TERRI SHIAVO: ‘THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S’

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

". . .the battle is the Lord’s. . ." (I Samuel 17:47)

It is absolutely true. The battle is the Lord’s in every surrendered life. There is no commitment that is outside the warring might of the Lord God.

Further, what those who know not the Lord may claim as defeat is never defeat in the surrendered life. Never. Never. Never. Time and again the committed life appears to be on the rocks, undone, embarrassed, crawling on knees before the enemy. Not so.

That is only a perspective temporary. That is but a slanted view. That is not the way the Lord God sees the surrendered life. He sees the yielded soul in its completion — alpha to omega.

On that awful Friday, it was total failure, over and done in the most horrific fashion. It was the bloody hanging frame of the young adult from the other side of the tracks — Nazareth. It was the torn skin, shredded limbs, face with bugs flying about the eyes, a swollen tongue and bloated stomach ready to burst to the winds.

That was but a perspective temporary. That was only a slanted view. That was not the way the Father saw the holy life tied to the wood. The Father saw the Son obedient even unto the death of the cross — Alpha to Omega.

Terri was and is a Christian. She loved and loves the Lord God. Her parents give witness to her surrendered life to Jesus — simple, innocent, clear and clean. While her husband Michael derided her stalwart faith, she remained true to the crossway. While he made fun of her faithfulness to the sanctuary, she went to the sanctuary.

During this battle for justice for Terri, for her earthly life to be fed and watered, for sanity to rule in place of the meanness of husband and courts, believers attending Terri far and near must recognize the prime factor: ". . .the battle is the Lord’s. . ."

God is not done though the courts say they’re done. The Lord is not finished though the husband has screamed long ago he wanted her finished, exited, wiped out. Heaven is not closing the books though there are those who would for convenience close her books.

Therefore, believers endeared to Terri, interceding for Terri, imploring heaven’s power for Terri, must realize that God has been in the Terri-process all along. There is no need to waken up the Lord from a slumber. He has been more attentive to these ongoing details that any mortal. God is very much in the fray.

Don’t count on the outward present-tense appearances for the full scope. If we did that with Terri, we would have had to give up on that awful Friday when the Son hung between two worlds, when Roman soldiers mocked and a temple guard chortled.

If any week should remind us in how to deal with the Terri debacle, it’s Holy Week — this week, now. We by faith believe that God was at work, is at work, will continue to be at work in the surrendered life one Terri Shiavo. Period.

That’s it. Otherwise, wrap up faith and call it but an illusion. However, the gift of faith granted us by the Holy Spirit is the power. It is the might to believe that ". . .the battle is the Lord’s. . ."

Miracles happen here and now. Sometimes they happen there and then. But whatever God does that no mortal could see through is defined as a miracle. It is the fact of faith that if we could only envision what the Lord is up to this minute, seeing it all from heaven’s throne, we would relax more in His plan. We would rejoice that the enemy is thwarted this minute. The victory is ours now as well as yet to be revealed future-tense.

Is it too much for us to ask one another to relax in the faith? Is it cowardly or lack of hope to remind ourselves that we need to put the Terri burden constantly into the Lord’s care? Is it Christian to undo our anguish so as to praise God for His undercurrents taking place for Terri as we breathe?

As Jesus writhed on the tree, the Father’s redemptive plan was working through and through — far more than we will ever understand in this life. As Jesus’ body was lifted off the wood, wrapped in cloth and then laid on the cold slabs of Joseph’s tomb, the Father’s salvation scheme was set loose beyond any earthly power and comprehension.

As Jesus disappeared from friends’ view on that Dark Saturday, the Father continued his marvelous plot to defeat every demon, step on death’s head and prepare His Beloved for the Come Back at dawn.

Believe me when I remind you that the same Easter God on behalf of Jesus is very much involved on the deepest levels in Terri’s surrendered Christian commitment. Let it be so. Believe it to be so.

Thank God that she is not pagan but Christian. Give praise to Jesus that she is His daughter of grace and mercy and not sold out to the unbelieving clot of this planet. Let your heart then rise heavenward in gratitude that the woman we pray for has already been embraced by the Lord who owns her battle — from start to finish.

". . .the battle is the Lord’s. . ."

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DYING IN EASTER FAITH

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

I am drinking my Tim Horton's coffee while seated in this crowded coffeeshop in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia. The day is overcast, drizzly and not allthat sunshine promising. However, I have just come upon another story of sunlight.

It flows quite freely from the life of John Savage, former premier of Nova Scotia. I recall he had but a short time to live, dying of cancer. Prior, he lost his wife of 45 years, Margaret, to cancer. "I'm not maudlin about it. I'm not crying about it. I'm accepting whathappens to everybody sooner or later," Mr. Savage witnessed to reporters on Easter Monday.

He was speaking from his dining room table in his lakeside home in Dartmouth. To this city, he gave seven years of his life as mayor before leading the provincial Liberals to power in 1993. As I feel hail and hearty on this misty Tuesday morning, I recall Mr. Savage closing out his earthly stay in typical courage and outspokenness. Never one for mincing words, he continued his forthright persona to the end.

"I've had some really startling remissions. . .now it's got to the point where there is no further treatment and I'm prepared to go the way the good Lord intends me to go," Mr. Savage stated simply.

For a personality of extreme independence and at times bold stubborn streak, his reliance upon God had never wavered. He told reporters that being obedient to the divine was his daily walk. He did not mind it. It brought him great support and now that the end was near, it proved to behis stay.It was the same spiritual stamina experienced by his wife.

What a heritage to give to his children who were watching over him as the reporters queried the politician.

Photographers asked if they could take his picture; he declined, saying that he was no longer photographable. He has lost 40 pounds due to sicknessand therefore would like to be remembered as he looked when in robust health.

Mr. Savage could not be more complimentary of the medical staff he had come to know most intimately during his illness. He also expressed heart felt appreciation to his children for their daily kindness.In speaking to the media, he stated that he expects to spend "the rest of my life in some peace," primarily because of his faith in God.

He stated that what lay ahead was exciting him for he believed that death would entrance him into the presence of God, just as his wife's faith held firm.

"I'm quite happy. I have no qualms about dying." He elaborated by saying that a person's faith "gives you a reason for being and for doing. . .It's something that I've always followed, something I've always obeyed andworked with. I find it a real treat at the end."

HOLY WEEK DARK SATURDAY : SCAPEGOAT JESUS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

". . .they took the body of Jesus. . .as the manner of the Jews is to bury." John 19:40

When Jesus died on the cross, He died as our High Priest. When He breathed His last, the veil in Jerusalem’s temple split in half from top to bottom. From top for it was God’s hand ripping it from heaven’s throne. To bottom for it was God’s hand opening up the Holy of Holies to "whosoever will may come."

The veil was two feet thick. It separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. For that veil to be ripped in two was nothing other than the miraculous power of God’s mighty hand. In that severance of the holy fabric, Jesus’ cry let loose: "It is finished."

His holy mission — He was obedient even unto the death of the cross — was completed. Therefore, the Father could open the Holy of Holies to the dying High Priest and all who would throw themselves upon His mercy seat.
He henceforth would officiate over our repentant souls. He would grant us mercy in heaven’s court. He would intercede on our behalf to the Father. He would minister to our souls’ needs. He, High Priest, would see through all the obligations set forth in the Old Testament, but now in the light of His having fulfilled all the law.

However, Jesus became not only our High Priest when He died upon Calvary. He also became our Scapegoat. On the Day of Atonement in the autumn of each year the Hebraic High Priest entered the temple’s Holy of Holies. He was the only mortal permitted into that precinct reserved for the shekinah glory of Jehovah.

Suspended in space above the Ark of the Covenant was a ball of holy, glory fire — the special residence of deity on Earth.

When the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, walking behind the veil that separated the Holy Place from the thirty-foot cube Holy of Holies, he dipped his thumb in blood, splattering the blood seven times against the Ark of the Covenant’s lid — the Mercy Seat. Seven is the divine number of perfection. The High Priest, the stand in for the twelve tribes of Israel gathered on the hills outside the temple, then implored Jehovah’s mercy to come upon their repentant souls.

