America The Beautiful

America the beautiful,

or so you used to be.

Land of the Pilgrims' pride;

I'm glad they'll never see.

Babies piled in dumpsters,

Abortion on demand,

Oh, sweet land of liberty;

your house is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly,

poisoned by cocaine

choosing to indulge their lusts,

when God has said abstain

From sea to shining sea,

our Nation turns away

From the teaching of God's love

and a need to always pray

We've kept God in our temples,

how callous we have grown.

When earth is but His footstool,

and Heaven is His throne.

We've voted in a government

that's rotting at the core,

Appointing Godless Judges;

who throw reason out the door,

Too soft to place a killer

in a well deserved tomb,

But brave enough to kill a baby

before he leaves the womb.

You think that God's not angry,

that our land's a moral slum?

How much longer will He wait

before His judgment comes?

How are we to face our God,

from Whom we cannot hide?

What then is left for us to do,

but stem this evil tide?

If we who are His children,

will humbly turn and pray;

Seek His holy face

and mend our evil way:

Then God will hear from Heaven;

and forgive us of our sins,

He'll heal our sickly land

and those who live within.

But, America the Beautiful,

If you don't - then you will see,

A sad but Holy God

withdraw His hand from Thee.

~~Judge Roy Moore~~

Pastors saddened, resolved in wake of Prop. 8 decision

Christians are both grieved and outraged by a federal judge's decision Wednesday to overturn California's Proposition 8 – the measure that passed in November 2008 with a 52.1 percent vote and defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

John Milhouse, pastor of Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley, is saddened by the direction the United States is heading.

“I’m just very grieved by the whole process, and I'm just very saddened,” he laments. “I think more people are very frustrated that judges are determining what laws should be accepted by the people." But the pastor points out that "God performed the first wedding, [and] our country has been founded on principles laid out in scripture.”

On Wednesday, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Proposition 8, calling the measure "unconstitutional" by claiming in a 136-page ruling that the state of California "has no interest in differentiating between same-sex and opposite-sex unions" -- an opinion supporters of the proposition disagree with.

Walker, who is an openly homosexual judge, overturned Prop. 8 on the grounds that supporters of traditional marriage have no real defense or evidence against same-sex "marriage." He argued the legislation "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."

Bill Welsh, pastor of Refuge Calvary Chapel in Huntington Beach, is neither "surprised" nor "thrilled" about the judge's ruling.

"We are certainly not going to stop speaking what we know is the truth," he assures. "We are going to continue to fight and inform our people at Refuge to speak in the situation and pray."

Welsh references a young girl, delivered from lesbianism, who shared her testimony at the church's monthly communion service the same day Proposition 8 was overturned. Although the testimony had been planned ahead of time, the Refuge pastor believes it was perfect timing in light of the ruling.

"We just want everyone to know that God is a God of love who calls everyone to repentance," Welsh shares.

Churches across California united last year in support of Proposition 8. Pastors educated their congregations, church members rallied in streets in support of the bill, and many were encouraged to vote according to their values.

"I don't think the battle will ever be lost," Milhouse contends. "I believe our response should be ... to pray, and whatever we do, do it in love because we aren't anti-people, and we aren't anti-gay -- but we don't agree with their lifestyle."

In 2000, state judges overturned Proposition 22 -- the California Defense of Marriage Act that passed with 61 percent vote, but this ruling is the first in the country to overturn a ban against same-sex marriage on federal grounds. Previous rulings authorized the unions in light of the state constitution. The issue will most likely make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

[by Becky Yeh - OneNewsNow California correspondent]

American missionaries gunned down for "preaching Christianity"

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban terrorists have declared they shot and killed a team of missionaries, including six Americans, because they were 'preaching Christianity.'

Ten members of a medical team, including six Americans, were shot and killed by the Islamic terrorists as they were returning from providing eye treatment and other health care in remote villages of northern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the team said Saturday.

Dirk Frans, director of the International Assistance Mission, said one German, one Briton and two Afghans also were a part of the team that made the two-week trip to Nuristan province. They drove to the province, left their vehicles and hiked for hours over mountainous terrain to reach the Parun valley in the province's northwest.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Pakistan that they killed the foreigners because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity."

Frans said the International Assistance Mission is registered as a nonprofit Christian organization but it does not proselytize.

“This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people as IAM has been doing since 1966," according to a statement released by the charity. "We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year."

The team, made up of doctors, nurses and logistics personnel, was attacked as it was returning to Kabul following a two-week mission in Nuristan, Frans said. They had decided to travel through Badakhshan province to return to the capital because they thought that would be the safest route, Frans said.

Among the dead was team leader Tom Little, an optometrist from Delmar, New York who has been working in Afghanistan for more than 30 years, Frans said.

Little was expelled by the Taliban government in August 2001 after the arrest of eight Christian aid workers – two Americans and six Germans – for allegedly trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. He returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban government was toppled in November 2001 by U.S.-backed forces.

Frans said he lost contact with Little on Wednesday. On Friday, a third Afghan member of the team, who survived the attack, called to report the killings. A fourth Afghan member of the team was not killed because he took a different route home because he had family in Jalalabad, Frans said.

According to Frans, two members of team worked for International Assistance Mission, two were former IAM workers and four others were affiliated with other organizations, which he did not disclose.

He said five of the Americans were men and one was a woman. The Briton and German also were women.

General Agha Noor Kemtuz, police chief in Badakhshan province, said the victims, who had been shot, were found Friday next to three bullet-riddled four-wheel drive vehicles in Kuran Wa Munjan district.

He said villagers had warned the team that the area was dangerous, but the foreigners said they were doctors and weren’t afraid. He said local police said about 10 gunmen robbed them and killed them one by one.

He said the two Afghans were interpreters were from Bamiyan and Panjshir provinces. A third Afghan man, who had been traveling with the group, survived.

“He told me he was shouting and reciting the holy Quran and saying ‘I am Muslim. Don’t kill me,’” Kemtuz said.

[by Kathy Gannon - Associated Press Writer]