2024 Year in Review

As I sit down to write this review of 2024, I want to explain why I’m a few days late. I have been preparing a sermon for the Lord’s Day, tomorrow, January 5. Every opportunity that I have to deliver the Word of God to God’s people, I take it very seriously. It is an honor to deliver God’s word to a congregation who trusts their elders to feed them from the Bread of Life, which is Christ. And Christ is given to us in God’s infallible written Word. Tomorrow’s message will be the third in my series on Ephesians chapter 1. I will be covering verses 7-12, which concentrates on what the second person of the Holy Trinity, Christ Jesus, the Son of God has done for His people. While it would be fun to recount for you the details of this sermon that is yet to be preached, but God willing, will be forthcoming tomorrow, I’ll just give you the link to our church’s website where there should be an archive of it after the fact. You can also catch it streaming on YouTube. Just search for Northwest Bible Church in Oklahoma City. Our church’s website is http://nwbcokc.org.

2024 was an eventful year. There are at least two reasons for celebrations and two reasons for sorrow. First the good news. This year I gained two daughters-in-law! Our son, Paton, married his bride, Abigail, in January. Then our son, Justin, married his bride, Sarah, in June. The interesting part with Sarah is that we already have a daughter named Sarah. So now there are two Sarah Southerlands in our family. I like to differentiate between them as “Justin’s Sarah” and “Sarah Grace.” I’ve called our Sarah, Sarah Grace since she was a baby. I love the way that sounds, and it is a reminder of the grace of God in our lives.

Having shared the causes for celebration, I’ll now mention the challenges this year. Sheri’s dad, Larry, passed away in September. This has been tough on Sheri and the kids. He had lived with us since October 2023, but was in a skilled nursing facility in Guthrie since April, eventually transferring to long term nursing care before passing away in September. Sheri and her brother, Gavan, sold his house in Arlington, Texas. We are still trying to sort through the remainder of his things and trying to figure out what to do with everything.

The other challenge this year is that our daughter, Melody, was diagnosed with Chron’s Disease. This has been a challenge in being able to find things suitable for the new diet forced upon her. It’s tough for a 13-year-old girl to be facing such a challenging turn of events in her life. But we know that God is sovereign and this does not catch Him off guard.

My work has been going well. I have now been working from home for going on five years (since March 2020). In November, I was awarded a Service Recognition Award from my employer, Delaware Nation Industries. In December, many of my colleagues received some unwelcome news. Due to a funding cutback, over 2/3 of the contract staff, which includes everyone from my company working on this project, was given notice that their last day will be January 9. Praise the Lord that I was part of the 1/3 that was retained. Though I get calls and emails from recruiters constantly, I still do not enjoy the process of having to find another job, particularly in a rushed environment such as making sure I can still provide for my family after enduring a layoff. I’ve been there before and it’s not fun.

In April of this year, I joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans. This is something I’ve been wanting to do since 2020 when I witnessed the wanton destruction of Confederate monuments by “woke” hoodlums who vandalized these great works of art memorializing brave men who fought for freedom against a tyrannical federal administration that refused to let the southern states secede in peace. Whereas in times past this country once admired and celebrated these Confederate Veterans, that has now become politically incorrect. While at the University of Texas at Arlington, in 1988 I pledged Kappa Alpha Order. Theirs was a rich, southern heritage with Robert E. Lee as its spiritual founder. Those were great days as we attended “Old South Balls” annually, and we would sing Dixie together at the end of our parties. As the book and movie relate, those celebrations are “Gone with the Wind” as the current fraternity is only a shell of what it once was, trying their hardest to remove any vestige of “Fine Southern Tradition” that they had when they rushed me. I wouldn’t trade my memories with KA for anything. But I’ll be honest, if I were an 18-year-old student today, there’s no way I’d pledge any fraternity today. And there’s really nothing that sets KAs apart from the rest of them now. My membership in the SCV is a statement to say that I oppose the destruction of Confederate monuments and I support the respect and honor involved in erecting new ones to replace the beautiful ones that once stood. Richmond is not even worth visiting anymore, and I never got to see Monument Row in person before the tyrants in power caved to BLM pressure and removed them. We have pictures, thanks largely to people like Judy Smith. But soon the only monuments we’ll be able to see will have been constructed in the 21^st  century by Southern sympathizers like myself, rather than the late 19^th century and early 20^th century Southern ladies, primarily, that erected them to begin with.

In 2024, Northwest Bible Church hosted the international FIRE Conference where representatives from churches around the globe, but primarily within the United States came together. It was a great success and it was extremely encouraging to watch our local body work together so well to make it the successful conference that it was.  I look forward to this year’s conference in Atlanta, GA, if I am able to make it.

 I’ll close for now as it is getting late and I’m preaching tomorrow.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

2023 Year in Review

As has been the case in recent years, 2023 has raced by. I can’t remember if I’ve said this in this blog before, but if so, it is worth repeating. Every lap you make around the sun, you pick up speed.

On the family front this year, we had another granddaughter born early in the year. Children are a blessing of the Lord. It has been a joy to see her grow, along with her other sisters and cousins.

Two of my sons proposed to their girlfriends in 2023. Paton (our fifth child) is marrying this month! (In January). Justin (our fourth) is marrying in June. They have both found nice Christian girls. I’m happy to welcome them into our family. So at the end of 2024 we will have more children married than not. Sarah and Samuel are still at home, for now. Of course, so are Melody and David.

I’m still working from home for the same company. That has been a blessing with the savings of time and gas. Though it has not been without its own challenges, especially in light of another family development. I have lost my dedicated space. My study was taken over by my father-in-law, who has moved in with us. Sheri is working hard to care for him. For now, my desk and workstation is set up in the bedroom. It would be nice to find another working arrangement. But it is what it is for now.

Church is going wonderfully. As I get older, and hopefully more mature, I enjoy the Lord’s Day more and more. The corporate worship of the saints is a blessing. I feel honored when I am given the opportunity to deliver the sermon. I wrapped up a multi-year series on Galatians this year. I started a series on Ephesians that I’m sure will last just as long. It wouldn’t be quite as long if I preached more frequently. I’m sure I could preach more often if I wanted. But I take the preaching of the Word very seriously. So it is a huge time commitment to prepare a sermon. Fitting that in with my employment and family responsibilities is a daunting task. Additionally, I frequently teach Sunday School classes. The latest class I did was on the Attributes of God. The prep time for that class was not intensive, however, as I showed a Steve Lawson video on the subject each week, then facilitated a discussion time. In 2023, I attended the FIRE (www.firefellowship.org) conference in Laurel, Mississippi. It was very good. Plus, those from our church who were in attendance had an ulterior motive instead of being there just for the good messages, and excellent prayer time that we enjoy with other FIRE churches. That motive is to learn how to host one of these conferences ourself. The 2024 FIRE conference will be in Oklahoma City at our church. Just a few years ago the Lord gave us a new, bigger building. We now have the room to host the conference.

