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The Inconvenient Truth of 24

I have recently become aware of the power of television and movies by listening to people on the internet and by listening to people with the strangest of bedfellows, politics and religion. It is with the blending of these two, often taboo subjects, that I have found an agenda that is often times hidden, and one weaved from the fabric of intentional lies or at the very least, misguided ignorance. This mistaken identity comes not just from a misguided understanding and agenda from the marriage of these two groups, but from the outer fringes of both groups that will seemingly stop at nothing to promote their agendas. This is seen no place better than what I will call; The Inconvenient Truth of 24.

Let me regress a little and tell you what I have observed regarding two recent media controversies, one being the Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth, and the other being the television show starring Kiefer Sutherland, 24.

Let's first look at An Inconvenient Truth. This documentary presented by Al Gore has many within the Religious Right, and Right Wing of the Republican party up in arms. It has them up in arms because of their perspective of the falsehoods presented by Gore in the documentary. There is after all a great deal of doubt from these groups regarding the concept of "Global Warming."

The film is basically a presentation that former presidential candidate and Vice President Al Gore does on Global Warning. In this movie, Gore, presents as scientific proof, events which he believes is leading to the destruction of the earth. The facts are that many of the worlds leading scientists agree with much of the presentation of Gore. The movie does a wonderful job at describing current climate trends in a language the average viewer can understand. While the film has garnished some debate, it has largely been from the religious and political right. I will not debate the science of the film, as I am not a scientist, but it is alarming at those who are debating the legitimacy of the film based not on what they know of science or religion, but based on what others are saying.

One of the alarming facts that one will soon discover if doing any research on this topic is that often those most critical of the film, have their own political and religious slants they want to persuade others of. In fact, it is alarming at the many, especially within the religious community who are critical of the film that hasn't even seen the film. They often use arguments centered on creation, the heresy of any scientific evidences in contrast to scripture, and more. What one quickly finds out in these types of discussions is that those perspectives are often perpetuated and pushed by a political agenda that has at its heart, more of a desire for power than it does truth. Unfortunately in this process, the religious right will sleep with strange bedfellows when gathering their information.

While this is not intended to attack any particular individual, certain names will be mentioned to help illustrate my point. Much of what is driven on the talk radio shows across the nation is driven by Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh, an entertainer and political pundit who has gone through many areas of controversy in his own life. From numerous divorces to his own issues with prescription drug abuse, this individual has become for many, the spokesperson for the political and often times, "religious right." Now let me be clear on something, I like Rush Limbaugh, I see him as a great entertainer, I do not always support the things he says, and I certainly don't see him as a moral compass. That said, there is a real danger in the types of things he often says and does, for example, his constant attacks in the past on Algore, a play on the old horror character, Igor, as well as his constant misspeak of current political leaders where he confuses their names. An example would be Obama, Osama, where there is an obvious attempt to connect the person of Osama Bin Laden with Barak Obama.


In the presentation of views, often not based on science but, political agenda, it can be a dangerous thing when groups of people start listening to a source that at worse is filled with lies, and at best an attempt at political satire. Again, let me make clear, I like Limbaugh for what he is, a political satirist and radio entertainer. I do see terrific danger though in groups that use him as a major source of opinion. At that point, the fault lies not just with people like Limbaugh, Michael Savage, or Sean Hannity, but with those taking what they say for granted. Rest assured, this political promotion does not just exist within the conservative movement. There is enough vile and lies to go around for Air America and any other host of liberal commentators.

Another provider of "truth" for many within these particular groups is the Newspaper, The Washington Times. This especially drives the conservative political leaders out of Washington DC. Think about this, there are the Washington Post, which is more liberal in their political slant, and the Washington Times, which is more conservative in their political slant. It makes perfect sense that political leaders in Washington DC, from members of Congress including the House and Senate, up to the President, and supporting staff read the paper which most fits their own political agenda. While I could easily point out a number of issues with the Washington Post, I am addressing the conservatives at this point so will mainly address the issues related to The Washington Times.

There is no doubt as to the influence of the religious right on the political process. This influence, while being supportive of various candidates on both sides of the aisle at times, has largely, and primarily been supportive of the Republican Party. It has been said, that without the support of the Religious Right, the Republican Party has no chance of winning a national election. Most have a belief that this is primarily Christian, certainly Christians have this belief. Yet, when looking deeply at the issue, it is easy to see this is not always the case.

The truth is, many within the religious right, specifically within the Christian religious right have often had strange bedfellows. From Jerry Falwell, to Pat Robertson, and from Ted Haggard to James Dobson, these groups have joined in, in close association with others who many Christians have severe issues with. No better example of this exists than the association with the Washington Times, a major news publication having a tremendous political impact on legislators, specifically Republican. It is interesting because for many Christians, there are issues with cults, specifically those who are against the message of Jesus Christ. It should be understood here, the Washington Times, and many publications put out by the times is in fact owned and operated by one of the worlds largest cult leaders, Rev. Sun Myung Moon. In 2002 Moon said about this newspaper that it was, "the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world." The question I ask, is whose truth? This newspaper has had a major influence on political leaders, many Christians have blindly accepted as speaking their truth. Many have allowed those same political leaders to influence their views on things such as Global Warming, and what is often presented as "Liberal Theology." It is sad most of these groups, don't understand, or accept the reality that much of what has been interpreted as political and religious truth, in fact comes from those who don't adhere to the same truths about their God.

How much of an impact has these groups, the religious, and political right had in recent through the influence of the Washington Times? One has to look no further than the last few weeks and the stories started about Barack Obama. From internet mass emails, to presentations on talk radio, and Fox television news, lies have been spread about Obama and his associations and the schools he attended. Insight Magazine, a magazine owned by, guess who, The Washington Times, recently ran a story stating that, "Barack attended a madrassah, or Muslim religious school, in Indonesia" For those that don’t know a madrassah is a school that promotes extreme Islamic behavior including Jihad. What occurred in the context of the article, later picked up on and promoted by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and numerous mass emails, from guess who, Christians, was that Obama had close associations with Islam, and in fact was Muslim and had in the past supported numerous anti American agendas and practices, when in fact, none of this was the case.

I could dwell on that subject, but the intent of this article is not to be specific about this issue, but to more importantly address the base of knowledge for the populist, including Christians, and where they obtain their source of truth. With that being said, hopefully at this point, there is a point in fact that at least many on the side of the Political Right and Conservative Christian Thought, need to be more careful about their source of information.

I could go on and pick apart much of the perspectives held by these two groups. I suspect that if I did there would be a mass support of liberal thought that would come up and say things like, "Yea Mike, keep it up, way to go, you're exactly right." That would be nice in some ways, but I don't know if that would be the full basis of what my attempt here is. You see, the problem don't just exist with the Conservative, Religious Right Wing Political pundits. It exists on the left as well.

