October / November 2003

Dear ones,
These are difficult times for ministries such as this, and for many in the work force; let's stay in-formed, and pray. We really do need each other.

RICHES TO BE FOUND IN THE NAMES OF GOD
Have you ever wondered why, in the Bible, double titles are sometimes used to identify God (such as "Oh, Lord God")? Doesn't it seem like needless repetition, like saying, "Oh, God God," or "Oh, Lord Lord"? Well, it isn't needless repetition; like everything else in the Bible, it has a significant meaning and a purpose. Since Creation, God has identified Himself by a number of names, and always for a purpose: the names reveal precious aspects of His nature and the way He relates to us.

The three basic names by which God identifies Himself are: 1) "God," 2) "Lord," and 3) "GOD" or "LORD." This third basic name, which seems to be two names, is expressed in these two ways in English, but in only one way in Hebrew. The key to recognizing the names is capitalization: "God" has one mean-ing; "Lord" has another; and "GOD" or "LORD" has still another. This third name can be either "GOD" or "LORD," but is recognized by being in all capital letters. NOTE: this (and all that follows) is true of the King James Version; unfortunately, many of the modern translations do not differentiate, thus confusing or losing the meanings. To follow this teaching, I recommend that you use the King James Version.

We will deal with these names separately; for now, let's begin with "God," the first of the three names to appear in the Bible.

"God" appears first in the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." When you see "God" with a capital "G," as you do here, the Hebrew word is Elohim (when you see "god" or "gods" with a lower case "g" it refers to false gods). Elohim means "the strong and faithful one, the covenant-keeping God." One fascinating aspect of this name is that it is a plu-ral: Hebrew words ending in "im" are always plural. Thus, Elohim gives us our first glimpse in Scripture of the triune nature of God, the Holy Trinity. Notice how this helps our understanding of verse 26, in which God says, "Let us make man, in our image…."
We will continue with this in the next issue.

PRECIOUS PROMISE
Have you ever wondered if the Bible is truly the inspired message from God to mankind, for all time? Have you ever wondered if, in being copied so many times, things have been lost-or added? Have you been told that the Bible was inspired and perfect, but only "as originally written," leaving you to won-der which parts can still be believed? Well, there is good news; consider the following promise: "The words (note the plural here) of the LORD are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times (seven is the biblical number of perfection). Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever." (Ps 12:6,7)

LARGE AND SMALL MINISTRIES: MONEY VS. FRUIT
One thing I have noticed in my 27 years of traveling in ministry is that, by and large, the ministries operating on small budgets produce more real fruit per dollar invested than do the large ministries with plush budgets, palatial headquarters and private jets. The same goes for churches; the small churches, with small budgets, in metal buildings, school auditoriums and storefronts, tend to do more for the Kingdom than those in massive buildings with bubbling fountains imported from Italy and 10 acre parking lots. In a material sense, success begets success. Those large ministries and churches can afford radio and television coverage; they can afford to bring in a steady string of celebrities; and when their leaders write books, Christian publishers hasten to publish them. All of this brings in more money, and the system grows, com-pounding itself. Very large amounts of income in such ministries are spent on expensive cars, private air-planes, first class travel, first class hotels and large bonuses for ministry leaders and board members. While unknown street preachers and humble pastors are working with little or no pay, reaching out to the lost and undone multitudes, face to face, and struggling to support their families, some of the "successful" preachers are complaining because the limousine taking them to the TV studio is too small, or they don't like the choice of foods in room service at the expensive hotel. I could cite numerous examples, but will mention only two.

I recently received an urgent prayer request from Bread Ministries, a wonderful ministry to chil-dren and families in Florida; they need such things as repair for a broken-down lawn mower, a leaking, worn-out pump that provides water for the entire ministry facility, and repairs to decaying wood in the roof. These are the things they pray for. Meanwhile, a scandal was exposed some time back at "Bible Answer Man," a radio ministry in California with a $9.3 million dollar budget in 2001 (the last year for which fig-ures are available). This ministry has spent $800,000 in thee years on fundraising alone. The president, Hank Hanegraaff, received a raise of $52,886 per year with total pay of $251,886 in 2001; his wife was paid $87,600 as "director of planning." The bookkeeper made $130,475. The ministry has also paid $1,600 monthly dues to a country club for Hanegraaff, and purchased a $66,000 sports car for him, all with tax-exempt, Christian-donated money. The three employees who blew the whistle on all this abuse of God's money were, of course, fired. (Christianity Today, et al)

