by Lee Hartman

VOLUME 25 • NUMBER 2 February 2014 FREE–TAKE ONE!

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False FactsFalse Facts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – We’ve all gotten the emails or seenthe Facebook posts–strange and fairly believable facts justabout everything. For most, we know to do a little research

before we pass them on or share over the water cooler.Sometimes these unresearched “factoids” make it intothe evening news or even the Sunday sermon.Like this one, which came halfway through a recent

sermon I heard on marriage. Things are scary outthere, the preacher told us. And there’s no differencebetween people sitting in these pews and everyone elsewhen it comes to divorce.It made a great sermon illustration. Only it’s not

true, according Bradley Wright, a sociologist at the

Why we love bad statsBob Smietana | Lifeway

See FALSE FACTS page 23

Teen girl’s brain death divides pro-life community

(WNS)--The sad case of a brain-deadgirl in Oakland, Calif., took a new turnrecently, when an ambulance trans-ferred 13-year-old Jahi McMath to along-term care facility. Although Mc-Math’s family would not disclose thename of the facility, they say the girl willreceive a tracheostomy and feedingtube. The move marks an end to a battlebetween the family and Children’s Hos-pital and Research Center Oakland,which had been attempting to removelife support from an unresponsive pa-

tient they consider to be dead.“Jahi is free! Jahi is free! She is safely

out of Children’s,” tweeted ChristopherDolan, the family’s lawyer.The McMath case grabbed headlines

and roused emotions from Americans,who either defended the hospital’s at-tempt to remove the girl’s ventilator ordefended the family’s effort keep her or-gans alive. Pro-life advocates, too, are di-vided: Some compare the case to that ofTerri Schiavo, who was dehydrated andstarved to death in 2005 after a lengthycourt battle. Others say the key differ-ence for McMath is that she has irre-versible brain death.

“Someone who’s truly brain-dead,barring a miracle, is not going to walk

Medical experts disagree whether

Jahi McMath is still alive

Supporters of a miracle forJahi are not giving up hope.

by Daniel James Devine

See JAHI McMATH page 23

EDUCATION & COLLEGE EXPO MARCH 1

Private education, whether on theK-12 or college level, continues to be animportant topic to many Christian par-ents. Add to that the growing number offamilies considering homeschooling,and it is no wonder the Christian Edu-cation Expo on March 1 will attract

thousands of people. The 16th annualevent, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2p.m., will again be held at Colonial Pres-byterian Church, 9500 Wornall Road insouth Kansas City, just north of I-435. Parents looking both at K-12 op-

Parents Find Education Expo Invaluable ToolMarch 1 event will host50 Christian colleges,area K-12, homeschoolresources & seminars

See EDUCATION page 6

BIG changesat the Voice

Metro Voice Newspaper relaunched its web-site, metrovoicenews.com, Jan. 1 with little pub-lic fanfare but apparently people have

noticed–the site’s vis-itors are growningexponentially.

The paper hashad a web pres-ence since1999–an eternityin internetyears–but with

the changing wayreaders are accessing the paper, it wanted torevamp the way it delivers online news. Read-ers using their smart phone, tablet or othermobile device can now have easy access tolocal breaking Christian news, calendar eventsand videos. When the site is visited, your devicewill automatically see it in a special one columnformat saving you data. In addition, the site hasbeen expanded with new features and is totallyredesigned.“Our print publication continues to grow,”

said Dwight Widaman, publisher. “And the web-site serves as a great, and growing, complimentto a successful publishing plan.”He says that 33 percent of visitors are ac-

cessing the site from smart phones.Now 25 years old, the Voice is now KC’s

third largest city-wide newspaper. To celebrate,the paper gets a makevoer in 2014.

Redesigned website firstchange for 2014

PAGE 11

Hope Faith Ministries (HFM), anequipping day center that serves the needsof the homeless and less fortunate inKansas City, is celebrating its 10-year an-niversary in 2014. Founded by a small group of individu-

als from Church of the Resurrection, theorganization started by serving meals to asmany as 800 homeless individuals eachweek. Ten years later, HFM serves 3,000 -4,000 people weekly that have spent thenight at a nearby shelter, out on the streetsor at a neighborhood campground. “Everyone involved with Hope Faith

Ministries is marking 2014 as a year of cel-ebration and gratitude. “Those that have blazed the trail to get

us to where we are today are to be com-mended for their valiant hard work anddedication to be a positive force in thecommunity for the homeless,” said DuaneSkjervem, executive director of Hope FaithMinistries. Over the years, HFM has expanded the

services they offer so that today, not onlydo they provide the essentials of food,

shelter and clothing but they collaboratewith dozens of agencies throughoutKansas City, assisting the homeless to findjobs, housing and needed government as-

sistance. A free medical clinic and life skillsclasses enable the homeless to receive des-perately needed medical attention and im-prove their skills so that they can more

easily find a path from homelessness toself-sufficiency, from dependence to inde-pendence. Other services include showers,laundry services, haircuts and a shave at

the barber shop, transportation, storage ofbelongings and personal mail and phoneservices. Community donations of furnishings

and household items allow HFM to helpfamilies move into an apartment, fur-nished with the essentials. The premier program at HFM is their

“Transitional Internship Program” whereat any given time, over 40 individuals re-ceive transitional housing and a personalmentor to help them navigate their wayfrom the streets to employment and thenon to independent living. The 10-year grand milestone will be

formally celebrated on Saturday, March 29at their “Moonlight Masquerade BenefitGala” to be held at the Overland Park Con-vention Center. The Apartment Association of Kansas

City is co-sponsoring this event. KMBC’sanchor, Len Jennings will serve as masterof ceremonies for the evening that in-cludes an auction, dinner and dancing. Forinfo visit www.hopefaithministries.org orcall 816.471.4673, ext. 100.

2 • February 2014 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Metro Voice

FeaturingThe Reverend Jacquline L. Saxon2014 Norwood Jones Convocation Speaker

April 9-10, 2014 Register now at

www.ottawa.edu/norwoodjonesSeminars are no-cost to pastors or members of the laity. Discounted meals are

available on-campus. Special hotel block-rates available.

at Ottawa University

�e 4th AnnualConference for Pastors and Laity

�e Fredrikson Center for Faith and Church Vitality is now accepting registrations for the

following seminars:

Financing Church Growth

Homeless ministry celebrates 10 years helping needy

Volunteers organize clothing donations. Hope Faith Ministries started because several people wanted to serve.

Nixon caps state of the state address with push tomeet health, mental health needs, expand Medicaid

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is pushingahead with Medicaid expansion in thestate. The Missouri Legislature in 2013 re-fused the federal government’s attempts toexpand Medicaid to cover more people,creating a showdown with Nixon. Theconfrontation painted Republicans asheartless and Nixon as a big spender butdid little to educate the public on the costs.“Each day we don’t act,” Nixon said in

his January state of the state address,“nearly 300,000 working Missourians goanother day without the treatment theydesperately need, for no other reason thanthey live in Branson instead of Bentonville,in Cape Girardeau instead of Cairo, inMaryville instead of Muscatine.”Missouri is one of over 25 states that are

pushing back against what will become anearly unfunded mandate. Nixon, whohas supported the federal funding of theprogram, has not responded to requestsfor how he will pay for the billions in ad-ditional expense once the federal fundingruns out. As it stands, the Obama admin-istration is luring states into expanding theprogram with hundreds of billions in ad-ditional funding the first year, but thatfunding is reduced each year until only 5percent is federally funded. Eventually, if

Missouri accepts the expansion, in futureyears historic tax increases would be nec-essary to replace the lost federal funding.This is an aspect that Nixon, and themedia, have failed to share with Missouri-ans. But Nixon doesn’t talk about future tax

increases, rather implying the legislature istrying to punish Washington for Oba-macare.“The people who are suffering now as

a result of our failure to act don’t work inthe White House — they work the nightshift in our factories,” he said. “They waittables and scrub floors. They drive snowplows and look after our kids.”Nixon even brought the Bible into the

argument referencing Isaiah saying, “If yousatisfy the needs of the afflicted, then yourlight shall rise in the darkness and yournight will become like the noonday.”The Republican controlled legislature

doesn’t seem likely to budge in 2014. Thegovernor is responsible for the state budgetand, as of yet, he has not spelled out whowill ultimately pay for the expansion oncethe federal dollars dry up.

by Dwight Widaman “Each day we don’t act,nearly 300,000 workingMissourians go another

day without the treatmentthey desperately need, forno other reason than theylive in Branson instead of

Bentonville, in Cape Girardeau instead of Cairo,in Maryville instead of

Muscatine.”