As the blood was splattered atop the Mercy Seat, the two carved cherubim looked on from either side of the Ark’s lid, their wings stretched outward toward the side walls of the Holy of Holies. In the Ark were the manna receptacle, Aaron’s rod that budded and the Ten Commandments tablet. The manna represented Jehovah’s care of daily bread for His people. The rod represented Jehovah’s holy control over the people via the Levitical priests. And the commandments represented His moral code for holy living.

Now with Jesus dying on the cross, He entered into heaven’s Holy of Holies as the Holy City’s temple’s veil was rent in two. Whosoever henceforth could enter the holy precincts, could take advantage of the splattering of the seven-fountained Jesus-body slain for sinners. Whosoever could fling his contrite soul upon divine grace, assured of the High Priest Christ’s forgiveness bestowed.

Along with the High Priest’s yearly ritual inside the Holy of Holies was his liturgical act of dealing with the scapegoat outside the temple confines. A goat was brought to him on the Day of Atonement. The High Priest laid his hands upon the goat’s head, signifying the sins of the twelve tribes being laid upon the goat’s head.

Then the goat was led into the wilderness, far from the community so that it could never find its way back to the Hebraic tribes. The goat carried away their sins into oblivion. The goat escaped — hence, scapegoat — into nothingness, carrying the burden of sins upon his head.

As Jesus died upon the cross, He became not only our High Priest, such act splitting the temple’s veil in two. He also became the Scapegoat. Upon His holy head all the sins of the world of all time were placed. He, the One who did no wrong, carried every mortal’s wrong with Him into death. With that, He bowed His head, breathed His last, and gave up the ghost to the Father. "It is finished." Sanctified mission accomplished.

As His body was taken from the cross, wrapped for burial and then laid in a borrowed tomb, Jesus carried our madness, our meanness, our evil, our stubborn souls, our disobedience, into the wilderness of the tomb. By carrying our sins away — far away so that they can never return to the repentant heart — they are forgotten by God, they are forgiven by God.

This is salvation through Jesus. This is the gospel — Good News. This is the purpose of Jesus’ coming as God incarnate. This is the crux of it all — from Genesis to Revelation. There is no other prime motive for God becoming flesh-and-blood than to present Himself willingly upon Calvary as High Priest and Scapegoat.

Good Friday reminds us of our High Priest Christ. Dark Saturday reminds us of our Scapegoat Christ.

As we contemplate the Holy One taking our awfulness upon His weary head, we cry out: "Forgive me, Lord. Save my soul. I don’t deserve You. I don’t deserve even approaching You. Yet you invite me to Your side, to Your heavenly abode. Take me then, Jesus, High Priest and Scapegoat. Take all of me, all of me, now and evermore. So be it, Lord. So be it."

THERE IS NO PURGATORY

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

While attending Good Friday worship at the city cathedral, I picked up the January–February 2005 issue of THE CATHOLIC ANSWER. One of the readers asked the question as to whether or not purgatory actually exists. The editor proceeded to defend the traditional Roman Catholic position, that is, that there is a purgatory.

However, there isn’t. There is no purgatory.

It’s a figment of the Catholic imagination. There is absolutely no biblical evidence for purgatory — that is, a state for purging sins after a mortal breathes the last breath. There is no "purging chamber" where fire burns off the sins not taken care of in this earthly existence.

Truthfully there are many Catholics — both laity and clergy — who no longer believe in the traditional dogma of
purgatory. Yet at least this editor of this Catholic publication believes in it and he surely does represent a host of Catholics worldwide who do.

Why does the Catholic tradition teach purgatory? The answer is simple: For the traditional Catholic, salvation is by works. There is faith involved. But it is not faith alone as Martin Luther discovered when teaching the Letter to the Romans to fellow monks in the monastery.

He came upon the truth that "the just are saved by faith." That sparked his conversion from salvation by works to salvation by faith alone. That led to the Protestant Reformation in 1517. And so the divide between Roman Catholic teaching and biblical Protestant teaching concerning salvation.

Since Catholic doctrine states that one has to work his way into heaven, one can never accumulate enough righteous deeds to make it right through to glory upon death. There is always some nasty sin hanging on the soul at the last. Therefore, that sin or sins have to be cleansed — burned off in the purging place (purgatory) — before God can welcome the soul into eternal bliss.

Do you see how the Catholic teaching has worked itself into a theological corner. Since one cannot make it to Jesus’ embrace directly upon death, one must go through the torture of burning off the sin or sins just after death. Understand then how once one starts with an incorrect theological premise such as salvation by works, one reaches then an incorrect theological conclusion, hence the false teaching regarding purgatory.

What then is the biblical teaching concerning salvation? It is simply that one is saved by faith alone. Faith in what? Faith in the sinless sacrifice of Christ upon Calvary. In other words, His shed blood is quite sufficient to cleanse away the repentant soul’s sins. All of them. None left to haunt. Christ’s provision on the cross is not halfway, inefficient, incomplete, not quite good enough. It is holy, whole, and all-necessary as is.

This is Christ the Messiah God we are talking about. It is His spilled holy blood that we refer to. It is His obedience even unto the death of the cross that is underlined in the New Testament gospel. Therefore, what God did in Christ on that Good Friday is in need of no addition such as a purgatorial state to take care of so-called leftover sins.

When the New Testament states repeatedly that Christ forgives the sincerely repentant heart, that soul weeping in contrition, then that’s the good news that is to be taken for what it is — real, personal, entire, glorious and for sharing with others.

Once one realizes that Christ’s forgiveness of sins at conversion takes care of all past sins — ALL past sins, then there is no need to manufacture a burning fire to cleanse away tag-along sins that were missed somewhere along life’s way.

The editor of THE CATHOLIC ANSWER states that God cannot take home a soul immediately upon death. It is impossible, the editor accents. As soon as I read that, I asked : But why can’t God immediately receive a saved soul upon death?

If God is God, then God can see through His own plan of salvation, that including receiving pronto into heaven the eternal soul of the redeemed. There is no lack with God Almighty. There is no need for Him to tolerate a time lag when accepting into timeless eternity the soul saved by His shed blood upon Calvary.

That is what the Catholic mindset has yet to grasp when it teaches purgatory. It has yet to grasp the all-sufficiency of Christ’s sacrificial provision on the cross. He, being God, saw through the redemptive scheme and has no need of mortal "adding unto." His salvation gift is so total within itself that anything mortal would add to is not only impossible but insulting to the grace provision of Christ’s blood spilt.

Thank God that Christ died to save the repentant one of all his sins so that those sins stand as though never committed. The Judge of Eternity accepts the contrite soul, cleaned by Christ’s blood, and readies that soul for eternal life upon death. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians 5:8).

When Stephen was stoned to death, Christ stood at the right hand of the Father welcoming Stephen into eternal life. There was no purgatorial flame awaiting Stephen. There was the embrace of Christ awaiting Stephen — immediately.

So it is with all who repent, live for Christ and die in the Lord — immediately received into glory’s holiness and happiness.

"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians 5:8).

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

So be it.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS : PORTLAND MAINE : I JUST GOT HOME

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

I just walked in the door this Good Friday afternoon. My wife and I attended the noontime Good Friday worship at Portland’s cathedral.

It’s a shame that the Protestant churches are slacking off these past years when it comes to Good Friday worships, particularly during the day hours. It used to be that Protestant clergy would set aside one sanctuary in particular for worship from noon till 3 o’clock. It was during those 3 hours that darkness fell upon the world as Jesus hung on Calvary.

In commemoration of those 3 hours, clergy from neighborhood congregations spoke on what was referred to as the "Seven Last Words from The Cross." They were not actually seven words. They were the last seven utterances of Jesus on the cross.

A clergyman would take his "word" and preach on it. Then another clergyman would do the same. Hymns interspersed the meditations. Prayers did, also.

People came and went during those 3 hours. They would leave the workplace to slip into the sanctuary, receive whatever the spiritual food was and then return to work. Some employers even permitted believers to take the day off from work in honor of Good Friday. In many communities, public schools shut down on Good Friday.

I recall as a student going on the train from Quincy to Boston’s Copley Square in order to sit under Dr. Theodore Parker Ferris’ 3 hours of Good Friday meditations. The choir was splendid. The sermons were perfectly prepared and delivered. The sanctuary was filled with thousands. It was a taste of heaven. But that was in the late 50s and early 60s.

Today one has to search far and wide in a metro area to find a 3-hour worship on Good Friday. Or any worship during Good Friday daytime.

