Christian Faith in America

By Dr. Tony Beam.

Never have so many done so much to accomplish something that so few want. That about sums up the Obama Administration obsession to ram the so-called healthcare reform package through a reluctant Congress. Republicans are united in their opposition and the President’s own party has to be bought off, roughed up, or talked down to in order to bring them in line. The limits of reconciliation in the Senate is forcing the Obama Administration to go for broke in the House. If somehow, Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel can get enough democrat representatives to agree to fall on their swords and vote for passage of the Senate bill, reconciliation will be a moot point. All that has to happen is for the House to pass the Senate bill without amendments. It would then go straight to the President’s desk where he would sign into law the largest, most bitterly partisan bill in history…a bill that has been soundly rejected by majority after majority in poll after poll.

How did an Administration that promised to move “beyond politics” and “unite the county” end up being so partisan with a bitterly divided country? It’s really not that hard to understand. For nine months leading up to the mid-term elections of 2006 I tried to get as many people as I could to realize we were about to turn the county over to hardcore leftwing ideologues. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Steny Hoyer, and the rest of the democrat leadership are all committed to as much government control as the country will tolerate. Candidate Obama ran as a moderate, a centrist, who promised to avoid the partisan divides of the past and bring the country to a place of broad consensus on a host of issues. The rhetoric of the campaign quickly gave way to the reality of governing. President Obama bore almost no resemblance to candidate Obama. He began governing from the Left from day one, promising to fix our broken economy by mortgaging the prosperity of future generations by piling up an unprecedented mountain of debt, all while increasing the size and scope of the federal government.

Americans were shocked by the $767 billion price tag of the stimulus package but the administration was young so many people were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Then came the takeover of General Motors and the bailout of Chrysler. Then President Obama presented and democrats passed a $3.53 trillion budget that is guaranteed to add $1.2 trillion to the national debt by the end of this fiscal year.

By the summer, the grassroots response to the Obama Administration’s runaway spending had blossomed into a serious rebellion among the electorate. Congress went home in August to face overwhelming opposition to the President’s healthcare plan. Town hall meetings, that were supposed to be opportunities for democrats to tout the President’s healthcare plan turned into raucous roasts as Americans sent a clear message that they believed their government was out of touch and out of control.

(Editor’s Note: The photo above shows only a tiny fraction of the large crowd that attended this event. At the time this photo was taken, around 1:00 p.m., Pennsylvania Avenue was still jammed completely, and the mall was packed from the Capitol Building past the Washington Monument. See aerial photos here.)

On September 12, hundreds of thousands of protestors showed up in Washington calling for an end to healthcare reform but the President and his majority party were not in the mood to listen. First, they tried to ignore the Tea Party protestors hoping the mainstream media would follow their lead and leave the Tea Party with no place to go. When that didn’t work, the administration tried to vilify the movement by calling it an “Astroturf” movement funded by special interests like “big Pharmaceuticals” and “big insurance companies.” Last summer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the Tea Party movement “un-American” and accused them of using Nazi symbols. But in a recent interview with Elizabeth Vargas on ABC’s This Week, Pelosi, speaking about the Tea Party movement said, “Some of it is hijacking the good intentions of lots of people who share some of our concerns that we have about the role of special interests.” I must assume Pelosi’s strategy now is if you can’t beat the Tea Party movement just hijack it and make is sound like your idea.

The latest shoe to drop in the healthcare or highway effort by the White House comes from Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY), who is being investigated by the House ethics committee for allegedly making inappropriate comments to a staffer on New Year’s Eve. Massa announced his resignation on Friday saying, “This administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this heath care bill. And now they’ve gotten rid of me, and it will pass. You connect the dots.”

On Sunday, Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans of slowing trying to block healthcare reform. Yet it was fellow democrats Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana who demanded the “cornhusker kickback’ and the Louisiana Purchase” in order to secure their votes.

The question is why? Why is the President and the Democrat leadership so determined to have healthcare or the highway? The answer is simple. They really believe they know what is best for the American people. And they are willing to go to any lengths and to walk over the will of the people to get their way.

Dr. Tony Beam is Vice-President for Student Services and the Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina, Dr. Tony Beam received his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and his Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

By Dr. Tony Beam

I am blessed with many vivid memories of my childhood. I remember the first time I looked through a pair of binoculars. It was a cheap, pop-up pair that my dad bought me at what used to be called the Ice Capades, which was an older version of the traveling ice-skating programs we see today. I was fascinated that just by looking through the lens it appeared that I could reach out and touch the skaters. I literally spent hours gazing through those binoculars until my dad would make me put them away for a while.