JAY NIXON

Heartland Habitat for Humanity hasdesignated 2014 as the “Year of the Vol-unteer” and is launching a prayer initia-tive to involve the community.“One of my personal favorite assign-

ments working for this organization isthe opportunity to pray on site,” says Dr.Evelyn Hill, Habitat Chaplain. “Volunteers are ordinary people doing

extraordinary work in ourcommunity. Volunteersare everywhere, at ourchurches, in our neighbor-hoods, at our schools,many times in our homes,and even on playgrounds,parks, construction of

homes and in entertainment venues.Volunteers are people too. They need ourprayer and support”.

The city-wide will be held at Heart-land Habitat for Humanity, 1401 FairfaxTrafficway, Suite 3230, Kansas City, Kan.the first Tuesday of each month. The public is invited to drop by and

join in. February will be dedicated to praying

for volunteers, March for the homelessand April for the many organizations thatserve our community.For information call 913-342-3047.

Habitat for Humanity launches prayer initiative

Hill

by Dwight Widaman

Metro Voice––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––February 2014 • 3

Olympians for Christ

(WNS)—The Sochi Winter Olympics take centerstage this month, complete with political intrigue,security concerns, and storylines about athletes goingfor Olympic glory but, evenmore so, God’s glory.

Speed skater JilleanneRookard says she came to faithin Christ while training forcompetition in 2006. Her faithis a source of strength and in-spiration for the times when shefeels like giving up: “I’ve justkept growing since then, and it’snot anything sudden. I realizenow that I’m never going tostop learning.”

Bobsledder Brock Kre-itzburg placed his faith in Godat age 13, after losing his fatherto cancer. “God used the worstexperience in my life—losingmy father—to bring forth thebest experience in my life—knowing my Heavenly Father.God is the Father I can neverlose, who will be with me for-ever, and truly, unconditionallyloves me,” Kreitzburg said. Kreitzburg, who earned amaster’s of divinity from Gordon Conwell Theolog-ical Seminary in 2003, competed in the 2006 TurinOlympics but missed the 2010 Vancouver Olympics

with an injury. He is hoping to make the final cut onthe 2014 men’s Olympic bobsledding team.

Lolo Jones, a multisport athlete, will likely makethe U.S. women’s bobsledding squad after winninga gold medal at the 2013 World Championships.Jones, 31, competed in the 100 meter hurdles at the2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, but gainedmore than 20 pounds to qualify for bobsleddingcompetition. She made headlines in 2012 when she

told HBO’s Real Sports withBryant Gumbel that she is a vir-gin and plans on keeping hervirginity until marriage.

“This journey hasbeen hard,” she said at thattime. “It’s the hardest thing I’veever done in my life. Harderthan training for the Olympics.Harder than studying for col-lege has been staying a virginbefore marriage.” Jones oftenuses her Twitter account toshare Bible passages and wordsof encouragement with hermore than 370,000 followers.

Meanwhile, secu-rity concerns are growing in thewake of late-December suicidebombings in Volgograd, 400miles from the Olympic facili-ties in Sochi. The second deadlyterrorist attack of the monthpushed the Russians to tighten

security by creating a 60-mile “security zone” aroundSochi. All spectators wishing to attend the Gamesmust provide passports and contacts for securityscreening.

Several of this winter’sathletes find their truestrength in the Lord

Brock Kreitzburg says God useddeath of his father to shape faith.

Speed skater Jilleanne Rookard has sharpened her skates and faith.

Congress Strengthens Religious Freedom for the Military(WNS)--The Senate passed a defense bill with strong biparti-

san support last week that includes important language tostrengthen and protect the religious freedom of military mem-bers and chaplains. The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA) includes the standard provisions for funding the militaryas well as amendments that expand the protection of militarymembers’ religious freedoms, including their personal beliefs,actions, and speech. Specific language in the NDAA protects thefreedom of military chaplains to “close a prayer outside of a re-ligious service according to the traditions, expressions, and religious exercises of the endorsing faith group.”

Government Tightens Reins on Nonprofits(WNS)--The Obama administration has proposed rules to curb political campaigning by nonprofit groups. The

rules would prohibit certain nonprofit groups from campaign activities such as running ads, registering voters,or distributing campaign literature. The Department of the Treasury says the rules are designed to create “clear-cut definitions” for nonprofit organizations that engage in political activity. Critics say the change would give theInternal Revenue Service broader leeway to target the White House’s political opponents. The changes wouldaffect groups with a 501(c)4 “social welfare” designation. Coincidentally, the new regulations would affect con-servative groups in disproportionate numbers to liberal organizations by a margin of 9 to 1.

The White House responded by saying they are not targeting anyone in unequal numbers.

newsbriefs

Apple has approved a gay social net-working app that claims to be safe for chil-dren as young as 12, and aims to leadadults, teens and tweens to places that are"clean, social and fun."In the iTunes store, Distinc.tt is de-

scribed as "an LGBT app that you canbring home to Mom!" But although it'ssupposedly safe for children as young as

12, it specifically states that it was createdfor "gay dating and chat" for LGBT or "cu-rious adults" who are 18 and older.The app reportedly works by using

"real-time collective knowledge to connecttrendsetting crowds and travelers to theplaces and people that best reflect theirdistinct interests."CEO Michael Belkin told CNET that he

launched Distinc.tt because he's "disgustedby the tasteless torsos and imagery on gaysocial sites and apps." And he wants "thegood-taste part of the gay stereotype togain traction with advertisers and cross themainstream divide."Belkin launched what is being billed as

"the only gay social app approved by theiTunes store for 12-year-olds and older,"with other investors that include PayPalcofounder Peter Thiel and Keith Rabois, aformer executive at PayPal and LinkedIn,among others."Think of it as the ultimate gay acces-

sory. Using an advanced recommendationengine, Distinc.tt helps you be sponta-neous—to get out there and start some-thing," reads the description."Distinc.tt takes gay apps to the next

level by showing you more than just guyswith phones. Use it to find places to go,meet people at those places, coordinatewith friends while you're out, you name it.It's about doing, not chatting."Apple, meanwhile, has been chided by

conservative Christians over its censorshipof religious material – namely apps that af-firm marriage is between a man and awoman. In recent years, Apple has pulledthe Manhattan Declaration, Setting Cap-tives Free, and Exodus International apps.

4 • February 2014 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Metro Voice

by Melissa Barnhart

Apple approves gay social app for ages 12 and up

The organization behind NationalMarriage Week USA (February 7-14)makes the case that marriage must be partof the current political debate about in-come inequality and how to reducepoverty. "Today 53 percent of all babies born to

women under age 30, are born outside ofmarriage," said Sheila Weber, executive di-rector of National Marriage Week USA. "Ifwe had the marriage rates today that wehad in 1970, we'd have 25 percent lesspoverty.""The decline of marriage is our most

neglected national emergency," saysWeber. "Yet the wealthy are doing a betterjob at keeping marriages intact and theirchildren are benefitting from the influenceof both male and female parenting influ-ence and from enriching educationalhabits in those homes."We must find ways to help impover-

ished single mothers learn more abouthow to enrich their own home life; and de-spite their current circumstances, to givetheir own children a vision that marriagecan be in their future aspirations, becausemarriage brings greater financial stability,

better health, and brings the greatest ad-vantageous way to in turn raise their ownchildren.""We need for ministries, non-profits,

schools and churches to find ways to servefatherless boys, who may not be gettingany messages that marriage can even be anattainable goal for them. The pendulumhas swung too far away from the historicalcultural norm of dutiful manhood; we

need a radical change of message, thinkingand habits to raise the next generation ofyoung men. Of course, women also needsome new messages -- that forestallingsexual intimacy and childbearing untilmarriage provides them a healthier futureand is best for their children," said Weber.National Marriage Week USA (Feb. 7-

14) is a campaign to increase marriage ed-ucation nationwide and provides the only

online national marriage calendar to listand locate any and all marriage classes allyear. To list or locate an event (it's free) --

click National Calendar at www.national-marriageweekusa.org.

Marriage must be part of poverty/income inequality debate

Image from the website.

With the revelation that Thrivent Fi-nancial for Lutherans has provided fund-ing to at least four Planned Parenthoodaffiliates as well as to the NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Foundation, The St.Louis-based Lutheran Church—MissouriSynod (LCMS) has told their membersthey are very concerned.

The statement acknowledged thatThrivent not only has suspended fundingfor pro-life, nonprofit organizations serv-ing women and children in need, but nowalso directly supports organizations pro-viding abortion services and pro-abortionadvocacy.