So it is that I know I can count on the cathedral to provide me with Good Friday worship starting at noon.

Therefore I was there for the Stations of the Cross and I thank God that I was there. Today then is not just any other Friday. It’s Good Friday. Now that I’ve been to church I know that it’s really Good Friday.

"Jesus, Lord, condemned defiled,
May we too be meek and mild
As we tread your holy Way.

"May we feel no bitter hatred,
When we too are persecuted,
Left alone to walk with You."

And so the worship proceeded. The sanctuary was packed — children and adults, teens and elderly, men and women, poor and well-to-do. There was no organ music. There was no choir. There was no Mass. It was traveling the Stations of the Cross in the Catholic tradition.

Two black boys. Three black girls. One oriental fellow. And several white boys and girls. Add a layman. And then add the officiating priest. Those were the ones who led us on the journey throughout the side aisles of the sanctuary, starting of course with the first station and proceeding to the last.

Children from the Cathedral school were dismissed from class to attend. It is always a treat to see those boys and girls walking into church, hearing the Word of God, bowing their heads in prayer, taking note of the history of this day.

"Now the cross as Jesus bore it,
Has become for us who share it,
The jeweled Cross of Calvary."

I looked into the faces of those around me. There was the older woman with cane in hand. There was the young man who appeared to have just walked out of his corporate suite. There was a stooped gentleman who appeared to have some emotional difficulties.

After all, where the cathedral is located in the city’s middle is where many of Pineland’s "problem" residents walk the streets. Pineland, outside the city in the rural countryside, is where the mentally ill and crippled once lived. But several years ago the state closed it down. Those people now are left to some-sort-of-apartments and wandering city streets. When a church door is open, they often walk through it. There is shelter and kindness there.

"Weakened, prodded, cursed, and fallen,
His whole Body bruised and swollen,
Jesus tripped and lay in pain."

I thought: Who is saved here? Who really loves Jesus here? Who is simply going through the motions of religion here? Of course, then I relaxed in soul. That’s none of my business. God sees the heart.

Jesus said that those we think are so pious before heaven may indeed be charades while those whom we least expect may know Him. Yes, God sees the heart. We see only the exterior. The Lord peers into the depths. He knows and that’s all that matters.

"Jesus met his grieving Mother,
She who made the Lord our Brother;
Now the sword her heart has pierced."

Those children led the huge bare cross from station to station. The layman watched over them to make certain the cross did not lose its balance. The priest was close by, ready to read the next liturgical section. We worshipers followed with our responses and prayers.

It was marvelous and hurtful. It was marvelous in being in church on Good Friday. It was hurtful to realize why we were there: once again to witness the murder of our dear Jesus. He never deserved that; but He willingly laid down His all so that we may know His saving grace — the hope of heaven.

"Simon stopped in hesitation,
Not foreseeing his proud station,
Called to bear the Cross of Christ."

And so are we. We are called to "bear the Cross of Christ." Thank you, Jesus. What a privilege. Thank you, Jesus.

EASTER LILIES OF THE FIELD

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Jesus pointed to the field lilies. "Be like them," He encouraged.

Jesus pointed to the wheat strands of the meadows. "Be like them," He counseled.

A lily danced in the morning breezes, oblivious to the storm clouds gathering for noontime. That flower gave forth its fragrance with an abandon. Birds flew overhead to take note of that lily. Meandering field flies tweaked the lily's ears and then sped away.

"But I cannot move from here. My stem is lodged into the earth. I can do nothing more than look upward, smiling my graces into the sun, sharing my aroma with but a bee or two," the lily mused.

"I wish that I could be noticed by someone. I long for someone to stop by, stoop low and smell deeply the new day's perfume from my simply being here. I have grace to offer a willing eye. I have beauty to share with appreciative heart. But, no, I am left here with these gifts--alone."

With similar despair, the wheat strand, far in another glen, moved right and then left with the fresh winds of another day.

"I pray for the journey outward, onward, where I can put to use my slender life. I want to be seen, to be known for something other than loneliness. I may not be as attractive as the lily of the field; but I am tender and striking in my own fashion.

"I could make someone happy, but I see no one. I could make a difference for this meadow would be quite stark if there were not the likes of me filling its void. Instead, I am playing solitaire into each evening hour. Then, who knows, I may disappear soon with nothing more accomplished than staving off these buffetings."

It was then that the holy smile of God looked down upon that lily of the field and that wheat strand of the glen.
"My special friends, I have heard your cries. You have brought tears to My eyes. Please, do not bring further hurt to My heart for I have made you. I have breathed your beauty and fragrance into your wispy frames. I have spilled My palette upon your covers.

"Then do you not know that you exist for Me? I take in your aroma. I see your unique presence. I take note of your movings to the right and left. I befriend you through the field flies and bees that wander by your faces.

"I have watched over you through each night. I have birthed you anew each dawn. I have protected you through the noontime gales. Then would not I alone be sufficient for your very existence? Does not My friendship count for the primary purpose for you gracing the meadow and the glen?

"You must not fall for the baits of those human creatures by the lane. They strive to impress one another. They bend and sway each waking hour to 'get ahead,' they call it. They even step on one another's fragrance, pull down one another's beauty, in an attempt to satisfy their selfish gnawings.

"Yet it is all the while--day after day--that I, Creator God, wait for them to look up, to give forth their special graces, to share their reflected charm. Sadly, however, in most cases, they never learn simply how to be.

"You understand, lily of the field and wheat strand of the glen, you are. You are. That means that you have already arrived. You are seeing through the reason for your being planted on earth.

"You have come upon what those on the lane have yet to learn. Please be at peace then. Be at rest. Know that you have come upon the eternal secret.

"Now keep on filling My holy face with joy, lily flower. And keep on bowing to and fro, wheat stalk.

"In that you have made My lonely heart glad. In that you have fulfilled your destiny. In that you have kissed each morning by your graces.

"You have learned to bless your Father in heaven and so make the world a kinder place."

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BIBLICAL BLACKS SIZING UP REPUBLICAN PARTY

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

According to Brian DeBose of The Washington Times, young African-Americans are sizing up the Republican Party more and more since the November election.

There are those blacks who are young enough not to recall detail concerning the civil rights movement. Further, Jesse Jackson has no allurement for them. Al Sharpton has less appeal. They are in search of their own movement. And those who are genuinely Christian are seeking out a political alliance that is attuned to their church-grounded biblical values.

In other words, these American blacks are looking for the party that espouses Christian convictions. That would mean they are not that endeared by the Democratic Party with its endorsement of abortion, euthanasia, feminism, relativism in ethics, secularism as the New Religion, and the legitimacy of homosexual lifestyles.

American black believers will not permit them to become a part of the Democratic agenda that basically is a killing agenda: killing off biblical ethics, killing off the traditional family, killing off masculinity, killing off defending womb babies, killing off religion in the marketplace, killing off America’s heritage, and killing off decency.

"’The younger African-Americans who really are not familiar with the Civil Rights Movement, those 35 and under, who are clueless about the pressures and violence that took place are looking for something totally different,’ said Vivian Berryhill, a Republican and founder of the National Coalition of Pastors' Spouses.

Realizing that Christian American blacks are loyal, not only to their own biblical understanding of values but their pastors’ spiritual guidance, Berryhill is organizing congregations for input to the Republican Party just because of that party’s values position. She is starting with the pastors’ wives, recognizing the leverage they have at the local level. From that local milieu, the National Coalition of Pastors’ Spouses will push to make their agenda nation-spread.

"’The challenge is how will the Democratic Party be able to maintain an African-American base for whom the civil rights mantra of "we shall overcome" doesn't even resonate,’ she said.

"She said young blacks are largely college educated or entrepreneurs interested in homeownership and lower taxes, and that the Republican ownership society message is ‘tickling’ their ears."

Essentially, because of the United States President George W. Bush not waffling on biblical ethics, believing American blacks acknowledge their admiration for such convictions. They, like their white evangelical companions, are realizing more and more that the Judeo-Christian ethic is under severe attack by such Democratic blacks as the Reverend Al Sharpton.

More and more the biblical, conservative American blacks understand Sharpton, for instance, to be "Christian pastor" in name only. He claims to be a Christian minister while undercutting biblical morality. He supports killing womb babies, for instance, that being a major block to his being aligned with scriptural ethics. His defense of homosexual lifestyles also exposes his hypocrisy as a "Christian minister."