"JANE ROE" LAWSUIT HITS IMMEDIATE SNAG
In the last issue we reported that Norma McCorvey (the "Jane Roe" of Roe vs Wade) has filed suit in Federal Court to have the 1973 Supreme Court decision overturned. Her effort almost immediately hit a snag; only two days after the suit was filed, Judge David Godbey dismissed her suit. She is wondering how he could have read affidavits from more than 1,000 post-abortive women in two days; but she is not giving up her battle to overturn the landmark decision that was created in her name in 1973. (ANS)

MORMONS, MARRIOTTS, AND PORN
Mormons continue to promote their image as clean, wholesome, pro-family people (and many of them really are). Very prominent among Mormons are the Marriott brothers (you can see their portraits in any of their hotels), owners of the giant Hotel chain. Yes, the Marriotts are good Temple Mormons, right down to their magic underwear; yet they continue to be one of the world's leading sellers of hard-core por-nography. In spite of protests by such groups as American Family Association, the Marriotts go right on providing pay-per-view hard-core porn in their hotel rooms. (ANS)

BABY BRAINS AND PARKINSON'S DISEASE
One argument for continuing abortions has been the need for tissues from the butchered babies for medical research. Most prominent in this argument has been the need for brain tissue from aborted babies to treat Parkinson's disease. It doesn't work. In a recent study, not only did the patients not improve, but half of them got worse, with "uncontrollable movements of their arms." (ANS)

HYPOCRISY, AND A PRIEST WITH LIMITS
So many church services are exercises in hypocrisy, pretending that the subjects are (or were) righteous, when the opposite is true. People who don't live for God often want to be treated as if they do (or did). Examples: a Mafia guy who has people murdered one day, and stands as godfather to someone's baby the next; or a corrupt public official who sins and breaks laws all week, and then serves as a church elder, eucharistic deacon or vestryman on Sunday. I find it enormously refreshing to learn of a priest in New Mexico who has his limits in how much of this falseness he will tolerate. In a full-fledged funeral mass, the Rev. Scott Mansfield is reported to have said that the 80-year-old deceased, was going to Hell. Really! He reportedly said, mincing no words, that the departed had been "living in sin," was "lukewarm in his faith," and that "the Lord vomits people like Ben out of His mouth and into Hell." Family members are suing for severe emotional and physical suffering; so far, Scott's bishop is backing him. Hooray for Scott and the bishop! (PWB)

CIPA UPHELD - AND THE ALA SCREAMS
The Supreme Court upheld the Chidren's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in June. This law is de-signed to protect children from internet porn and pedophile predators in public libraries. But the radical American Library Association, which controls most library science schools and librarian accreditation, wants children to be exposed to such porn and solicitation. The ALA has fought bitterly against this law from the beginning, spending $2 million in their battle against this protection of our children.

JAY LENO: COMEDIAN OR WISE MAN?
Jay Leno is a comedian-and an extremely prominent one; lately, however, like the late Will Rogers, he is becoming an incisive commentator on serious issues. Recently, in commenting on the Bush Administration's efforts to develop a constitution for the emerging government in Iraq, he observed, "Why don't we just send them ours? We don't use it anymore."

UNBELIEVING UMC LEADERS: HERE WE GO AGAIN
Hardly a day goes by without some example of unbelieving, heretical leaders at the top of the power structures of old-line denominations, taking positions in opposition to the Bible and to their own founding principles. In August, Josh Tinley of the United Methodist Publishing House was a featured speaker at a gathering called Youth 2003. Tinley, speaking ex-cathedral, told 9,000 Methodist youth that the Bible can't be taken as actual history, and that Old Testament heroes like Daniel, Ruth, Job and Jonah are the products of myth. United Methodist leaders are not permitting Tinley to be interviewed about his speech.

