Number 3 seems to preach to itching ears...I hope not, but have to address it!

Having a hard time getting any response from the folks at Promise Keepers so I will do what you do when you live in the 21st century; blog it.

Headed to Dallas tomorrow for another PK gathering.  I always love it but this year I am a bit concerned about some of the promo that has preceded it.  I am wondering if somewhere in the mix, PK has begun to preach to itching ears.  I will find out over the next two days, but here is my concern.

Considering the current times, as Promise Keepers, we must boldly and courageously stand for truth. We must defend biblical marriage, champion the life of the unborn and protect religious liberty. We cannot stand back and allow moral relativism, cultural decadence, spiritual apathy and ecclesiastical indifference to hinder us any longer. We must draw our battle lines without compromise.

Hey guys, it’s time to get grounded.  We are about following Jesus.  While I love the fact that we have religious liberty in this country, take care in including it when you [we] draw our lines in the sand.

Jesus said that we would be persecuted.  The prophets before us were persecuted.

Biblical marriage -  Yes!

The sanctity of life—all life—yes!

Religious liberty—This is an American thing not a biblical command.

Don’t get me wrong, I love America and I love our liberty.  Having served as a United States Marine Corps officer for over 20 years; I love our constitution and our liberties, but if you intend to defend something, you need to know what it is.

Religious liberty is an American concept not something that we as men of integrity, Disciples of Christ, followers of Jesus need to have as our rallying cry.

This is not well grounded.  I ask that you reconsider the mantra you have put forth.  We may very well lose the battle over religious liberty [I pray that we don’t] but we must never concede our allegiance to Jesus.  Faithfulness not liberty is what we must stand for.

We have been blessed for decades not to have to wrestle with this issue but now that we do, we as Christians must know that the battle cry is not for religious liberty but for faithfulness to our commander—Jesus Christ.

Religious liberty provides freedom for all faiths—even those that are offense in some way to us.  Religious liberty is a wonderful freedom provided by our constitution. 

Faithfulness in the face of religious persecution should be your third area of focus.  I hope this is clear to you and you have a receptive spirit and not just a polished routine that you don’t want to revise.

Please prayerfully consider this.

I look forward to hearing you this weekend in the Dallas area.

Semper Fidelis,

Tom Spence

Post Script...  Don't get me wrong.  I will love this weekend and won't let this one point disrupt what promises to be a blessing to many, including me!