The American black believers are not ignorant of the Sharpton charade. The same for Jesse Jackson, that is, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. These left-wing political and theological liberals just don’t hack it with the biblical American black voter.

"’Therein is where there is concern because the Al Sharptons and Donna Braziles and Jesse Jacksons are from the old school and they need a new message for younger blacks,’ Mrs. Berryhill said.

"The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, a prominent conservative talk-show host, said Democrats do fear the growing number of conservative black ministers speaking out in favor of Republicans.

"’Without a doubt, the Democrats are in fear of conservative black ministers because a lot of the time the congregation will follow their pastor,’ Mr. Peterson said in an interview.

"’Some of them are moving more conservative because of the social issues, and some for the faith-based funding, but regardless, if black folks move away from the Democratic Party then they will never win another election.’"

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HOLY WEEK GOOD FRIDAY : PURPOSE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

". . .to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. . ." Ephesians 3:ll

Jesus did not come to earth to be a martyr. He did not come to sympathize for our pain.

Jesus came as Sinless Sacrifice. Only Jesus, the One who knew no sin, could satisfy the justice of eternity. Therefore, Jesus died on the cross to procure our salvation. That was the "eternal purpose" which deity "purposed in Christ Jesus."

Second person of the trinity created this world. Second person of the trinity incarnated Himself in this world. Second person of the trinity died on the cross for this world. Second person of the trinity ascended from this world. Second person of the trinity will return to this world to rule. Second person of the trinity will present all things to the Father at the dissolving of this world.

Before this world was molded, second person of the trinity set Himself aside as its Sinless Sacrifice in case the project went wrong. It did go wrong. Therefore, second person of the trinity became our "propitiation"--our substitute.

Consequently, once again, Jesus came not here to be martyr nor sympathize with our pain but to die in our place. If He had not, we would all be doomed to damnation. That is the magnitude of Calvary, the most significant historic event of this planet. Jesus was born to die as our scapegoat.

Therefore, when Jesus was in His public ministry, He did not call His disciples to perform miracles or stage evangelistic campaigns. Jesus called His disciples to deny their own rights in order to pick up their day-by-day crosses in following Him.

Because Jesus' chief purpose for this sphere's span was the cross, He made it clear that the disciple's chief purpose is the cross. It all makes balanced sense.

Further, as the disciple carries faithfully his cross, Jesus is there at that cross. There can be no more meaningful place for Jesus to reside than at the cross of each grace child for it was the Calvary cross that drew Jesus to earth.

Everything centers on the cross--the cross of Jesus and the cross of each believer.

Cross is central to every dimension of the faith. However, it is the cross that we most neglect. The birth of Jesus receives exceptional attention for there is little pain there. The resurrection receives its due for it is jubilant. But the cross basically is sidelined for it is a call to suffering and only the truly astute souls understand the blessing of that suffering.

JAIL HEALTH STAFF WHO DON’T CARE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Slips from inmates kept piling up in my Inbox. The reason? I cared about them.

As substance abuse counselor to several hundred inmates, I truly cared about their welfare. I went to work excited about the day. I left work excited about a day completed. I felt I was on a mission to help people. Just because they were incarcerated did not make them less important. In fact, in my opinion, because many came from warped situations, I felt they needed the help all the more.

But alongside me was a fellow who was hired to do "psych work on the inmates." I never did get his official title. It seemed to change from week to week. But if an inmate had an emotional or mental problem, Jack was on call. Supposedly. On paper.

Yet he wasn’t actually on call for their good. He bragged to medical staff that he really didn’t care if inmates rotted in their cells. That’s why my Inbox was filled with inmate requests every morning when I reported in for work. I became the alternative help to "psych."

I recall visiting a woman suffering from anorexia. She put in split after split to "psych." However, "he won’t come to see me," she told me more than once. "And when he does come, I know he doesn’t listen to what I tell him. The bottom line is that he really doesn’t care about me."

I knew that to be true. He didn’t care.

To make up for his callous laxity, he spent a lot of time trailing the health care administrator. In other words, political kiss-up was his modus operandi. Sadly, the administrator, himself new to the job, was taken in my "psych." It was difficult to fathom; but that’s exactly what happened.

"Psych" and administrator joked, exchanged personal experiences, shared news headlines and drank coffee together a lot. A bureaucratic bond was sealed between them. Consequently, over time "psych" could get by with anything other than work.

One thing that was not in my favor was that I was not only substance abuse counselor but had earned a Masters of Divinity degree. That is, I was not only hired by the county jail as substance abuse counselor. I was also a minister of 40 years standing.

"Psych" and administrator were not religious. They were secular to the bone. Consequently, my caring for inmates did not align with their "professional philosophy" of being on the job solely to get a paycheck. Hard-hearted was smart. Compassion was weak.

I visited inmates from the moment I got into the jail until I left to walk across the parking lot to my car. I wrote up my reports. I filed my reports. I checked back with inmates. I followed up with their requests. I counseled their relatives when appropriate. I tried to be as efficient as I could be.

But the substance abuse counselor with whom I shared an office did not like work. He liked talking on the phone. And he talked a lot with women, though he had a woman called his "wife." He got so with his phone conversations that I could be in the room and yet was invisible to John. John just took for granted that I was deaf, dumb and blind. The compulsion to chat constantly with women on the phone can do that to a brain, obviously. At least that’s what happened in John’s case.

I went off to counsel inmates. John stayed back in the office, feet up on desk, phone in hand. I held one-hour sessions daily in seminar classes for inmates. John stayed back in the office, feet up on desk, phone in hand.

Once in awhile he’d venture out to see an inmate, write up a report and file it. Of course, he had a way of smiling broadly when officials walked the hallways, doffing his gestures toward his brow as if saluting a general. Those officials took to that kind of adulation. I didn’t resort to that sort of mannerism. Instead I did my job.

One day the administrator left for another job outside the jail. The prison health care company hired by the jail brought in a female administrator. She was particularly enamored by John. She also let me know that she did not take to clergy — not at all. "Secular" was her middle name.

Now what follows is the old injustice of a person doing the job so well that he gets fired. John and the new woman in charge, Alice, became fast buddies — coffee clutches, laughing in the office, joshing about this and that, sharing snide remarks about inmates.

In a staff meeting, the woman new to the admin block tried to out-bad any on staff. She let loose with directives like: "Sucks to be you." That was her reference to the inmates — en total.

"Sucks to be you"? I thought. So that was the administrator’s philosophy. It "sucked" to be a prisoner? Tough luck, in other words. Too bad, rot in the cell.

In the same staff meeting she said that if inmates didn’t appreciate the services they got from health department, they "could service one another." That was her stark reference to inmates providing sex for one another.

I took notes. I had a feeling I’d need them.

It was not long after woman administrator looked over my files. She concluded I didn’t know how to make out my reports properly. She called me into her office — repeatedly.

I was asked why I wrote this sentence and that sentence. How could I come to that conclusion and this conclusion. What did I mean by this phrase? Didn’t I realize that that paragraph was not appropriate?

I became so frustrated. I knew the required format. I was doing it right. I had filed my reports correctly all along — that is, until she came on board.

Of course, she was up to the old game of proving a staff person incompetent — that is, the staff person who was also a minister and who was despised by the secular woman administrator. Also, despised by John who didn’t like to do his work.

One day I walked into my house after a day’s work to hear a message on my answering machine. It informed me that I did not need to report to work the next day for John, under whose accreditation I worked as a substance abuse counselor, had removed his supervision credentials from my position on staff.

In other words, I was no longer recognized by the state as a qualified substance abuse counselor in that county jail.

John and woman administrator had surely bonded. And in that secure sealing I lost my job.

I felt sorry for myself, of course, but I felt more sorry for inmates. They not only had "psych" who didn’t care if they rotted in their cells. They had John who enjoyed chatting with women instead of doing his job. And then there was the new woman administrator who saw through daily the incompetence of the staff.

I sent my documentation of all of the above to the Tennessee headquarters office of the health services hired by the jail. In short order, the administrator, "psych" and John were not to be found on the staff roster at the county jail.

That gave me a certain sense of justice. But it has never consoled me regarding the inmates who needed proper health care and did not receive it.