Recent news and opinion has come out attacking the television series 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland as nothing more than Right Wing Propaganda attempting to provide support for the War on Terror while at the same time dehumanizing the Muslim population and portraying the Democratic party as weak. As is evidenced by these reports I decided to do some research.

I have to admit, I have been a fan of 24 for some time. I love the intensity of the show and have always liked Kiefer Sutherland. I didn't see the show as anything promoting a political agenda and when the recent reports of the show started coming out I had to step back, pay attention, and give a close watch. I heard people like Limbaugh stepping back and supporting the show with what I thought was excellent analysis. I also saw, and heard, many within the more liberal leaning facets of religion and politics stepping back and attacking the show for its agenda, stating things like, "After all we can know it is a ploy by Murdock and his right wing Fox Television to support the war because after all, Limbaugh likes the show, so it must be a Republican Right Wing ploy." The mud started flying and the accusations about the show were as far fetched as one could think.

While being a fan of the show, I had always watched the show on DVD almost a year after presentation on television because I enjoyed the no commercials and shorter time. I also believe that much of today's television lends itself to be more enjoyable in a DVD format. This is especially true with the continuation stories much like 24. With that said, I decided to go to www.fox.com and watch the episodes from this year so far on their on line free web casts of the television shows. What I had heard, and what I actually saw made no sense to me.

Many have been critical in this season's episode because there is a terror attack on America that eventually leads to a nuclear explosion and the threat of more. Suddenly, as if the television show could prevent this from happening, perspectives were being given that seemed to imply, that the president in the show was a African American Democrat who had little power and was in fact gutless. Now understand, this is what many liberal Christians and politicians were saying that the show was implying. It was as if we suddenly had a personal attack against politicians, against the Democratic party, and specifically, as some believed, towards Barack Obama.

I have to be honest; I don't know where this criticism comes from. From what I have seen in the shows so far, all as of today's date is that the president while black is the brother of another former president. I don't know or it certainly hasn't been mentioned in the show so far as to what his political affiliation is. Therefore, the association that he is a weak Democrat comes from I don't know where. I also don't see the president or his administration as weak. I personally see them as facing a tragedy no one has had to deal with before. I am confident that this show being used as an attack on the Republican Party in unjust criticism. I continue to be amazed at how both ends of the political spectum turns little things like this into major news stories and thus ends up getting political mileage out of it.

Liberal approaches, hypocrisy, and tactics weren't just invented though. I have to wonder why this type of complaint, about a television show supposedly tearing down a political view wasn't addressed during shows like The West Wing, and others that seemed to support a liberal political perspective. I am confident these things didn't occur because it wasn't in their best political interest to address these types of shows.

Here is my concern for today and my admonition if you will. Am I the only one that takes offense that both ends of the political and religious spectrum seem to think that I and the rest of the populace are idiots? I realize some puppets will believe whatever they are told without close investigation. I believe there are exceptions though, I for one, and I believe many others, are intelligent enough to search for facts and discover truth. Now I realize this is getting much more difficult in the world we live in, but I refuse to become a puppet on a string, controlled and manipulated by someone who thinks they are all that, up above me, and able to control my every move. While I have come to expect this type of behavior from some who are the great manipulators, I take offense at those who do these things in the "Name of Jesus."

For those of us who are Christian, we are called to be better, and do better than this. From a Biblical mandate in Genesis, we are commanded to take care of the earth God has given us, not make excuses. We get so caught up in the political end of things that we fail to see the destruction of the very planet, in all capacities, that God gave us to care for. We don't care about the hunger in Somalia, we don't care about the vanishing ocean life so critical to our planets ecological system, and we don't seem to care about the destruction of the worlds forests, so critical to the production of appropriate oxygen sources. Why don't we care? Because they don't seem to fit into a political agenda driven by those who in reality have nothing in common with the God we pretend to worship. Don't take me wrong here, I am aware there needs to be truth on both sides of the spectrum, but we need to test the spirits, test the truth as we are instructed to do in Scripture. We need to do this regarding our environment; we need to do this regarding political truths and untruths. The book of James is very clear on issues like this, as is the entirety of scripture. We read, don't take the name of the Lord in vain, yet, we don't see that James says our word is everything about our integrity, and thus we end up speaking lies before discovering truth. The sad thing is, often times we do not even attempt to find truth.

I am unapologetically Anabaptist in my theology. My faith system has a great deal to say about the mixing of political and Christian concepts. I wish more people saw the political system for what it is. While it has the potential to do good, it also has the potential to do evil. One thing for certain, I am confident we are called as Christians to support our governments when they do something good, and speak out when they do something evil. Unfortunately many see the political system and the political parties as, "Of God." or "Not of God." I believe the truth of it is that the political system has the inability of being "Christian" because it doesn't have a soul. It simply is, which we are to respect, but we need to realize that as Christians our primary citizenship is not with the particular country we live in, our primary citizenship is a "Heavenly" citizenship centered on the person of Jesus Christ. Our obligation to truth is greater, God don't play word games, and he doesn’t make inappropriate comparisons based on things he has heard and not seen. Our faith is in Christ whom we have not seen, but our actions and words are to be based on knowledge, and from testing. When going on faith, we need to make sure that the thing we put our faith in is deserving. For me, that certainly isn't a political system that has shown a history of being inconsistent.

There is another danger though, one I didn't touch on and one that could be the most critical. That danger is those presenting their far fetched ideas and views without searching for truth, whether by watching the movies, the television shows, the research and proofs that they argue so strongly against. This presents a danger ultimately destructive to both the political and religious concepts. Those arguing their particular points, without the research, are in essence saying, I am right on these issues and you are wrong. Not only are they saying this, without knowledge, they in fact discourage knowledge because they are encouraging people to take what they say for granted. This becomes a serious attack on free thought, and ultimately something in America that should be held dear, free speech.

It is amazing at the Religious, and Political swayed individuals that focus more on a point of debate, than they do on the ultimate truth or intent to seek truth. For the religious person, it is no different than the aspect of free thought sought out by many reformers during the reformation. For the politically minded, it is no different than the aspect of freedom sought out by free thinkers like Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and so many others. Hopefully, some day, people will have their eyes opened, not by what others have said, but by what they have experienced from the study of political systems, and for Christians by the study of the Bible. If God was capable of giving the words to a fisherman to write down, he is certainly capable enough to give you a mind that can understand what you are reading. Read the Bible in its context, at get this, without the assistance of the commentaries. Nothing wrong with them in their place, but, nothing wrong with seeing what God will do in helping you understand the Bible on your own either.

I am calling on all Christians, and all citizens, to quit basing their political, and religious agendas on the things you hear, base them instead, on the things you have seen, and come to know as fact. Don't let the extreme right or left wing be your puppet master, instead let God be your master, realizing that he gives you liberty and freedom to use the brain he gave you to discover truth. Don't fall for the lies many would have you believe, but get caught up instead in the web of truth God provides in the ability to use your brain and your intellect.


Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information


Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217


Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html


To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

The Turtle or Snail?