On Dec. 19, after learning that aPlanned Parenthood affiliate was eligibleto receive funding through its Choice Dol-lars program, Thrivent “temporarily sus-pended” one pro-choice and more than 50pro-life organizations from receivingChoice Dollars funding while it conducts“a comprehensive review” of the program.

The latest allegations relate to a sisterfunding program known as “Gift Multi-plier” that’s available to Thrivent employ-ees through the Thrivent Financial forLutherans Foundation.

Details about the Gift Multiplier pro-gram were brought to light by Rev.Michael Schuermann, senior pastor ofGood Shepherd Lutheran Church in Sher-man, Ill., who said he “was contacted bysome people associated with Thrivent whowere familiar with the fact that this wasgoing on.”

The informants shared documenta-tion of the Gift Multiplier funding that

Schuermann posted to his website, daring-lutheran.net.

The documentation lists five PlannedParenthood affiliates in Columbus, Ohio;Des Moines, Iowa; Milwaukee; New York;and St. Paul, Minn., as well as the NARALFoundation in St. Paul as Thrivent GiftMultiplier charities.

After Schuermann posted the infor-mation online and alerted LCMS leadersto the news Jan. 15, it was picked up andshared by other websites as well as numer-ous Facebook and Twitter users.

Schuermann said it’s disappointing,sad and “frustrating to see Thrivent — anorganization that puts itself forward asChristian and Lutheran — engaging andgiving money to organizations that really,as Christians, we just cannot support.”

Many LCMS congregation membersare among the 2.5 million members ofThrivent Financial for Lutherans, a Min-neapolis-based, Fortune 500 fraternal-benefits organization with more than $75billion in assets derived primarily fromLutherans over the past 100 years.Thrivent members voted last year to openthe organization’s membership to allChristians, which took place in June.

According to its website, Thrivent is“faith-based” and its “common bond” isChristianity.

In a statement on Jan. 15 Thrivent re-sponded: “We are aware of the issue thathas been raised, and we will address it aswe review this program.”

Maggie Karner, director of LCMS LifeMinistries, said all of the suspended pro-life organizations “already do wonderfulmercy work, with limited resources, toserve women, children and families inneed. They include LCMS RecognizedService Organizations, maternity homes,pregnancy resource centers, pro-life edu-cational organizations, ultrasound servicesfor pregnant women and organizationsproviding free resources.”

The Rev. Dr. James Lamb, executivedirector of the national pro-life organiza-tion Lutherans For Life (LFL), noted that“Thrivent claims to be ‘neutral’ on ‘contro-versial issues’ and yet they have once againclosed the door to Lutherans For Life andother life-affirming ministries to receiveChoice Dollars.”

In a statement, LCMS said they are ina conversation with Thrivent regarding thecontroversial donations and have a goal toresolve the issue in a way that upholds thesacred value of human life.

“We urge them to follow those wordswith action by restoring funding to thepro-life organizations that lost funding inDecember and by developing a policy thatdenies all funding for Planned Parenthoodand NARAL Pro-Choice MinnesotaFoundation.”

The statement also encouragesThrivent members to “voice their concernsand opinions directly to Thrivent,” andprovides contact information to help themdo just that.

Metro Voice––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––February 2014 • 5

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in hot waterLutherans reactto firm’s abortion

funding

Christianity’s Worst Enemies(WNS)--A U.S.-based group tracking persecu-

tion around the globe has named North Koreathe worst country in the world for Christians.Open Doors USA on Jan. 8 gave the hermeticcountry the dubious designation for the 12thstraight year—as many years as it has compiledthe annual World Watch List of top 50 offenders.The organization estimates North Korea’s com-munist regime has between 50,000 and 70,000Christians imprisoned in labor camps for theirfaith. Open Doors unveiled its World Watch List(WWL) during a press conference at the NationalPress Club in Washington, D.C. The group meas-ures how much Christians are able to live outtheir faith to determine what countries land onthe list. It considers spheres of private, family,community, national, and church life, plus a sixthsphere counting violent incidents.

More Publishers Investigate Mark Driscoll(WNS)--At least two more Christian publishers are investigating con-

cerns of plagiarism regarding Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Churchin Seattle. Crossway, which published Driscoll’s Death by Love, issued astatement saying, “We are in touch with Mars Hill and are conductingan internal review to ensure that our books published by Mark Driscollhave proper citation and documentation.” Crossway publicist Janni Fire-stone added, “As of right now, we’re not sure when the internal reviewwill be complete.” Driscoll has published nine books with Crossway.

Amarillo College Nixes Intelligent Design Class(WNS)--Is intelligent design too controversial to teach at a public college? It is, ap-

parently, in Amarillo, Texas. In fall 2013, Amarillo College planned to offer a class entitled“Evolution vs. Intelligent Design” as one of its continuing education courses. The classwas not part of the school’s degree programs, but a not-for-credit elective course. It wasadvertised under the heading of “Philosophy.” Dozens of eager students signed up. Yetwhen the president of an Amarillo-based group of atheists and agnostics complained,the college reversed course. Top school officials canceled “Evolution vs. Intelligent De-sign,” saying the topic was too “emotionally charged” and could invite a “disruption” inthe classroom.

newsbriefs

An escaped North Koreanshows evidence of torture

PreachingToday.com, a ministry ofChristianity Today, announced the releaseof a previously unpublished sermon byDr. Martin Luther King Jr. called "Guide-

lines for a Construc-tive Church."Originally deliv-

ered during the heightof the American CivilRights Movement onMay 29, 1966, this ser-mon was an exhorta-tion on Luke 4 given

to Cornerstone Baptist Church in Brook-lyn, New York. Now for the first time, thetranscript and audio of this sermon areavailable for free exclusively on Preaching-Today.com. King reminds his listeners thatit is not an easy task, because "the crossmeans what it says. It is something thatyou die on." However, Dr. King also pro-claims a message of perseverance andhope that Jesus will never leave.

By offering full access to this sermonfor free, PreachingToday.com is welcom-ing readers to participate in an ongoingconversation about the civil rights leaderand his sermon through Black HistoryMonth. In addition, PreachingToday willoffer reflections on Dr. King's sermonfrom several contributors, including thecurrent senior pastor of Cornerstone Bap-tist Church, Rev. Lawrence Aker III.Visit PreachingToday.com.

Unpublished KingSermons released

DRISCOLL

KING

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP) -- FourMissouri taxpayers filed a lawsuit on Jan. 8challenging Gov. Jay Nixon's executiveorder to permit some same-sex couples tofile a Missouri combined income tax re-turn as "husband" and "wife" for 2013 inspite of a 2004 state constitutional amend-ment which defines marriage as betweenone man and one woman.The lawsuit challenges Executive Order

13-14 as being unconstitutional and allegesthat the governor is try-ing to thwart the will ofthe people of Missouri,with 71 percent of thevoters having adopted"Amendment 2" in2004. The amendment,now codified as Article1, Section 33 of the Mis-

souri constitution, says simply, "That to bevalid and recognized in this state, a mar-riage shall exist only between a man and awoman."Nixon's executive order was issued last

November and directed the Departmentof Revenue to accept combined returnsfrom same-sex couples who properly fileda federal joint return with the IRS. The IRShas decided to permit same-sex couples tofile a joint federal return if the parties weremarried in a state that permits same-sexmarriage. The IRS decision did not bind state gov-

ernments and did not mandate that stateslike Missouri, where same-sex marriage isunlawful, permit joint returns under statelaw."The governor took an oath to uphold

the Missouri constitution, which includesour marriage definition," said MichaelWhitehead, a Kansas City attorney for theplaintiffs. "When he issued this order, hesaid he hoped the people of Missouri

would take another look at recognizingsame-sex 'marriage.' That is putting histhumb on the scales of justice. His job is toenforce the constitution as it is, not as hewishes it to be."If the governor wants to launch a cam-

paign to repeal this section of our state Billof Rights, he is welcome to try. But fornow, the people of Missouri have spoken,with landslide clarity," Whitehead said."Until the people speak otherwise, the gov-

ernor should respect the rule of law and re-spect Missouri voters."The plaintiffs ask the trial judge to de-

clare the executive order unconstitutionaland to declare that, in view of the stateconstitution, the Department of Revenuemust not interpret tax laws to permit Mis-souri combined income tax returns fromsame-sex couples who were "married"elsewhere.The plaintiffs are: Justin Mosher, pastor

of Fifth Street Baptist Church in Hannibal,Mo.; Don Hinkle, director of public policyfor the Missouri Baptist Convention andeditor of The Pathway; Kerry Messer, Fes-tus, Mo., founder of the Missouri FamilyNetwork; and Joe Ortwerth, executive di-rector of the Missouri Family Policy Coun-cil.At the time of Nixon's executive order,

no other state where same-sex marriage isunlawful had adopted a similar policy ofaccepting joint state returns from same-sexcouples who were "married" elsewhere. InKansas, a same-sex couple recently filed alawsuit demanding that the state accepttheir joint state tax return as a matter of"equal protection of the laws."