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FLEXIBILITY KEY TO TOPPLING KILLERS: GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

"’The transformation of the United States military (today) is to get us ready for what’s around the next corner,’ said Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers. ‘And this is difficult, because we don’t know what’s around the next corner,’" reported American Forces Press Service Jim Garamone.

Gen. Myers was accenting the fact that relying on past modes won’t work in fighting murderers global. Flexibility is absolutely necessary to confront tomorrow’s challenges. Therefore, all minds on deck is best. Imaginative efforts 24 / 7 is imperative. And flexibility that matches the day-to-day confrontations is top item.

"’We know that the forces we came out of the last century with are not the forces we need today, or probably the forces we will need in the future,’" Gen. Myers underlined.

Relying on past expertise is only helpful to the degree that it sharpens new methodologies against the next terrorist move. Never content with status quo, but scoping out the innovative is absolutely necessary if America and allies win against killers international.

"In Afghanistan, innovative ways of using air power and special operations forces embedded with indigenous forces were the key to defeating al Qaeda and the Taliban. Around 20,000 U.S. servicemembers continue to provide support to the Afghan government and to hunt al Qaeda and Taliban remnants in some of the most forbidding terrain in the world," Garamone reports.

Back to the drawing boards. Never leaving the drawing boards. Revamping the drawing boards. That’s the modus operandi if the US-led Coalitions worldwide succeed in wiping the slate clean of terrorists. Because killers international themselves are innovative on the macabre side in striking when least expected, where least expected, peacemaking forces must be just as sharp and yet more so.

Concerning conflict on the field, Gen. Myers stated that "’we need to put efforts into command and control and link all players on the battlefield so information flows seamlessly between soldiers in foxholes and airplanes and tanks and ships and air defenses.’"

What kind of planning corps is necessary in order to program victory? What kind of personnel is needed to position against the enemy so as to win out? Gen. Myers states that nothing but the creative best — from lowest to highest ranks — is crucial.

"’We need people who say "I understand what the doctrine says, but the situation we’re confronting is quite a bit different, and here’s what I think we ought to do," Gen. Myers said. "Most of this transformation will be cultural and will happen between our ears.’"

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2005 ‘PIVOTAL’ IN NEW IRAQ: GENERAL JOSEPH WEBER

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

There was the Operation Iraqi Freedom set loose on March 19, 2003. After that three-week-win war overseen by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld there followed freedom potential blossoming midst blood.

Then eventuated the historic January 30 Victory Vote when ballot casters defied murderers global. Then there followed the first session of the New Iraq National Assembly in the capital, Baghdad.

All the while, former dictator Saddam Hussein was housed in a prison cell. No more Hussein. No more human shredding machines. No more kidnapping women for Hussein’s sons to rape and slay. No more Iraqis disappearing forever in the middle of the night. No more hell in the alleys from Hussein the Horrible.

It appears that the January 30 vote cast from the citizenry has been the most recent cause for applause, especially in encouraging Iraqis themselves to stay the course, particularly in signing up for military training. The elections were superb. They were an adrenaline rush.

"The coalition needed that, to see that all our efforts, all our suffering, all our sacrifices made by the coalition forces, the U.S. forces, and all those people contributing over here was worth something," Marine Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Weber told the American Forces Press Service, according to Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service.

The General was referring specifically to the elections. He looks back on Iraqis exciting over freedom’s choice. It was now their opportunity really to vote. In the past there had been one ballot with one name on it — Saddam Hussein. Now there was a host of names. Those names represented persons who were committed to forming a democracy, so unlike the former so-called head of state — dictator maximum — who thrived on pressing mortals into Iraq’s dust.

In Hussein’s place are the Iraqi armed services. They are mentored. They are uniformed. They are proud to be on the front lines defending their newfound liberties.

Would to God that Americans could sense that just pride. It would be most helpful if the mainstream press gave it more attention. And it would be particularly patriotic if the Democratic Party would come to the Congressional steps singing of the accomplishments in New Iraq, especially with Iraqis themselves taking charge of their futures.

But alas we will leave it to the Iraqis to come into their own democracy applause — properly come upon.

"You just drive up and down Route Irish between here and the embassy and you can see them in uniform. They are squared away, they have their gear, they are very professional in what they are doing. And as that capacity builds and spreads, the people are going to gain confidence in their own security forces," the General said.

"We have a lot of time and money and sweat and blood and tears invested over here. And … as we work with the Iraqis and the government and the security forces, we need to be cautious about taking our hand off the bicycle seat way too soon.

"We as Americans want to come in here and do things very quickly and fix things and apply money and resources to it. We want to fix it and leave, and it’s very difficult to do that."

Yet even with that caution addressed, the General returned to his main thesis. It was one of basic accomplishment deserving praise. And in such acclaim was hope for the days to come in New Iraq.

"With all that accomplished here, I’m confidently optimistic about Iraq’s future," he said.

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WHITNEY HOUSTON: ANOTHER TRY AT REHAB

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

When driving through our Lakes Region, life can appear quite inviting — pleasant, serene. That’s why many of us enjoy thoroughly calling this "home." However, there are some friends in the area who are crippled with addictions. That then calls on all of us to share the faith if those friends seem at all willing to reach out.

This came to mind when reading recently about Whitney Houston’s addictions history that led her to check into still another rehab. Yet she’s shot off the charts as an entertainer — Grammy awards, star of successful films, but no shining star in day to day living, at least when it comes to "being clean."

What is her drug of choice? That is one of the most deceiving phrases I have ever come upon — "drug of choice." Everything is a choice these days for we have forced ourselves and the public to consider that each human makes his and her own final choices.

After all, no one, not even God, tells us what to do. We have the power. We have the ultimate. We craft the final. We are in charge. We we we. Choice choice choice, even when it comes to shooting up one’s veins. We have a "drug of choice." That evidently means that we have tried the other illicit drugs and come upon a final winner. It’s all so insane.

So it was when I went to work every day. I sat in a modernly equipped office not too far from where I now type this article. The environs were clean and bright with lights. I dressed in a suit, shirt and tie. I clocked in for a day’s work, then went home to my Christian family where there was a Bible on the end table and prayer before dinner.

Yet in front of me in the clinic were addicts. Some had Lakes Region addresses. They waited in the adjacent room until their appointments were called. Then they walked in, took a chair, and started to talk to me. I responded as a substance abuse counselor. Then I typed into the computer the gist of the session. I made a lot of friends that way — a lot of friends.

Most of these friends were heroin addicts, though they had surely had their share of cafeteria choices when it came to drug misuse. Their lives proved it, just as Whitney’s daily scope is proving hers to be in big time trouble. These friends of mine were referred to as "clients." They had numbers linked to their individual names. They paid for the services.

These friends were of all ages — from 18 up. Some families came into the clinic as families! There was mother. There was father. There were their adult offspring. Not what you’d usually think of as a family outing, but that’s the way it was every morning at about 6:00 on.

I could go to the clinic’s front window to see my friends gathered in the parking lot, standing outside their cars, chatting and smoking. Some of them had little children playing around their legs. Others were content with staying inside their vehicles; after all, there were some persons in the lot who were past illicit contacts. Some of those contacts had results in stealing and fighting and arguing. No use opening up old wounds.

Everything told me was to be kept confidential. If anything was spoken outside the counseling room, the client had to signature a form granting such. Otherwise, all that was said within four walls was just between me and the person seated on the chair to the right of my desk, except of course for the typed report that went into the computer and then off to the national headquarters offices.

But there was God listening in. I knew that. Some of the clients — friends, to me — knew that, too. There was one young woman who, when she found out that I believed in God, exclaimed, "Oh, I was praying that I would have a Christian counselor!" Yes, she was a heroine addict. She had nearly taken her life on several occasions.

She was skin and bones. She was also extremely intelligent and talented. Her mother, a Christian with whom she lived, prayed for her every day. Mother would read her the Bible. Mother would seek her out in an alley when she couldn’t make her way home. Mother was interceding on her behalf as she came to my office.

Another Christian had been hooked for years. Then he came to the clinic for help. But he had not envisioned coming to a believing counselor. So when we met we exchanged Scripture passages — hope, faith, love. We prayed together. We promised one another that we would continue to intercede for each other in between appointments. One policy at the clinic was that a counselor could use any means possible — even faith — to help a client. Thank God. For God was The Answer. I knew it. The client who believed knew it.