Another memory is not so pleasant. I remember I hated being sent to my room for misbehaving. My parents called it “being grounded”.  It meant I couldn’t leave my room until they were convinced I had learned my lesson.

In the late 60’s we didn’t have T.V., computers, cell phones, video games, or any of the other “in room” entertainment devices of today. So, being grounded meant staying put with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

When I read Acts 1:6-11, I see the beginnings of the early church being tempted toward being grounded or gazing. Verse 6 says, “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, (the risen Christ) Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” That is a grounded question asked by disciples with a grounded mindset. It has been forty days since Jesus rose from the grave. He spent His time appearing to His followers, speaking to them about the glories of a kingdom that would reside in each one of them once the Holy Spirit came.

But here they are thinking in physical rather than spiritual terms. They were seeking what amounted to a political solution to their plight. They wanted Jesus to remove the iron boot of Roman rule and establish an earthly kingdom where He would rule on the throne of David and restore the glory of Solomon. They longed for the good old days when Israel had conquered its neighbors and the whole world came to Jerusalem to pay homage and to seek wisdom from Solomon.

Many in the church today have the same grounded mentality. They spend much time talking about and longing for the good old days when the church was the center of the community and ministers were considered to be wise community leaders. The church had a tremendous amount of influence from Hollywood to Hoboken. People lined up on Sunday to go to church as the whole town shut down in honor of the Lord’s Day. During the week, people lined up to see Charlton Heston bring Moses and Ben Hur to life on the silver screen. Movies with titles like, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Robe, and Quo Vadis won hearts in the theaters and Oscars at the Academy Awards. It was a time when the Gospel was, as Paul told Timothy, “in season.”

But now the Church is no longer the most powerful influence in the community. Ministers are often suspect and Hollywood has turned organized religion into the “the devil with the blue dress on.” What are we to do? If we sit in our pews and long for the good old days we will be a grounded church. We will lose what little influence we have left in the world. We must follow the advice of a t-shirt I saw last week. Its message was as simple as it was profound. It said, “The Church has left the building.”

If the 21st century church is going to transform the culture we have to leave the building. We must go where the people are, build a bridge of fellowship, and demonstrate the love of Christ even as we gently warn that to reject His love is to eventually feel His wrath.
Later in Acts 1, the disciples are caught gazing up into the sky where they saw Jesus ascend. Verse 10 says, “And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?” The disciples had been given their instructions. They were to go to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. It was not a time for gazing, being spellbound by the glorious sight of Jesus. It was time for action. It was time to go to the place where the power from Heaven would be poured out in abundant supply. Verse 8 carries the promise, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, ad in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” As I heard one old country preacher say, “They needed to go to the spout where the glory comes out!”  Gazing into heaven can be a good thing if we make sure it doesn’t become the only thing.

There was nothing wrong with me being fascinated with the binoculars to the point of wanting to spend some of my time gazing. The problem arose when gazing was all I wanted to do. There is nothing wrong with a church that gazes longingly into heaven, falling before a holy God, asking as Moses asked to see just “a glimpse of His glory.” But it is easy to give in to the temptation to do nothing but gaze. We lose our touch with the people God has called us to reach if we become so enraptured by His glory we forget to reflect His glory to the world.

While believers should always be informed about the issues facing our society in the political arena and we should be good citizens by voting according to the standards of God’s Word, we must never trust in a political solution for our spiritual condition. While we should revere the past we should see it as a signpost and not a hitching post. The 21st Century Church must be found neither grounded nor gazing but rather greatly empowered by the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the call to be His witnesses “even to the remotest part of the earth.”

You can hear Dr. Beam live on Christian Talk 660 weekday mornings from 7:00-9:00 AM (EST) as he is the host of Christian Worldview Today. You can also listen to recorded broadcasts in the Christian Worldview Today Archive.

Dr. Tony Beam is Vice-President for Student Services and the Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina, Dr. Tony Beam received his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and his Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

As we near President Obama’s outright snub against the American people in his so-called “bi-partisan” health-SCARE summit, I thought  it right and proper to recall just how popular this Socialist takeover is with ordinary citizens.  Last year grass roots activism reached a boiling point in the TEA Party movement.  Here are some home videos of real SC heroes of Conservatism adding spice to the TEA.