(WNS)–The coalition working to overturn a law forcing boys andgirls in California’s public schools to share school bathrooms, show-ers and locker rooms is gaining momentum. Opponents of a law forcing boys and girls in California’s public

schools to share school bathrooms, showers and locker rooms havereached the 95 percent validity rate needed to achieve a randomsampling for a full signature count.Privacy for All Students (PFAS) predicted that a full check would

result in many more signatures being validated than were projectedin the sampling and lead to qualification of the referendum for theballot. Many critics had predicted that PFAS would not be able tocollect sufficient signatures in the short period allowed to qualify areferendum and that not enough of the signatures presented in No-vember would be validated to allow for a full count.“The people of California are entitled to have every valid signa-

ture on this referendum counted by elections officials,” says GinaGleason, the referendum proponent and a member of the PFAS ex-

ecutive committee. “We’re pleased that the sampling of signaturesconducted thus far has triggered a full count of every signature, andwe believe this full check will show we have enough signatures toqualify the referendum to the ballot.”

6 • February 2014 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Metro Voice

Suit alleges the will of Missouri voters ignored

“The governor took anoath to uphold the

Missouri constitution,which includes our

marriage definition.”

Citizens sue oversame-sex couplesfiling together

Californians petition against coed bathroom bill

Before the law was stayed by courts in November,schools had begun creating co-ed restrooms.

tions and high school students scouting colleges come withspecific questions in mind, said Anita Widaman who startedthe Expo in 1999. “Parents of younger students want to know: what curricu-

lum is used? What is the worldview of theschool? Is there an established fine arts pro-gram? What testing measure is used? Whatabout sports and extracurricular activities?and, of course, can I afford it?” she stated.These parents and college-bound stu-

dents also appreciate the opportunity tovisit with administrators, admissions coun-selors and teachers.

“For high school students, prayerfully choosing the rightcollege can still be a daunting task,” said Dwight Widaman,Metro Voice editor and Expo coordina-tor. “By the time they reach their junioryear like my daughter, Emma, the mail-box is full of college admissionsbrochures”.For these teenagers, the college portion

of the Expo offers a time-saving way totalk with dozens of universities and get asense of what each college has to offer.“They can ask the admissions coun-

selor about degrees and emphasis but alsoabout campus and community life, easeof transition, living away from home, rules, food and, ofcourse,” said Widaman, “scholarships and financial aid.”For 16 years, Metro Voice has organized the Education Expo

to help parents and students grappling with these questions.Begun in 1999, the Expo brings all levels of Christian educationtogether under one roof, for one day, for one cause. Asked whythey do it, Expo coordinator Anita Widaman responded, “tosupport Christian families who want the best for their childrenand to create an environment where they connect with localChristian education options.”Last year, the event hosted colleges from 15 states as far away

as Arizona, Virginia and Michigan. Local K-12 schools fromKansas, north of the River and JacksonCounty set up booths and, with a friendlysmile, greeted parents eager to learn aboutprivate education.Homeschooling organizations led sem-

inars for parents wondering if they wereup to teaching their children at home. Forthese families, it was an excellent way tolearn about state laws, curriculum and hear from home edu-cators who had the same questions when they started downthat road themselves.The expo typically draws several thousand people who are

looking at various levels of education including K-12, home-schooling, plus high school students eager to visit with dozensof college admission representatives.“This is a great opportunity for parents to visit with quality

schools and meet the teachers and administrators,” said AnitaWidaman. “It’s really a one-stop shopping experience”. Widaman, who had a successful 16-year career in public ed-

ucation, said she and her husband, Dwight, founded the Expoout of a personal need. “When our children were nearingschool-age, we began earnestly considering what was right fortheir education. We realized there were no sources for infor-mation to help us make a decision as to what was best for theirgrowth, both academically and spiritually. We knew that otherparents must have felt equally unprepared for such a big deci-sion.”‘Anita continues, “Parents need to know that there are many

choices for them — homeschooling, private, a combination—some families are very creative in finding the right fit fortheir kids, it’s all about what works best for your child.” She said the same holds true for college education, “Parents

work so hard preparing their kids for life: instilling their valuesat home, ferrying them to sports and other activities thatstrengthen positive character traits, and being careful who theyhang out with,” said Widaman, “But then those kids oftenchoose a school that doesn’t reinforce spiritual values and con-

fusion and problems result.” “It’s an especially worthwhile drive for

students looking for a wide variety of col-lege options,” Dwight Widaman said.“With the price of gas, and busy schedule,it is easy to see the value of having somany schools under one roof.”Colleges from many states will attend

including Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska,Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado,Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia.They include small Midwest colleges plus

large ones like Liberty University and ORU.Several popular mini-seminars will return with expanded

offerings: The Journey: Preparing for College 10 a.m.; Findingthe Most Financial Aid 11 a.m.; History, Mission, and Visionof Homeschooling 9:30 a.m.; Homeschooling 101 and Mis-souri Law 10:30 a.m. and K-12 Education Options: Panel Dis-cussion by Parents 11:30 a.m. Dwight Widaman shared a conversation he had with a

mom who attended the expo with her high school junior. “The mom had attended the Expo 11 years ago when she

was looking for a local Christian elementary school,” he said.“At the Expo she connected with a school teacher on a personal

level and all of her kids ended up attendingthat one Christian school.” The mom had now returned to the

Expo that had helped her many years be-fore and credited the Expo.“It was full circle,” said Widaman, a little

emotionally. “We hadhelped her connect

with Christian education that had impactedher family in a powerful way and now,eleven years later, she was back to continuetheir journey as she and her son looked fora Christian college.”Both Widamans agree that’s the intent of

the Expo. Said Anita, “We want to help make personal connections

that will have an immediate and even eternal impact.”For more information, visit www.metrovoicenews.com.

See COED page next page

EDUCATION EXPO MARCH 1continued from page 1

“She connected with aschool teacher on a personal

level and all of her kidsended up attending thatone Christian school.”DWIGHT WIDAMAN

Last year’s event hostedcolleges from 15 states, KCarea Christian K-12 schoolsand homeschool groups.

WHITEHEAD

ANITA WIDAMAN

DWIGHT WIDAMAN

Many of the hundreds of thousands ofChristians who visited Israel in 2013 de-scribed the experience as an incredible wayto enhance their faith. However, manymay never make a Holy Land pilgrimagedue to how the mainstream media por-trays Israel.While millions of Christians travel to Is-

rael each year, many fear traveling to theland of the Bible for fears of things thatdon't exist or have been exploited by thosein the media.Dr. Uzi Landau of the Ministry of

Tourism for the Government of Israel saysAmerican secular media often distorts itsportrayal of Israel.“What is sometimes giving us a hard

time is this perception through coveragethrough TV programs that Israel may looklike a war zone, a combat zone,” he says.While many of Israel's neighboring

countries are crumbling, Israel remains abastion of stability.“Look at what’s happening in the Mid-

dle East in neighboring countries,” he says.

“One by one, countries have crumbled. Ispeak of countries like Syria, Iraq, Tunisiaand Libya, and the list goes on. And whenI speak of crumbling, I don’t just meantheir human regime, but a very basic set of

human values.”The Ministry of Tourism for Israel re-

ports a record number of tourists visitedthe nation in 2013.

Metro Voice––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––February 2014 • 7

Obama tightens reins on non-profits(WNS)--The Obama administration has proposed rules to curb political campaigning

by nonprofit groups. The rules would prohibit certain nonprofit groups from campaignactivities such as running ads, registering voters, or distributing campaign literature.The Department of the Treasury says the rules are designed to create “clear-cut defini-tions” for nonprofit organizations that engage in political activity. Critics say the changewould give the Internal Revenue Service broader leeway to target the White House’spolitical opponents. The changes would affect groups with a 501(c)4 “social welfare”designation. Coincidentally, the new regulations would affect conservative groups indisproportionate numbers to liberal organizations by a margin of 9 to 1.

