Tag Archives: News

Charles Phillips’ Affair with YaVaughnie Wilkins

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Apparently Charles Phillips, an Oracle executive and a member of Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery board, had an 8 1/2 year affair with an actress named YaVaughnie Wilkins. To his credit, Phillips has ended the extramarital relationship and reconciled with his wife.

Your Life:

Regarding your own/my own behavior: Charles Phillips’ ex-mistress responded to Phillips’ reconciliation in a somewhat novel manner. She spent what is estimated by some to be hundreds of thousands of dollars to erect giant billboards in New York City — Times Square no less, Atlanta, and San Francisco. The billboards display a larger than life (much, much larger than life) photo of Phillips embracing Wilkins with Charles Phillips’ quoted as saying, “You are my soulmate forever.” If you think you might engage in an extra-marital relationship, think again. Even if you were to somehow avoid detection in this life, of course the Lord knows. And of course, no one’s opinion matters more. Charles Phillips would have done well to remember,

…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

Numbers 32:23

You and I will do well to remember as well.

There are a gazillion reasons not to enter into an extramarital affair. It could result in your spending only a fraction of the time you now spend with your kids. Or even losing your children altogether. You could lose much of your bank account. You could lose your health — to an STD. You can lose friends, church family, extended family.

An article about Phillips and Wilkins by CBS stated,

“…the revenge factor was huge, and infidelity often tears everything apart. “Look at John Edwards. Look at Steve McNair. An out of control mistress can cost you your job, your wife, your marriage, all sorts of things. It cost Steve McNair his life.”

Romans 6:23 says,

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

…the wages of sin is death, death of relationships, death of bank accounts and retirement plans, death of vocations, perhaps even, as was McNair’s case, physical death.

Regarding the behavior of others: A trait of truly great people is that they set high standards for themselves yet show grace and mercy toward others. Years ago I heard about an acquaintance who fell into adultery. I asked my pastor how we as Christians should behave toward someone who has entered into such behavior. I was sure I’d here him say, “Share with him this scripture.” or “Gather together with a few brothers and confront the man.” However, to my surprise, he said, “Show him the Lord’s love.” Wow! “Show him the Lord’s love??!!!” I really had to think and pray that through. More than a few years have passed since that conversation and I’ve had occasion to observe broken marriages and have seen how spouses and exspouses behave in such situations. Any indication of anger, even what may be righteous anger, from a Christian tends to result in a withdrawal from Christ. If you’re sure the Holy Spirit is leading you to share a scripture with someone who has fallen into sin, the key is, only do it if you can do it in love. If you can’t, it’s much better not to confront at all. Remember how Jesus responded to the woman who was caught in adultery:

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

John 8:11

Brit Hume’s Plea to Tiger Woods Criticized (Updated 1/8 6:38 pm PST)

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Just read a great article in the Washington Post by Michael Gerson, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/07/AR2010010703244.html , that addresses the rabid criticism that Brit Hume has endured as a result of his message to Tiger Woods to accept Jesus Christ as his savior. According to Gerson, Hume has been called a

“sanctimonious busybody” engaged in “telling people what religious beliefs they ought to have.” Blogger Andrew Sullivan criticized Hume’s “pure sectarianism,” which helps abolish “the distinction between secular and religious discourse.” MSNBC’s David Shuster called Hume’s religious advice “truly embarrassing.”

Gerson goes on to say that persuading others to accept your religion is a normal and natural part of most any faith. He’s right.

In early 1980 scientists believed that a Mount Saint Helens eruption was imminent. Of course they did everything they could to persuade people in the area to evacuate. One of those who refused to go was an elderly man named Harry Randall Truman. When interviewed by the press Harry said that the danger of eruption was “over-exaggerated.” The scientists and park officials, believing otherwise, tried everything to get Harry to leave but they never could persuade him. Harry died in the eruption on May 18, 1980. Turns out the danger wasn’t “over-exaggerated” after all.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Randall_Truman

Think this through with me: If you’re a Bible believing Christian, if you believe, as I do, that Jesus is, “…the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by” Him, (John 14:6) then what kind of person would I be, would you be, if we didn’t do everything we could to persuade people to convert to the Christian faith? The stakes are high. Far higher than that of a physical human life — the stakes are eternal. If someone were coercive, even abusive, in their attempts to bring someone to Christ, that’s one thing. But Hume was anything but. His concern for Tiger’s welfare was obvious, fellow panelist Bill Kristol even commented that, ”Brit’s concerned about Tiger’s soul, which is admirable…”

Gerson continues with,

The assumption of these criticisms is that proselytization is the antonym of tolerance. Asserting the superiority of one’s religious beliefs, in this view, is not merely bad manners; it involves a kind of divisive, offensive judgmentalism.