EPISCOPAL LEADERS APPROVE "GAY" UNIONS
Almost immediately after confirming V. Gene Robinson as a practicing homosexual bishop, the Episcopal Church approved the "blessing of same-sex unions," only one small step shy of making homo-sexual "weddings" official. (ANS)

ELOQUENCE FROM BELIEVING EPISCOPAL PRIESTS
As we know, the Episcopal Church in America, long divided over scriptural issues, is in deep cri-sis after the installation of V. Gene Robinson, an open homosexual, as bishop. As in other denominations, such as United Methodist, Disciples of Christ, and USA Presbyterian, the denominational power structure has abandoned traditional confessions, creeds and beliefs, in contradiction with local pastors and parishion-ers. Two suffering Episcopal priests recently expressed eloquently what is happening to their denomination. In Maryland, Steven Randall compared his denomination to "a flying coffin, doomed to destruction and despair" which will "carry more people to Hell than it will save." In Texas, David Rosenberry said, "There are things in the Bible that are not up for a vote" and that "in two days, in two votes by less than 600 peo-ple, 4,000 years of biblical teaching were overturned." (ANS,WT, NYT)
Newly confirmed Bishop Robinson, meanwhile, has said that his sodomite relationship with his "man in the vicarage" is not only OK with God, but "is sacramental." (PWB)

THE POISON OF BEDROOM TVS FOR KIDS
Studies have consistently shown what should be a matter of common sense: allowing children to have TV sets in their bedrooms does them great harm. Such children not only watch much more TV than other children, but, unsupervised, also watch much more destructive programming (such as MTV and other porn), participate less in family activities, exercise less, read less, lead increasingly isolated lives, and do worse in school. Some teachers say they can identify such kids without asking. More troubling is the fact that the practice is on the increase, with TVs in the bedrooms of 2- to 4-year-olds at 26 percent; 5-to 7-year-olds at 39 percent; and 8-year-olds, up at 65 percent. If you do everything else right, but allow your child to have a TV in his bedroom, you are vastly increasing the probability that he (or she) will be significantly injured socially and morally, or destroyed. (ANS)

LOTTERIES, CASINOS AND "TAX RELIEF"
I have watched it in Kentucky, in Illinois, in Indiana and in Mississippi. The propaganda is always the same, and it goes like this: "Vote to allow legalized gambling, and financial prosperity will follow, money will flood into the state and pay for almost everything, especially for schools, and taxes will be low-ered." The appealing lie is always the same and, so far, it always works. But it is a lie. The dismal truth is very different. For the most recent fiscal year, budget revenues in Mississippi were obtained from the fol-lowing sources: sales tax, 43 percent; individual income tax, 29 percent; corporate income tax, 9 percent; other sources, 14 percent; and gambling revenues came in a dismal last place at 4.8 percent.

ABORTION AND BREAST CANCER-WHY?
Ongoing studies in recent years have demonstrated a link between breast cancer and abortion, es-pecially abortion in girls who have never carried a baby to term. Have you wondered why? It is because of the link between high levels of estrogen in the blood and breast cancer. Estrogen levels are at their highest during pregnancy, yet the breasts don't mature into cancer-resistant tissue until late in the pregnancy. Thus, with pregnancy come the high levels of estrogen, yet abortion terminates the pregnancy before the breasts are defended from cancer. In short, abortion during the first 6 months of pregnancy produces the danger-ously high levels of estrogen, but denies the breasts protection against the cancer. (ANS)

A WORD FROM THE BOARD
It is our policy at Words for Living not to ask for money; however, the ministry is in a financial crisis that threatens to end publication of The Good word, and the board thinks you should know about it. Since Tom is able to travel much less, the newsletter is a primary means of reaching many people with the Good News and with truth about current issues. If the newsletter is a blessing to you, please pray about becoming a partner with us in it. Kevin Stevens, Baton rouge, La., Vice Pres.