One of the things I really don't understand is people who blog, but only allow certain select friends see those blogs. Now don't get me wrong, I understand why on occasion one would want to have private messages be just that, private, but one of the analogies I have often used, is a great song isn't worth very much if people don't have the opportunity to hear it.

I suspect there are different reasons one would choose to be silent in their thoughts and musings. One of them is that they are afraid of what people will think. But this perspective seems to be quite selfish, and in all honesty, quite defeating. In fact, I would encourage people to open up, be themselves, don't worry about what others think. Well at least don't dwell on what others think, I do believe that it is human nature to try and please others, there is a sense of serving others and helping others that we in fact have to unlearn as we are growing up.

Then there are those who for whatever reason choose to live in their own secret world, keeping their close nit group of friends and not welcoming anyone else in. I guess for those, that is okay, but what a lonely life those people must live. I can't imagine never meeting new people, never exploring new territory and new thoughts. I believe the human mind was developed by God to keep on learning, to keep on progressing. It is one of the beautiful things about getting older. I know more because I have experienced and learned more. There is no way I could have done that without coming into more contact with more people.

I also think people are afraid of confrontation. I guess this is a legitimate reason that some keep their thoughts private, but I am saddened that this really says something about the fact that individual human beings can't deal with confrontation. In other words, it is as if we don't have room to disagree without some big argument taking place and we taking the disagreements as personal attacks. I think on this point there is a lot of maturing to take place on the part of humanity. I have learned lessons here more so from the movie reviews I do than anything. It was a great tool to learn that I can disagree about a movie I feel passionately about with someone and still get along with them. Sure I will argue my point, and even at times the attack on my end have become personal, but I learned and grew through that. I know that if I can most anyone else can.

Here is the challenge for all people, if you write, let others read it. If you sing, let others hear the song. If you have a voice, share it with those around you. If you have a life, live it with those you come into contact with. If you breathe, share the air around you with all of those you come into contact with. Life is too short to go through it living in a shell like we are some kind of turtle or snail. Every now again, we have to stick our heads out, take a chance, and shred our shell. It is only as we share in life that we can truly experience the full benefit of life.

Truth is, I try to understand and befriend people, but when I see some that only share with their close interment friends, not only I but anyone else who wants to learn is cut off, maybe I am the problem for wanting to get to know people. I don't know. I do know I have people ask me, how have you developed so many friends? Part of the answer to that is easy, I love music so I have a lot of musical oriented friends, some who are real friends, but the other thing is in reality not easy, but it is worthwhile. I try to be vested in the lives with those I come into contact with, in other words, I try to be a real friend. As I try to pick back up over this week, I have had 4 phone calls, and had to respond to over 30 emails, just this week. I suspect that will increase today as I already know I have two more phone calls today to interact with people, and friends, and will likely have at least another 10 emails to respond to on various things from wrestling to substance abuse. I have never regretted trying to be a friend, well maybe once, but I'll get over it.

I know we aren't all the same, and that is a good thing, but it would be nice if we all tried to get along, and that won't happen unless we are willing to share. We wonder why countries can't get along and stop the violence, maybe; just maybe, we have to learn to do that with each other first. If we can't share and love on a one to one basis, I don't know why we think countries can ever do that. These are just thoughts to ponder for the day. Blessings to you and don't be afraid to open up, I think you might like what you find. There is a beautiful world outside of that shell.





Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Adoption, Former Leader Article

Here is another Blast from the Past I wanted to share with you. It is a great story about the difference one family made in the lives of numerous children. An interesting tid-bit is that shortly after I wrote this article, the Hudgeons family adopted another child. We can all make a difference, the question is, are we? For this family it was providing homes for children, for someone else it may be taking meals to a Senior Citizen or maybe serving a meal at a homeless shelter. Then again, we can serve each other in the simplest of ways, maybe watching the children of a young couple with not much money at no charge, shucks even give them a gift of child care, a nice dinner and a movie, you can do all of that for out of pocket expense of around $30-$50, we provide those types of help here at The Virtual Pew. The point is, this family has made a tremendous difference in the lives of the children they have adopted. If you read between the lines, you can even read about the birth mothers who they have served. You can make a difference as well, the question is not if you can though, but will you? Enjoy getting to know this great family.

The Hudgeon's Family
The Christian Leader
July 2001
Mike Furches
Copyright 2001

It's Saturday morning and things are hectic at the Hudgeons house. Samuel and Michael are getting ready for soccer. Nine year old Samuel is the analytical one of the two brothers. He enjoys science and reading. Michael, his younger birth brother is 7 years old, is the exact opposite of his brother. The boys are of Korean decent and outside of the two enjoying soccer they are like not much alike. Michael enjoys playing in the mud, working with tools and building things. He is aggressive and it's not unusual for him to take down a player twice his size in a soccer game.

Emily, the same age as Michael, is turning cartwheels in the driveway as her dad, Dean, finishes packing the mini van with supplies for the soccer game. Emily is a child of Mulatto origins, her birth parents where from Caucasian and African American backgrounds. Emily enjoys dance and is involved in gymnastics. She is quite at first but loosens up after awhile.

Emily has two younger sisters, three year old Aunah, an African American, and two year old Abbey who is Caucasian. Aunah is the most outspoken child, not afraid to speak her mind. She enjoys playing with her sisters. On the other hand, Abbey is quiet and shy. She is currently being cleaned up from breakfast prior to the soccer game by her mother, Jeanette. Abbey enjoys playing with her dolls. Even though they are only a year apart in age they are quite the opposite.

It is a busy Saturday morning for this family with 5 children ranging from age 2 - 9 from 4 different racial backgrounds. It is a remarkable journey from the time that Dean and Jeanette were told they would not be able to have biological children.

Dean and Jeanette are a Caucasian couple in their mid thirties who had dreamed of having children of their own. After trying for a couple of years they finally saw several doctors who told them about several medical options that were available. They were quite expensive and had a low success rate. "It was really hard for me because even though I had my college degree and was working , I never really wanted to be a career woman. My goal was to be a mom, a wife and a mother." Jeanette would recall, "Dean was the one who took my hand and led me down that adoption road." Dean, a bank trust officer, sees his family as his first ministry. "Making sure that we are raising them to know the Lord and raising them to honor God."

"God led us to some friends who lived in Topeka, Kansas who had adopted 3 children. We saw the wonderful family that the Lord had put together and the Lord opened our hearts." Jeanette states still showing the joy of the process.

The Hudgeons family would begin the process of application that started with Life Choice Ministries in Manhattan, Kansas. This ministry, a pro-life agency, provided assistance in the adoption of each of their children. In the early stages of adoption when presented with what types of children to adopt Jeanette describes, "After a lot of prayer, we decided that we didn’t want to tie God's hands. We wanted to be open to whatever child God placed in our home."