"I don’t steal any more. I have a few dollars in my pocket and keep a job. I can go home and be decent to my family. I sleep nights. I wake up in the morning ready to start another day. It’s not like in the old days when I was on drugs." How many times did I hear that joyous refrain from clients who were coming into the help, the hope, and the health? And when I had a day like that, I drove home soaring. There was such fulfillment in working with addict friends at the clinic!

So it is I read today about Whitney and thought to myself: "Whitney, we’ve got to find you this time. You’re out there somewhere — the little girl brought up on Jesus, Bible stories, church, hymn singing. Remember in "The Bodyguard" when you sang about Jesus?

You’re out there somewhere, Whitney. God knows it. I know it. And for that, we’ll just keep poking around the bushes with the prayer stick. One of these days, Whitney. . .one of these days. . ."

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CRUCIFIXION NAILS FOR SALE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

They wear crosses in their ears, around their necks, dangling from ankles and on the wrists. But what do those crosses mean? Anything? And if so, anything biblical?

What does the magnetism of the cross as jewelry actually signify? Does it hark back two thousands years ago to the Calvary tree where the Sacrifice was offered heaven to satisfy eternity’s justice for humanity’s sins? What?
Does the cross atop a building mean anything important, special, worth noting? In the front of a church sanctuary there are crosses — some grotesque pieces of art, others simplistic in design, then the traditional crucifixes in the Roman Catholic churches.

The other day I watched a movie in which a Catholic family was highlighted.

There on the living room wall was the crucifix — just what a viewer would expect as part of the scenery — props for a movie take.

So crosses vied for nails for sale. According to the New York Post’s William Neuman, nails were selling like hotcakes. They could hardly wrap them up fast enough for mailing. Nails nails and still more nails — enough to stock a hardware store.

With Mel Gibson’s PASSION OF THE CHRIST then making news, nails became the symbolic hold-on attached to the movie. If one went to the movie, one hung onto the nail. It was part and parcel of the New Testament message. It was something a human being could put into the palm of a hand to remind him of something.

But the crucial question was this: What was that something? Was the something worth anything earthly? Did it represent anything for eternity? Or was all that just another fad, come and gone, willy nilly. A few pennies spent on the nail and then laid in the dresser drawer so the next generation could ask grandma why the nail was there.

Nails though were selling for more than a few pennies. They went for $16.99 apiece if bought from the Christian Publications Bookstore on West 43rd Street in Manhattan.

They were pewter fixtures. They measured 2 l/2 inches long. Some referred to them as "pendants."

Other souvenirs of the movie included "books, pins, key chains, coffee mugs and T-shirts," according to the New York Post. Why, it was like going to the ball game. Or coming home from the Fourth of July parade.

However, nails were the most catchy item going. Nails nails and some more nails. Each hung from a leather strap.

So what did the nail say? It had on its side this passage from the Bible: Isaiah 53:5: "He was pierced for our transgressions. . ."

"’The response so far has been overwhelming . . . They want to buy this product,’ a store manager, Tina Weldon, said of the nail pendants. ‘It's very symbolic for a lot of people.’"

Fine. That was all well and good. I was happy for the manufacturers. And I was happy with the buyers. My prayer simply was this:

"God, help us not only to hold the nail in our hands,
fondling it against our skin, feeling its clean cold impress,
but may we hold it next to our lives.

"May our lives show the death to self and
the resurrection to Jesus as Lord of life.

"May the nail pierce into our own hearts so as to strip away all that is sinful
in order for the holiness of your Spirit to control everything about us.

"In Jesus’ name —
the one whose body was laid low by the nasty nails —

"Amen—so be it, Lord. Amen and amen."

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HOLY WEEK THURSDAY : FOR YOUR CHILDREN

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

". . .weep for your children." Luke 23:28

When one carries the cross, others are looking on. Those closest to the cross carrier are family members. Therefore, it is the privilege before God to carry that cross nobly. Its reputation must be without blemish.

As Jesus was being hauled up Calvary's hill, there were those who cried out to Him, lamenting His plight. Jesus responded by stating: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children."

So we still weep for our children. It is the parents' privilege to intercede on behalf of the souls brought into this spiritually fallen sphere.

As the church age climaxes and the foe become more fierce against the believing remnant, all the more the cross ambassadors must cry to heaven on behalf of their offspring. There are too many traps being set by Satan against our children. They are pulled every day in the direction of dark caves to ruin and damn.

Even when those children would mock the cross, the cross bearer continues consistently loyal to Jesus. There can be no room for compromising in order to "serve the family" ahead of God. Not husband nor wife nor children nor any other clan member can come first in our allegiances. God is God and therefore we seek "first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." All else must come after that priority.

So it is that our children will take note of where we place our priorities. Always keep the cross at the forefront of your heart, your day, your nighttime, your relationships.

To weep for our children is to yearn for their salvation. It is to carry a rightful concern that they come into the cross walk as well. Eventually some of them will; others will not. Their free wills determine their destinies; however, the cross example set by parents will be paramount.

Carry the cross, yoked with Jesus, so that those under your roof can witness your steadiness in the climb. It is significant that they see that Christianity is real, especially since there is so much which is counterfeit on all sides.

Weep for your children, not neurotically, but prophetically. That is, the weeping before heaven's throne on behalf of others has a Spirit-inspired power behind it. There is a might in intercession which is not present in other prayers. The reason is because the one praying is not praying for self but for someone else.

Consequently, frequently bring those children's souls to God in intercession. Let the demons hear your pleas. Permit the angels the honor of approving your petitions. Let the indwelling Spirit lift from your heart your concern, placing it before your heavenly Advocate for Him to present to the Father.

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SOMETIMES IN SPRING

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

It was that stark bony look. Calvary was smitten. Its face was just as we had been told in Scripture: rocky and dented with eye sockets, protruded with a nose-shape and vacant with the stare of death.

Along with other tourists, we trudged up the mountain, cameras in hand.

Three scrubby trees were at the very top. There Priscilla sat near some twisted tall grass spikes as I focused her in direct center of the photo. I imagined that that is where the crosses would have been punched into God's otherwise good earth.

I recall it as a hot day in May.

More photo-taking. Not much said. It was another vantage point, another imagining. It was sitting for awhile to think back.

Then it was time to leave that Place of the Skull--Golgotha.

In the valley was the waiting Garden Tomb. We meandered toward it, in no hurry, sensing a reverential cast to all of nature. Greenery was carpeted everywhere. Bundles of flowering buds peered up to greet us. Conveniently, sunshine spilled into all the gaps.

Slowly I made my way to Joseph of Arimathea's empty gravesite. That room had been carved out of a hillside. A tough trough had been dug length-wise in front of the tomb's strikingly beautiful crude stone door. Snug inside
that trough, a weighty rock slab would have been rolled to seal shut the hole.

No entrance. No exit. Tight. Any corpse inside was there for good, or whatever. Robbers would have stolen from the tomb if the stone had not been surely secured.

I picked my way inside that cool room. Centuries after the fact, there was now no rock slab to prohibit. Morning air brushed my back, moving me on till completely inside the eerie resting place.

Gradually my eyes adjusted to see the remains of shelves where bodies once had been positioned.
History has a way of hacking stone into pieces from once-neat slabs.

There I pictured His young frame wrapped carefully in meticulously clean cloth strips, spices tucked in about that sorry piece. A separate cloth would have been wound lovingly about his bruised, bloodied head.

How old he must have looked when wrapped. It took but a few torturous hours to rearrange a muscled, healthy casing into a mutilated mess.

I suppose that May day there were others making the same interior pilgrimage as I. In fact, I know there were.
But I don't recall any shadows but my own. They spread across the tomb's interior as ghost misfits, strange guests not feeling at all comfortable.

Timeless. It seemed as if I exited time with no desire to return.

But time called out its practicality.

And with that, I again was back in the morning sun, milling about with the many as we hunkered down on rocks and patches of grass to say our prayers, hear the Scripture account and eventually receive the sacrament.

There was no reason to chat. No one wanted to chat. There was too much going on inside us--not so much noise but voices from another time and friends from another culture than our own.

Could we keep those friends near us when boarding the plane for Rome?