DANGER IN THE SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB
In the Aug/Sept 2002 issue, I reported on the promotion and sale of two dangerously ungodly books being popularized, and sold to public school children through Scholastic, Inc.'s Scholastic Book Club. The books are: "Conversations with God" and "Conversations with God for Teens," written in ques-tion-and-answer format. They are now New York Times Bestsellers. I must warn you again that these books are dangerous instruments of indoctrination for your children, as they are not only filled with evil and sick advice, but the advice is presented as coming from the mouth of God! Examples: a teenage girl asks, "Why am I a lesbian?" Scholastic's "God" replies, "Go now, out into the world, and celebrate who you are." Scholastic's "God" also says, "There is no such thing as right or wrong….there is only what works and what doesn't work, given what you are trying to do." (World)

THE FEMINIZING OF OUR ARMED FORCES GOES ON
The feminist power structure within the Department of Defense continues to feminize the Armed Forces, with the Army's COO program ("Consideration Of Others"), removal of urinals from our Navy ships ("symbols of masculine pride and power"), and pushing for women in combat roles. I greatly admire the Seabees (Marines always have); since their origins in World War II, their proud slogan has been, "We build and we fight." Their song goes, "We're the Seabees of the Navy, we can build and we can fight…." Now, however, it appears that the feminizers have struck again. In a dispatch from Iraq, a Seabee closed with what appears to be the new, "kinder and gentler" Seabee slogan: "With Compassion for Others, We Build, We fight, for Peace with Freedom."

THE "RIGHT TO DIE"
Physician-assisted suicide has been legal in Oregon for five years. When it was being promoted by the "right to die" crowd, the battle cry was to give those poor old people relief from pain-they shouldn't have to go on living with all that pain. Yes, it was all about pain. A recent survey of patients requesting medical killing is revealing. Of 350 responses, the reasons given for requesting death were: losing personal autonomy, 30 percent; decreased participation in activities, 28 percent; losing control of bodily functions, 21 percent; a burden on others,13 percent; and "the big one," pain, was a poor last place at 8 percent. (Cin-cinnati Right to Life)

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM - ISN'T
The McCain-Feingold Campaign finance Reform Act, passed by Congress and (reluctantly) signed into law by the president, is not about campaign finance reform; it is about silencing the political opinions of everyone except the powerful establishment media (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, et al). This law now forbids any advocacy advertising, political ads, or even pub-lishing politicians' voting records, within 60 days of a primary election or 30 days of a general election. This means that all the public will hear and see about candidates and issues during the critical, closing weeks prior to elections will be what the liberal media elite want the public to hear and see. Eighty-one plaintiffs are challenging this obvious violation of 1st Amendment freedom of speech, and the Supreme Court will hear the case in a special session this Fall.(ANS)

APPEASEMENT BRINGS NOT PEACE, BUT WAR
A hard-learned lesson of history is that, when dealing with tyrants (or bullies of any magnitude), appeasement does not bring peace. In such situations, appeasement merely encourages further demands, further appeasement, further demands, etc. until there is either war, or meek and total capitulation. In the 1938 Munich conference, the British delegation, led by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, gave in to Hitler's every demand, surrendering Sudeten Czechoslovakia to Germany's occupation. Chamberlain re-turned home, proclaiming that he had achieved "peace in our time." Winston Churchill, in his inimitable way, summed it all up: "They had a choice between shame and war. They chose shame - they shall have war." A year later, a much-stronger Germany invaded Poland, and the war began.

THE AFTERMATH OF ERROR
A wonderful characteristic of God, one that we should all emulate, is that he differentiates be-tween the bad things people do, and the people who do bad things. When one of us does a wrong thing, the rest should reject the wrong thing he did, but we should not automatically reject him. It is liberating to real-ize that, even when we do wrong, God still loves us, is ready to forgive and get us back on the right track. If we repent, He forgives, rehabilitates and guides. This is expressed repeatedly in the Bible, and one interest-ing example is Psalm 99. Speaking of Moses, Aaron, Samuel and the prophets, verse 8 says, "Thou an-swered them, 0 LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions [emphases mine]." Yes, like Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah, God will always forgive us, but He may lay waste some of our bad ideas.

