Our Church in the News

Below we have listed some articles and stories related to Church of the King Sacramento or Churches within our denomination:

Russian Pastor Visits American Churches 11-16-206

Oleg Volkov read the entire Bible from cover to cover in a month except for the fact the Bible he read had no cover. Volkov brought his personal message of how he found God to local Winston residents at area churches and the Louisville Rotary Club.

Volkov, who serves as a Presbyterian minister in St. Petersburg, Russia, found the answers he had searched for all of his life in that torn Bible that he received as a prisoner in a Russian prison.

Life Chain 10/31/04:

They carried signs. They chose busy streets. And they had a message. But this wasn't a Sunday afternoon political rally, said organizers and participants of the Sacramento Life Chain, even though the subject - opposition to abortion - is about as politically charged as they come. "We re-emphasized that our purpose here is to pray," said Murray Lewis, one of several hundred people participating Sunday in the Life Chain. The Sacramento event is part of an annual national event that draws those who oppose abortion to line busy streets and convey their objections with nothing more than signs and a prayer. (FULL ARTICLE)

Fight over Gay Marriage (Oregon) 4/16/04:

They call themselves reluctant warriors, forced from their pulpits to defend a 4,000-year-old tradition called marriage. A week after San Francisco began sanctioning gay weddings in time for Valentine's Day, a group of fundamentalist Christian pastors filed initiative petitions to bar the practice in Oregon. When Multnomah County entered the fray March 3 and started issuing same-sex marriage licenses, the pastors organized a protest within hours, then mounted an aggressive legal battle to block the county in court. Who are these little-known pastors-turned-activists, who call themselves the Defense of Marriage Coalition? (FULL ARTICLE)

The Other "Three P's" of Politics       http://www.thevanguard.org/thevanguard/other_writers/stoos.shtml

The Fellowship of the Ruling
By John E. Stoos

The dust has settled and the final box office tallies are almost $3 BILLION for the three installments of J.J.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Those of us involved in politics should note that Professor Tolkien has in this series provided a powerful message for understanding what is wrong in Washington DC and how to repair the damage. Tolkien's trilogy centers on a Ring of Power. It is the story of how a brave group of four Hobbits, two Men, an Elf, a Dwarf, and a Wizard who set out to destroy this Ring of Power. They become known as the "Fellowship of the Ring." This may seem a strange plot to modern ears, as most things Christian should, but it is one that delivers some profound truths about the politics of power.   (FULL ARTICLE)

The Seduction of Medical Science, Then and Now
By John E. Stoos

"It is the duty of the doctor, through advice and effort, conscientiously and to his best ability, to assist as helper the person entrusted to his care in the maintenance, improvement and re-establishment of his vitality, physical efficiency and health. The accomplishment of this duty is a public task."
Suggested Oath for Physicians

Suppose you are a physician or someone studying to practice the art of medicine. Would you sign such an oath? Even if you have some concerns about how it is worded or structured, would you be willing to go along with the powers that be who want it signed or would you need to take a stand? If you were willing to take a stand against this oath, what price would you be willing to pay for taking a stand in opposition? Would your fellow doctors or students be willing to join with you in such a crusade?

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
1 Timothy 2:1-4

In my radio ministry I often call on the listeners to pray for our political leaders and most times I remind them to review these simple verses from the Apostle Paul that explain why the actions of our civil leaders are important. We should not call Christians to participate in the political process to benefit one particular political party or another. We should not be involved just so we can have personal peace and affluence. We are called to influence and care about the political process because righteous leaders produce godly and reverent civilizations that carry the good news of God's salvation to the four corners of the world, so that all of God's people will be saved from their sins (Rom. 10:1-15).

Christianity and the Culture of Death
By John E. Stoos

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places,
seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, "I will return to my house from
which I came." And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in
order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked
than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man
is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation."
Matthew 12:43-45

The rise of modern terrorism in recent decades has brought the depravity of man into full view. As Christians, we have an obligation to follow our Lord's command to be salt and light by showing that only Christians can understand and explain what I call the "culture of death." As Christians we must confront this culture of death both at home and abroad.

