Harry Truman Celebrates Christian Love on Christmas

Truman, December 24th, 1945

This is the Christmas that a war-weary world has prayed for through long and awful years. . . . We meet in the spirit of the first Christmas, when the midnight choir sang the hymn of joy: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Let us not forget that the coming of the Savior brought a time of long peace to the Roman World. . . . From the manger of Bethlehem came a new appeal to the minds and hearts of men: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.” . . . Would that the world would accept that message in this time of its greatest need! . . . We must strive without ceasing to make real the prophecy of Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” In this day, whether it be far or near, the Kingdoms of this world shall become indeed the Kingdom of God and He will reign forever and ever, Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

History and Effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous

I just finished a good, but not real great, article in Wired Magazine about AA. It was so good that I decided to add a comment to it suggesting a couple of corrections. I suggest that you who are interested in healing and growth take a look at it.

Write me after you look it over and tell me what you think.

Missionary Funding

I am in Georgia this week attending an annual event to raise money for missions. It is part of the Assembly of God world missions' focus and they are amazingly productive in motivating churches and individuals to support missions with their offerings.

Tr-County Assembly (TCA) and Lead Pastor Brad Rosenberg are leading the pack of churches in annual giving. Pastor Brad is following in the footsteps with his father and founding Pastor Hugh Rosenberg as a trend setter in reaching the world with the good news of Christ's victory over death.

I am very impressed with the AG fervor and balance in local, national and world evangelism. they are able to continue in the tradition of an Evangelical emphasis on God's word, their own traditions of operating in the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the biblical emphasis on social and practical works in the community. And, they have a lot of fun. The joy of the Lord is definitely part of their character. Even in the midst of a genuine interest in people being saved and healed they are enjoying the blessings of salvation.

I am also learning about giving. The generosity of the AG people and their churches is astounding. The believe in supporting their missionaries and the put their money where their mouth is. The live out their convictions and that is more than I can say for many denominations.

I hope I can learn how to be more generous and how to challenge Christians to give with a cheerful heart to spread the gospel far and wide.

Happy Grandparents

 
Papa and Grandma with Jack and Emma Sweeten

Just shwoing off our grand kids.

Spiritual Healing Blog

I have started a new blog. You can find it under
Spiritual Healing and Growth I think you will find it enormously helpful if you are a counselor, educator, minister or volunteer. I am placing research, insights on ways people grow and change and practical things I have learned over the past thirty years of ministry.

Take a look and keep coming back.

Ministry Trip to Denmark

I will be traveling to Denmark from March 21 to March 30 to see my great friend Peder Poulsen and his colleagues and other spiritual power houses. I met Peder way back in the Eighties at Vats, the high mountain ski resort where we gathered some fifty Scandinavian leaders for five days of Holy Spirit worship, praise and learning.

The testimonies that came out of the years we met in Vats were life changing and eternity expanding. Priests, Pastors, Missionaries, Lay Leaders and Para Church Leaders came together with a group from the USA to storm heaven and earth for God's love, power and truth. Many of the graduates of Vats are still expanding the Kingdom of God all over the world through care, counsel, evangelism and training.

The group in Denmark is a remnant of the Vats explosion. Hundreds of Christians have grown up in Christ to take His message to Europe and the nations. One of our friends is Kirsten Callesen, a PhD Psychologist who was a Flight Attendant with SAS when she came to our Teleios Training in the Nineties. God touched her life and called her to get a Masters' in Psychology.

As part of her training, Kirsten did an internship in a clinic that worked with people with Autism. This led Kirsten to take the classes in "Apples of Gold- Listening and develop a similar class for her clients. It worked beautifully and she has developed an entire training program called "The CAT Kit" for parents and children with Aspergers, a section of the Autistic Spectrum. She also finished a PhD in Psychology.

While in Denmark I will get to visit with Kirsten and see her in action plus attend two workshops on treating Autism. God has opened a wonderful door for me to learn how better to serve families with Special needs Kids.

Keep us in your prayers. More on this later.