I concluded: there was simply no way around it. One could not get to the dawn of that marvelous first day without first trudging up Skull's Mount, then lowering one's self into a valley where a borrowed tomb stood motionless--awaiting the gawking and the saved.

Sometimes in spring when I meander about Maine’s Lakes Region, I get that same feeling from the sun, especially when near a garden.

KINGDOM POWER

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

My friend Henry Groves was relating to a Lakes Region Bible discussion how he's tried to explain the Christian life to his adult daughters. They know that Henry is quite knowledgeable concerning the Bible; therefore, they frequently ask their father questions about practical matters of faith. As he related to the rest of us his definition of following Jesus, I reflected on this verse: ". . .for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." I Corinthians 4:l9

I looked at Henry, pondering how he exhibits the humble power of a believer. His testimony is not in word only; his witness is breathed out with integrity.

Those into showmanship focus this verse upon their marvelous exploits in the name of religion. They yearn for center stage. They set up for the next performance. Their audiences exclaim over what power is set loose in their "coliseums".

When the disciples returned to Jesus to relate how marvelous were their village ministries, Jesus cautioned them not to concentrate on that kind of power. Instead, He told them to thank heaven that their names were written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. Now that's power. It's the power set loose at Calvary.

When Paul writes about power, he writes it in the context of those who have called too much attention to themselves. "I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power."

Paul was not impressed with fleshly power; he was impressed with integrity--the power of the holy interior.

"Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?" Paul wrote those blunt words. In other words, he was ready to discipline those into their own egocentric power displays. He was determined that the church would know only the interior power--lowliness, meekness, humility.

When Jesus walks alongside the cross carrier, Jesus instructs him on the power resources of heaven. They produce "poor in spirit" evidences. In other words, Jesus teaches the disciple how to let servanthood work out through human personality.

When Jesus abides within the human spirit, there can be no performance of conceit. Jesus is a jealous God. He will not stand alongside pride. Therefore, either pride must go or Jesus must go. If Jesus stays, then the power of humility comes through.

It does not take much to work up an audience or come upon carnal extravaganzas for attention. That can be seen through in a fleck of time. But it takes some doing to come upon Jesus' brokenness. It takes everything the disciple can muster to submit to the bent frame of Calvary, to live out that sacrifice in daily grind.

Do you evidence that kind of kingdom power? It is the only kind that God commends: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. . ."

EVIL LURKS AT MICHAEL SHIAVO'S DOOR

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Terri collapsed. Family believes husband Michael tried to strangle her. It’s a present-tense blur for finality’s sake. But the family still holds to that suspicion. And it very well could have been.

Since that collapse, Michael has served as the Evil Manager. He’s overseen the grip upon caregivers for Terri. They were threatened. He’d have them fired if they didn’t keep in line — his way.

Instead of Michael following through with his marital vows — in sickness and in health — for Terri’s good, he tried everything possible for her to exit this life. Of course he did if he tried to strangle her. Of course he did.

Have you ever worked in a place where there was an Evil Manager? I did. It was a methadone clinic where we worked night and day as counselors to help heroine addicts kick the habit. But when I was hired, the second in command despised the administrator for hiring me — a minister. Yet they were uptight for counselors, so he hired me. I also had the academic credentials he needed for another staff person.

But the second in command despised me. So she, mentoring me on the job’s initial training, trained me incorrectly so that when it came down to filing reports, I appeared not to know how to do it. I made mistakes. Finally I figured out that I was not trained properly. The second in command was an Evil Manager who was intent on seeing that the minister looked like a jerk.

I overcame her obstacle put in my way, but not without much confusion. However, when it came time for me to defend a client at the clinic, defending the client against the administrator’s lies and undercutting, I was fired. The administrator fired me for "insubordination." In other words, I would not bend to his unethical dealings with a heroine addict client. So I was fired by Evil Manager the administrator.

It happens here and there. It happened where Terri was supposed to get the best in medical care. The best would have been forthcoming if Michael the Evil Manager had not been pressing down on staff, ordering them around, threatening them with cursing and scowls. He was intent on having Terri make quick exit. When she didn’t make quick exit, his madness grew all the more hellish.

Is not this duplicated around the globe in clots where the devil’s agents hold sway — in politics, in corporate management, in schools, in hospitals, in ecclesiastical power cliques, in families? Evil Managers exist to get their selfish clutches on the helpless underling.

I wonder if Michael is another Scott Peterson. Could be.

Now he lives with a woman, has children to her. Why did not Evil Manager divorce Terri, leaving Terri in her parents’ care? Because Evil Managers grow more evil as time moves on. The devil gets hold of the demented soul and twists it in hell's hot breezes.

IRAQI FORCES INCREASE FOR THE NATION’S SAFE KEEPING

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

It is almost impossible to take in the advancements in the New Iraq, despite the daily mainstream news that accents difficulties in planting a democracy. Nevertheless, along with the problems are the reasons for encouragement.

A most significant reason is realizing the increase of Iraqi armed forces increasing, eventually defending their own New Iraq. This would have been unheard of naturally during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

However, since the March 19, 2003, start of Operation Iraqi Freedom till the present, we now have the Military Training Base in Kirkush graduating 1,500 soldiers. That equals 27 battalions of nine brigades. That means that there is a real-life new Iraqi army in real-time operation.

At Numaniyah in recent days, graduations proudly produced 3,000+ "new soldiers to units throughout Iraq, officials said, and next week, another 600 soldiers are expected to graduate from the Iraqi Training Battalion — adding roughly 5,000 new soldiers to the Iraqi army ranks," as reported by American Forces Press Service’s Sgt. Lorie Jewell, USA.

While skeptics kept harping that the US-led Coalition would never be replaced by Iraqi troops, they are proven wrong. Every day US-led Coalition mentors have been hard at work in putting in place the Iraqi security forces.

The mainstream media in the US has been uniquely silent about this military marvel; however, those attuned to the fine-line detail of New Iraq progress have taken it all in. And with the take-in is thanks to the United States President George W. Bush who stayed the course while withstanding most discouraging lack of support from Europe and the Democratic Party.

"’Training is an essential tool to a combat soldier,’ said Iraqi Gen. Am Jad, deputy chief of staff for training for the Iraqi army, in addressing the soldiers. ‘Be sure to carry everything you have learned here onto the battlefield.’"

Just as American graduation classes hear words of wisdom from those seasoned in the trade, so with the Iraqi graduates. They were sent forth with words of commendation and hope mixed with trust from those who trained them.

"’We will be the light to lighten the darkness in this country,’ Col. Sabre, 2nd Regiment commander, told the soldiers. ‘We will protect the integrity of this country.’"

It does appear as if Operation Iraqi Freedom is yielding its fruit throughout the New Iraq so as to insure a freedom base for years to come. It’s all because of the US President and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumself and colleagues. These are the men and women who believed that liberties could be taken to another country, particularly one held captive by a ruthless ruler. Even to a country with a Muslim tradition.

It is sad that the worldwide Arab conference meeting today did not recognize such accomplishments in New Iraq. Not one word of commendation was made for the past two years’ successes in Iraq. Not one word. Could it be that the despots who gathered under one roof are quite fearful of what could happen to their seats of power if they started to recognize a democracy? That no doubt is truth.

Those Muslim countries still held in control by tyrants — most of them quite rich because of the citizenry — would have to submit to the voters, permit elections such as the historic January 30 ballot cast in New Iraq, and actually permit liberties to blossom throughout their countries. That would be quite the price to pay for giving up their wealth and might.

No matter. The New Iraq still stands for liberties yearned for by people everywhere. As more and more grassroots efforts are forthcoming, more previously held captive nations will come into their own democracy plantings. It’s in the winds of change for the better.

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HOLY WEEK WEDNESDAY : GOOD

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

". . .prove what is that good. . .will of God." Romans l2:2

At times the disciple wonders how his daily cross can prove anything good. It is embarrassing, stunning, unnerving with confusion, lonely, taunted with hateful cries, threatening. How can good be in this? How can good come out of this?

That is the nature of the cross. Look first at Calvary for your prime sample. Crosses are not bouquets of flowers. They are places of execution. Someone is meant to die upon a cross. They are simple woodframe constructions meant to bring about the extinction of a human life.