Sheri and I were talking the other day and we realized that 2023 marked 40 years that we have known each other. I met her in October 1983 at a homecoming dance at R.L. Turner high school in Carrollton, Texas. We were both freshmen, though not at the same school. I was at her high school with another date. She definitely caught my eye. I managed to find out her last name, and used the trusty white pages to look her number up the following week. The rest is history! We’ve been though a lot together. She is more beautiful today than the day we first met. I love her with a love that has been seasoned over the decades. She is a great blessing in my life.

2022 Year in Review

 Another year is in the books. Probably the most exciting thing about this year is the birth of another grandchild. To protect their privacy, I’ll only say that this is our sixth grandchild and he or she was born sometime in 2022. J There is another on the way for 2023. Having grandchildren is a lot easier than having children! There is an interesting dynamic, though, of still having young kids at home and having grandkids come over to play with them. How to manage teaching my own kids to “baby proof” their rooms is its own challenge. Our youngest still at home is 9. But we have several grandchildren younger than 5 coming over a lot. That is a blessing! It’s great to have the young sounds of laughter and trying to understand the little ones trying to tell me something that I’m just not quite catching.

On the job front, I’m still working from home. That has been a huge blessing in and of itself. The commute is from the bedroom to the study. That saves an enormous amount of time and gasoline. This has been somewhat of a “retro” year in that regard as I have learned a new (old) skill of COBOL programming. Our team codes web applications. The front end is written in C#, ASP .NET, with Javascript. That’s what I was hired to do. However, the backend is all in COBOL. Just a few years ago, it was transitioned from the mainframe to a SQL Server system. But with all the existing COBOL in place, it was necessary to find a way to keep all that code. Netcobol was the solution. The entire backend system has been transferred over to that Netcobol approach. There is a lot of work involved in modifying that existing COBOL, either to correct bugs or to accommodate new changes that are needed. And at the same time there aren’t a lot of new college grads rushing to learn COBOL. I turned 54 this year, and I’m happy(?) to say that I’m one of the youngest programmers on my team. I think they hired a couple of guys who are younger than me. But developers for that old language are getting more and more sparse. The nice thing that this has allowed me to do is to have the skill to code the front end and the back end. All the other COBOL developers have to enlist the help of a front end guy if their change needs a tweak to that. All the other C# developers have to enlist the help of a COBOL programmer if they need a back end change. I can take a modification and complete it start to finish on my own, most of the time. There are some SQL stored procedures in place that I need the help of the database team from time to time. But for the actual code I can hold my own pretty well. So anyway, all this has led to a pretty high job satisfaction for me, which is another blessing. I really don’t enjoy the interview process. So if I can stay with the same company for a while, that’s the approach I prefer. In November, I started my fourth consecutive year with this company. I had spent a year working for them earlier in my career, and left, only to return later.

The church is going very well. I am one of the elders at Northwest Bible Church (https://nwbcokc.org). I preach from time to time, though our main teaching elder is Alan Conner. I almost made it through the book of Galatians in 2022. But as of the end of the year, I still have a few verses more to cover in chapter 6. Galatians is a very rich epistle. The “nutshell” emphasis in that book is that we are saved by grace, through faith, and not by the works of the law. Or at least not by our own works of the law. We are saved by the works of the law fulfilled by Christ Jesus and imputed to our account by Him. We enjoy an imputed righteousness, not our own. Jarred Yancey is another brother at our church. He and I taught through Pilgrims Progress, Parts 1 and 2 (two back to back classes) this year. If you’ve never read John Bunyan’s classic, this is the year for you to jump into it. It is absolutely magnificent.

On the home front, Justin moved out this year. So we are down to five kids at home. Paton graduated high school. We participate in a homeschool coop. So he got to walk across the stage with that group. Sarah got her driver’s license, and a car. Samuel had a great year doing cross country running. Melody is involved in gymnastics and American Heritage Girls. David is involved in Trail Life USA. I’m serving as the chaplain in our troop and co-teaching the “Mountain Lion” boys, of which David is a member. Of those kids who have already moved out, Brittney and Landon are working full time for themselves now, running a vending route. Michael started as a firefighter at the City of Perry, Oklahoma. Brianna graduated with her Occupational Therapy Assistant program at OCCC. Justin got his associate degree at OCCC as well.

Life continues to go on. The Lord is blessing our family.

2021 Year in Review

The biggest news on a personal basis for 2021 was that I actually came down with COVID. It was bad enough to land me in the hospital for five days. Thankfully, I appear to be fully recovered. And yet, my cynicism on the outlook of this whole thing is that the government doesn’t want a perfectly good “crisis” to go to waste. The lines of demarcation are being clearly drawn, dividing true conservatives and true liberals, regarding of what’s on their bumper stickers or t-shirts. The liberal party line is “Be vaccinated with every vaccine and booster that Biden, Fauci, and their cronies recommend (mandate???). Wear a useless mask as a sign of your subjugation everywhere you go. Shame those who don’t agree with you.” I have seen that attitude, or at least parts of that attitude in the most unexpected personalities of those close to me this year. It seems that I may have caught a glimpse of what our ancestors may have faced in the War of Northern Aggression when cousins (or even brothers) of a same family found themselves on different sides of the conflict. I hope this division doesn’t devolve into taking up arms. But it seems there are way too many who are willing to give up freedom for a supposed “security,” when that security is fleeting at best.

 For some reason the previous paragraph reminded me to mention that I got to go see a Dallas Cowboy football game with my dad this year. I haven’t seen the Cowboys in person since I was a kid. And I really haven’t watched them on TV much at all since then. So, it was a lot of fun, though I didn’t recognize any of the names. In my mind, it should be Roger Staubach as quarterback throwing “hail mary” passes to Drew Pearson or handing off to Tony Dorsett. All the while the watchful coaching eye of Tom Landry wearing his signature derby hat on the sidelines would peer over the field while he forms his strategy. When it was time for defense,  Randy White was the linebacker, while Ed “Too Tall” Jones would block passes from the other team’s quarterback. But those days are long gone. I can’t even remember the names of the current team, except their number 5, “Anger.” And that is just because I was amused at his name. When my dad and I left the stadium in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were beating the team “formerly known as Redskins” (part of the horrendous cancel culture of 2021) 56 to 7.