Parenting with Personal and Marital Joy

My friend Linda Watson wrote this article almost 20 years ago. As I was about to leave my position at College Hill Presbyterian Church I had a special class for the staff and church leaders on "Developing Healthy Families" and Linda was in the class.



Her boys were "real boys" with high energy, sibling rivalry and keen insights about how to hassle their mom. Linda was a hard working, overly zealous mother who, like most young moms, wanted to have perfect, peaceful and kind kids. They saw to it that she was in a state of chronic worry because she was "failing" as a "good mother".


After hearing me teach and show role plays about family systems, Linda had an epiphany. "I am rewarding their fights. I must change me to influence them. I shall change my getting in the middle of their fights. WOW! That took courage as you shall see.




The Night I Stopped Being a Referee
Linda Watson

One of the roles I have played for years for my two boys is a referee. My boys are 2 & 1/2 years apart and they often fought other. A fight brought one of them running to me and I became the referee. I thought if only I could become a better referee and come up with just the right punishment, lecture or scripture verse to make them be good Christian brothers, the fighting would cease or at least get better. But it was getting worse as they got older. Joel was 10 and Ethan 8 at the time and I, who swore I would never scream at my kids, was reacting to the conflict as a screaming maniac.

One typical evening, I told the boys they had five minutes to get ready for bed and whoever was not ready with teeth brushed and pajamas on was getting a spanking. (One of my better referee tactics was to set a time limit so short they didn’t have time to fight.)

In a few seconds the screaming and fighting began. Ethan, the younger, came running and said, “Mom! Joel hit me in the stomach!.” I tried to respond by asking, “What did you do…” but Joel said, “Mom, he threw my pajamas across the room. Besides you always let him get by with more than me.” (There was a grain of truth in that accusation and I was stunned.)

My own anger escalated because I failed as a referee. However, I rather calmly said, “You have five minutes to get ready for bed. If you are not ready then you will be spanked. You have to make your own decisions about how you are going to treat each other. I am no longer going to referee your fights”.

They left the room and in a few minutes I heard the usual chaos. “Mom, Joel hit me.” Then, “Mom, Ethan hit me first.” I called back, “I want to remind you that you have exactly three minutes to get ready for bed. If you are not ready you will be spanked. I am not coming in there to referee so you can do whatever you want to each other.”

About three minutes later both came into my room. Ethan was very quiet but Joel fell down before me crying and started to beg me to be a referee again. “Mom, don’t do this please. Just go back to the way you were before.” (I said to myself, “Maybe I have hit on something good here. Is this what we have discussed in Gary Sweeten’s Family Class about how changes cause shock waves throughout the entire system? Is Joel just acting out to try to suck me back into my old patterns of refereeing?”)

When I said I would no longer referee I was unaware I was making such a big change in my pattern and the entire family system. I just needed to do something. I said it more out of desperation than anything else. I was unaware of the role I was playing and how I was getting caught into the triangle between the boys. To Joel I replied, “This is very interesting. Just a few minutes ago you were complaining how unfair I was as a referee. I gave you five minutes to do anything you want to Ethan without getting into trouble and you want me to go back to a referee.”

Joel began to cry loudly and say, “Please Mom; please! Don’t do this! Please just be the way you were. What if we hurt one another or kill one another?” I said, “I guess if you made that choice you would have to live with it wouldn’t you.” I was amazed at how calm I was. I did not yell or scream. I was not enmeshed with him! He was crying but I did not comprehend all the dynamics or why he was so upset but I simply said, “Joel, I am going to change. I will not be a referee any more. We will talk more when your father is home.”

Bill arrived a few minutes later but we didn’t have enough time or calmness with Joel’s weeping to get everything straightened out so Bill just said, “Hold it. Let’s go to bed now and talk tomorrow.”

It had been a good start but I was still pretty anxious. The next day the boys and I were talked in the car but the discussion was too brief for real insights. However, things were smoother. The real test came at supper. With Joel’s baseball game after school we had a tight schedule, just right for a big fight.

I served spaghetti for dinner, Joel said to Ethan, “Now that Mom will not referee we can do anything we like.” .He proceeded to fire a fork load of spaghetti at Ethan who smiled and loaded his fork. I said, “I think you have this all wrong. I need to redefine referee. Any food that lands on the table, floor or walls you will have to clean up.”

