Reaching Upward

The ministry staff at our congregation has come up with a theme for 2009 which is titled, "Reaching Upward, Inward and Outward." This theme is based on Isaiah 6:1-8, and we are currently in the midst of a series of sermons based upon the same theme. As the worship minister at our congregation, I preached on January 18 on the theme, "Reaching Upward." The exact title was, "The Five Whoppers of Worship."

O.k., a little explanation on the audio. First of all, there are two links instead of one. I don't usually include the special music with my messages when I post them, but Joni sang this song and it goes really well with the message itself. So, the first link is Joni singing the special music. Second, this message is from the 8:15 service. That's pretty early for most people, so a lot of the humorous things (or at least things I thought were funny) didn't get much of a response. Plus, this crowd is smaller than our 10:30 service and generally a lot more "reserved." But the recording made of the later service left out the special music and the first part of the message, so I posted this one. Finally, my intention here was not to chastise or confront people unnecessarily. But some of this material is confrontational by nature, because we ALL have times when we try to elevate ourselves to God's throne. If you find yourself struggling with some of the things I said, do what I did when I was preparing the message: examine WHY you are uncomfortable. It just might be that you have believed one of the lies.

To listen, you can try and click on the link below (it should open the file in your media player), or you can download the file to your computer and listen to it. To do this, right-click on the link and select "save target as" and save the file to your computer desktop or somewhere you can find it. Then open the file from your media player (i.e. Windows Media Player, iTunes, etc.).


Special Music: Joni Clifton (1-18-2009)

Message: "Whoppers of Worship" Rob Clifton (1-18-2009)

It Starts....

A lot of people have questioned me about my silnce over the 2008 presidential election and inaugaration of the United States' first half-white president, Barack "Middle-Name-Deleted" Obama. I think you all probably know what my personal feelings are regarding his politics. Time will tell if my predictions are correct: that he will trade in a short-term economic fix for a long-term drain on our national economy, that he will appoint liberal federal judges who will further erode our freedoms and the moral fiber of our nation, and that he will cater to left-wing radicals who will sell our safety and security as a nation for a peaceful chorus of "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke." We'll see. He's promised to make us a better nation, and if he keeps his promises, then we'll all be better off. I do NOT want him to fail in his efforts. I just don't think that continuing the liberal policies of Carter and Clinton will produce the results that he has promised. If I'm wrong (and my liberal friends can PROVE it to me), I'll admit it, albeit reluctantly.

But I am sickened by the lack of journalistic impartiality that I saw this week. I won't debate who is to blame for the screw-up of the Presidential Oath of Office. If you're a conservative you think President Obama choked. If you're a liberal, you think Chief Justice Roberts sabotaged the event. If you're an American, you're probably a little red-faced over the whole thing no matter WHO is to blame. But can we admit that if it had been President Bush, we would have had to endure countless hours of ridiculous commentary about his unfitness to be in office. I'm just a little tired of the mainstream media (MSM) giving Obama a "pass" for every silly or stupid thing he does. He appointed a Treasury Secretary who got caught cheating on his taxes. He appointed a Secretary of State who's husband is on the payroll at several foreign countries, some of whom have (shall we say) "strained" relations with the U.S. His Chief-of-staff is tied to a convicted felon (Rezko) and has questionable ties to an impeached and soon to be removed from office governor (Blagojevich). But this is a time of "hope" and "change." I just wonder why the media isn't asking the obvious question, "If change is so important to our President, why does it seem like it's politics as usual?"

Let's give him a chance. Let's hope he is really a closet conservative. But let's not give him a pass and pretend that he walks on water and lives without sin. A friend asked me on Tuesday, "I didn't watch the rock-n-roll show today. Did they put him on a donkey's colt, lay down palm branches, and shout 'Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord' as he went into the White House?" Well, no Brian, they didn't. But I'm sure that if they could have gotten a few more dollars, they might have.

Let's also hope that the media get's over their collective case of "Obamamania" before it's too late.