The Hudgeons placed their initial application for adoption in June and heard back from the agency in September. Their first adopted child was Emily. Emily's birth mother wanted an open adoption. The birth parent was able to look through a list of applicants and actually choose the couple she wanted to adopt her child. She chose the Hudgeons but there was still some fear. Jeanette detailed one of her concerns, "Was the birth mom going to change her mind?" Aunah, the cute 3 year old jumps in the conversation to reassure her mom, "She didn't change her mind."

With the adoption the birth mother, Dean and Jeanette each selected three male names and three female names. They were surprised that on each list of names was Emily, this despite not seeing each others list. The birth mother wanted to give Emily her middle name and chose Elaine which is also Jeanette's middle name which the birth mother did not know. Not only was this confirmation to the birth mother but Jeanette saw this as, "kind of a sign of God's seal of approval." Dean and Jeanette took Emily to her new home the day after being born.

When adopting Samuel and Michael, biological siblings, they had less than 30 minutes notice. They received a phone call from their attorney and dropped immediately to their knees and started praying. Dean asked Jeanette right after their prayer, "What do you think?" "These are our sons." Jeanette would reply. The next day they had 2 new sons.

Samuel and Michael were an answer to prayer for Jeanette. She had been praying for twins and shortly after receiving Michael and Samuel she realized that Michael and Emily where both the same age and they quickly became like twins.

Aunah became a member of the Hudgeons family shortly after her sister Emily had been praying for a younger sister. Emily recalls, "I wanted a sister to sleep with, but I don’t want to sleep with her now." A typical big sister reaction as Emily and Aunah start teasing each other.

Emily's prayers did not seem to be answered right away. Dean and Jeanette had found out they would be receiving a son, named Talon. They picked Talon up and after 8 days in the family the birth mother decided before the final papers were signed that she did not want to give him up and took him back. This would be a down time for the family. Their church, friends and family would begin praying for the family. Two weeks later the Hudgeons were notified that Aunah's birth mother would be giving birth in about 2 months and had selected them as the adoptive parents.

It would be hard to imagine the Hudgeons family without Aunah. She is outspoken 100% African American and a joy to be around. The 3 year old is emphatic about letting one know that she "wants grape juice and communion." The relationship that has developed between the birth mother and the Hudgeons is also exceptional.

The Hudgeons were confronted with various beliefs related to adoption and abortion through Aunah's adoption. Aunah's birth mother became pregnant after being raped. Jeanette explained her opinion on this issue, "Some had said that abortion is wrong except in the case of rape but God put us face to face with that. It was like God had a plan for this child. This baby was not a mistake. Even though Satan meant this for evil, God is going to use this for good. Life is sacred and even though she might not have been conceived in the ideal circumstances she was not a mistake."

Aunah's adoption, like all of the other adoptions was an open adoption. Jeanette begin to develop a relationship with Aunah's birth mother and grandmother, even attending the doctor's visits during the pregnancy., Jeanette was also present during the birth. Aunah, the Hudgeons, and the birth mother have become a testimony to almost everyone they meet. Together they share their story across the Tulsa Community in churches, women's groups, public schools and more. They tell how the birth mother was going to have an abortion but after being told that she had to wait for 7 weeks she changed her mind. Instead, as Jeanette describes it, she made a "sacrifice of love for Aunah." "We are so proud that our birth mothers chose the path they did as opposed to abortion. God has strengthened our faith because we have seen God at work. Our open adoptions are not coparenting. They totally let us be the parents. They know that is our role and that is what they want us to do." Aunah's birth mother and grandmother visit on a regular basis and the birth mother is also now enrolled on a scholarship in music and drama at a local university.

When Dean discusses the positive aspects of open adoption and how that Aunah has been released to the Hudgeons family Aunah jumps in an emphatic tone, "I don't belong to mom and dad, I belong to Jesus. Now come on."

Two year old Abbey is the youngest and the only Caucasian child in the family. Her birth mother, 15 at the time, was involved in a church and decided that it would be best to give her up for adoption. She called the Hudgeons on December 3rd telling them that she had signed over papers for them to adopt her. This day was Dean's birthday and while the Hudgeons where not in the adoption process they knew this was a gift from God. They recognized the gift of love from the birth mother. "It was such a selfless decision out of love for Abbey. She knew the pain it was going to cause but wanted the best for Abbey." Jeanette describes.

While it is clear that the Hudgeons family has been blessed with a family, it has not been without difficulty. One of the areas the family has had to learn is methods of their children's skin and hair care. The open adoption process has helped a great deal with this. Dean is quick to point out that those are things that are learned rather quickly. He even points out that "even people of the same race have different hair and skin types."

Dean and Jeanette are often asked about the involvement in educating each child of their heritage. The fact that they home school 3 of their children and eventually will all 5 makes this easier. Home schooling allows them to establish the curriculum and some of the birth parents have also assisted in the integration of each child's culture. Dean quickly point out, "We don't want to over do that though because we don't want them to think that we're different. We have our own Hudgeons traditions." He goes on explaining, "We don't want our children to feel like they are in compartments. They are a part of the whole. Our first heritage is that we're God's children, after that we're Hudgeons, then Jeanette's family is Stigge's . We are making our own heritage and it is whatever God makes it. It is fun to explore, Africa, Korea and everything else that is a part of our biological background but really our spiritual heritage is what is important and that is what we try to highlight."

Jeanette adds in "We don't downplay anything about how God made Aunah or any of the other children." Dean then jokingly adds, "Yea we celebrate Aunah's hair for about an hour and a half every week."

Dean and Jeanette are also quick to point out the difficulty they had with some of their family, especially after the adoption of their first child Emily. Deans grandfather at first "disowned", him. After a long and difficult discussion with his grandfather Dean explained that the adoption was something they "just had to do and it was the right thing to do."

His grandfather had been active in, and grown up in the church and it was something Jeanette describes as, "We just didn't see it coming." "He had grown up in Colorado and had had virtually no contact with minorities whatsoever."

Dean explained that although there are still some difficulties and things are far from perfect, "the blessing came later on when he began to see all of our children as children of God and there was absolutely no difference except for a little difference of skin tone. It was an incredible blessing to us and later he actually affirmed our family and we had discussions where he essentially said I was wrong and you were right. For someone of that generation to say they were wrong was quite a big deal."

Jeanette going into additional detail, now filled with tears of emotion, "To think that a 80 year old man, set in his ways, and see God began to change him, we have seen God do that. He, (God), can change someone's heart like that. You know if people don’t come face to face with it, (racism), if they don't have to confront it a lot of times they will go through their whole lives and they will never have to deal with, 'How do I feel about people of a different race?' I think our family didn't know what it was going to be like because they had never been put in a situation but it is so neat to see how they have just embraced our kids and loved them."

It was during a Thanksgiving dinner when Aunah was sitting on Jeanette's fathers lap that she observed him sharing a cup and spoon with him that she realized how far people could come if they just took the chance.