Therefore, when Jesus instructed His followers to take up their crosses, Jesus was inviting them to deal with pain--even the possibility of martyrdom. Everyone in the world community is dealing with daily pain anyhow but Jesus was meaning to teach disciples how to deal redemptively with cross pain. That is the secret of Jesus' unique invitation.

Consequently, when you face the cross, you know you are confronting the reality of suffering plus His remedy for suffering.

Grace children's crosses do work for good--their own good and the promotion of the gospel good. "All things work together for good. . ." That eternal promise is sure; it cannot lie.

When then you deal with your cross, do not try to figure out its good. It has its own good known to heaven. That is sufficient.

Do not attempt to know the duration of your cross' pain. Father knows your duration just He knew Son's duration on that Friday. That is sufficient.

You may cry upon your cross; Jesus did. You may writhe upon your cross; Jesus did. You may even wrestle with doubt while lugging about your cross; Jesus did.

Being a feeling human creature, you will not count the tauntings nor the intense injustice an illusion. You will know it to be real just as Jesus knew all of that to be real when He mounted the hill and climbed atop the timber.

But what you will come back to while hanging onto your cross is the faith fact that, just as Friday's Calvary cross eventuated in resurrection morning, so will yours. It is the "law of life." That law cannot be undone; it is part of the eternal integrity.

Countless cross carriers tell their magnificent stories of cross-to-resurrection journeys. We are enthralled with them--until they come home to us, then we wonder how we are stuck with such a cross trek for we yearn for the glorious conclusion but not the see-through of the jaunt.

Nevertheless, God is good. He has a good will. That will is to be proven through the reality of your cross.

". . .that ye may prove what is that good. . .will of God."

That is your individualized mission from Calvary. Jesus has a particular good will of God to produce through your cross bearing. That is certain, just as sure as was Jesus' mission. His yielded the redemption plan; yours will see through the continuation of that redemption plan.

Realize then how honored a position you have before the throne. You are privileged to be mentored by Jesus in dealing with cross pain.

BLAIR IN A MUDDLE ON RELIGION IN ENGLAND

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

I don’t think Prime Minister Tony Blair has clarity about religion, let alone religion in English life, particularly English politics.

Blair is a member of the Church of England. His wife is a Roman Catholic who is faithful to worship.
Speaking to a group of religious leaders, Blair presented his thesis, followed by a question-and-answer question.

The muddle comes into non-focus the more Blair appears to be appeasing his audience while at the same time revealing his own befuddled private position.

It’s not that easy to speak before religious enthusiasts when you yourself are in a puddle on the subject. So it seemed to be when Blair was at the podium. He’s for religion, but not too much of it. At least not too much of its expression in public life.

He stated that he didn’t like the upfront religious conviction displayed in America. That appeared to threaten him, perhaps frighten him. In other words, keep your faith in the closet but don’t try to practice it in the marketplace, particularly if "practicing" means voicing much of conviction.

Yet church attendance in England continues to decline. That’s surely no new news. The society becomes more and more a secular environment. Yet 7 out 10 claim to be "Christian." Well, at least the peasantry hasn’t lost the complete feel for the term. Yet it’s putting to the test the faith that counts with God. "If you love me, keep my commandments," Jesus said. Jesus told His own to pick up daily their crosses, following Him. He warned them they’d be hated by the world just as He was.

Disciples don’t come upon such hatred by hiding in a faith closet. Christians don’t keep Jesus’ commandments by philosophizing them into ethereal vapors. Believers who pick up the daily cross are out there, taking their chances, putting their convictions on their sleeves, risking it all.

There are those English who want abortion to be put on the front burner, exposed for the murder that it is. Blair is not quite sure about that. Shades of a Kerry waffler? Seems to be. Abortion is killing womb babies. If a member of the Church of England, married to a practicing Roman Catholic, hedges on whether or not to put into politics slaying the unborn, then there’s not much "Christian" in that pitiful soul.

So it went when Blair spoke before Faithworks, a group that exists to exert the Christian testimony in the culture.

According to The Washington Times’ Al Webb, "Mr. Blair told an audience of religious and community organizations in London that although religion can make a ‘visible, tangible difference’ in British society, it would be ‘unhealthy’ if it moved to center stage on the country's political scene.

"’I do not want to end up with an American style of politics, with us going out there beating our chest about our faith,’ the prime minister said -- a remark not likely to go down well in the United States, where religion traditionally figures prominently in politics.

"’Politics and religion -- it is not that they do not have a lot in common,’ Mr. Blair added, ‘but if it ends up being used in the political process, I think that is a bit unhealthy.’"

Waffle waffle waffle. Not much Christian in all that. Not much conviction in that presentation. Not much cross-bearing for Christ.

If religious conviction is to make a "visible, tangible difference" in England, it had better get the folk into the sanctuary for receiving the saving message of Christ. Then it had better get those earnest disciples "out there" in schools, worksites, community halls and commerce so as to forge against evils of all sorts. A "visible, tangible difference" doesn’t happen by osmosis.

As for Christian conviction to become "center stage" on the country’s political scene, it seems as if the English have a bit of a way to go before that threat would loom largely. Christian presence in church, let alone in the daily witness, does not at present threaten anyone English, let alone the culture.

First, the clergy must get to the clear gospel message in its preaching. Second, the grassroots can start appearing in sanctuaries to receive such gospel preaching, Third, they then can turn into real-life disciples of Christ where they live and breathe. At the moment, none of that seems to be knocking on England’s door.

As for Blair thinking that the mix of religion and politics is "a bit unhealthy," he just doesn’t get it at all. He may be a member of the Church of England, as are scores of English, but he has not an inkling as to what it means to be a member of the Christ brigade warring for righteousness against sin. He has not a clue.

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THE SHROUD OF TURIN DOES NOT BELONG TO JESUS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Why don’t people go to the original source? When it comes to the Shroud of Turin, the source for finding out this and that about the fabric is the Bible.

After all, the focus is on the cloth used to wrap Jesus’ corpse. So it would seem appropriate to go to the Bible detail first for that kind of matter.

When investigating the prime data in the Bible, one then realizes how much time and energy could have been saved. How many articles in magazines — even professional journals — have been written about the Shroud of Turin? How many scientists have performed experiments on it? How many theologians have given their opinions about first century specifics, authenticity of the cloth, and on and on?

The Shroud of Turin is not the cloth that wrapped the cold body of Jesus. It may have belonged to someone else, but not Jesus. The Bible precludes that conclusion.

Turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 4 through 7: "They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself." (Revised Standard Version).

There you have it. The fabric used to wrap Jesus’ corpse was of two parts, not one full piece. The Shroud is of one full piece. It can’t be the wrap-around for Jesus’ dead body.

Twice the word "cloths" is used — plural cloths, not one cloth. Then the reader is informed that a separate "napkin" was used to encase Jesus’ head upon burial. On the first day of the week, early dawn, the napkin was found separate from the other fabric.

As for two pieces of fabric used for a corpse, check out the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verse 44 regarding Lazarus. When Jesus called forth the name of Lazarus, the man came from his tomb, wobbling, dressed in gravecloths. They were plural, not singular. The Bible gives us detail in regard to the fabric: "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin." (King James Version).

Again, "gravecloths" — plural cloths. Not one full piece for the corpse. Again, "napkin" for the head, separate from the full-length fabric.

Two dead bodies — both wrapped about with two separate pieces of fabric.

The Shroud of Turin is one full piece that wrapped a corpse of some era; but it can’t be the cloth used for the dead frame of Jesus. The Bible relates otherwise.

As far back as September 20, 1988, the BOSTON GLOBE reported a dispatch from London: "A London newspaper said Sunday the results of tests carried out in laboratories in England, Switzerland and Arizona would show that the Shroud of Turin depicting a shadowy image of Jesus Christ was a medieval fake.

"’Papal representatives in Italy will announce next month what religious skeptics have long suspected: That the Shroud of Turin is a medieval fake. . .forged between the years 1000 and 1500,’ the Sunday Times said. The shroud, last displayed in the public in 1978, is known in Italy as La Sacra Sindone. It has a shadowy image of a body with a bearded face bearing apparent bloodstains from a crown of thorns and a large wound to the chest. (UPI)."

But that "bearded face" on that particular cloth did not belong to Jesus of Nazareth.

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CHRISTIAN HOPE: TERRI SCHIAVO

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

During this Holy Wee