The White House responded by saying they are not targeting anyone in unequalnumbers.

newsbriefs

Kennedy says concerned groups must ‘cometogether’ to oppose legalziation of marijuana(WNS)–President Obama admits smoking marijuana as a

young person and his memoirs alude to smoking crack but re-cently stated he considers it no worse than smoking cigarettes orusing alcohol. Eight-term former Congressman Patrick Kennedydisagrees. He said the president ought to consult with the National Insti-

tutes of Health. Kennedy formed a group called Smart Ap-proaches to Marijuana and his executive director is Kevin Sabet,who says the president gave "mixed signals." "The media is running with it to try and interpret it as saying

that this is more momentum for the legalization of movement,and unfortunately the big money interests that want to legalize,"Sabet tells OneNewsNow.He also advises there are new corporate conglomerates that

have formed since legalization has started "because they want tomake money off of this. They are running with it."Patrick Kennedy, youngest son of late Sen. Ted Kennedy, has

said he is a recovering alcoholic and struggled with addiction toprescription pdrugs. He served in Congress from 1995 until 2011in Rhode Island's 1st District. Sabet says Kennedy feels that it is a shame, and the President's

wording is unfortunate, because young people are now more en-couraged to use the drug, which is much more potent than whenObama was a young man."The "game plan" is that Smart Approaches and other parents

groups, and coaches and parents, "come together and defeat theseinitiatives in these states."Oregon and Alaska will be voting on marijuana use while

Washington and Colorado have already legalized it. In Missouria petition is under way to get it on the ballot in 2014.

Right now there are more slaves onearth than at any other time in history:27 million worldwide. Many peoplewant to fight this injustice, but how? Asa follow-up to our January article, MetroVoice wants to share some good news inthe fight against human trafficking.Moody Publishers has teamed up withMoody Radio to draw attention to thishorrific problem and empower peopleeverywhere to help preventslavery/human trafficking, and rescueand restore victims caught in this illegaltrade.

Moody Radio is exposing the realityof the fastest-growing criminal activityin the world and giving voice to thosewho are working to bring freedom andrestoration to victims, through a seriesof conversations with ministry leadersand on-the-ground workers with first-hand experience. These conversationsare available to listen to at freethemto-day.org.

At the same site, Moody Publishers

is offering free e-books from expertswho are fighting injustice and want tohelp others do the same:

The White Umbrella: Walking WithSurvivors of Sex Trafficking, by MaryFrances Bowley, president and founderof Wellspring Living, an Atlanta-basedorganization fighting childhood sexualabuse and exploitation since 2001.

Why Not Today: Trafficking, Slavery,the Global Church … and You, byMatthew Cork, lead pastor at FriendsChurch in Yorba Linda, Calif.

Gospel Justice: Joining Together toProvide Help and Hope for Those Op-pressed by Legal Injustice, by BruceStrom, founder of Administer Justice, aChristian legal aid organization servingthe needs of low-income and no-incomeindividuals.

Moody Bible Institute also offers aMinistry to Victims of Sexual Exploita-tion. Details are available atmoody.edu/ministry-victims-exploita-tion.

What can I do to fight human trafficking?

Holy Land draws visitors despite media portrayals

Tourists stroll along the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv. Studies show Israel issafer than most major American cities.

by Dwight Widaman

COEDcontinued from page 6

Pressure to legalize is sweeping the nation.

“Unfortunately, the state changed thesampling process a few years ago to savemoney, resulting in many more signaturesbeing improperly invalidated,” says KarenEngland, a member of the PFAS executivecommittee.

“With a full check, every signature is ver-ified by elections officials, and we expect thatprocess will result in thousands of more sig-natures being found to be valid. When all thesignatures are examined, we believe that wewill have enough valid signatures to qualifyfor the ballot.”

“We want to make sure that every signa-ture is properly examined and that no signa-ture is invalidated for trivial or bureaucraticreasons,” Gleason says. “We will continue tocarefully monitor the process.”

PFAS also notes that many proponentsof the new law are acting as if the law hasgone into effect. The law was suspended withthe submission of signatures by PFAS in No-vember.

To develop your entrepreneurialspirit, your first priority is to understandif, and how, it matters.For decades there has been a schism

that has plagued entrepreneurial menand women as they go about their busi-ness. The schism is that what entrepre-neurs and people in business do issecond class to the people who are doingthe work of full time ministry. We havefailed to see that ministry is in fact ful-filling any assignment that the Lord hasgiven us whether it is on full- time min-istry org chart or in the workplace.Everyone’s work is important to God

as they labor in God’s will regardless ofthe sphere of influence—Media, Gov-

ernment, Family, Celebration, Religion,Education, and the Economy—all havethe same invitation to bring impact intheir particular sphere of society. Everyman and woman working in their placeof assignment can bring glory to God,and we ought to. It comes when we em-brace our callings and shed the guiltwhen there is none to be had. Jesus was a carpenter. God worked to

create the earth. Be encouraged to un-derstand that there is a reason you enjoyyour work as Jesus did. Many of youhave an entrepreneurial spirit; you loveto put deals together and develop prop-erty or invest in startups. When your vision is aligned with the

relieving reality of how important yourentrepreneurial work is to God, you are

commissioned to do it with all of yourheart and all of your skill as holy work.Embrace the validation that you are nota second class citizen in God’s kingdom.Begin to pray about your ideas, speakthem out with greater confidence andimagine the possibilities with God. Pon-der what He has in mind for your entre-preneurial drive. Next month we willexplore some of the exciting outlets orexpressions for your spirit of entrepre-neurship. Until then, remember, yourwork matters to God. Now you can get down to business.Linda Fields, is Director of The Joseph

Company.Learn more about developing your per-

sonal vision for significant impact throughThe Joseph Company events.

visit Ihopkc.org/josephcompany

8 • February 2014 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Metro Voice

Dear Dave,�Do you have any advice for teaching respon-

sibility and generosity to adult children andgrandkids when it comes to money?�

Justin

Dear Justin,�I think there are three key factors when it comes

to teaching children of any age about these concepts—humility, gratitude and contentment. In my mind, hu-mility is where gratitude comes from, and gratitudeleads to contentment.

I’m generous to my adult children, but they haveno sense of entitlement. That’s due to their personalhumility. They don’t feel that I owe them anything,and they already know that anyone who cops an en-titlement attitude gets cut off. You’re no longer qual-ified for my generosity when you lose your gratitude.

You’ve got to spend time talking to kids aboutthese things. Otherwise, you run the risk of themcounting on the income. Here’s an example. We coachsome family businesses at my company, and the best

Humility, gratitude and contentmentDAVE RAMSEYFinancial author,radio host, televisionpersonality, and motivational speaker

davesays

family businesses are the ones that teach non-em-ployee family members who receive money from thebusiness—dividends from the profits—never to live onthose dividends. I’ve seen lots of cases where some-one will start living on the business they don’t workin, and they immediately start feeling entitled to themoney.

The same principle applies in your situation. Ifsomeone starts saying, “Well, since mom and dad arepaying for our daycare, we can use that money wewould have spent to buy a car.” That means they’vestarted counting on mom and dad’s generosity to live,and that’s a form of entitlement mentality.

None of our kids receive any kind of financial helpfrom us at all, unless they’re already carrying theirweight in their own lives. That’s not being cold. It’steaching responsibility and self-reliance. Now it wouldbe different if one of them developed a serious med-ical issue or something like that. But the whole ideathat mommy and daddy have lots of money, and I canjust get some from them? That doesn’t fly in our fam-ily.

You have to teach them character and giving inorder for them to be valid recipients. Plus, it’s allabout the kids’ attitude. But you’ve got to talk aboutit often and communicate the value system out loud.The gifting and generosity are contingent upon thehumility that leads to gratitude that leads to content-ment.�

—Dave

Managing personal finances isn't always learnedin school, and unfortunately, isn't always learned athome either. Perhaps it is because it seems too sim-ple, beneath us to even have to talk about. Yet, man-aging personal finances well seems to elude manypeople. They may findthemselves makingbad financial decisions,getting into debt andfalling further behindeach month. Here aresome simple sugges-tions for getting off togood start in life financially:

1. Have a budget and live within it. While having abudget may seem restrictive, it actually gives youfreedom - freedom to control your money rather thanyour money controlling you. There are lots of greatbudgeting resources available on-line and many arefree. Here is a link to a review of seven such budgetingsites: http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/Budget-ingSites2010/1.html�

2. Make generosity a priority in your budget. Ascounterintuitive as this may seem from a secular per-spective, there is a Biblical principal at work here thatholds true. Whoever sows sparingly will also reapsparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reapgenerously. The rewards reaped from a generous lifeextend far beyond just financial returns.