Dean believes that "for a long time Christians were a big part of the problem in regard to racial relations. Scriptures that were used to support racism were taken out of context. Today a lot of churches are leading the way to restore racial relationships. Our church Westport Mennonite Brethren has been wonderful. One of the positives is that it's just no big deal that we have the family we do. They, (Westport) don’t over react and try to over compensate. They just don't make a big deal about it and that is one of the best things they can do. Our church doesn't over react, we’re just a family, another family in the church, another family with an extraordinary God."

The Hudgeons openly admit that they don't know what the future holds in regards to additional children. "The Lord is too big for us to say it can't be done or shouldn't be done. If the Lord puts it in our heart we'll know, it's been clear each time. Abbey and Aunah are still pretty little, we want to give them all that we can but we want to be open to what God has for us." Jeanette describes, Dean adds in with a smile, "The answer to that is that we don’t know." Dean also adds, "America is badly in need of parents who care passionately about their kids and are willing to make them their top priority. I hope that the passion that we have for our kids encourages people to be patient parents whether they have natural or adopted children. Children are a gift of God. Hopefully, parents will see that parenting really is the number one occupation."

Jeanette reflects on their journey thus far, "When times were difficult and we wanted children there was a verse near the kitchen sink that gave us comfort. Jeremiah 29:11-13." Jeanette then quoted the verse from memory, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." She quotes the verse perfectly as her son Samuel recites it with her.

For complete edited version contact The Christian Leader, Hillsboro Kansas. Not to be used without permission from the author and publisher.

Now this video is not of the Hudgeons Family, but it is a great video to show the effects of adoption. I can tell you from personal experience regarding the adoption of our son, it is something I will never regret, what a gift from God.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.



Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form

A Blast from the Past, Addicitions

I was motivated to write this article, published in 2001 shortly after a dear friend of mine recessed back into his alcoholism. It was around this time of year, that this dear friend got drunk one night, fell asleep in his house while smoking a cigarette and ended dying in a house fire. This dear friend had recently split up with his wife because of the families own inability to deal with this rehash of addiction. I write this in his memory. He was a member of the worship band I played in and was a dear friend. I firmly believe that he loved God, but just didn't have the resources to deal with his addiction. May each of us, see, help, and love those we know who face addictions. May we be a reflection of the love God has for them, and may we present that love in a way that they will receive, knowing all along the way, they are the ones responsible for their actions, not we, but they.

Addictions Breaking the Habit
Christian Leader
May, 2001
Michael A. Furches
Copyright 2001


Why would someone choose to follow a habit that is self destructive? In many ways that is exactly what an addiction is, a bad habit that can become self destructive. Researchers have discovered that it takes approximately 21 days to develop a habit. For many, their habits are worthwhile habits like praying, going to church, reading the Bible, exercise, and more. Others have habits like smoking, alcohol use, drugs, and overeating. Bad habits often become addictions. When a person practices a habit that is self destructive we often ask, "Why? Can't they just quit?" The questions we sometimes ask shows the lack of understanding for what the individual with addictions is going through. Many Christians often place the blame on the individuals who live with addictions and we offer little or no help at helping them overcome those addictions

The National Institute of Health has identified that 1 in 10 Americans are addicted to alcohol. When looking at various drugs, including both legal and illegal drugs such as nicotine and over the counter prescriptions, that number goes to approximately 1 in 6. Despite what many believe many addictions, including alcoholism and drug abuse are at epidemic levels. If our churches mirror the communities they exist in, and if we are seeking to save the lost in our communities, we must be prepared to assist those who have addictions.

There are many reasons people follow their addictions. There is clear, indisputable evidence that many alcoholics have a predisposition to the disease. Hereditary, plays a factor as to why some become more easily addicted than others. The environment and community one lives in also has a major influence. Many are looking for a means of escape from the world around them, while others are influenced by peer pressure. Some individuals may use drugs, such as crack or heroin only one time before developing a physical and/or psychological addiction. Others, who have previous addictions can easily fall back into those addictions if they give into the temptation, even if just one time. This is true for any addiction. Without the help of Jesus Christ, close friends, a community of supporters and individual will power one will have difficulty overcoming their addiction.

The most effective programs helping with addictions have as a core ingredient, reliance upon God. Most 12 step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) were originally rooted not only in God but specifically Jesus Christ. While there is reward in this approach there is also a danger. Many who have gone through 12 step programs believe that because of their involvement they have the support and help from God. While recognition of God is vital and necessary, a belief in God does not mean one has the assistance of Christ and the Holy Spirit or that they have a relationship with Him.

Matthew 7: 21-23 is a clear indication from Christ. Many think they know Him, but in reality do not. "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast our demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

In Scripture wine is used in celebrations, as medicine and casual drink so it is difficult to support total abstinence of alcohol with these examples. However, it is very easy to see the numerous references to the sins of being drunk, being a glutton and numerous other behaviors that support an addictive lifestyle. It is also important to look at Scriptural examples of not leading others into temptation. Knowing of the hereditary and disease related issues with various addictions we, as Christians, should set good examples for those around us being careful to not lead them into temptation.

Knowing of the Scriptural references of addiction sins, and then continuing in that behavior one must realize that he is ultimately serving his physical desires as opposed to his spiritual needs. Paul explains in Romans 13: 13,14 "Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Our appearance and actions should mirror those of Jesus; our focus is on Him, not ourselves.

Persons with addictions understand all too well the words in Proverbs 23: 29-35. It is almost as if the Psalmist had an alcohol addiction. There are the familiar descriptions of sorrow and destruction that comes with being intoxicated. Anyone struggling with an addiction can read these words and relate.

Those with addictions know about the destruction they are leading themselves into. Christ also knew, and made an effort to reach out to, love, and save those who lived in sin. He, was Himself, accused of being a glutton and drunkard, in part because He loved the addicted enough to make the effort to spend time with them, in their environment, loving them, seeking relationship and ultimately dying for each persons sin. "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." Matthew 11:19. For many it is a matter of looking them in the eye and saying, "I love you, let me help."

The first Bible verse that many learn is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." The ultimate truth of God's love exemplified in this verse is as much for those facing addictions as those who have grown up in church. The lasting implications of that truth should not be lost, especially by those facing addictions. For those having friends who suffer from addictions we should constantly strive to assist them in understanding God's love for them. John 10:10 states in part, "…I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly." Christ would choose that we have life in Him. Life we don't have while being controlled by substances or actions that take us away from our families, self-control, the church, and ultimately Him.

One of the traps of addictions is that many of those addicted think it is still possible to have a life in Christ while at the same time being trapped by their addiction. Numerous passages of Scripture tell us otherwise including, Colossians 3:1-5,

Slavery still exists; the question is; Are we a slave to our sins and addictions or are we free? Are we working with the addicted person, whether they be family or friends? Are we helping provide a route of escape to stay in their addictions by making excuses for them? It is important that you love them fully, but that you also let them receive the consequences of their sin. For many it is only from living with, seeing, and understanding that their sin has consequences that they are motivated to not repeat their sin.