As I type this blog post (the few days late that it is), it has been almost two years since I began teleworking from home full time. I love this arrangement and hope I never have to return to the office. My job satisfaction has skyrocketed. I love the company I work for, and the people I work with, because we still see each other on the screen each day.

Signing off for now. Most likely, this will be the last post of the year for me. I don’t seem to be keeping up with the blog very regularly at all.

2020 Year in Review

 2020 is certainly a year that no one alive today is likely to forget. Of course the biggest news was the pesky COVID-19 virus that hit our country in March. I’ll speak to that in a few minutes. There have been a few other highlights of this year, some positive rays of light shining on our darkened country. But most of these positive aspects of 2020 have been limited to the personal experience of myself, my family, and my friends, including my church family. Viewing our country as a whole, there hasn’t been much to get very excited about. But for the sake of keeping a positive outlook, I’ll talk about the good things that I appreciate about 2020.

Probably the most exciting thing that happened in 2020 was the birth of our fifth grandchild. Our oldest daughter Brittney gave birth to a little girl. As I mentioned in my 2019 Year in Review, I don’t want to put out too much public information about them because I want to respect my children’s wishes on how much they share publicly. But I will say that she is precious and being a grandfather is a great blessing.

There’s an interesting dynamic in becoming a grandfather to a growing number of grandchildren while still being a father to children at home. It seems as though, most likely, the days of parenting babies and toddlers is over. But there are still challenges in raising children who live at home from the ages of 7 to 19. You’d think I’d have this parenting thing down pat by now, but the longer I parent the more I realize how much I just don’t know. To those, including my children, who may be reading this, just know that I love all my children and I’m doing my best to show that love in the raising of them. To this day I find it very difficult to strike the balance between being too strict and too lenient. Maybe, but I doubt it, I’ll figure it out by the time my youngest flies the coop.

The big news in our church is the acquisition of a new building. It is much larger than our previous building. It is a blessing to have enough space to accommodate everyone in the sanctuary without having to maintain an “overflow” room. There are also a lot more classrooms, making it easier to have several adult Sunday School classes going on at the same time. This Lord’s Day TJ Hooser will be teaching, and I’ll be regularly assisting in, a class on the book of Hebrews. It will be a discussion type of class. It should be good digging into the Word for about 26 weeks. If you are in the Oklahoma City area, I’d love to invite you to visit us. Our website has the address and information about it: http://www.nwbcokc.org

As I mentioned earlier COVID has thrown a wrench into everyday life. One development that has been positive for me personally is that since this thing started to grow in March I have been teleworking every day. This has saved a lot of gas and time and has had the great result of avoiding the red tape and bureaucracy of traveling to and from a military base every day. That was a huge reason I left my contracting job there in 2014. Working from home for the same organization has kept all the benefits while removing the biggest hassle. I don’t expect teleworking to last forever, but when life does return back to quasi normal, maybe a consistent partial teleworking arrangement could be approved.

2020 has seen government overreach unlike I have ever experienced in my lifetime. The whole “mask mandate” thing has been a textbook example of government control. The virus has had just enough truth to prevent it from being viewed as a scam, but the “solution” has been far worse than the virus itself. Our church did online only services for a few weeks, but that did not last long. I think, as elders, we saw the light that some arbitrary virus should not interfere with the worship of our great God. Doing it online is certainly not the same. I’m pretty sure we are committed not to shuttering our doors anymore in the future.

The 2020 presidential election was a mess. Calling it election fraud is an understatement. Trump was winning by a landslide, when in the middle of the night an avalanche of Biden votes came in from six different swing states. As of now, it appears that Biden will take control of the office, and tyranny will grow stronger in America. There is one last bit of hope that Mike Pence will refuse to count the electoral votes of those states where fraud was apparent. But it remains to be seen whether he will have the courage to take such a stand.

I’m going to keep this update short and sweet this year as there are plenty of other opinions on the sad state of affairs in our country. 2021 should be an interesting year to say the least.

2019 Year in Review

As I sit down on New Year’s Day to type this out I think back on the year that has just passed. On one hand it seems like just yesterday I was writing this for 2018. On the other hand, however, that seems like eternity past.

Back in February of 2019 I had the opportunity to go to an Expository Preaching Conference by Dr. Steven Lawson of One Passion Ministries. (https://www.onepassionministries.org/) This was an excellent conference targeted to pastors and elders. I have heard much from Dr. Lawson this year as I have listened to his Men’s Bible Study on the book of Romans. There is a link to that from the website referenced. He also has a mobile app that has the link available. At Northwest Bible Church we have just finished up Dr. Lawson’s series on Foundations of Grace where he shows how the whole Bible teaches the Doctrines of Grace, including Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. I have also enjoyed listening to his Expositor podcast where he shares in about 5 minutes ways to minister to a congregation, primarily through expository preaching.

On the family front, it’s amazing to watch my children continue to grow up. Justin became our fourth homeschool graduate. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, I have been continuing to teach David to read. Paton is continuing to excel at his violin playing. Sarah has been taking piano lessons from a lady in our church, and is making great strides as well. Melody started in American Heritage Girls. (https://americanheritagegirls.org/) Paton, Samuel, and David are involved in Trail Life USA. (https://www.traillifeusa.com/) I am leading the “Foxes” (the kindergarten age where David participates). It has been fun, but challenging, to lead these youngest of Trailmen. After having hardly ever going camping for most of my life, (We went a handful of times as a family when I was a boy), I have been participating on a mostly monthly basis in campouts for the older Trail Life boys, including Paton and Samuel.

This year I have also been able to enjoy being a grandfather.  I won’t share too many details on my grandchildren’s lives, because I feel it is their parents’ rights to determine how much to share online. I will say, though, that between all three of my married children I have four beautiful grandchildren. It is exciting to watch them grow, and I’m very happy to see my children and their spouses either actively homeschooling, or preparing in that direction as their children approach school age. It’s amazing to see the little “carbon copies” of my own children in my grandchildren. I see that in Brittney’s family and in Michael’s.

