these rights are bent on our destruction, and wars against them are in self defense. Any deaths in these wars that come in self defense cannot be called murder.
It would be inhumane for a government to grant, by God’s mercy, these rights and then refuse to defend us against those who would take them away. Thank God for the wisdom of our forefathers. God bless America!

Birthday

This is a wonderful birthday card that I received from the Philippines sent to me by Bryce Spears, son of one of our missionaries. This card is very special to me just knowing that a 7-year-old child would take the time to make a card like this and send it to the U. S. just for my birthday.

As far as I am concerned, my birthday has no real meaning except that I am older, but to receive a card like this, along with all the other cards that I received, is a very special thing.

Bryce, thank you, and may God bless you as you grow strong in the Lord and as you surrender to his word and his will. Perhaps when you become an adult the Lord will have a very special job for you to do.

Sometimes we forget our missionaries out there on the field, but this little one did not forget me. Let's take the time to give a little personal attention to our missionaries, letting them know that we really appreciate what they are doing and that we love them and pray for them often. This will be a great encouragement to them. I am sure they need much encouragement, since much danger lies in many of the countries into which our missionaries go.

We cannot fulfill the Great Commission without our missionaries. We must go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Without missionaries who surrender to go to these places, our efforts are weak and feeble; but with them we can go into the whole world with the Gospel. May God help us to appreciate them.

A Wonderful Weekend and Sunday

My great weekend began by going to Falmouth, Kentucky, to the Wolfe-Jenkins reunion. We had somewhere around 50 people in attendance, and the food was just wonderful. I don't believe I have ever seen so much food in my life at one event.

When I left the reunion, I traveled from Falmouth, Kentucky, to Loveland, Ohio, where my son, Scott, was getting married. The wedding began at 6:00 PM. It was a lovely wedding; then he and Kathy went to Florida for a little vacation. I returned home about 8:30 PM. I was tired, but I had a busy Sunday yet to go.

I arose about 7:30 on Sunday morning and went to church. I taught my Sunday School class and then led singing at church, because my song director was at Addyston Baptist Church singing with the Blue Grass Boys quartet. I preached my sermon on The Great Commission #2 in the morning worship service.

After the morning service, I took my three grandchildren to eat a sandwich at Windy's, and then we went to Addyston Baptist Church for the 2:00 PM service. The Blue Grass Boys Quartet sang, and Bro. Darrell Sparks preached. We had a wonderful service and returned to First Baptist Church for the evening service at 6:00 PM. The Blue Grass Boys Quartet came over to First Baptist and sang for almost an hour. We had a great time singing. Most of the songs were sung as we sang them in the 1960's with my playing the piano and not singing. I did sing "Beulah Land." Then I brought my message on Hebrews 12:1-17.

After the evening service, a couple from Addyston Baptist Church took Bro. Bob Jones, his wife, Sue, and me to Frisch's for a time of food and fellowship. What a wonderful time together!

Today I am "whipped," but I still went to work and worked in the office all morning and until about 2:30 PM. I ate lunch and then picked up a few items at the store and came home. Now all I am doing is writing this blog and working on a few pictures. I am going to bed tonight EARLY.

New Series Beginning at First Baptist Church

I am beginning a new series at First Baptist Church on The Great Commission. You will find outlines as they are prepared. They will be posted on our web site at www. firstharrison.net. Click on "Sermons & Articles." One outline is already posted there. They will be in PDF format so that everyone can read them. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it free at www.adobe.com.

This series will take several weeks to complete. I am not sure how many outlines I will have, but I believe I will enjoy reading and studying for this series. This is a greatly needed series in our Baptist churches today.

Follow the series, and feel free to print or download the outlines and use them as God leads.

God bless.

Vacation And Anniversary

This has been an awesome month. On August 19, 2007, First Baptist Church of Harrison, Ohio, celebrated my 25th year as pastor of the church. They presented me with a beautiful plaque and a new laptop computer, which I have been enjoying ever since. These people have been wonderful to me, and I love them like my family.

After the celebration, I went on vacation for a few days to Kentucky. I was with my wife's people, who are wonderful. Her mother is great, and I stayed with her for about four nights and days. We had a great time of fellowship. Some days I did absolutely nothing but read my Bible and a book which I must read for one of my school courses.

Bro. Herman Mills is here this month, and I have been transporting him from place to place. This is a wonderful experience for him and for me. His wife, Brenda, and his daughter, T'Shara, are here with him. I am so happy to meet them for the first time. We have had many hours of good fellowship. God is blessing his work in Trinidad, and our church supports him monthly.

Classes begin for me tonight, Aug. 30, at Antioch Baptist College. I will be teaching, Lord willing, English Composition and The Book of Exodus. This will be a challenge but a wonderful opportunity. Pray for the school. We need more students and more support for the school.

Time is going by fast, and I must eat a little and get prepared for classes, so I must go.

Creation Museum

About 21 people from First Baptist Church of Harrison, Ohio, traveled to the Creation Museum (Answers In Genesis)on July 23, 2007. The trip was wonderful! We got there early so that we did not need to stand in line to get in. Many of us were Senior Citizens, so we got a good rate.

The first thing we did was to visit the Planetarium. This was wonderful in that we saw how God created the universe and how complex and wonderful his creation is. No wonder the Bible tells us that the heavens declare his handiwork. Parts of the presentation were above the heads of most of us, but there was enough basic information that we could see the magnitude as well as the complexity and the wonder of God's heavens.

We saw two or three more show that illustrated God's creation as opposed to humanistic evolution. Unlike going to the zoo and having to put up with all of the nonsense about millions of years and half-thought-out explanations of life, we saw Bible evidence of God's special creation.

Thanks to Bro. Todd Westrich, who pushed me in a wheelchair the whole time. This made it easier on me and my arthritis. We had a wonderful time of fellowship after we finished at the museum--we went to the Golden Corral restaurant in Florence for a late lunch. We all ate too much, of course, including dessert.

After arriving back at Harrison, I went to the office to do some much needed office work and made some phone calls along with wishing Bro. Sam Sookraj well, who is leaving on Tuesday after staying in our mission apartment for about a week.

Then I got a call that it was my grandson's birthday, so I went to my son's house to have birthday cake (after eating at Golden Corral) and played games with the children. When I arrived home, I was tired; so I went to bed after reading a little in my Bible.

Thank for Lord for days like this. It makes life a little better.

Hate Crime

After doing some more research on the story in my last blog concerning hate crimes, I realized that these evangelizing people who were arrested were arrested, not for their message, but for their disturbance of the peace.

When we witness, we should go with a sincere heart and a Spirit-led mission to give the Gospel to someone, not to cause trouble. I am sure these people had an honorable mission in mind, but I believe they were a little too zealous.

We will never stop homosexuality, but we can preach the Gospel to every creature, and the Lord can perform miracles.

May God give us wisdom to and boldness to preach the Gospel in a world that is dying in their sins!

Ac 4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,