Copyright 2001
For the finished and edited version contact The Christian Leader, Hillsboro Kansas
No part of this story can be used without written permission of Mike Furches and The Christian Leader, Hillsboro Kansas.


The following video is from the Jim Carroll Band and was in the movie Basketball Diaries with Leonardo DeCaprio. It is a great movie that shows the horror of addictions. When I was with the band Route 66 we used to do this song on a regular basis with two additional verses I wrote for the song, all with real people, describing real events.

The two verses I wrote with the song were

Cherry got stabbed from a deal gone bad
Darryl used a bullet Dinky Od'd
Sarah passed on from huffing Pam
Jeff took a leap off a bridge indeed
All my friends who died on me
These are my friends who died

Your friend Eddy must have been a good man
My best friend his name was Stan
A musician, writer and a thinker too
Stan didn't know what to do.
So he took a shot gun put it to his head
Now my friend named Stan is dead.





Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Reflections of 1968, I was There!

I was thinking about what to write today with it being the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. I didn't think long or wasn't hard as it was instinctive for me. After all I am old enough to remember and experience history. In this area, I experienced history. First of all, it is a day not just about Dr. King, it is a day about all who stood beside him, marched with him, and carried on without him. It is a day celebrating the millions which lived life's of abuse and prejudice before him. I supported a day honoring this man and his mission long before many others did.

I will never forget growing up and moving from one location to another. I'll never forget 1968. I was spending time in Washington DC with my grandfather and aunt. It was a year full with riots and hatred. It was the year Dr. King was killed. While growing up in the South I had heard many comments about Dr. King, a common term, even among the religious community was "Nigger." It was a word I hated then and hate even more today. It troubles me to even type the word it is so offensive. While I hated the word due to growing up among blacks, I had to spend time off and on with family members who did not live among blacks. There was so much bitterness, so much misunderstanding. I'll never forget my grandfathers' words when the news came on and announced that Dr. King had been murdered, his exact words still ring in my ears, "It is about time somebody killed that Nigger." The words stung, and hurt, they hurt and in many ways turned me away from God. If this was the type of God people worshiped, I wanted nothing to do with him. That year, I saw my grandfathers' anger grow as we would drive down the streets of Washington DC and see the city on fire.

I am pleased to say, that over the years, my grandfathers' attitude changed. He repented and asked God to forgive him. While he had been a man who had used harsh words, he and my grandmother were two people who went out of their way to help others, even if later on, those people were black. I saw a real miracle occur in the life of my grandfather. I was convinced as I got older, it was my grandfathers' own willingness to let God change his heart, even though he had been a leader in the church, even though he had many other issues, on this issue, my grandfather sought out, and received help from God to change his heart. I think most of that came about because of his own close contact and interaction with blacks as he got older. God found the easiest way to change his heart was to have family put him into close contact with friends of theirs who were also black.

My grandfather was a reflection of his culture and community. Yet, even though he was a reflection he changed. In short I think that is all Dr. King was asking, oh yea justice and all was a part of it, but he realized it wouldn't occur unless the heart changed.

There was something else about Dr. King that many forget about. He was a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was in fact, the message of Jesus that drove Dr. Kings message. I’ll never forget a few years ago hearing Felix Justice and Danny Glover do a presentation on the Poems of Langston Hughes, and the message of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Felix Justice did a powerful performance of Dr. King’s last message in Memphis. It wasn’t just a message; it was a sermon that reflected heavily on the person of Jesus Christ. It was an honor spending a little time with Danny Glover and Felix Justice after their performance talking about this.

It is a shame the religious community forgets about Minister King, it is a shame the non religious community forgets. It is up to us to make sure they are reminded of that. Dr. King was influenced and got his message from the great liberator, the great emancipator, the person of Jesus Christ. From his willingness to love his enemy, to the presentation of the salvation offered by Jesus, Dr. King did not forget about the person of Jesus. Neither should we.

In closing today, last year I put together a video I desired to reflect the liberation Jesus provides. I based and dedicated the video to John Newton, a former slave trader who changed his life, but also to Dr. King who reflected that message of having a dream. What resulted was a video that has had many thousands of views and emails commenting on it. We, my wife and I, believe in sharing the love of Christ to all people, so much we made a special request to adopt a mulatto son. We deal with the issue of loving cross culturally on a regular basis; we know it is our hearts that bring us together. It is not the chromosomes we share, or the cellular make up, it is the willingness to love each other despite color, race, sexual preference, or any other distinguishing characteristic that we may have some level of prejudice towards. Love, love in Christ, which was the message of Dr. King. Why was he so passionate? It is quite simple really. If you watch the video of Amazing Grace, you will see an amazing story, an amazing story rooted in love, one promoted by Dr. King and one we can still promote today, some years even after his death.



Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Ephesians 4 Gifts

Prior to starting the study of Ephesians Chapter 4 I feel compelled to mention an important aspect. Often times, Christians take principles and concepts out of context. The following chapter is a perfect example of that. I have held and still do, that the way we treat non Christians, as opposed to Christians is different. In fact, that is not only the case in tone, but in attitude and expectations. I truly believe that Jesus was the ultimate example of this, he responded totally different to non religious people than he did religious people.

If looking at the life of Jesus, it is easy to see him confronting religious people, even his own followers, but often times, if not most all of the time, loving of the non religious people, whether a tax collector, a prostitute, or whoever else he came into contact with outside of religious beliefs different than his own. Yet, we as Christians, often times seem to take the confront all, speak against all, that is different than what we believe in a harsh directive tone and manner. The following chapter of Ephesians is one in particular that some often use as an example of the right to do this. Here is my challenge, Ephesians, as you can tell from looking at past studies, was a letter of Paul to the Church. Paul is in fact telling the church at Ephesus how they are to treat each other. There is no indication that this is the way we are supposed to treat people outside of our faith.

I have been criticized quite often because of the fact I try to be loving and considerate of people outside of our faith. I am slow to judge, and even slower to condemn. I simply believe it is not my job. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to do his work with those who are not of the same belief. In fact, in all honesty, I will say, that it does not matter what I say, or what I do, other than the fact that the Holy Spirit of God, may, or may not choose to use my words and/or actions. Of course at that point, I also understand that the person has the choice to listen or not. Bottom line though, I have the right, and even obligation to confront my fellow believer of where they may be wrong, even then though, it is to be in love, and with the intent of making right and good with God. When it comes to one who don't believe though, I am to love, share what I believe after relationship is developed, and then let the Holy Spirit do his job.

Now with all of that said, remember, the words we will study today, were words directed towards the church at Ephesus, thus to Christians.

Ephesians Chapter 4

Unity with Christ
(1) As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. (2) Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. (3) Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. (4) All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people. (5) We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. (6) There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

Paul is again letting it be known that he sees Jesus Christ not just as his Savior but as his Lord. He owes him everything, Jesus is seen as a master, and Paul gladly sees himself as a slave. Paul in his own humility is openly willing to beg for the points he is about to present. He cares about the people he is writing, but he also cares that they present themselves as living in a way that illustrates them as displaying God's love for them and their need to live up to God's expectations for them.