This year we got to try our second attempt at keeping chickens.  Someone who was moving away gave us their chicken coop and two hens. Sarah wanted some ducks. So we bought three baby ducklings. Unfortunately, before we had the coop we had them in a cage, and a predator made off completely with one of them, and badly injured another. I never remember feeling so sad to have to kill a bird. But it tugs at the heartstrings of a daddy’s emotions to take the life of his little girl’s pet, even if it was the most ethical thing to do. The poor little duck had a broken leg and was in obvious pain. The last remaining one has acclimated to his two chicken friends. “Joey” is a big healthy duck now. The chickens, even though they are both hens, have been named Melissa and Doug, presumably after the creators of wooden toys that the kids enjoy.

The most significant development for me personally this year has been my employment/career scene. At the beginning of 2017 I was at Dolese. Though every job has its challenges, I had resolved within myself to remain content and stay at Dolese for the long haul. I have had many jobs throughout my working career. I really don’t enjoy the interview process and the onboarding process of a new job. Plus, as I had turned 50 at the end of 2018 I know that job seeking tends to become more of a challenge as the competition is cheaper, and more recently trained at their colleges and universities in the latest technologies. But the Lord had other plans for me in that arena. In March I was laid off from Dolese, along with two other coworkers. I still keep in touch with my favorite manager out there. Incidentally, I was not reporting to him when I was let go. That ended a three year, three month stint at a place that underwent several changes during my brief time there. I found out later that several more of my coworkers were let go. All of this was foreshadowed by the unexpected termination of the CIO back in May of 2018. She was a good leader, and a lady I enjoyed working for. It is sometimes hard to tell what a company is thinking when they get rid of so much of the talent and experience that they possess in such a short time frame. In any case, I wish them well and hope that, despite what I consider foolish choices in purging their workforce, they are able to keep from running this very old and established Oklahoma company into the ground. I enjoyed the experience while it lasted.

On May 1, I started employment at MidFirst bank. MidFirst is a good company. They almost seem “security conscience to a fault.” If you are a customer of MidFirst, you shouldn’t have to worry about viruses infecting their systems, as none of the developers have access to the internet on their work computers. This can make a day in the life of a software developer a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, they did allow me to bring my personal laptop with my hotspot on my cell phone. So, I was able to browse, unhindered, technical websites that helped me to do my job. Probably the most helpful programming site that I like to refer to is https://stackoverflow.com/  Anyway, in the Lord’s providence a position opened up at Delaware Nation Industries, a contracting company at Tinker Air Force base. This position was with the very same team that I had worked with previously from 2013-2014. When I went to the interview I sat in a room with three former colleagues and friends, along with the manager whom I had not met when I worked there the first time. We worked well together previously, and I knew it would be a good match once again. Though I felt a little remorse serving at MidFirst for only six months, and leaving my coworkers there with a massive project and an aggressive schedule, I hired on with DNI in November 2019. I believe it was September when I interviewed with them. But for a position that I was being hired for, there is quite a process involved prior to employment. My every intention at this point, is to continue in this position as long as I can, for many of the same reasons that I gave earlier. Not to mention that I have a great working relationship with the guys I knew previously. In hind sight, I believe that the position at DNI is a better opportunity than even what I had at Dolese. So, the Lord certainly had His plans that He was working out in my life, though it was difficult to see while walking through it. That is where faith comes into the picture. In the transition from MidFirst to DNI there were some questions regarding health benefits that caused us to explore other options to insure the family. I will say that MidFirst had very good benefits. Later I discovered that the benefits at DNI were actually a bit better than what I was originally led to believe due to a miscommunication early on. Walking through these issues presented their own challenges. All in all, I am satisfied in the way it worked out, and I look forward to pressing on in 2020 to help my new team at DNI to be successful in all our endeavors.

Things continue to go well at Northwest Bible Church. It is an honor to lead God’s people with the other two elders, Alan Conner and Alan Loeffler. I love our congregation. I have witnessed the joys of seeing new families coming to the church, the bittersweet emotions of talking to one of our elderly members just a few days before attending his funeral, rejoicing with the birth of children to our members, and so on. All of these experiences are common to all members in the church. But seeing it all from the perspective of an elder in the church has been a real blessing. As time goes on I more and more appreciate Reformed Theology. Reformed Theology is simply biblical theology. I hope to continue reading more and continuing to grow in faith in 2020.

2018 Year in Review

2018 Year in Review

As I sit down to type out this year in review for 2018 I realize that this once a year blog post is about the only consistent time I update the blog. Also, if you are used to coming to this blog via https://www.mikesoutherland.com, then you may have trouble finding it. I created a website there advertising web site creating services. It’s not really exactly how I want it, so I haven’t advertised much. In last year’s blog entry you will recall my announcing of http://gallerypanels.com This is a site I put together for a local businessman who sells art display panels. That site went live in January of this year. Thus the reason for updating my website. I’d like to offer web development or creation services to other small businesses. Often small businesses only need a basic site. But one huge difference that has come about over the past several years is the growing abundance of smart phones and the number of people using smart phones to access websites. There are many small businesses out there using old technology. Their nice looking website doesn’t look so nice on the tiny display of the smart phone. Often you have to zoom into to see the text and pictures. It doesn’t make for a very good user experience all together. Though I need to update the content on my personal site, if you browse over to either https://mikesoutherland.com or http://gallerypanels.com you’ll see what a mobile ready site looks like. My personal site was fairly easy to put together. The Gallery Panels one wasn’t too tough, though there were several products to add to it. If you’d like an estimate for putting together a site for you, please drop me an email at mike@mikesoutherland.com.

For my “day job” I am still employed at Dolese Bros.

Back in March of this year I was installed as an elder at Northwest Bible Church (https://www.nwbcokc.org). It is such an honor to have the privilege to serve this congregation. My love for this group of people grows stronger each day. My love and respect for the other two elders at NWBC has grown tremendously as I get to meet with them on a weekly basis. During this meeting we discuss church business, and we also take the time to read the scripture and pray for members of the congregation. Our main teaching elder, Alan Conner, was diagnosed with cancer this year, but by God’s grace it appears that he has completely recovered. That was a huge answer to prayer. His diagnoses came the Thursday before I was installed as an elder in March. After much prayer and several sessions of chemo and radiation, they were unable to find remaining cancer in his body. All praise be to God for Alan’s healing. I was blessed with the privilege of representing Northwest Bible Church with Jeremy Malone at the FIRE Conference in Oxnard, CA this past May. (https://www.firefellowship.org) It was at that conference that I realized that I am in the same organization as Gunny Hartman, the longtime friend (and best man at his wedding) of my brother Jason. It was great to see him at the conference and catch up.