The first is Dr. Tony Beam speaking at Greenville SC TEA Party

The second is Senator Jim DeMint speaking at the Greenville SC TEA Party

As you listen to President Obama speaking about healthcare reform, remember he is talking about a TRILLION DOLLAR entitlement program that is more about increasing Government control over our lives and limiting our freedoms than about solving the perceived and conceived “healthcare crisis.”  The audacity and arrogance of this presidential regime staggers the imagination.

By Dr. Tony Beam

I love computers, gadgets, PDA’s, cell phones with GPS capability and cars with voice activated phones and MP3 players. I’m hooked on satellite radio and I never go anywhere without my IPOD. In short, I am a bonafide, southern fried techno junkie. I cried for three days when I found out AT&T would be the exclusive provider of the Iphone because I am locked into a long term contract with another mobile phone service provider.

But alas, the affection I have for all things high-tech is not returned to me by my beloved gadgets. Every technological marvel I touch instantly becomes dysfunctional. I was told that I need to switch from a PC to a Mac because Apple computers were foolproof. The Computer Services people at North Greenville University told me once I made the switch they would be able to reassign the lone Computer Services technician they hired just to look after me. In turn, they assured me I would be able to delete the Computer Services extension from my speed dial.

I am now known as the only person in the known universe who had to send two bad apples back to the Mac tree. Tim, the campus computer guru tells me in the world of computers that is a record comparable to Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France titles.

But all my face time with Computer Services has taught me a lesson or two about troubleshooting. I was talking to Tim about my latest crisis and he told me what my computer needed was to return to its default settings. It seems a big part of my problem with computers is I like to add lots of programs. Sometimes, Tim says, the best thing to do is just wipe the slate clean of all the added programs and take the computer back to its original settings. So Tim whips out something called the restore program and faster than you can say, “what happened to all my downloads,” my computer is back to its original programming, humming along at warp speed without a single glitch.

Wouldn’t it be nice if political candidates worked like computers? It seems to me a lot of the confusion associated with the current political climate finds its source in what some conservative politicians are trying to add to the original idea of conservatism. Republicans are divided because no one has fully captured the imagination of the majority. Many of the front line leaders in the Republican Party have plenty of impressive ideas they have offered as alternatives to the Obama agenda. But the question many Evangelical conservatives are asking is, when you strip away all the pat answers and the red meat rhetoric, where is the leader whose core values will anchor them to something solid in this stormy time in which we live? The first leader who answers that question will win the support of everyone who longs for ethical leadership and a clear path back to a constitutionally run America.

There is a scene in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace gets in the face of Robert the Bruce (the accepted leader of Scotland) and says “the people will follow you if you will just lead them.” In modern day terms we need a leader who will lead by stepping up to the plate, acknowledging the source of our national distress (progressivism) and lead us back to limited, constitutional government.

America is ready for a leader whose default setting is the Word of God. A leader whose fall back position is to fall back to the idea of a smaller government that protects its weakest citizens and defends all of its citizens against the threat of annihilation from radical Islamic militants. We are ready for a leader who defends our borders and defies those who would transform our culture into a politically correct caricature of itself. Conservative Evangelicals are looking for a leader who will be a stand up straight shooter depending on core values that are rooted in absolute truth and grounded in a true understanding of compassion.

Ronald Reagan’s name has been raised more than once by both Democrats and Republicans during these confusing and dangerous times. What is it about Reagan’s legacy that makes leaders of both parties invoke his name? It’s simple really….Reagan’s core values, his “default setting” captured the hearts of all Americans. All anyone has to do to understand why Reagan was so wildly popular is read a few excerpts from his diary. Reagan would bend over backwards to work with anyone who was willing to recognize he couldn’t be budged off of his default setting. Smaller government, the protection of life, the defense of the family, victory over our enemies, the greatness of the American people, and the unlimited potential of the American dream were all programs that made up Reagan’s default setting.

Its time for true conservative leaders to arise who are willing to remove the latest add on programs to fix America and return to the default settings that will make America great.

You can hear Dr. Beam live on Christian Talk 660 weekday mornings from 7:00-9:00 AM (EST) as he is the host of Christian Worldview Today. You can also listen to recorded broadcasts in the Christian Worldview Today Archive.

Dr. Tony Beam is Vice-President for Student Services and the Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina, Dr. Tony Beam received his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and his Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

By Dr. Tony Beam

The tragedy of the Haitian earthquake has swept the globe drawing the entire civilized world into a giant wave of compassion and support. Before the quake, Haiti was a nation racked with poverty and rife with corruption. Since the quake, poverty has been replaced by destitution and corruption has morphed into anarchy. The world is reaching out but a lack of infrastructure and the complete collapse of the Haitian government have relief agencies frustrated. Even the awesome might of the United States military has not been enough to end the apocalyptic scale suffering of the people.