Paul starts hitting the message right off the bat with this church in this passage. Telling them to be humble, gentle, patient and loving of each other. One can't help but think of how often those who call themselves Christian don't act this way towards each other. It is important to remember this point a little later on, while there may be times of controversy within the church, among Christians, the way we treat each other should still be following these directives here. Believe me, I know how difficult this is, I know how often I fail, but I also know what I see among others who call themselves Christian. Unfortunately not only are we not these things with each other, we aren't these things with the very ones that God loved so much to send his son to die on a cross for. We confront them, their wrongs, and expect that for some reason we are better than others, again, even Paul, uses these words carefully.

One of the things that I often have difficulty with is the elitism among some denominations. They tend to think they are right and everyone else is wrong. Yet, within this church, and even for all Churches, Paul is asking to find ways to be united and to live in peace. In other words, get along with each other. I can tell you from past experience as a pastor of a church. The reality is that more churches and denominations approach each other from a competitive perspective than they do a loving unified perspective. It is unfortunate, but that is the way it is. All churches, have to make the effort to get along, to help each other in the building of the Kingdom of God, instead of the competition and tearing down of each other. It is one of the things that in my opinion gives validity to the need that The Virtual Pew is a organization and group that works with churches of various denominations. While each church has to be a church that recognizes the basics of the faith in the person of Jesus Christ, we need to be able to make recommendations to the Methodists, Mennonites, Baptists, and Non Denominational among others. The truth of it is we serve the one God. We are a part of the same body and the Holy Spirit has the ability to bring us together.

These verses also display the nature of what many Christians call The Trinity. Notice there is a distinct purpose of God, The Son, (Jesus Christ), and The Holy Spirit. Involved with all of that is the closing comment that all will work with those who call Jesus Leader and Forgiver. The concept that God works, while using us, is a concept I still marvel at. To think that God would choose to use me is unimaginable. Yet, that is exactly what God does, not just for me, but for all who have a relationship with his son Jesus Christ.

Questions:
1. How does Paul see himself in this passage?
2. How should we see ourselves?
3. What does it mean to be humble, gentle, and patient?
4. When Paul says be united and live in peace, what is he talking about?
5. What happens if we don't allow God to use us?

(7) Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us. (8) As the Scriptures say,

"When he went up

to the highest place,

he led away many prisoners

and gave gifts to people."


This is an amazing passage of scripture that would be easy to loose sight of if we are not careful. There is the powerful concept that Jesus has given gifts to his followers. I often strongly encourage followers of Christ to take a gifts assessment test to see where their gifts are at. I actually have a couple of assessment tests that I strongly believe in but know others exist. For Christians who have not done this, I strongly encourage you to give it a shot. It will help let you know where your gifts are at from a Biblical perspective, but they will also give clarity as to why you are the way you are. I would encourage you taking one of these tests, then getting with your pastor, and or ministry leader and have them help you explore how you can use those gifts. For those that depend on The Virtual Pew, get with me, email me at mike@thevirtualpew.com and I will get you an assessment, go over the tests with you, and help you explore the best ways to use those Christ given gifts to help where you are, and to help with The Virtual Pew if that is the place God is calling you.

I have several Christmas gifts that are still in their packaging. I opened them from their Christmas wrapping but haven't opened their other packaging yet and put them to use. I will assure you, until I do so I won't experience the full benefit of those gifts. The same can be said with the gifts that Christ has given you if you are a follower of Jesus. It is time to open up all of the wrapping, and put the gifts to use.

Questions:
1. Have you taken a gifts assessment?
2. What are your gifts?
3. How are you using the gifts God gave you?
4. How do your gifts help others?
5. Would you like to be used by God?
6. What are you doing to be used by God?

(9) When it says, "he went up," it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. (10) This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so that he would fill the whole universe.

(11) Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, (12) so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. (13) This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. (14) We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. (15) Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head (16) of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.

Some say, and I tend to agree, that Paul is reminding the church at Ephesus that Jesus went through the ultimate sacrifice for them. He literally went into Hell, and then ascended to, and went up into Heaven where he now resides. From Heaven, Christ can look over the earth, look over his people, and then be there to assist and direct the Holy Spirit as to what to do.

We need to recognize, Jesus is the giver of gifts. We can't change what he gave to whom. Bottom line though, he knew what gift was best for each individual and gave that individual those gifts. He gave these gifts so that people could learn and better serve each other. Notice the gifts are not for our own benefit per say, but for the benefit of others. I fully believe, if you aren't using your gifts to help the body or help other Christians or those who don't believe in Jesus, then you are not really using the gifts that God gave you.

Verse 13 is critical, Paul is telling us that God is going to use this method until we reach maturity. For many, the belief is that we never reach full maturity until we get to Heaven. I don't know about this. I do believe that we should continue to mature, as we get older, not just in our faith but in years. We should learn in such away that we have begin to take on these attributes that Paul talks about. As we mature, as we use the gifts God has given us to serve others, the more we become like Christ. Remember, Jesus was at peace and able to totally love every individual, no matter how much harm they chose to bring to him. Jesus was content, and able to do incredible works. As we exercise the things that Paul is talking about to the church of Ephesus, as we begin to use our gifts and serve each other, remember, we become more like Jesus in all ways.

Paul then goes on and gives a little strong admonition here. It is kind of contrary to other passages of scripture if you think about it. Some say we should become like Children, yet, Paul here is telling us to quit acting like children. He tells us this, I believe with the understanding that we have to be careful about what we listen to, and who we listen to.

One of the things I think the church has not done a good job of is looking at Scripture in its entirety and then evaluating the teachings of scripture with each other, thus finding a practical and consistent application. In the preamble to this posting I mentioned a way I think we do that. Christians treat non Christians like they should be Christians, often times misapplying scripture as a justification of doing that. They could simply look at the Bible in its entirety and evaluate what has to be a logical conclusion. I believe that looking at the life and teachings of Christ and the apostles provide quality examples to learn from. Yet, what do we often do? We listen to television or radio preachers tell us what to think. They tell us what to think because they don't think the Holy Spirit can do his job. They Holy Spirit has to have others tell us the meaning of scripture. I would say be careful here, be careful about that radio preacher, that television preacher, even that internet preacher Mike Furches. Measure what I and or any other pastor says with the message of the Bible. Of course we can't know that message if we don't read it and apply it to our lives. Then again, we can't fully know it if we don't follow the directives that Paul has already given in the first several verses of this passage.