In April I gave away my second daughter, Brianna, to Matt Petty. Matt is a great guy, and a good husband for Brianna. He is in the Air Force, but plans to become a CPA. I love it that the Lord is blessing me with sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law whom I get along with very well and I feel are a good match for each of my children. I pray for them, along with my own children, every day. Brianna’s wedding was beautiful. We had it on the beach in Galveston, close to Matt’s parent’s home.

In October, my fourth grandchild was born. Andy Southerland was born to Michael and Heather. I’m gradually becoming accustomed to being a grandpa, though I already have four grandkids.

One little note on my health: In June I grew fed up with being labeled by my doctor as “obese.” To me, “obese” means barely able to move because you are so big, it is practically a disability. Apparently, the medical community has their own standard of measure for obesity, with a BMI of over 30 (I believe). So, in June I began a workout and diet regiment of losing weight. At the end of the year I had lost about 30 pounds, dropping from 199 to 169. I’ve got about 10 pounds more to go to be in “normal” range. I did drop out of the “obese” range, and am now classified as merely “overweight.” I still think they are a little harsh on their labels, and I think that my short height (5’ 7”) doesn’t help the BMI calculation, but whatever, I now have a New Year’s resolution to knock out that remaining 10 lbs. With all the fuss over weight loss and the obsession that it is in our country, I’m coming away with the impression that all it really boils down to is self-discipline. At one point my weight had been approaching 220. All it really took was a determined desire to shed the pounds, and the determination to follow it through. The “secret” (if it can really be called that) is simply to burn more calories than you consume. It’s not easy, because I like to eat lots of calories, and I like to not exert myself. But it is simple. About an hour on the treadmill each morning at a speed of about 4.5 miles/hour and eating around 1600 calories a day is what did it for me. The holidays have stagnated my progress, but I’m ready to get moving again and lose those last 10 pounds. When I get to 159, I can enter “maintenance” mode whereby I can slack off on the walking and/or relax the eating regiment slightly. But I can’t neglect it entirely or I will gain back everything I lost. The benefit to my health has been noticeable. I don’t lose my breath like I used to simply carrying a laundry basket full of clothes from our closet to the washroom. Plus, my heart rate hovers around 60 beats per minute, often lower, when at rest.

I will close for now. I won’t promise any further updates, until this time next year. I’ve found Facebook to be a suitable alternative to blogging. Even then, I’m more of a reader than a poster.

Arrows to Archers

I wanted to let my readers know of something exciting that I have in the works. In January I started a new website called Arrows to Archers (http://www.arrowstoarchers.com). Right now, it's just a blog. But my plans are bigger than that. I want to start a podcast, as well as a youtube channel for it. Also, I am currently working on an ebook that I hope to make available in the next few months.

What is Arrows to Archers? I'm glad you asked. :-) You may have read on this blog some of what I've done in the past for my children when they turn 13. See http://blog.mikesoutherland.com/2008/12/rite-of-passage.html for a description of what I did for my oldest son. The purpose of Arrows to Archers is to help other parents do the same for their children. In my opinion the greatest need right now is for godly young men. So, for the time being anyway, I'm going to concentrate on what a father and mother can do in order to train their sons to be godly men, who will someday lead their own families. Thus the title of the blog/ministry/business (I'm not how to refer to it), "Arrows to Archers." Arrows to Archers comes from Psalm 127:3-5

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” (Psalm 127:3–5, ESV)

The premise is that our sons are arrows in our quiver. These same arrows will be the archers of the next generation who will have their own arrows eventually, and so on until the Lord returns.

My vision for Arrows to Archers is to offer help and resources to other parents so that they can train their sons to lead their own households. I want to make help available in a variety of ways. Most of the resources will be free, but I will honestly tell you that would love to concentrate on this full time. So if I can shape this in such a way so that it can support my family then I will be living my passion by helping others. We will see what the Lord does with this. At the same time I never want lack of resources to prevent other parents from pouring into the life of their children.

I am just getting started, and I need to spruce up the website as I get time. But I invite you to join me in the journey and stop by http://www.arrowstoarchers.com and join in the conversation.

2012 Year in Review

2012 has come and gone like a whirlwind. I reviewed my “2011Year in Review” before sitting down to compose this one. One thing I noticed is that 2012 saw an all time low in the number of blog posts I wrote since beginning this blog in 2006. This post marks only the fourth post done all year. I attribute part of that to an increased use of Facebook. So that short comments are generally offered there. But I will admit that a big part of this is simply the busyness of life. I have an idea to begin going through my “Charges for a Southerland Son” and blogging each section. It’s not too early to start revising it for Justin’s 13^th birthday in just under two years. Every year I see Doug Phillips admonishment on “How to End the Year X and Begin Y” (where X is the current year and Y is the year that will be here in a few days). Doug has a grand vision with a lot of good ideas for chronically what the Lord has done over the past year. This blog entry is my feeble attempt to do something, even if I don’t take every suggestion Doug has made.

I’ll begin this year with what is happening on the job front. I ended 2011 excited about doing IVR contracting. If you review that post you’ll see that I had left TransCore and was working from home coding IVR systems. Well, unfortunately the six month contract I had came to an abrupt end during the first week of January. Though the contracting company was apologetic, a new CFO at the end client was hired and shook things up after the end of the year. Several programming jobs were offshored to India. So that left me looking for work for about a month. In February I hired on, still as a contractor, with Chesapeake Energy. I started out doing some C#, ASP .NET work with Silverlight and WPF. After knocking out several bugs over the course of the next three months, Chesapeake told me that was all the programming they had for me at the time, but that they had a real need for help in Reporting Services. I have had a lot of experience doing that at TransCore and other positions before that. Long story short, I began doing reporting for them in May, and my contract has been extended a few times since then. Currently I’m good through the end of January 2013. We’ll see what God has planned for me then, whether a contract extension with Chesapeake again, hiring on full time with them, or moving on to other opportunities. Contracting certainly causes me to look to God more frequently, and to place my trust in Him that He will provide. It can be a little unsettling to not know what the future holds more than a month or two in advance. But in reality, that’s true for all of us. None of us are even promised another day of life. God has always provided my needs. I have had a desire for quite some time to work for myself. I’m working toward that end with AnswerSoft, the company I founded in 2010. Though I began it as a reseller for IVR services through IfByPhone, I have shifted the concentration during 2012 to mobile app development. AnswerSoft still offers discounted rates on IfByPhone, and I still support customers who sign up through AnswerSoft. However, app development is something whereby I have a little more control over the decision making process. I am currently working on an iPhone app for a local non-profit ministry. My plans are to port the app over to an Android implementation when done and support both operating systems. If the Lord wills it I could perhaps start doing app programming full time. But for now I need to work another day job in order to support the family.