Ethan promptly picked up one of Joel’s carrot sticks and dunked it into his milk and Joel retaliated. “I said calmly, excuse me but the rule still applies that you must eat all your veggies.” Joel turned and started to say something belligerent when I said, “Another thing has not changed. You may not be disrespectful to me.”

Then we began to eat in silence. I was amazed at my new peace. Maybe they were not having fun but I sure was, but the calm did not last for long. Joel finished first and swatted Ethan on the head as he rose from the table. Ethan took his shoe off and reared back to fling it when I said, (With some anxiety) “Whatever the shoe hits you are responsible for.” Joel retorted, “Yes, and if I get hurt you will have to pay the doctor bills.”

That caused me to question myself. (“What if he gets hurt? What if…?) Will I be responsible for the bills? But before I could go much farther with the ‘What ifs’ Ethan broke in and said, “Mom, you are a Mom, right?” I said, “Yes. Ethan, I am a Mom.” Ethan continued, “Moms are supposed to be referees.” I smiled and said, “Ethan, I am not going to be a referee any more but I am still going to be your mother.”

We had to leave immediately to get to the game on time so I ran to get the car keys. I was really enjoying myself in this new role. But the good feelings did not last long before I heard Ethan screaming. “Oh, no” I thought. “Ethan is probably injured and how can I explain my non-refereeing stance to the ER when my children were trying to kill one another? And, who is responsible for the Doctors’ bills? “

At the bottom of the stairs Ethan was lying on the kitchen floor weeping profusely with loud groans. “I can’t walk, I am hurt bad. Joel kicked me in the leg with his baseball cleats!” My old referee habit immediately sprang into action and I yelled, “Joel! Come here immediately!” Then I saw him peeking around the door with a look that said, “Come on Mom. You can do it. You can be the referee again!”

That look brought me to my senses and I inspected Ethan’s badly bruised leg to find no marks at all. I calmly informed them that as soon as Ethan could walk we would go to the game. Joel complained loudly “I just knew we would be late for the game” but I refused to take the blame bait. Instead I said, “Joel, one of the consequences of choosing to hit your brother is being late to the game.” But, it seemed that Ethan was able to recover quickly so we were able to leave with no delay.

I tried to fill Bill in on these matters while watching the game but not much of the new developments were made clear or understood. I left for my evening commitment somewhat apprehensive that the boys would get out of hand. When I got home and asked Bill how things went he said, “It was fine. In fact, I also told the boys I am not going to be a referee either. To which Ethan replied: “I may run away from home.”

We went into their room to pray for the boys and I said, “Ethan, daddy says that you really don’t like us not being referees any more and you might run away. I want you to know that if you choose to run away I will really miss you.” Joel chose that moment to begin to cry and beg us to return to our old ways. “Please, please don’t do this,” he said. “I want be punished so I can be a good adult, We may kill each other if you don’t go back to what you were doing.”

With so much bombarding us we did not know where to start but we said that we have so many other choices and ways to manage conflict other than killing or hurting each other. There are other alternatives to channeling anger. We also wanted to address Joel’s idea that punishment would make him a good adult. That night we made a promise to ourselves that we would be parents instead of referees or police officials.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There are times when I tend to slip back into my referee mode but I am definitely having more fun as a parent when I play the game of life with my children rather than being on the sidelines with a whistle. So often I was ready to frantically blow the whistle in the midst of a fight but now I have changed. I discovered that being a referee is not much fun but I love being a MOM! Linda Watson 1989 revised 2007

Joel lives in Dayton and Ethan in Denver. During their high school years and to this day are best friends. Ethan was just married and Joel was the best man. Please let people know that if I had not been in your class I would have thought I had made a horrible mistake, especially when the boys did such a good job of trying to get me to take back my old role. I can’t emphasize enough how important it was for me to understand the dynamics that were going on when I made the second order change and the class affirmation that I had in fact done the right and healthy thing!! (Update from Linda, March 12, 07)

Go to my web for more materials.

