Say a big "Thank you!" to the men and women who serve and protect us!

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from a couple in our church telling me that their nephew's wife was one of the four police offices shot and killed down in Lakewood, Washington.  With horror, I flipped on the news and watched as the reports unfolded and this senseless atrocity was played out in front of our eyes.

At a time like this it, behoves us to make sure we let the men and women who protect and serve us, whether as police officers or firefighters, know that we appreciate them and the job they do.  Here's what I want to encourage you to do; the next time you are at Starbucks or your favorite coffee bar and you see a police officer, or officers, standing in line or waiting in the drive through behind you, pay for their coffee and tell them thanks for the job they're doing.  Oh, they'll tell you they can't accept and that they're just doing their job, but don't pass on the opportunity to at least say thanks and don't hesitate to insist on picking up the cost of their coffee.  It's the least we can do.

Let's not let this tragedy pass us by without taking the time to reaffirm our support and thanks to these brave men and women.

Pastor Chris

When will gay rights activists and the government figure out what the separation of church and state means?

You've heard it until you can recite it in your sleep. We are a country, actually a continent, where the separation of church and state are sacrosanct. Or are we? Take for example the issue of gay marriage... someone please take it (cue the drums). Gay rights activists would have us believe that the right to marry is a legal right which the government bestows. That's not true! For centuries, long before Canada and the United States ever came into existence, marriage has been the territory of God and the church. God ordained marriage between a man and woman. It is the government which has since come along and usurped that fundamental responsibility of the church and placed itself in the position as arbiter over marriage. It would appear on this issue, at least, that the doctrine of separation does not exist.

Case in point, last spring the state of Maine, through the state legislature, passed a law legalizing gay marriage. Clearly in doing so the government was infringing and imposing on the church when it decided to enact such a law or at the very least, it was removing the church's authority to oversee and administer this important and biblical institution.

To this imposition, the voters in Maine backed the government down. If you're counting, and I am, that's 31 times different states have voted on this issue and 31 times states have defeated similar laws and legislation by popular vote. What makes the Maine vote so interesting, is that Maine is traditionally seen as a liberal leaning, independent state that would be sympathetic to gay rights activists and their cause. Thus the defeat of this law is viewed as a blow to gay marriage.

Here's the thing, I'm not advocating that anyone's rights or freedoms should be impeded on. I'm certainly not advocating, in the name of God, disrespect or violence over this issue. I do believe, though, that marriage is the purview of the church and as such should be left to the church.