Much has been going on with the children over this past year. Here’s a quick update on them.

Brittney is still working to get her leather working business going. She made me a great pair of leather flip flops. Her goal right now is to try and earn enough money to take a class from Lisa Sorrell, a world famous bootmaker that has a shop right here in Guthrie. She is also stepping in to help teach the other children handwriting during their homeschooling. That’s a big help as handwriting is really a one on one type of activity. Brittney’s help on this really takes a load off of Sheri.

Michael has continued to work hard building airplane hangers. He saved his money and bought himself a Dodge pickup this year. He also finished up his drivers ed and got his regular license. So now he’s mobile! He is adding to his arsenal of tools that he can use on the job site. We got him a DeWalt cordless drill. He also received other tools as gifts this year. It’s good to see him invest his money in things that he can use to earn more. Even the truck will help him expand his territory past our little two street neighborhood. Michael is also joining Justin and I in a study of Joel Beeke’s A Puritan Theology. I’ll talk more about that in Justin’s section below.

Brianna has really made great strides in her pottery this year. She made me a coffee mug. She’s made several bowls and other dishes. Sheri’s cousin, Brandon Drew is a chef. She showed him some of her work last week in Texas. He was very impressed and thinks that many in the circles he is in would love to purchase Brianna’s work. If it makes financial sense Brianna may consider that. She still enjoys photography, though she has yet to monetize it. We tried to set her up with an istockphoto account this year, but ran into a snag when they wanted a photo ID. Brianna is scheduled to start Driver’s Ed in 2013. So maybe her learner’s permit will serve as the photo ID for istockphoto and she can start pulling in some income from that endeavor.

Justin is chomping at the bit trying to figure out how to make money. There’s one thing for sure in our household, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. But how is an eleven year old boy going to make some cash? He’s had a few ideas, but not too many have panned out yet. Michael still does most of the yard work for the neighborhood. Maybe Justin can help out in that area this Spring and Summer. I’ve tried to drop the bug in Justin’s ear that computer programming doesn’t discriminate against age and he could do really well if he learned to program early. So far he’s shown a little interest. We’ll see if he pursues it. As I mentioned earlier, Justin, Michael, and I began a study of Joel Beeke’s new book, A Puritan Theology. Our goal is to cover a chapter each week. It will take us a little over a year to accomplish it. It looks to be very good, covering what the Puritans had to say about various theological topics. It’s like a Systematic Theology comprised of many different outstanding authors woven together though the pen of Joel Beeke.

Paton began playing the violin this year. He was inspired by our friends, the Chatham family. Their three oldest girls play beautifully. It just so happens that though they live in Blanchard, their violin teacher lives right here in Guthrie. So Paton decided he wanted to learn. It seems like it has come very naturally for him. Paton’s teacher says that he is doing great. He played in his first recital a few weeks ago. He did a great job, and even won a medal for the number of minutes he spent practicing. Also, this year Paton was baptized at GracePointe Baptist Church!

Sarah is growing up to be quite a big helper with Melody. She is so excited to have a little sister and she does a great job playing with her. Sarah has continued to improve in her reading. Earlier this year Sarah began to experience very real conviction over sin. She became very concerned that she was a sinner. We explained to her that she is right, she has sinned and that she needs to call upon Christ for the salvation of her soul. She prayed on her own and cried out for the Lord to save her. We are rejoicing in the salvation of yet another one of our children.

Samuel is just about done with the book that Sarah finished last year, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He’s doing extremely well. There are parts of the book where I’m supposed to tell him to “sound out the words.” Meanwhile he’s already figured it out in his mind and reads it “the fast way” before I’m able to tell him to sound it out. He doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve already got his Geneva Bible sitting on the shelf with his name on it waiting for him to finish the book. We did Lesson 90 last night. He’ll most likely finish up in January.

Melody learned to walk early. She walked at 10 months old, the youngest of any of the girls, and tied with Michael, who was our fastest “learn to walk” child prior to Melody. That means she’s been getting into everything. We bought new cabinet locks. She’s very inquisitive and smart. She also has quite the personality (and temper!). She is a blessing, and I thank God for trusting her into our care.

Things continue to go well at GracePointe Baptist Church. The Lord has added several new families and formed new friendships in our lives. I’m thankful for God’s blessings throughout 2012 and look forward to what he is going to do in 2013.

Anti-Racist (with exceptions...)

Let's say, hypothetically of course, there was a candidate who proclaimed loudly that he was not a racist. However, when you press him on it, he will admit that there are "exceptions" to his love for all men. After all, you can't really expect him to be totally non-racist, can you? Now, for the sake of argument, let's say he was running against a candidate who hated every single people group except his own. Who should we vote for? Well, pragmatism may say that we vote for the first candidate. But what if the one people group that he hates just so happens to be the people group of which you are a member? Could you still vote for him? If you say no, then tell me this: If your race is not the one despised in his eyes, could you vote for him then? I tell you that if that is true, then you have just as much hatred for that people group as the candidate who tries to pass himself off as "anti-racist."

Now, if that makes sense with a "politically correct" argument concerning race, does it not also apply to abortion? If you have one candidate who is pro-death all the way around and never saw an abortion he didn't like (Obama), and another candidate who announces that he is pro-life (except for despised babies who are the products of rape or incest - Romney), who do you vote for? I say that if you vote for Romney, you are declaring that you too despise the lives of those "unwanted" babies.

As much as I would like to cast my vote for a God fearing, pro-life candidate for President of the United States, I can't, because no such candidate exists this year (on the Oklahoma ballot anyway - vote Virgil Goode if your state lets you).

The Next Story

Tim Challies has recently written an eye opening book, called The Next Story.



This is a book that needed to be written. It is especially interesting to me as it touches two major parts of my life, Christianity and Technology. I can identify with many of the things Challies wrote. While I am not certain how old Tim Challies is, after reading The Next Story I imagine him to be very close in age to myself. For the things he describes, from the introduction of cell phones and the personal computer to the current state of technology where we are all immersed in a world of screens, ring very true with me.

This book commands your attention starting with the preface. Here, he describes the ultimate devastation brought about by a Soviet bomb, called Tsar Bomba, detonated as a test in 1961. Describing a landscape that was changed forever, he likens the bomb of digital technology to this 26000 pound nuclear device.

The Next Story is divided into two parts. Part 1 covers theology, theory, and experience. Then in Part 2, he turns his attention to areas of application specific to the Christian life.