Sin and MuslimTerrorists

On September 10, 2001 there was a special television program about "The Lost Boys of Sudan". Young men from families slaughtered by the Muslim dictators had come to the USA through Catholic Charities. They marveled that they could live here in peace, security and safety.

Although they were placed in Minnesota where the weather was very cold, they boys stated how much they loved the USA. One boy told about the time he went down to the river to get water. While bending over to dip the water an alligator jumped out and grabbed his little brother, eating him with a few short gulps. The young man said, "Life in my country was short, brutal and unpredictable, but here it is safe."

The next day, was September 11, 2001. I wonder how those same boys were feeling after the attacks by Muslim terrorists. That day US seemed about as unpredictable as the rest of the world. The contrast between the two cultures seemed to be less striking.

It is not, of course, for we still live in amazing peace and prosperity. Yet, the realization that safety is not guaranteed by our constitution has shaken all of us. Now we are anxiously start to look for answers to eternal questions.

This, in fact, may be the most fertile ground to witness about Christ. Americans are ready to listen to information about God during a crisis. Over the past few years our nation has changed in its attitude toward problems. We have moved away from taking sin, sickness, disease, disaster and accidents for granted. At one time we thanked God for good gifts. Blessings were seen as abnormal and pain was an everyday occurrence. Now we assume that all sicknesses and diseases will be healed, poverty erased and pain eliminated.

Historically, people knew that evil was real, sickness and death were constant companions and we hoped for heaven. That reality has changed. OSHA, community health groups and media imply that any accident, sickness and disease is an aberration. Media now that broadcast every anthrax death as though it were the bubonic plague. Now we take peace, prosperity, safety, health and long-life for the norm. Sickness, accidents or terrorist attacks are inconsistent with the world as we want it. A 99% record of success is seen as failure.

Firestone

Only in America would we put a company like Firestone out of business for failing once in 20 million products. We believe in a perfect world created by OSHA and spoiled by greed rather than one created by God and spoiled by the fall and sin. I am happy that OSHA and other government groups exist but I did not expect them to usher in the new millennium. I do not look for lions to rest with lambs any time soon. The terrorist attacks woke us to the fact that evil exists; now we are trying to understand how it affects us.

I am no scholar 911 memorial that he could not find an explanation for evil. For over 30 years I have been thinking about evil and sin as they apply to psychopathology and psychotherapy. I am a pastor/therapist interested in God’s gifts of healing. I have to deal with the reality of evil in the lives of people every day. Widows, mothers of fatherless children, parents of psychotic kids and abused wives seek me out in a constant stream of pain that will not allow me to deny the reality of evil. I have good friends whose cancer brought despair and death. Some were spiritual giants while others laughed at God yet both groups were sick unto death. How do we explain that?

The issue before us is a challenge, but perhaps we can look at it with wisdom and some beginning understanding. We might call it, with apologies to Tina Turner, “What’s Sin Got To Do With It?” Several years ago, a book by Dr. Menninger named, What Ever Happened to Sin? hit the market. In it he addressed the confusion between sin and psychopathology. I will address similar issues but broaden the discussion to include fallen nature in general.

As a pre-test to this topic, let me ask some questions. Which of the following statements makes the most sense to you? The reason we were attacked @ 911 is

1. Our nation’s sin. We deserved it. “God would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if He did not judge America in this way.”
2. The attackers are evil people, rotten to the core. They were just living out their sinful natures and violent religion.
3. The terrorists were gaining honor for Islam and its people. We need to understand how they feel about the Crusades and their fall from world influence and leadership.
4. They chose to do wrong.
5. All of the above in some combination.
6. There is no real evil. All good and bad are in the head.
7. I do not know. Only God knows for sure.
8. It is a combination of all these things

The answer to such a question tells us something about the way or ways we see sin, sins, evil and “why bad things happen to good people.”

Are Muslims simply worse sinners than folks from a Christian background? Is evil only happening among Muslims and atheists? Is evil real?

Hope for a Christian Future

You may wonder why I am writing some of this dry history about what scholars call, Great Awakenings in American history. First, most Christians do not know about our spiritual history in America. Second, that history is exciting, faith building and hope generating. Third, we are in the midst of The Fourth Great Awakening for which I am very happy.