3. Make savings a priority in your budget. Savingsdoesn't usually just happen - it needs to be planned.Save for specific goals (car, down-payment on a home,college, vacations, retirement, etc.) as well as for un-

foreseen expenses. For retirement savings, take ad-vantage of employer sponsored retirement plans andIndividual Retirement Accounts. Start as early as pos-sible to take advantage of the power of compound-ing.�

4. Avoid consumer debt, especially credit cards.You will almost certainly spend more if routinely usingcredit cards rather than only spending money you al-ready have. Instead of borrowing for things you want,save ahead and buy only what you can afford in cash.Instead of borrowing for college, actively seek outscholarships, and combined with any assistance youget from your family, work your way through. �

5. If or when you own a home, consider a 15-yearmortgage instead of 30-years. The payment on a 15-year mortgage will of course be quite a bit higher thanon a 30-year mortgage, but you will pay significantly

less in interest over thelife of the loan. �

6. Develop daily dis-ciplines like Bible study,healthy eating, and ex-ercise. You may askwhat does this have todo with finances. Actu-

ally, quite a bit. Disciplines in one area tend to spillover into other areas of life, plus the Bible is loadedwith financial wisdom.�

7. As you get established, make sure you have awill and have adequate insurance coverage in place.

8. Have written goals - You are far more likely tobe successful if you have a plan to get there.�

9. Invest in yourself - learning should be a lifetimeendeavor and doesn't always have to be in a formalclassroom setting. It can be as simple as reading sev-eral books each year. By investing in yourself, you be-come more valuable to the marketplace increasingyour earning power.�

10. Strive for balance in life, realizing that life isnot just about possessions. Keep 1 Timothy 6:17 inmind which instructs us not to put our hope in wealth,but to put our hope in God, who richly provides uswith everything for our enjoyment.

Barry Case is CFO of Christian Investors Financial

10 financial tips for young peopleBARRY CASEChief Financial Officer of ChristianInvestors Financial

viewpoint

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Developing an Entrepreneurial SpiritLINDAFIELDSDirector of TheJoseph Company

workmatters

Does your work matter?

Senior advisor to President Obama,Valerie Jarrett, wrote for the White Houseblog and The Huffington Post that, "AWoman's Health Care Decisions ShouldBe in Her Own Hands, Not Her Boss's."I couldn't agree more.Odd then that the administration is

trying to insert bosses, many of themagainst their deeply held religious beliefs,into the private health care decisions ofwomen. Jarrett writes that, "The ACA(Affordable Care Act) was designed toensure that health care decisions aremade between a woman and her doctor,and not by her boss, or Washingtonpoliticians."In fact, the administration has done

the opposite. It has forced employers toact as middlemen between women andtheir doctors by forcing them to partici-pate in providing four potentially life ter-

minating drugs and the whole gamut ofFDA-approved contraceptives, evenwhen they object on religious grounds.And then it thrust the issue right into theportfolio of Washington politicians bymaking it an election wedge issue, byusing it to stoke partisan bickering, andby peddling lies about a "war onwomen."Look no further than the Little Sisters ofthe Poor, the first of the non-profit plain-tiffs to reach the Supreme Court to knowthat the Health and Human Services(HHS) mandate hurts women. Theircomplaint is proof that women are notsome monolithic block robotically reac-

ing affirmatively anytime the adminis-tration tacks the word "reproduction"onto a controversy.Jarrett went on to write:"A group of for-profit companies are

currently suing to gain the right to denyemployees access to coverage for birthcontrol and contraceptive care, which areused by the overwhelming majority ofAmerican women in their lifetimes.Among the first cases to reach theSupreme Court is one filed by HobbyLobby, an arts and crafts chain whoseowners want to be able to take the optionfor birth control benefits away from theiremployees."

The fact is, however, Hobby Lobby,which employs 25,000 people, alreadycovers and will continue to cover 16 outof the 20-FDA approved contraceptivesmandated by HHS. The only four formsof contraception not covered are thefour, which the government itself con-cedes can act to prevent implantation.The owners of Hobby Lobby, the

Green family, are Christians who cannotviolate their religious beliefs by beingcomplicit in the destruction of human-life, at any stage. The government has al-ready exempted--for commercial andother reasons--over 100 million Ameri-cans from having to comply.Imagine the gall of asking the govern-

ment to be exempt from a policy that re-quires employers to facilitate those drugsbecause of religious objections.�But ac-cording to Jarrett, that's not gall, that'strying to "seize a controlling interest overthe health care choices of women."Hobby Lobby doesn't strike me as a

company trying to seize anything. On thecontrary. Its owners pay full-time em-ployees 80 percent above the minimumwage, they close all stores on Sundays,and they offer medical benefits such asan on-site free clinic at its headquarters.For the same reasons the Greens can-

Metro Voice––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––metrovoicenews.com � facebook.com/metrovoicenews––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––February 2014 • 9

The recent Phil Robertson Duck Dy-nasty controversy brought it up again. BillO'Reilly quoted it on Fox News; DonLemon quoted it on CNN. The favoriteverse of the Bible refer-enced in the public sphereis Matthew 7:1, "Judgenot, lest you be judged."The Bible's most misinter-preted, misused and mis-understood scriptureverse is once again in theforefront of our publicdiscourse.What makes the verse

so important is it teaches a crucial truthabout human relationships. If this verse isused incorrectly much damage can occurand people can get unnecessarily hurt.Jesus teaches a very important and helpful

principle which is there is a crucial balancebetween harmful judgmentalism and nec-essary judging.Judgmentalism is when we condemn

others. Jesus uses the imagery of a speck ofwood in your friend's eye versus a log inyour own eye (v. 3-5). The message is vivid,shocking and ludicrous. Before you judgesomeone else for their small imperfectionmake sure you first have dealt with yourown big imperfection. While condemningothers we don't see our own shortcomings.We can judge visible sins like adultery orcheating but minimize less visible sins likeenvy or gossip. We may even point out thefaults of others to shift the focus from our

own sin.Judging and condemn-

ing are always easy to dobut they are not our job. Itis hypocritical to see thesins of others but not ourown judgmental attitude.When we have such an at-titude we have forced outlove. Judgmentalism in-vites retaliation and hin-

ders fellowship. Many times we may knowonly part of the story and we certainly donot know a person's motives. The non-Christian will bristle at a condemning at-titude almost every time. Love has won

over many people, condemnation has wonover very few.The opposite extreme of judgmentalism

is naïve acceptance of anything. Right afterJesus talks about specks and logs he talksabout dogs and pigs (v. 6). His point is an-imals can't discern what is of value. Theearly church used this verse to teach judg-ment in whether someone was in fact atrue believer. There is a place for necessaryjudging. Judging is the exercise of criticalthinking and it is needed on occasion. Infact Jesus said in John 7:24, "Don't judgeby appearances, judge by what is right."Jesus is telling us we should express ouropinion on right and wrong, truth and lies,good and evil.Judging is using wise discernment.

Some quote Matthew 7:1 to denounceanyone who would expose the sins, short-

comings or error of others. If in the publicrealm a Christian leader speaks out aboutmoral behavior or even simply answers amedia question he or she may be chargedwith judging. It is ironic in judging some-one for judging, you are in fact judginghim or her!We are not to judge on appearances or

hearsay. In order to properly judge, corrector discipline all the facts must be availableand evaluated. With proper discernmentwe can make appropriate judgments. Wecannot fail to make essential distinctionsbetween right and wrong simply becausewe fear the accusation of judging.People make judgments every single

day. The idea we should not judge is simplyunrealistic. The better question is what isthe standard for judging. For a Christ-fol-

PUBLISHERS

MANAGING EDITOR

Dwight & Anita Widaman

DwightWidamanDwight@metrovoicenws.com

P.O. Box 1114Lee’s Summit, MO 64063

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Metro Voice © 2014, is an award-win-ning newspaper published monthly byWidaman Communications, Inc. MV isavailable primarily by mailed, bulk andsubscription distribution to the congre-gations of 700 churches, colleges,bookstores, libraries, businesses andother locations. Complimentary distri-bution is available as a service to thecommunity. Individual subscriptionsare available for a donation of $25 peryear. Postage is First Class. Written ma-terials submitted to MV become prop-erty of Widaman Communications. Thecontent of this publication, including allstories, advertising or other graphicsymbols, may not be reproduced in anyway, shape or form for commercial pur-poses or added to any web site withoutthe express permission of WidamanCommunications. Advertising in MV isopen to anyone wishing to reach theChristian community. MV reserves theright to refuse any advertising deemedunsuitable.