I was given a hardback paper copy of The Next Story. While I appreciate the gift, when I began reading it I immediately desired to highlight sentences, make my own comments, and share them to my Facebook account, like I've become accustomed to while reading books on my Kindle. I thought of the irony of the fact that I'm reading a book about technology using the "old fashioned" method of paper and ink. Yet, even in this experience Challies proves his points. He asks the question, "Do you own your technology, or does it own you?"

Challies gives us a brief history of technology, specifically as it relates to communication, discussing such subjects as the invention of the printing press, including its role in the Reformation. I had never considered that Gutenberg was a devout Roman Catholic, and that through his invention, the church he loved so dearly would suffer greatly as their monopoly on the Word of God was broken through the low cost distribution of Bibles to the masses. Challies made the point that up to the 1800's information could travel no faster than the speed of a horse. Travel took just as long in 1800 as it did when Christ walked the Earth. Yet that began to change in the 1800's. First, with the invention of the railroad, information and people themselves could travel much faster than the horse. Next, as the telegraph was invented, information could travel instantly across wires. Challies labeled the telegraph as the "Victorian Internet." With the availability of instant communication every area of life began to change; industry, crime, education, entertainment, and so on. Life would never be the same again.

History progressed up to the point of the computer age, where we find ourselves now. Challies described two groups of people in this world: "digital immigrants" who were born before 1980 and "digital natives" who were born in or after 1980. As the personal computer first came to the marketplace between 1976 and 1981, the world began to change again. I was born in 1968, so that places me squarely in the "digital immigrant" group. I was born into a world where computers only existed in business, education, and government. I remember clearly our Southwestern Bell issued telephone hanging on the wall of our kitchen. It was bright yellow, and it had a dial that you turned when calling someone. I remember playing early video games with my dad and brothers. First it was "pong" from a dedicated device that connected to our television, then not too much later, it was our Atari 2600 system. My dad was somewhat "ahead of his time" in that he went to Radio Shack and bought the cables necessary to run a power cord from the cigarette lighter in our van, under the seats, and to the back where my brothers and I had bean bags, along with our Atari and a portable black and white TV, would play games "on the road" as we traveled on vacation. I was the main "technology lover" in my childhood home. I was the one who saved my money to buy our first computer, a Commodore VIC 20. This machine had a whopping 3K of memory (2K less than our Atari 2600!). But using this machine I taught myself binary, learned elementary basic programming, and acclimated myself to living in the digital world that I knew was coming. Today, I support my family by writing computer programs. My degree from the University of Texas at Arlington is in Computer Science Engineering. I can also relate to Challies' description of the "digital native." My three year old can walk up to our computer, start iTunes, and begin listening to whatever he wants. He joins my other children in sighing when they see drivers "texting" while they drive.

Through the invention of the personal computer, our world has changed forever. Challies tells us where the term "luddite" comes from, and why it is next to impossible to completely avoid technology.

The computer, like many other technologies, can be a great tool to help Christians spread the Gospel. It can keep us connected as families and as churches. But like so many helpful things, the computer can quickly bring undesired results into our lives. Constant communication disrupts our family time. In fact, it gives us a constant stimulus to the point where we crave communication, and can't bear the thought of being "out of touch." So beyond the obvious evils that a computer may bring to a family, such as pornography, violence, or other such filth that may infiltrate our minds, the computer can often be set up as an idol in our lives. John Calvin said that the human heart is an idol factory. I'm sure that the computer could certainly qualify as an idol in many of our lives.

I am grateful to Tim Challies for writing The Next Story. It is something that needs to be said, particularly if you are 1) a Christian and 2) a technology consumer. It has given me much to think about as I spend most of my waking hours in front of one screen or another. I could certainly relate to the things he describes. Technology is here to stay. We can't control whether it is here or not, but we can work to make wise decisions on how we employ its services in our lives.

Theatre

When considering the following quote by William Law in regard to the Play House, it takes absolutely no imagination to apply this to the modern motion picture theatre.  Christians, the movie house is no place for God's people!  This quote is from his book entitled, "The Absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment," available for free at:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3791

"So that one may with the same assurance affirm, that the Play-House, not only when some very profane play is on the stage, but in its daily common Entertainments, is as certainly the House of the Devil, as the Church is the House of God.  For though the Devil be not professedly worshipped by Hymns directed to him, yet most that is there sung is to his service; he is there obeyed and pleased in as certain a manner, as God is worshipped and honoured in the Church." - William Law, The Absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage-Entertainment, 1726

The Legacy Ministry

This looks to be an excellent ministry.  Certainly some honored spokesmen.


The Legacy Ministry from Dan Romer on Vimeo.

What Man Hath Joined Together...

...Let not man separate.

Hurrah for the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals for disallowing a lesbian divorce case in the state of Oklahoma. How can you issue a divorce for what was never a legitimate marriage? Legal Counsel Tim Tracey of the Alliance Defense Fund rightly asserted that this was a back door attempt to undermine the marriage amendment of Oklahoma that was passed by 76 percent of the voters.

Here is a link for the One News Now story where I originally read this:

Click Here.

The Pain of Miscarriage

Here is a very helpful Kevin Swanson - Generations program. I'd encourage you to give it a listen.

I Was Mugged?

The news of my mugging has been greatly exaggerated:

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-handicapped-man-at-knifepoint-story,0,6635769.story

Anyone who tries to mug this Mike Southerland better come with more than a knife. I've got a 9mm round waiting for him. Plus, 13 more in the magazine. :-)

19 Years Ago

…was the best day of my life. On August 25, 1990 Sheri Cross became Mrs. Sheri Southerland. The Lord has carried us through many changes. Through it all He has richly blessed us. She has faithfully followed my lead with each new milestone that God has brought us through. Many women would have grown frustrated long ago. Yet, the Lord blessed me with a wife who understands what it means to trust her husband. While she has always been my faithful counselor, she also knows that God has placed the responsibility to lead our family upon my shoulders. To face this challenge alone would have been an insurmountable burden. But with Sheri by my side, I joyfully embrace each new lesson the Lord is teaching us.

To my sons, seek a wife like your mother. She is a godly lady. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. A wife like her will be the greatest blessing you will ever have in your life.

To my daughters, seek to be like your mother. Her love for her husband and children is striking. Her patience and self sacrificing is honorable. Her undying faith is a beauty beyond compare.

To my beautiful bride, I love you. I am so very blessed to have you by my side.

Happy Anniversary sweetheart.