HOMOSEXUAL MINISTER OF MUSIC OK
A homosexual music director, fired by a Roman Catholic church for refusing to take vows of chas-tity, has a new job. Bill Stein has been hired by Court Street Methodist Church in Rockford, Illinois as its Minister of Music. Apparently pastor Michael Mann and the others at Court Street have no objection to his sinful, sodomite lifestyle. If John Wesley could return from the dead, he would charge into that church, overturning the tables, scattering the sinners, and driving the sodomites and moneychangers into the street. I'd love to see it. (PWB,ANS)

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND "PROBLEM PROFITEERS"
There are those today, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who are self-declared defenders of, and spokesmen for, minority groups. They pass up no opportunity to jump in front of cameras and micro-phones, shrilly condemning racial injustice, seeing "hate crimes" everywhere, and railing against the rest of us. If there isn't an emotional crisis, they invent one (such as Sharpton's fanning the flames of racial hate over the non-existent rape of Tawana Brawley). Why do they do this? It is the source of their influence, money and power. But this isn't a new thing; it has been going on for more than 100 years.

One of the truly great Negro leaders of our nation's history was Booker T. Washington, former slave, brilliant educator, and author of the classic autobiography, "Up from Slavery." Although ignored today by history texts because he wasn't radical enough, many schools and other institutions have been named for him in earlier generations, and rightly so. He was a role model, worthy of emulation. In his clas-sic book he wrote of the Jacksons and Sharptons of his day, calling them "Problem Profiteers." He de-scribed them as "a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they can make a living out of their trou-bles, they have gone into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs-partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."

A BRITISH JOURNALIST VIEWS US OBJECTIVELY
Ambrose Evans Pritchard was Washington Bureau Chief for the London Daily Mail during the Clinton years, and he is one of the most honest, courageous men I have ever known. In his book, looking back on those years, "The Secret Life of Bill Clinton," he makes an incisive observation on our culture: "The American elite, I am afraid to say, is almost beyond redemption. Moral relativism has set in so deeply that the gilded classes have become incapable of discerning right from wrong. Everything can be explained away, especially by journalists. Life is one great moral mush - sophistry washed down with Chardonnay."

SIGMUND FREUD AND COCAINE
Pioneer psychiatrist Sigmund Freud prescribed cocaine for his patients and, in the process, created many addicts for whom he had no cure. Although he also used cocaine occasionally, he avoided becoming addicted himself; but he died of throat cancer from smoking 20 cigars daily. (History Channel)

A POINT TO PONDER
"When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments: tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become." Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

TEEN TROUBLES AND SINGLE PARENT HOMES
It is no secret that marriage breakup is traumatic and destructive for the children involved. Illustra-tive of this is the fact that 75 percent of all teenage pregnancies outside marriage occur in single-parent homes, and that 75 percent of all children treated in alcohol and chemical dependency hospitals are from single-parent homes. (CBN)

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE:
THE JAPS AND THEIR WORLD WAR II POWs
During World War II, the Japanese were notoriously brutal to our captured fighting men, held in their prisoner of war camps. Most are aware of this, but let the figures speak: being a prisoner of the Japs in World War II was 18 times more deadly than was fighting them on the battlefield. Although we took terri-bly heavy casualties in the Pacific (in such battles as Tarawa, Peleliu, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima) a Marine or soldier's chances of living through the combat against the Japs were 18 times better than the chances of a POW's living through his confinement. (History Channel)

OUR CHRISTIAN BEGINNINGS
At the time of the founding of our Republic, the U.S. population was 98 percent Protestant Chris-tian, 1.8 percent Catholic Christian and 0.2 percent Jewish.

A FINAL WORD
Treasure and use each day as if it were your last, and never give up hope; God has a limitless sup-ply of new beginnings, and he makes beautiful things out of broken pieces.

You are precious,

(Sources: AFAJ-American Family Journal; AFRN-American Family Radio News; ANS-Agape News Ser-vice; AP-Associated Press; BP-Break Point; C-Charisma; CBN-Christian Broadcasting Network; CR-Congressional Record; DR-Drudge Report; EP-Evangelical Press; Fox (Fox News); FRC-Family Research Council; GN-Good News Magazine; HC-History Channel; Ins-Insight Magazine; LAT-L.A. Times; Mil-Military Magazine; NR-National Review; NW-Newsweek; NYP-New York Post; NYT-New York Times; PWB-Pastors' Weekly Briefing; RTLB-Right to Life Education Foundation Bulletin; USAT-USA Today; USNWR-U.S. News and World Report; VOM-Voice of Martyrs; W-World Magazine; WND-World Net Daily; WT-Washington Times; WW-Washington Watch.)