FULL BIBLE TRUTH

c.1290, "foolish, stupid, senseless," from O.Fr. nice "silly, foolish," from L. nescius "ignorant," lit. "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see un-) + stem of scire "to know." "The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj." [Weekley] -- from "timid" (pre-1300); to "fussy, fastidious" (c.1380); to "dainty, delicate" (c.1405); to "precise, careful" (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to "agreeable, delightful" (1769); to "kind, thoughtful" (1830). In 16c.-17c. it is often difficult to determine exactly what is meant when a writer uses this word. By 1926, it was pronounced "too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness." [Fowler]

"I am sure," cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should I not call it so?" "Very true," said Henry, "and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk; and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything." [Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey"]

Funny, isn't it? You can search the Bible through and through and you will be hard-pressed to find that adjective in reference to Christianity. Somewhere along the line we have become convinced that the greatest thing they can ever say about you as a Christian is that you are a "nice" man.

Nice may fit a Bible study, or a vacation with your family, but it is not very useful in war. That is one of the difficult things I am having trouble teaching our Christian football players. Nice has no place on the football field. Character is important, courage is demanded, tenacity fits, but being nice."pleasing; agreeable; delightful" is a sure-fire way to get the snot knocked out of you. (Is it okay to say snot? Probably doesn't sound very "nice" to some folks.)

Nice also has no place in the cultural war. "All's fair in love and war" the old saying goes. Well, for those of you who want to "love" your enemies and those who want to "war" against them; it is time to take off the gloves.

The media has been after me a bit lately. They hate the fact that I am not one of those "nice" Christians that the Devil is trying to convince us we must be. Have you ever noticed that? The Devil's kids are the one always calling the names and explaining to us how a Christian should act. Most Christians can't wait to perform penance for not meeting the Devil's standards of Christian-behavior.

Hey, it is a free country. They have a right to voice their opinion. But why is it that so much of the church-world takes its cue from what they hear from the media? Does anyone want to debate who is in control of what we read and hear? The Scriptures call Satan the prince of the power of the air. TV and radio waves travel in the air. Here's what I don't get. If it is really a war for the souls of men, and I believe that it is, why are we so focused on being "nice" to the Devil and his evil aides? He is the father, you know, of the ones who are lost. Why do we let the Devil's minions tell us how a Christian should behave?

A few months ago I wrote about going to the gay pride parade in Columbus. We were shocked to see so many churches marching in the parade in support of sodomy and those who practice it. I was struck by how deceived those churches were. See, they were convinced that if they would just be "nice" to those who were perishing in that lifestyle, then we would all be able to enjoy the love of Jesus together. In fact, the homosexual crowd (the Devil's "kids") applauded the 'tolerant" churches as they marched. They spit at those of us who carried the Truth of God's love to them. Sometimes God's love hurts.

Is it just me or was there something wrong with that picture? The Devil's "kids" applauding the church..sort of like a Buckeye fan rooting for Michigan. But that isn't what really amazes me. What honks my horn is the number of churches who are mad at me because we haven't been nice to the Devil. We shouldn't do that, I guess -- oppose the Devil and his followers. Just doesn't seem very Christ-like..er.nice. "Be nice, Coach. Please be nice. You are making Christians look bad."

Yep. The Devil says we're mean and that Christians shouldn't be mean. Most Christians follow his advice. Gotta be nice, you know.

Well, a few of my pastor friends (yes I still have a few friends who are pastors) decided that we have been pointing our guns at the wrong crowd. Instead of spending their time calling the lost to account they made the decision to call "the church" to account. How did they do it? Well, they went to a couple of churches who had marched in the sodomite-parade. It seems one lesbian-pastor did not appreciate her fellow brethren-of-the-cloth calling her to account for preaching a different gospel. It was just too..well..mean.

So how did she respond? She called her daddy's boys in the media and told them how un-nice these mean Christians had been to her. Next thing you know, three-different publications had done stories on how these "hateful" Christians had "crashed" the services of these nice, loving, defenseless, homosexual-Christians.

You see, the media wants you to know that Bible-believing Christians are hateful but homosexual-Christians are loving. That is the Devil's mantra. Who do you think the cowardly-church believes? The letters to the editor in the following days was filled with letters from other "nice" Christians who wanted to make sure that the Devil knew that they were sorry that some of God's children played mean. That's not very Christ-like, you know. Christians must play by the rules...even if the Devil makes them.

But God is gracious. He told us it was a war. He told us they would hate us. He told us He would never leave us or forsake us. Every attack of the enemy is a chance to stand-up for Jesus. Stop sucking on your thumb when the attack comes. The Devil doesn't play nice. He's counting on us to do that.

For two weeks I endured the assault of the "nicer-than-Coach" Christians and their apologies to the Devil in the local papers. They just couldn't wait to apologize to the Devil for my opposition to his kids' behavior. By the way, did I point out that I wasn't even involved in going to the churches? It didn't matter. The Devil just wanted to make sure that everyone knew Christians like me were mean, and that anyone else who decided to speak up for Jesus could expect the same public smearing.

I hate to sound so prideful, but the attack just egged me on. I am not ignorant of his devices. I know when we have hit a nerve. I refuse to apologize to the Devil.

So, I wrote a letter-to-the-editor and to my amazement, they printed it. The Columbus Dispatch, the largest home-newspaper in Ohio, printed my letter at the top of the opinion page. I refused to do what so many do when attacked by the media. I wasn't going to grovel for their approval, slobbering how sorry I was, how I had miss-spoken, and how I would soon be entering diversity training to learn to be nicer. The Lord gave me an opportunity to share the Gospel with those who are perishing as well as those who apologize to those who are perishing. Here is what the Lord allowed me to say.

I write not to defend myself, but rather to clarify the continued drive-by reporting of those at the Columbus Dispatch.

The Aug. 17 Dispatch article "Anti-gay activists crash worship services" was filled with inaccuracies and untruths. To set the record straight: Two ministers of the Gospel, with others from their congregation, visited two gay-affirming churches with the message that homosexuality and Christianity are incompatible. It is my understanding, as I was not there, that after the service they met privately with the pastor at each church to call the pastor to account for teaching doctrine that is not supported by Scripture. For The Dispatch to use the term "crashed" is journalistic fraud designed to incite a negative response by Dispatch readers.

I stand in support of Christian Ministers holding others who claim to be Christian Ministers accountable to the Word of God. It is the way the church body should operate. Telling a gay-man or gay- woman that God looks the other way as He winks at their particular sin is not the loving response a homosexual should hear from any minister of the Gospel. The two pastors who spoke truth to their gay-affirming fellow ministers did exactly what the Scriptures require they do according to Mathew 18:15-17:

Go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he will not listen, take one or two others along. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

The condition of American-Christianity would be much better if more ministers of the Gospel held those in Scriptural error more accountable. I also believe it the duty of the scribes of our times to be more respectful of the truth - regardless of their personal agendas.

Thank God for the brave men who would speak the truth face-to- face rather than publicly defame the integrity of another. I support the brave pastors who stood for the vast majority of Christendom who agree with their theology.

I thank The Dispatch for the unwarranted coverage of the event and their obvious attempt to defame two brave Christian pastors. I just wanted to be sure that I did not receive credit for something someone else had done.

Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and President of Pass The Salt Ministries www.ptsalt.com and Minutemen United www.minutemenunited.org, is host of the high octane Pass The Salt radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio.

~SOURCE: http://www.newswithviews.com/Daubenmire/dave85.htm
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