Understanding how God seems to operate in nations can help us think more effectively about ways to share the gospel, build disciples and gain insight into the daily news. Review the past Great Awakenings and notice that theology and actions by ordinary Believers mark each stage of change. Second, revivals and awakenings do not happen suddenly or out of the blue sky. They come about through our prayers, planning and openness to God's Spirit.

So, don't give up. Share God's good news with those around you and do good works with your neighbors and friends. The Holy Spirit will use the energy and prayers as well as the good works and weave together a beautiful tapestry of spiritual truth, love and power.

Tipping Points

Sometimes silence is not only golden it is also wise.

If you have not read Malcolm Gladwell's little book, Tipping Point yet I strongly suggest that you get it and peruse it as soon as possible. Not only is Gladwell a very good writer who entertains while he informs, this book will surely help you think about ways to influence others.

This boo suggests that small things can make a very big difference when it comes to change in society and groups. Some small things are like a virus that spreads from person to person in a rapid fire multiplication that touches lots of people.

Gladwell says there are three key types of influencers: Networkers, Mavens and Salesmen. Networkers seem to know many people and are in touch with them about the things they like. They are, therefore, like a virus.

Macens are those who possess a lot of knowledge about a topic and who love to share that knowledge with others. Most of us know someone who is a maven and we often ask them for information.

A sales person is able to "close the deal". They not only know people and have knowledge, they can get others to buy into the change process.

In the Wall Street Journal online there is a story about how one small event brought down the Berlin Wall and Communism. I hope you read the entire story, but here is the summary.

BERLIN -- The world believes Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev or peaceful protests brought down the Berlin Wall 20 years ago next month. But for those who had front-row seats, the argument boils down to Ehrman vs. Brinkmann.

Riccardo Ehrman, a veteran Italian foreign correspondent, and Peter Brinkmann, a combative German tabloid reporter, both claim they asked the crucial questions at a news conference on Nov. 9, 1989, that led East German Politburo member Günter Schabowski to make one of the biggest fumbles in modern history.

Mr. Schabowski was supposed to announce a temporary bureaucratic procedure that would make it easier for East Germans to travel abroad, a tactic aimed at shoring up the Communist regime in the face of mass demonstrations.

Instead, he inadvertently opened the Berlin Wall.

When his fellow Communist leaders decided on new travel regulations, Mr. Schabowski was out of the room. Later that evening he skim-read the executive order, stuffed it in his briefcase, and headed off to meet the world's media.

Pressed on the meaning of the new travel policy -- When did it come into force? Did it apply to West Berlin? Did people need a passport? -- the flustered apparatchik rustled his papers and gave confusing answers that led the news media to believe the border was open, with immediate effect.

The result, once East Berliners had seen that night's news on West German television, was chaos at border crossings across the city.

At Bornholmer Strasse, one of the main checkpoints in central Berlin, confused border guards couldn't get clear orders on how to deal with the crush, and debated whether to open fire. Instead, they opened the barrier, and the Berlin Wall was history. The events have been chronicled by Hans-Hermann Hertle, a historian who specializes in the fall of East Germany.

This reminds me of the importance of hearing God when we are trying to be influencers in the world. I am always leery about my friends and colleagues who try too hard to force change. For example, a person running for the school board near my home advertises as a "Conservative Christian". This morning while drinking coffee with some friends the conversation focused on the fact that none of them would vote for a person who was agressively attempting to force her views on the school board and the kids.

This person may be a wonderful and sensitive Believer. I do not know. But the way to make friends and influence people is not by force or pressure but applying a small amount of networking, sales wisdom and knowledge at the right time and the right place. Small things can bring great changes.

At Sweeten Life Systems we teach people how to be gentle, caring and wise influencers. It takes patience, wisdom and understanding. All of which are in short supply in the world and one reason we teach Christians how to manage their own thoughts and feelings. If I cannot manage me how can I manage others?