But the American idea of religious liberty does not forbid proselytization; it presupposes it. Free, autonomous individuals not only have the right to hold whatever beliefs they wish, they also have the right to change those beliefs and to persuade others to change as well. Just as there is no political liberty without the right to change one’s convictions and publicly argue for them, there is no religious liberty without the possibility of conversion and persuasion.

Whatever happened to the idea of freedom of speech and the idea of freedom of religion as part of American culture?

Your Life: Influencing people for God’s kingdom must be at the top of your list if you’re a Christian. And loving people as we have been commanded to, (John 15:17) and as I believe Brit Hume demonstrated on that night he encouraged Tiger Woods to become a Christian, is the most effective way to influence.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Parents Arrested for Home Schooling

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OK, so these parents, Richard and Mary Cressy of Glen, NY, didn’t follow the law and register their four home schooled children or their curriculum with the local school district. But having them arrested? Really? Check out the CBS story at: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/district-1269895-school-county.html

Perhaps I’m missing something. Couldn’t the school district send out a representative to educate the Cressys about their responsibility rather than sending out the sheriff to arrest them?

Chilling.

Your Life: This story really irks me. Treating decent people like criminals… And what makes it worse is that our society sometimes treats dangerous criminals like hotel guests. While it may be quite a tough pill to swallow, I believe the answer to how you or I should respond in such a situation is found in Matthew 22:20-22. When the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus into either breaking the Roman law or going against the sentiment of the people by paying tribute, Jesus handled it this way:

And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

Unless it would violate God’s law, we need to obey those in authority over us. Even when the authorities are, well, less than charming.

Tiger Woods, Become a Christian – Go Brit Hume! Video

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On national television during a Fox News panel discussion Brit Hume admonishes Tiger Woods to convert from Buddhism to Christianity. His comment is that Buddhism doesn’t offer “the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.” Anyone knowledgeable about religion can’t argue that.

Hume’s remarks remind me of the story about the conference with representatives from all the world’s major religions. Things started off very tame as they agreed on multiple similarities shared among their different belief systems. C.S. Lewis was invited to the conference but arrived late. When he entered the room he was immediately asked if he felt that there was any difference between Christianity and the other major religions of the world. Without hesitation he said, of course there is, forgiveness of sin. At that point the room exploded into pandemonium.

Leadership Take-away: During an Advanced Fire Administration Institute class I had an instructor in a leadership class who was not a Christian. However every leadership author and expert, both alive and dead, that he cited was a believer — some were pastors. Toward the end of the class he spontaneously stopped his lecture, thought to himself for a moment, then said, “What is it with these leadership gurus, they all seem to be pastors and Christians.” I had to smile because if you define leadership as influence, as many do, it follows that the most influential person who ever lived would produce the best leaders. And of course that person is Jesus Christ.

Consider the following excerpt from Traveler and the Chaplain:

During Jesus’ time on earth his influence on his immediate followers is obvious.  Just look at how they died.  Matthew was run through with the sword.  Mark was killed when he was drug behind horses.  Luke was hanged.  Peter was crucified upside down.  Bartholomew was beaten to death.  Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross.  Thomas was stabbed to death.  All of these men were influenced to the point of giving their lives for Jesus’ sake.”

The Chaplain was becoming more and more animated as he continued, “And thousands of years later Jesus is still by far the most influential person who ever lived.  The Bible is by far the best selling book in the history of the world.  Every college established in colonial America except for one was created by a denomination of Christianity.  Many of our hospitals are named after Christian Saints: Saint John’s, Saint Jude’s, Saint Peter’s, etc.  The Red Cross and the YMCA are just a few of our institutions that were established by Christians.  During the time of the Roman Empire it was common for people to kill their female babies.  It was Christ’s influence through his followers that changed the Roman culture to eliminate infanticide.  It was Christian abolitionists that influenced the United States to eliminate slavery.   The door of time itself is hinged on the life of Jesus Christ.  Our dating system is divided by B.C. Before Christ, and Anno Domini after Christ’s birth.”

Traveler sat listening, wide eyed.

The Chaplain said, “The great historian Will Durant wrote that, ‘Caesar hoped to reform men by changing institutions and laws; Christ wished to remake institutions, and lessen laws by changing men.’3  Some leaders, managers, teachers, coaches, or parents focus their efforts on changing organizational structure, or developing rules and regulations.  Jesus’ leadership style was to influence people.  And no one in history has influenced the world more.”

Go Brit Hume!