One of the chilling byproducts of the death and destruction in Haiti are scores of children, many now orphaned, wandering through the rubble trying to survive. Some of the children are being watched over by dazed, desperate parents who fear the relief efforts may not arrive in time to prevent their children from starving to death. Some offer their children to strangers hoping they can provide a means of escape from the unbelievably horrible conditions.

Into this nightmare of chaos and confusion come ten middle-class Americans who left the comfort and safety of their homes and their families to try and make a difference. Led by Laura Silsby, who has been described by what may be the understatement of the year by her father, John Sander as “a touch naïve”, all ten are being held in a fetid cell by what is left of the Haitian government. All are charged with child abduction and criminal association, charges which carry jail terms of up to 15 years. It is entirely possible that their case won’t be heard for three months and then not in front of a jury but in front of a single judge. (Read Complete News Story)

The pictures of these missionaries are chilling. They could be your neighbors or the people you see at your children’s soccer games. They are not hardened criminals, greedy opportunists, or heartless profiteers seeking to make their fortune by kidnapping and then selling innocent children. They are God-fearing, Christ honoring missionaries following the call of God to bring a message of hope and life to a hopeless situation that is filled with the stench of death.

With the help of her live-in nanny, Charisa Coulter, Laura Silsby organized a non-profit group called New Life Children’s Refuge. The group was incorporated last November and a companion organization was planned for the Dominican Republic. According to Fox News, Ms. Silsby and Ms. Coulter described New Life as being, “dedicated to rescuing. Loving, and caring for orphaned, abandoned and impoverished Haitian and Dominican children, demonstrating God’s love and helping each child find healing, hope, joy and new life in Christ.” That certainly doesn’t sound like the vision of a kidnapper or someone intending to engage in child trafficking. Both Silsby and Coulter were in the Dominican Republic and Haiti as recently as last July and again late last year. Working with people they trusted in both countries they laid the groundwork for opening an orphanage. They coordinated their efforts with people they thought were handling the necessary details and providing the documentation they needed to begin their work. The widespread devastation caused by the earthquake motivated them to transform their gradual work into the urgency of a rescue mission.

Should Ms. Silsby and Ms. Coulter have been more cautious? Probably. Should they have checked and double-checked their paperwork to make sure they were operating within Haitian law? Certainly. But do they deserve to sit in a dank prison cell, abandoned by their own country while they wait for a broken, corrupt justice system to decide their fate? Of course, the answer is no. Surely the U.S. State Department has already dispatched envoys to Haiti to demand their release. Surely Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned this action by the Haitian government and has issued a statement demanding they be returned home on the next plane. And can there be any doubt that Jesse Jackson, Jimmy Carter, and former President Bill Clinton are all dusting off their passports, getting ready to hurry down to Haiti to intervene for the sake of justice?

Hardly…. so far State Department deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid has issued a statement saying, “We can confirm that the 10 American citizens remain in custody in Haiti. We continue to provide appropriate consular assistance and to monitor developments in the legal case.” In government speak that means the State Department is doing absolutely nothing.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in this weekend saying, “This is the time to let the Haitian judicial system, such as it is, handle the case.” This after the State Department called the Haitian judicial system “unacceptable.” They described it as a place where prisoners languish in prisons without trial in often-terrible conditions.

Does anyone doubt that if these middle class citizens were environmentalists from Massachusetts instead of Baptist missionaries from Idaho that all the influence of the U.S. Government would have already been brought to bear? If they were government employees sent to relieve the suffering of the children Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson and every major media outlet would already be on the scene. The media would be offering wall-to-wall coverage calling attention to what would be described as a travesty of justice.

No, these ten compassionate, courageous, and caring people are Christians. And since Christianity is neither politically correct nor culturally popular the injustice of their imprisonment will not be pointed out by the media elites or condemned by the State Department. Don’t look for rock stars or Hollywood elites to stage a rally to raise funds for their defense. After all, they are Christians, not political activists or anti-establishment zealots.

Pray for them and their families that God will comfort them and return them to their families.

You can hear Dr. Beam live on Christian Talk 660 weekday mornings from 7:00-9:00 AM (EST) as he is the host of Christian Worldview Today.  You can also listen to recorded broadcasts in the Christian Worldview Today Archive.

Dr. Tony Beam is Vice-President for Student Services and the Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina, Dr. Tony Beam received his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and his Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.