Metro Voice is a charter member of the Christian Newspaper Association,Fellowship of Christian Newspapers, Mid-west Christian Media Association. Evangelical Press Association

COMMUNITY EVENTS EDITOR

AnitaWidamanMetrovoicecalendar@gmail.com

EDITORIAL SUPPORTLayout & Design: Joe BootheProofreading: Alan Goforth

Reviews: Marie Asner, D.C. Jeanes, Phil Boatright; Contributing Editors:

Lee Hartman, Jack Cashill, Stephanie Boothe

metrovoice@kcweb.net

SHARE YOUR OPINION WITH US. IT’S EASY!dwight@metrovoicenews.com • twitter.com/metrovoice

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“The oppositeextreme of

judgmentalism isnaïve acceptance of anything.”

RICK McDANIEL Senior pastor at the Richmond Community Churchand author

viewpoint

The non-Christians’favorite Bible verse

Why Hobby Lobby must prevail in courtSTAR PARKER Author and president of Centerfor Urban Renewaland Education

myopinion

See JUDGEMENT page 10

See HOBBY LOBBY page 10

“Hobby Lobby doesn't strikeme as a company trying toseize anything. On the contrary. Its owners pay full-time employees 80 percent above the minimum wage… ” STAR PARKER

“Hobby Lobby doesn't strikeme as a company trying toseize anything. On the contrary. Its owners pay full-time employees 80 percent above the minimum wage… ” STAR PARKER

Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green

The observance of Sanctity of Human Life month in Janu-ary heightened our awareness about the good works beingdone for the glory of the Lord in pregnancy resource centers,adoption and foster care agencies, and maternity homes.White crosses, life chains, and marches sent a message to pas-sive observers that life is sacred and babies should be given theopportunity to experience life outside of the womb.

As we volunteer our time and open our checkbooks tobolster ministries supporting women and men in crisis preg-nancies, let’s not fail to acknowledge and help those who bearhidden wounds related to abortion. Statistics tell us that55,000,000 babies have been lost to abortion since it was le-galized. But think about the millions who have been touchedby this decision.

Abortion not only takes the life of the baby, it wounds thelife of the mother, father and others connected with them.Many in our neighborhoods and workplaces secretly live withabortion-related guilt, shame, regret and loss. In fact, 1 in 6women in our churches have had an abortion and work espe-cially hard to hide this reality.

Jama Edlund is director of Ministry Service for If Not ForGrace Ministries. INFG offers a safe, confidential place to sharethe pain abortion has caused. Experience God’s transformationalgrace! Contact them at www.infg.org.

Commit to serve those affected by abortionby Jama Edlund

The population of the states in red representthe number of lives that have been lost to abor-tion since it became legal in 1973.

It’s impossible to listen to commentaryabout the state of affairs concerning blackAmerica and not form an opinion. Thiswill not be your typical article on black his-tory. I’m going to take a different approach,one that attempts to point out an empiri-cal thing that we can remedy as a peoplestill striving to fulfill the promise of theGod we serve in Christ and the dreams ourancestors had for us. By using the defini-tion above I’ll attempt to provide someclarity by defining institution as a state ofmind, and I’ll call for an exodus away fromthe mindset. We cannot continue to lookto institutions, no matter how evolved, foranswers. The primary function of any type of in-

stitution is to govern in some form. People

conditioned by institutions of any typelook to the authorities and seek guidance,counsel, permission and ultimately favorfrom the leaders. We were brought here aspowerless people, and we were liberated bythe bold actions of abolitionists, a presi-dent of conviction and the blood of count-less soldiers. During the Civil RightsMovement, we compelled the governmentto give us equal treatment. In short wewere reformers of the status quo, not de-pendent on it. In our battle to secure rightsand privileges from the institution of gov-ernment, we, especially as Christians, mustask ourselves if we have become dependenton it. The institution has helped us, but itis not our liberator.I was once privileged to sit in on a train-

ing by Tom Pomeranz who once said, “Aninstitution is not a place; it’s a state ofmind.” During the training he spoke of in-stitutions in a profound way -- as a way ofthinking and acting by the people who de-pend on it and those who provide servicesand instruction to those they are entrustedwith. These three characteristics were evi-dent:1. Belief in segregation (Certain people

should be kept away from others.)2. Belief in limiting choice (Certain peo-

ple can’t handle decision making.)3. Belief in limiting privacy (A mindset

that encourages and tolerates intrusion.)I cringed when I heard these words. I

knew it to be true. In some ways we wereall institutionalized in regards to ourthinking regardless of race. But slavery hada profound impact on blacks traumatizinggenerations to come. It scarred the soul ofthe oppressor and oppressed. Martin

Luther King attacked the institutions of theday that promoted the belief in segrega-tion, limiting choice and violating the most

basic private rights of our people. The gov-ernment upheld and codified these ap-proaches into law and enforced them withvicious brutality. I am thankful this is no longer the case,

but I lament the current state of affairs somany Black are disproportionately en-snared in poverty, fatherlessness, addictionand skyrocketing incarceration rates. Thestatistics stagger the mind and stoke thecompassion and anger of any person withcharacter. I’m thankful that many goodpeople are working to remedy these things,but we have a long way to go.One final note for all believers, the in-

stitution of government is asserting itselfby limiting choice, violating privacy andsegregating people along political lines,creed and dividing by race (covertly). Thisapproach has accelerated since 9/11 andafter the financial crisis of 2008, it went toanother level. There seems to be no end insight. However, I am looking to a kingdomnot fashioned by the hands of men to em-power me. How about you? I invite you torenew your focus.Hakim Hazim is the founder of Relevant

Now and Cofounder of Freedom Squared.He is a nationally recognized expert in deci-sion analysis, criminality and security.

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an on-site free clinic at its headquarters.For the same reasons the Greens cannot

be party to four life-terminating drugs,they cannot deprive their workers of a de-cent wage, a day of rest, and access to goodhealth care. And that reason would be theirChristian faith.

The government should be ashamed ofits treatment of Hobby Lobby. The Obamaadministration has dragged a respectablecompany owned by principled people intothe town square for a verbal and legal tarand feathering, solely because of their re-ligious beliefs.Right now, the legal opposition to the

HHS mandate--led by the lawyers at theBecket Fund for Religious Liberty--is the

largest class-action religious liberty lawsuitin American history. The number of plain-tiffs is 300 and growing by the day.In trying to legally squeeze out those

family businesses owned by people whoconduct their affairs according to moraland religious principles, the government'sbehavior begs the question: What control-ling interest are they after?Star Parker is an author and president of

HOBBY LOBBYcontinued from page 9

lower the Bible is the authority for rightand wrong. We judge not based on ourown opinions but rather based on God'sopinion.Balance is always a challenge to achieve.

Christ followers who are condemning andjudgmental have done great harm. There

are many who will not darken the door ofa church or listen to a message from aChristian leader because of the hurt theyhave experienced. It does the cause ofChrist no good if people feel condemnedby those who should love them. On theother hand truth must be proclaimed. AChrist follower cannot be fearful to speakabout right and wrong. To be intimidated,to be marginalized, to be silenced for

speaking the truth can never be tolerated.Properly interpreting Matthew 7:1, under-standing its balanced message and apply-ing it consistently is needed in the church,communities and culture.Rick McDaniel is the senior pastor of

Richmond Community Church in Rich-mond, Va., and highimpactchurch.tv. He isthe author of Comeback: Overcoming TheSetbacks In Your Life.

JUDGEMENTcontinued from page 9

Black History: State of affairs and state of mindHAKIMHAZIM Founder of Relevant Now andCofounder of Freedom Squared

viewpointA challenge to renew

our focus

“In our battle to secure rights and privileges from theinstitution of government, we, especially as Christians,must ask ourselves if we have become dependent on it.”

In any endeavor of life, failure to planis planning to fail. This is especiallytrue when it comes to a group retreat.The timeline for retreat promotion andregistration may be several months.Below is a sample timeline:

Four months: Church establishes a“Camp Coordinator.” The coordinatorwill want to ask for volunteers to be re-sponsible for the areas of finances, reg-istration, promotion, program, siteselection, food, etc. There is truth to thesentence: Many hands make light work.Leaders need to remember when askingpeople to serve that the benefit to serv-ing is the personal relationships that de-velop within the church.

Three months: Retreat centers websitesuch as Tall Oaks has a promotional kiton line for their groups to use fornewsletter articles and bulletin inserts.Coordinator needs to publish datesearly so families can schedule their va-cations around the retreat. The youthcoordinator needs to host a meetingwith parents to provide financial dead-lines and early bird discounts, campschedule, travel details, etc. and providetime for parents to ask questions. Ayouth coordinator needs to be sure thatfinancial guidelines are clear and offerincentives to register early. Leadersneed to promote retreats on socialmedia such as facebook and twitter.