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

Freedom Under the Fear of God
By John E. Stoos

"He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God."
(2 Samuel 23:3b)

There is a simple choice that any group of people must make when organizing the civil government that will rule over them. On the one hand, they can pledge, as the Pilgrims did on the Mayflower to "solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic…" This choice continued years later, when Americans made the same choice by breaking with Mother England. The colonists upheld the principle of "ruling in the fear of God" in the Declaration of Independence with those famous words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" [or "property" as in the early drafts].

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

How to Pick a "Good" Government School
By John E. Stoos

"In the state of California, if I had a child there, I wouldn't put the
youngster in a public school... I think it's time to get our kids out."
Dr. James Dobson on Focus on the Family Radio, March 2002

With that comment, Dr. Dobson started quite a stir among thousands of people who are now joining the campaign to "separate school and state." The government schools have added a lot of fuel to the fire by having Planned Parenthood sponsor skits in class thatsingle out and embarrass Christian students. Disturbing too is the new policy in Hayward, California schools that encourages homosexual teachers to "come out" in the classroom and asks them to invite their partners to join them for the follow-up discussion.

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

After the Resurrection
By John E. Stoos

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship
of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may
attain to the resurrection from the dead but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are
ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus."
(Phil. 3:10-11;13-14)

There is a lot of confusion today regarding how Christians should function in the realm of politics. The political left and some concerned Christians accuse those Christians who are active in this realm of some sort of messianic goal of "saving" society through politics. If we sought to replace the power of the Christian gospel to regenerate a lost soul with anything human, their concerns would be well founded. However, those encouraging words from the Apostle Paul to the Philippians tell us that a lot should happen in the life of a Christian afterhe or she experiences the new birth. I believe that Christians should and must be involved in politics, but we must remember that no good will come of our political activism if we do not understand and operate in the "power of His resurrection."

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

Taxing Families
By John E. Stoos

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a
king. And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over
you: He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his
officers and servants...He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be
his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom
you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day."
(1 Sam. 8:10-18)

How much did your family pay in taxes last year? No, I don't mean the check that you had to write out after "doing your taxes." And even if you are one of the sharp folks who actually know how much he paid in federal income taxes, that would still not be the complete answer. My question is, how much of your family income had to go to support the various activities of the federal, state, and local civil governments that serve your community? The truth is that no one knows exactly, but it is certainly much more than most people think.

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

"Resolutions" and The Overhauling of Straight America
By John E. Stoos

Ideally, we would have straights register differences in sexual preference
the way they register different tastes for ice cream or sports games: she
likes strawberry and I like vanilla; he follows baseball and I follow football.
No big deal. — Guide Magazine, October 1987

A heated debate broke out in West Virginia recently when the West Virginian Family Foundation accused a new school program of being "a veiled promotional tool for homosexuality." The school project organizers insisted that "they do not have a hidden agenda," despite the fact that the training manual recommends that teachers wear a "LesBiGay positive" button or a T-shirt with a "Straight, But Not Narrow" slogan. They insisted that it was simply an anti-bullying program to convince kids that "bullying is wrong." For Christians, I think it should be clear whose agenda has been moving forward in America when school officials focus on bullying being immoral but the sin of homosexuality is "an acceptable alternative lifestyle."

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

Of Meat, Axes and Purists
By John E. Stoos

"The statues of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment
of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes." (Psalms 19:8)
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure." (James 3:17a)

Our legislative halls have become an "Alice in Wonderland" where purity is now a vice and anyone suggesting surgery for the patient with advanced cancer is a barbarian. As Christians, we have an obligation to be active in the political realm; however, proposing real Biblical solutions to the major problems facing our nation will provoke attacks from all sides.

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu

Government Schools: Producing What We Pay For!
By John E. Stoos

There is hardly a political discussion these days that does not in some way involve education. Most surveys show that voters are concerned about giving America's children a good education, and today's educational-industrial complex insists that money should be no object. Here in California, suffering under record budget deficits, even the most "draconian" budget proposals leave education spending at about $9,000 per student. A qualified teacher would have significant educational resources for thirty students if the $270,000 collected from the taxpayers actually made it into his classroom.

(FULL ARTICLE) originally posted on: http://www.chalcedon.edu