Addictions from Sweeten Life

We live in a funny society. The Feds and various states pull out all the stops to prevent smoking and try to open gambling halls with alcoholic drinks to promote smoking, drinking and gambling addictions. We seem to have a whole host of Congressional Reps and Govt Bureaucrats who love to control the lives of us citizens under the pretext of saving us from ourselves.

I understand the motivation to save people. I was driven by a grand desire to save people for many years. I learned early in life that all I had to do to get a lot of affirmation from my family and the local preachers was to try to Rescue people. In fact, we were taught in church and Sunday school how to be a Black Belt Rescuer.

We were supposed to save the lost and hungry. Have you ever tried to save somebody against their will? How did it work?

In Singapore the penalty for selling a small amount of drugs is death. Every flight into Singapore there is an announcement right after the warning about seat belts that selling drugs will mean death. Still, a lot of people do dope and sell dope.

Human motivation to get high and medicate pain are extremely high. Highly motivated people are extremely creative in getting their drugs of choice. There is a lot of drug use in jails and prisons. If we can't stop dope by building a prison and putting up bars, how will passing a law that bans drugs work?

I think almost every church would be healthier if it had a series of 12 step programs. I would start with Al-Anon Groups designed for family members of addicts. Those groups are also helpful to ministers, elders, parents and government officials who are driven to make people stop doing what they want to do.

What we need are more 12 steppers running government agencies. After being in the 12 step community for some years the members begin to discover much more about helping people stay healthy.

Addictions and Interventions

There is raging a huge controversy raging among addiction counselors over the ways we try to help people who drink and do drugs too much. Two things have happened recently to inspire the controversy.

First, the A&E TV Program called Intervention has popularized the Johnson Approach that is based on the notion that family and friends must confront the addict about his problems and threaten him with total withdrawal of support unless he/she goes into treatment immediately. This is admittedly a hard nosed approach to getting a person to get help, but proponents insist it works.

Others say we need a better approach so the addict will not fall into despair. The use what is called a motivational process that speaks to people about their need to at least consider making some changes in their drinking or drugging. These folks are able to point to reams of research that their methods are superior to harsh confrontation.

The second event was Michael Jackson's death. It was well known that Mr. Jackson was overusing prescription drugs for many years. Family and friends had been begging someone to intervene in some way but their concerns fell on deaf ears. The enablers around Jackson were either co-dependent or living on easy street as a result of his habits.

Either type of intervention is better than no intervention. The harsh kind can certainly shock an addict into compliance but it takes a very skilled professional to carry it out. The Motivational Interviewing approach is my preference and I have written about it in my book, Hope and Change for Humpty Dumpty.

If someone you love drinks too much or is doing drugs, including marijuana, get help for yourself. see a good counselor who understands family dynamics as well as addictions. Go to

Life Way Centers

to find a great counselor.

Poverty and Christians

What social needs are churches supposed to meet? Are we supposed to eliminate Hunger, Homelessness, Abortion, Addiction, violence, Adoption, Pornography, Domestic abuse, Divorce,Ignorance,?

Which are we to focus on at church and in life? The answer is: YES.

But the core of these issues is a lack of salvation and mature Christians.

Here in Cincinnati, we are seeing an increase in deadly conflicts among young men and women. Almost daily we get images of families crowding around a crime scene weeping and wailing about the loss of a child or young person.

Many of the comments coming from the adults call on God and ask for His protection, yet the ones involved in the killings seem clueless to God's love and life. Another thing is missing: Males. Rarely do we see males in these photos. I would be willing to bet that over 90% of the youth involved in these killings came from homes where the father was absent most of all of their lives. I hope someone can prove me wrong.

Salvation is not enough. We must also have changed lives that bring dads back into the families they have fathered. Unfortunately, we have spawned a culture of polygamy without marriage and children without love. The rule is too often "hooking up" sexually and fathering a child with no personal responsibility to rear that child or model personal responsibility to him or her.

With abortion we also see a culture of death and despising children. The pro death politicians and feminist ideologues have brought such evil upon our nation that it is almost impossible to stop the carnage. We Christians must pray hard to reveal this deception and regain the culture of love, life and nurture we once enjoyed.