Promotion needs to be unpredictableand colorful!

Two months: On a Sunday morningor in Sunday school class, have past at-tendees share their personal testimoniesconcerning retreat experience from pre-vious year. This will increase interestand increase the possibility of dona-tions of scholarship money. Picturesare worth a million words. The promo-tion leader may ask past attendees toemail pictures of the previous retreat orcamp to the coordinator to organize apower point slide presentation forviewing before, during or after the serv-ice. The coordinator needs to make aspecial effort to personally invite stu-

dents or adults. This can make all thedifference in their decision to come.

One month: The registration leadermay organize a “Retreat/Camp Sunday”including a church member who is anotary on hand to finalize registrations.The leader may also organize a pancakebreakfast or a bakede potato luncheonon that day to provide awareness forothers to pray for the students who areto attend camp.

One Week After: Ask students to shareabout their experience at camp. Fellowmembers and parents will be muchmore willing the following year to sup-port you in your efforts when seeingstudents’ lives changed and enthusiasm!

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Planning for success month-by-month guide

When asked what do I do at Mid-west Christian Retreats, I respond with"I am in media development". Thequestion that follows 99.9 percent ofthe time is "What is media develop-ment?" To me, that shouldn't even bea question. But I have grown up in asocial media world and most of thetime I forget that social media isn'tpart of everyone's vocabulary.

Social media has grown rapidly inthe past few years. I can't remember atime when I wasn't on a computer ofsome sort. And now, we have so manyoptions to tap into the social mediaworld. It is hard (for me) to believethat there is still a percent of peoplewho don't even know what socialmedia is.With social media growing, many

event planners have been taking ad-

COURTNEYLORENZ Director of Marketingand Media Development, MidwestChristian Retreats

viewpointTargeting the

“Media” Generation

See SOCIAL MEDIA page 12

vantage of what it has to offer their targetaudiences. Especially when it comes to tar-geting the younger generation. Socialmedia is a great way to connect on theirlevel and make it a more personal interac-tion.As an event planner, there are a few

things to remember when using socialmedia as a marketing tool.Seek out your target audience. You have

to go to them. Social media is a great toolto find new and existing audiences. Today,the younger generation doesn't tend toseek out opportunities for retreats. If youseek them out and build a relationshipwith them, they are more likely to re-spond. In return, theymay even invite theirfriends to the event aswell.Social media can

keep your event aliveeven after it is over. You can use a blog topost a wrap up of all the key highlights ofyour event. You can even add links to thepresentations or downloadable docu-ments. On your social media sites likeFacebook, you can post photos from yourevent. Social media allows you to create aplace for people to discuss what went onat the event with others who attended.Make sure you listen to what people are

saying about your event. You want to keeptrack of what people liked and what peo-ple didn't like. That way, as you are plan-ning your next event, you know what tochange.Another great tool with social media is

online surveys. Facebook has a place forpolls. These are easy and fun ways to getquick responses or feedback from the peo-ple who attended your event. Be preparedfor negative comments. People will alwayshave opinions about your event. Makesure you respond to their concerns. Youwill also get a lot of positive feed back. Youcan use the positive feedback as a way topromote your next event.

Excerpt from Courtney Lorenz’s Blog atwww.midwestchristianretreats.org. Cour-ney is Director of Marketing and Media De-velopment.

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SOCIAL MEDIAcontinued from page 11

Retreats effective way to reach teens with GospelSports teams, homework, piano les-

sons, chores, and tests… The list of pres-sures that teens face seems to grow longerby the day, while the fillers of “downtime,” like video games and media, keepmost teens plugged in constantly! It ishard to find a student who knows how toslow down and rest. Youth retreats arecrucial events for a pastor or ministryleader to plan, because they force stu-dents to stop, unplug from technologyand their active lives, and rest. A weekendaway gives students important time tostep away from their everyday demands,and focus on Christ. A great retreat center

has activities and amenitiesthat draw students in and en-courage them to sign up, butthe real heart of a youth re-treat comes during worshipsessions, small-group time,Bible studies and one-on-oneconversations that a weekendaway calls for. Seasonal re-treats bring about high pointsin a student’s busy schedule.Retreating and refocusing,students tune into the word ofGod in a way that is hard forthem to do when surroundedby so many daily distractions.It is amazing how much a student can

soak in during just oneweekend away from thenorm.Believe it or not, plan-

ning a youth retreat is sim-ple and fun! Retreatcoordinators make it theirgoal to handle the details,while the youth pastorsand ministry sponsors getquality time with the stu-dents. One of the bestparts of my job as a Re-treat Coordinator is get-ting to serve and ministerto the group leaders and

pastors through helping them plan their

youth retreat from the first phone calluntil their departure home. God uses youth retreats in a big way

and these opportunities are a great out-reach tool as well. Students who may betoo scared to step through the doors of achurch can dive into a youth group forthe first time while playing laser tag withfriends from back home. The benefits goon and on! I would recommend all youthpastors plan and participate in a yearly orseasonal youth retreat, regardless of howmany students are in their youth group.It is amazing to see all that God can do ina weekend!

Maddie Quick is Guest Services Special-ist atSky Ranch. maddieq@skyranch.org

Today so many of us live our lives at afrantic pace in multiple arenas. Wescramble from one responsibility to theother, worried, worn and weakened bythe demands of daily living. In the midstof our earthly busy-ness and struggle, weyearn for the quiet in the eye of the storm. “Come to me all you who are weary

and heavily burdened, and I will give yourest.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28 arean invitation we long to answer and yetthe demands of daily living do not make

it easy. With a thousand voices compet-ing for our attention, we as Christiansknow we need the calming influence ofthe Prince of Peace. Yet it can be chal-lenging to create moments when we canfocus solely on Christ and center our-selves in Him. One of the most effective methods of

centering and re-focusing is the retreatexperience. While there are a variety ofretreat styles, each is an intentionallycarved-out time for the soul with its Cre-

ator. There are individual retreats forthose seeking guidance or healing, rest orrenewal. There are group retreats tolearn, reflect, plan, or strengthen relation-ships. Christian retreats, however de-

signed, have at their core the opportunityto focus our attention on God and rest inHim. In retreat, we fast from the pressures

and noise of everyday life. We becomeaware of the peace and beauty of naturearound us. We are freed from the super-ficial. Released from our everyday to-dolists we can simply be and experience thereality of God’s love in “the deep hush ofthe whole soul”. In stillness apart fromthe storms of life, we are renewed inspirit. Our minds are opened to new un-derstandings. Our souls are refreshed and

Planning a men's retreat can seem like a daunting task, es-pecially if it's your first time. I've found, however, that if youwork with other men, and try not to be too ambitious, youcan create something quite meaningful. When planning thebeginning of your retreat, remember that it's an importanttime because it sets the tone.

Throughout the weekend, a nice balance between small-and full-group activities is essential. It can be helpful to havea few meetings of the same small group throughout the week-end so that men can build some closer relationships. In largegroups, storytelling, singing, and chanting can be very pro-found if safety is established and guys can let go and get into

Things too hectic? Retreat!

by Maddie Quick

See RETREAT page 13

Planning men's retreatby the Rev. Jaco Hove

See MEN’S page 13

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One of my favorite things to do duringthe summer, besides lie by the pool, is togo on a Retreat of Silence (ROS). Beforeall of the extroverts quit reading because Iused the words “retreat” and “silence,”relax and keep reading because I, myself,am an extrovert. In extrovert language, Iprefer to call it “Spending the Day withGod,” but InterVarsity refers to it as anROS. It’s an extremely helpful way to re-flect on the year and see how God hasbeen present and what things he hastaught you.

I call mine “Spending the Day withGod” because I’m not always silent duringmine. And you don’t have to be either. Thepoint of an ROS is to set aside an extendedperiod of time to engage with God andrest in him. It does not mean that you haveto check yourself into a monastery andtake a vow of silence all day (although youcan if you’d like and I bet that’d be fabu-lous). But it is an experience that you planin order to intentionally connect with Godin a more intimate and private way thanyou normally might.

refilled for the journey yet ahead.In a military context, retreat is an ac-

knowledgement of defeat, a turning backbefore the enemy and losing ground. In aspiritual context, a retreat is a time ofpushing the “pause” button of life in orderto regroup and allow God to renew us sothat we may continue on in victory