There is a major reason people don't follow these concepts though, the first word of verse 15 gives us a good indication as to what is needed here, LOVE! The bottom line is, we talk a good game about love, but we don't really love. We say we do, we say things like, "I’ll pray for you," then we don't. We say things like, "If you need me for anything let me know," then we don't follow through. Truth is, many Christians have forgotten how to love. Jesus is the ultimate measure of what love means. Yet truth be told we don't want to be like Jesus, because to be like Jesus means we take up our cross and we follow him daily. Did you hear that? We take up our cross, which means exactly for us what it meant for Jesus, great sacrifice and ultimately death, not per say a physical death, although in many parts of the world that is exactly what it means, but certainly a spiritual death to the point that we give up and turn from all of the things that would cause us to not be like Jesus. Just as Jesus was able to raise from the dead, he is able to bring people together that have minor points of theological difference. He can bring us together and hold us together to accomplish the things that God desires for this world. A world where we care for the poor and needy, provide hope to the hopeless, homes to the homeless, food to the hungry, rehabilitation to the prisoner and on and on. The things Jesus desires for this world are illustrated in the way he led his life and in the life of those he touched.

Questions:
1. Why is it important that Jesus went to Hell?
2. Why is it important that Jesus went to Heaven?
3. Do you think the gifts listed are the only gifts?
4. Why or Why not would there be other gifts that Christ might give?
5. What would some of those gifts be?
6. How can you become more like Jesus?
7. How do you determine who you listen to and learn from regarding religious things?
8. How do you determine if a teaching is true or false?
9. Why would some teachers trick us into accepting their teachings?
10. What does it mean for you to become like Jesus?

The Old Life and the New Life
(17) As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. (18) Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, (19) and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.
(20-21) But that isn't what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about him and learned about him. (22) You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. (23) Let the Spirit change your way of thinking (24) and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

Paul takes a step out of the norm here, he recognizes that there are those who don't accept God who are stupid and godless. He talks about how they are stubborn, ignorant and have missed out on all that comes from God. Paul also makes several other negative comments here towards the non follower of Christ. I will note here, I can't deny what he is saying, but we need to remember, he isn't trying to per say point out the wrongs of the non follower of Jesus, but reminding people who are followers of Christ as to what their lives used to be like. These individuals already know the truth. One of the concerns I have here, is that people would use this passage to address any non follower of Jesus in this way. From Paul's actions around others, in the way he reached out to them I don't think this is Paul's intent. I think his intent is to make clear to the Christians, in essence he is saying "You used to live this way, now quit."

Notice the second part of the passage starts out talking about how the church was taught about how to act, they were taught about Jesus. Paul really hits this topic hard. One has to look at these verses in their entirety to have an understanding of what Paul is trying to say. Yes, after the fact, we all did some stupid, godless, ignorant things. Yet we have been taught about Jesus and the time for change is now. There comes a point in time that we have to change our ways. Now I firmly believe that God is involved in that, God helps people know when that time is. In fact, most people don't like who they are, they want to change, often times they don’t know how. I think one reason Paul may be addressing this is that he wants the people who follow Jesus to act different. They need to be examples to others as to the correct way to act and behave.

Now on this point, notice there is a difference between again, the way I believe Paul addresses Christians and non Christians, here he is speaking specifically to Christians, it isn't the non Christians he is speaking to making these comments to. It is Christians. Some have again confused my own expectations of Christians in the things they do and don't do. It is a difficult area, I know an area I have at times failed myself. It is difficult because we have to distinguish between cultural issues, and legitimate spiritual issues. We have difficulty and we all base our views on our own interpretation of the Bible. Likely the closest to taking a pure Biblical approach is people like the Amish, yet I don't think that is the answer either. I think becoming holy, means doing things that brings us closer to God as opposed to pushing him further away from us. Within this area, there are certainly the clear sinful things, wrong things like stealing, murder and so forth. But there are other things that may be sinful for some and not others, things like drinking a beer, or going to a movie. That is where Romans 14 comes into play. It all comes down to in part, following through with that maturity thing, listening to the directives Paul is giving, using your gifts, serving others and so forth.

Last note here, in support of my position, notice who it is that makes the change. We don't by the name calling, the confrontation and so forth make people change. It is the Holy Spirit that brings about change in people. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we will become more like God, which is more in tune with what God wants for each of us.

Questions:
1. Notice Paul starts off addressing this to those who are a follower of the Lord, who are followers of the Lord?
2. What types of stupid, ignorant, godless things have you done before?
3. Are there any of those things that you need to break away from and quit doing?
4. Who is the model we pattern our lives after?
5. Who is the one responsible for helping us change our ways?

Rules for the New Life
(25) We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth. (26) Don't get so angry that you sin. Don't go to bed angry (27) and don't give the devil a chance.
(28) If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.

(29) Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say.

(30) Don't make God's Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins.

(31) Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. (32) Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.

Paul before closing this section, talks about the rules for the new life we now have once we have accepted Jesus as our Leader and Forgiver. We have to stop lying, lying is a way to make ourselves look better, it really isn't about doing or making God look better. It seems as if Christians are in that sense of competition I spoke about earlier as much as anyone. We get to the point we have to prove our point, and when someone disagrees, we get angry. Notice Paul don't say don't get angry, he says don't get so angry that we sin. There is room for what I call a controlled anger, especially if over theological issues, but don't let that anger dwell within you, especially to the point that you are wishing ill on the person you are angry at.

Paul also starts to address specific areas, he addresses theft, which is really self explanatory. We could talk about theft from employers by spending too much time on the internet, or lying about the day off and other forms of theft, but the Holy Spirit will make those areas clear to you when you need clarity.

Then there is the section of dirty talk. I really believe here, that many have misinterpreted what this means. Language, especially cultural language is not what I think Paul is addressing, I have some indication of that from other writings in the Bible, but also here. Notice here, the follow up is talking about what you do for other, how you build others up. I think that dirty talk is in reference more about how we treat others and by honoring our word. I could do a whole series on this topic, but think about hit.

When we do wrong, when we ignore what God wants us to do, we make the Spirit sad. I have to admit, I have done this and I know that every single person reading this has done this. The question is, do we keep doing it? I honestly believe that as we get older, as we mature, as we use our gifts, as we serve, then, we get to the place where we sin less. I know that to be a fact in my own life. It is why I strongly encourage you to think about, read, reread, and apply the truths you get out of this teaching today.

Paul is closing this passage, really talking more about relationship than anything. How do we get along? How do we show love to each other? It all comes down to actions. Are we kind to others? What does that kindness mean? Do we show others compassion and mercy? What does that mean? Do we forgive others? What does that mean? I know that I am as guilty of not doing some of these things as the next guy or gal. That is not an excuse to keep on with that type of action or behavior though.

As we come to know and become more like Jesus after we ask him to come into our lives and be our forgiver an leader, we will realize that he has something special for us. Christ loves each of us enough to give us gifts. As we receive those gifts, it is expected that we use them to serve and help others. As we do that, we become more and more like Jesus, in our attitudes, and in our life walk. I guess the question here is, "Where are we in that process?"

Questions:
1. What does it mean when it says we are a part of the same body?
2. How should we treat each other?
3. What are ways you have made God's Spirit sad?
4. How can you make God's Spirit happy?

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you can give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.