My dad had a favorite saying about this. "When we remove sex from marriage we will see the men become tom cats who kill their offspring and show no love to their partners." My dad was a prophet and it will get much worse in the years ahead.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:10 ff

Our enemy is not Obama or even the NARAL groups that promote killing and death.

Sowing Seeds of Life

There are many benefits of growing older. Our families grow as do our friendships. We get to see children grow up and change from children to friends. Life in the love of God grows sweeter and sweeter each day.

All those things are true but the one grace gift I want to emphasize today has to do with ministry. After teaching about developing great relationships with God, self and others for decades I can see so much good fruit coming up all over the world.

Hardly a day passes that I do not hear from someone whose life has been touched by Teleios training and Lifeway ministry. I recently received a note on Face book telling me how God had used our training to help them be a better husband and parent. Why does it take so long to see fruit from our teaching?

Think of planting a tree. All of us are enjoying shade from trees that are older than we. It takes decades to grow a tree and years to see people's growth and healing. Then growth becomes so evident that the glow is noticeable to all who know them.

When a person learns to open his or her life to the truth of God's word for mind renewal it make take a year or two of weekly application to see the results. But after a while the peace and security of knowing how to apply God's truth to my life will burst forth into bigger smiles and more pleasant personalities. When one person grows and heals it touches all around them and the cycle of health breaks the cycle of sickness. The healthy body of Christ we call a Christian community grows as an entire group when any member grows.

Christ in YOU!
The hope of GLORY!

Gary Sweeten

Ministry for the Long Haul

While in Norway I was struck by the importance of continuing God's call for the long term. Maybe that is why Paul said that we ought not grow weary when we are doing good thing.

It takes a long time for the seeds to fall to the ground, get covered up, bloom and grow and then produce fruit of their own. It was over twenty years ago That I met Jens-Petter Jorgensen in Nairobi, Kenya. We became friends and he invited me to teach in Oslo at a Pastors' Conference in 1986.

Many of the people who came to our many teaching and equipping sessions have grown in maturity, insight and wisdom and God has placed them in positions of influence. They have grown and developed in new ways because of the Holy spirit not me. God brought healing and power to so many good people back in the Eighties that something good had to happen! It did because they are spread out all over the world doing good things for Jesus.

So, don't grow weary as you keep the flock of God covered with grace and power.

Gary Sweeten

Mass Rebellion Against Obama

I saw this posted on Facebook tonight. I agree with it.

Let us all have communion this week and ask Jesus to be a real presence with the President and the USA. We certainly need Him to be here.

Prayer to Roman Catholic Saints

At lunch today we had a very interesting conversation about how to pray. One of our newer members asked why we didn't say much about honoring Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We tried to say that Protestants do indeed honor and respect Mary but we do not pray to her or consider her to be equal to Jesus.

He looked quizzically at us and replied, "But we do teach that it is OK to pray to Saints. Don't we?" The answer is a resounding, "No."

He was surprised and openly thought about it because his entire life had been in a Roman Catholic Church where praying to Mary and other Saints was normal and regular. Why do Evangelicals not pray to Saint George, Saint Francis or Saint Mary? Do we have a good reason or is it simply a rebellion against Roman Catholicism?

In Greater Cincinnati, it is estimated that half the population is Roman Catholic. This means that a lot of people who attend Evangelical Churches still cling to RC theology because there has been little if any systematic teaching about what Evangelicals believe.

Why do Protestants not pray to Saints?

Keep your answers limited to this question alone. I will look at the issue of Roman Catholics and indulgences later. That topic was on the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer today and it is causing many confusing discussions because few people understand RC theology.

Gary Sweeten

Stressed or Trusting

Check out my last sermon at Horizon Community Church called, From Worry to Trust. You can also download my Power Point slides at the same link.

In that talk I mention how we can drive ourselves into misery by the ways we think. So, if you like misery, you gotta listen to it.

Gary Sweeten

Hope for Homosexual Christians

Lights in the darkness!

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:5


Today we heard Kristin Johnson Tremba and Brad Grammer tell how God brought them out of same sex relationships. Each was better than the other. Their stories were compelling, hopeful and painful.