Marriage - The Story of the Gospel

Just a quick update as we retire for the evening. My wife and I are currently in Wake Forest, NC where we have just completed the first night of a marriage conference hosted by Scott Brown at his home.

Dan Horn spoke tonight on the picture of marriage as being a picture of the Gospel. What a powerful message! The Lord has really put it on my heart lately of the importance of the Gospel in every message preached from the pulpit, and the primacy of it in every facet of our lives.

Does our marriage, does your marriage show the world a picture of the Gospel? Or is it skewed? The reason sodomite "marriage" is such an abomination is that it blasphemes Christ and His Church. There are not two Christs or two Churches. Yet that is what sodomy tries to declare.

I'll go into more details later next week, Lord willing. But for now I want to say that the messages are powerful and I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend with my bride.

Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade was the landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws prohibiting abortion. I’m going to use a word in this article that I don’t believe is entirely accurate when applied to this case. That term is “legalized.” It is said that Roe v. Wade “legalized” abortion. And in a sense, that is correct. Though if we simply consider the form of government that we have, you will realize that it is not the job of the Supreme Court to make law. That dirty work is supposed to be left to the legislative branch of government. Yet, despite overstepping their jurisdictional boundaries, the Supreme Court has, in effect, legalized elective abortion for all nine months of pregnancy for any reason whatsoever.

Roe v. Wade was decided on January 22, 1973. The plaintiff was an anonymous “Jane Roe.” The defendant was District Attorney of Dallas County Henry Wade. The case revolved around Jane Roe, later identified as Norma McCorvey who claimed she had been raped and desired an abortion. Texas law denied her the abortion. Attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington jumped at the opportunity to advance their own agenda at the expense of McCorvey. They filed suit on her behalf. Norma McCorvey is now an outspoken pro-life advocate, though she was once a worker in an abortion mill. She admits that she lied about being raped. In her book, Won By Love, she details how a little seven year old girl, a daughter of a pro-life protester loved her unconditionally. Emily would constantly tell Norma, “Miss Norma, we’re praying for you.” At the time Norma’s identity was still protected. This small group of protesters had no idea they were talking with the very Roe of Roe v. Wade. The little girl’s persistence finally paid off when Norma McCorvey repented of her sin and turned to Christ. Norma McCorvey now leads a pro-life ministry called “Roe No More.” Listen to her testimony about the effects that this little girl had on her.

As my mind was challenged to consider the truth of the Gospel, God began working on my heart through a 7-year-old girl named Emily, the daughter of O.R. volunteer Ronda Mackey.

Quite understandably, I had difficulty relating to children. I had given birth to three, all of whom had been placed for adoption (one of them against my will). And because I worked in an abortion clinic, I was fearful of bonding with anyone so young. It was part of my denial. When you know what is happening to the children behind closed doors, it's difficult to become attached to them outside.

Emily's blatant affection, frequent hugs, and direct pursuit disarmed me. The little girl's interest was all the more surprising considering Emily made it very clear that her acceptance of me wasn't an acceptance of my lifestyle. Early on in our relationship, I explained to Emily, "I like kids and wouldn't let anyone hurt little kids," to which Emily responded, "Then why do you let them kill the babies at the clinic?"

On another occasion, I invited Emily into my office. As I made appointments, Emily kept herself occupied. During one phone call, I lost my temper and said to a caller, "I'd just as soon see you in hell as see you in here," and Emily responded, "You don't have to go to hell, Miss Norma. You can pray right now and Jesus will forgive you."

This childlike faith cut open my heart, making me receptive to the truth being shared by the adult volunteers at Rescue. I wasn't won over by compelling apologetics. I had a ninth grade education and a very soft heart. While the O.R. adults targeted my mind, Emily went straight for the heart. And over time, Emily began to personify the issue of abortion--especially when Ronda broke down and told me that Emily had almost been aborted.

If any of you are familiar with this case, or you have been told that Roe v. Wade only prohibited abortions in the first three months, you have been fed a half truth. Roe indeed declares that abortion is legal for any reason for the first three months. However, it also allows for abortions after the three month time period for reasons of rape, incest, or the health of the mother. There is a much less publicized companion case, Doe v. Bolton that was also decided on the same day as Roe. This case defined “health of the mother” to be anything that a woman and her doctor decide it to be, including psychological health. Here is the official statement:

Whether, in the words of the Georgia statute, "an abortion is necessary" is a professional judgment that the Georgia physician will be called upon to make routinely. We agree with the District Court… that the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age - relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.

So, with the supported of the companion case, Roe indeed legalizes abortion for all nine months of pregnancy for any reason whatsoever. This is also why pro-lifers are so adamant about not including exceptions in any pro-life legislation that is proposed. We are particularly opposed to any language that makes “health of the mother” a valid exception. As a side note, “Mary Doe,” later identified as Sandra Cano, identifies herself as pro-life and claims that her attorney, Margie Pitts Hames, lied to her in order to have a plantiff.

Roe v. Wade did not come to us in a vacuum. Like most bad law, it came from bad precedent. In 1965 another egregious case was decided in Griswold v. Connecticut. This is the Supreme Court decision that struck down state prohibitions on birth control. In this decision the Supreme Court somehow “discovered” a secret “right to privacy” that had been hidden in the "penumbras" and "emanations" of other constitutional protections besides the original Bill of Rights. What most of the American people do not understand is that chemical forms of birth control often cause spontaneous abortion. How appropriate then, for it to be the precedent used for the outright killing of children through mechanical means. This assertion is thoroughly documented in Randy Alcorn’s book, Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortion? Sadly, just like the abortion issue today, the churches of 1965 had already failed to speak out against the deadly effects of chemical birth control. When God’s people are silent, depraved human nature takes over and commits terrible sins.

As Christ Loved the Church

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
(Eph 5:25-27)

When I think of that admonition that I am to love my wife as Christ loved the church, I am overwhelmed. I do love my wife. But do I love her to that degree? I am mere mortal. Christ is divine. I can't possibly love my wife like Christ loved His church. Christ lived a sinless life for His church. Then He bled and died on her behalf. He took her place. He who was without sin died for me! This He did so that she (I) should have no spot or wrinkle, but that she (I) should be holy and without blemish.

Yet, the very thing that Christ did for me (as a member of His church) is the only thing that enables me to do the same for my wife. No, I can't live a sinless life for her. But when I walk in the spirit, I'll not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I can't make her pure and holy, but as I admonish her through the scriptures I lead her to the One who can.

Lord, wash me in your Word, so that I can wash her in your Word. Amen.