1. Compelling because their stories are so different from what the Politically Correct Police in our media are saying. The air is full of stories urging us all to accept same sex compulsions as natural and unchanging but Kristin and Brad's stories show that the PC Police are off base.

2. Hopeful because these are great models of what God can do to bring healing and growth to people stuck in a lifestyle of confusion and compulsive sin. There are few places where the healing message of Jesus Christ is presented so convincingly and lovingly. Hopeful because some Christians finally did respond to them in love and acceptance. Hopeful because God intervened in miraculous ways.

3. Painful because so much of their youth was filled with their confusion and pain and because of the churches and Christians who failed to help them find a way out of their confusion. Painful because so many people are confused and fearful about the causes and cures of sexual dysfunctions. Painful because so many Christian leaders are caught up in sexual sins. Real painful because so few churches seek the healing love of Jesus for their members.

You can learn more about where to get help to establish your church as a healing community by contacting me at gary@sweetenlife.com

Gary Sweeten
http://www.sweetenlife.com/

Tomorrow, Tuesday January 13 2009, Sweeten Life Systems and HOPE for Cincinnati are sponsoring talks by two persons who have come out of long term same sex relationships. Some of my friends have said that it is brave of me to sponsor such a program because it is "controversial". What could be so controversial about giving hope for a changed life to persons who want to be heterosexual rather than homosexual in desire and inclination as well as behavior?

It is only controversial because many professional therapists have lost their nerve and caved in to the PC Police. The Politically Correct Police are unhappy with those who say that sexual orientation is malleable. But would a group of counselors say that depression or anxiety can be substantially healed? No!

A recent research study by two psychologists has confirmed that which many of us know by personal experience. People stuck in same sex attractions can be helped to change those attractions if they are highly motivated.

The research concludes "it is possible for homosexuals to change their physical attractions and become heterosexual through the help of Christian ministries." This is published in the new book, "Ex-Gays?" (Inter Varsity Press) by psychologists Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse.

They found, "Thirty-eight percent of the subjects followed in the study said they had successfully left homosexuality, while an additional 29 percent said they had had only modest successes but were committed to keep trying. In another significant finding, Jones and Yarhouse said attempts at conversion do not appear to be psychologically harmful."

"These findings contradict directly the commonly expressed views of the mental health establishment that change in sexual orientation is impossible, and that if you attempt to change it's highly likely to produce harm for those who make such an attempt," Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois, said at the news conference.

The subjects were placed in six categories from success to failure:

15 percent reported their conversion was successful and that they had had "substantial reduction" in homosexual attraction and "substantial conversion" to heterosexual attraction. They were categorized as "success: conversion."

23 percent said their conversion was successful and that homosexual attraction was either missing or "present only incidentally or in a way that does not seem to bring about distress." They were labeled "success: chastity."

29 percent had experienced "modest decreases" in homosexual attraction and were not satisfied with their change, but pledged to continue trying. This category was labeled "continuing."

15 percent had not changed and were conflicted about what to do next.

4 percent had not changed and had quit the change process, but had not embraced the "gay identity."

8 percent had not changed, quit the process and embraced the "gay identity.

These data are remarkably high for success when compared with the outcomes for others with serious issues of long term compulsive behavior. I am surprised that only eight percent of the people in the study reverted back to "Homosexual Identity". The change process is long and slow for any deeply ingrained habit pattern and relapse id a part of almost every recovery attempt. Thus, I would have suspected a much higher rate of relapse in this study. I assume this means that the counselors were doing an extraordinarily good job of supporting their Clients.

This is very good news for all of us. Changing sexual orientation is considered to be very difficult so if the success rates are this high for this very tough emotional issue we can be confident that other issues will also yield to Christian care and counsel.

Secondly, it is my assumption that the Christians who were offering the counseling were lay persons, offering increasingly important evidence that Peer and Para-Professionals can deliver high quality ministry in the local church.

Change in a lifestyle always requires time. Change is rarely if ever immediate. So, when a Seeker continues to be tempted to fall back into an old behavior we are not surprised. We must always plan ways to prevent a relapse.

See our Humpty Dumpty book for ideas.

Gary Sweeten

www.sweetenlife.com