Come join us at 8:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. tomorrow or catch us on KDOC-TV.

Lift Up Jesus with Pastor Dudley LIVE on Easter from Call On Jesus on Vimeo.

In case you weren’t able to catch my visit with the folks at Praise the Lord, here is the clip of my time on the show:

Dudley on TBN from Call On Jesus on Vimeo.

NCAA Pulls the Plug on Focus Ad After Protest
by Nima Reza, managing editor
Organization caters to homosexual activists over benign ad.

The NCAA took a Focus on the Family ad off of its Web site after homosexual activists complained.

The print ad shows a father holding his young son. It’s titled:

Celebrate Family. Celebrate Life.

And the picture is captioned:

All I want for my son is for him to grow up knowing how to do the right thing.

The activists claimed Focus was too controversial for being pro-life, and in favor of one-man, one-woman marriage. They said that runs counter to the NCAA’s policies.

Gary Schneeberger, vice president of ministry communications at Focus on the Family, said he was “befuddled” by the NCAA’s decision.

“Have we really become a society where it’s considered distasteful and controversial for a dad to hope the best for his son?” he said. “If so, we have a lot of soul-searching to do as a nation.”

Steve Maegdlin, CEO of the CSK Strategic Marketing Group which produced the print ad, said there’s no reason for it to be pulled.

“There’s no hidden message or hidden agenda in here,” he said.

Calls to the NCAA were not returned.

The ad was part of a CBS Super Bowl package. The network ran the much-talked about TV commercial by Focus on the Family featuring Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother.

“We said during the weeks of controversy before our Super Bowl commercial with the Tebows aired that – despite the charges of critics who hadn’t even seen it – the spot was not political or divisive or hateful,” Schneeberger added. “And, it wasn’t. The print ad now being protested is even more non-threatening – if that’s possible. It simply says, ‘Focus on the Family is here to help you raise your kids, thrive in your marriages and tackle the challenge life throws your way.'”

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Call the NCAA to express your disappointment over the ad’s removal.

NCAA Comment Line 317-917-6762.

Japan is such a beautiful country with so much culture and technology, many neat trends, and a wonderful people. But it is a country that needs Jesus. Did you know that only one percent of the nation is Christian? Mike Ackerman is a man from our church who embarked on an adventure of faith–moving to Japan a couple of years ago with his wife and two small children to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this unreached nation. Check out what he’s doing:

MUSTARD SEED クリスチャン教会で何をするの？ from Mustard Seed on Vimeo.

Dream of Destiny 5 Star Initiative from Shepherd Youth on Vimeo.

I have been reading a book called Bus Ride to Justice by Fred Gray, a lawyer for Rosa Parks, who was arrested on December 1st, 1955 for sitting where she was NOT supposed to sit. As you know, African Americans were supposed to sit in the back of the bus during that time and save the seats in the front for the “White” people. When the courts finally ruled that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional, it was the one case that truly began the civil rights movement in America.

On page 97 of his book, Fred Gray writes, “A pebble cast in the segregated waters of Montgomery, Alabama, created a human rights tidal wave that changed America and eventually washed up on the shores of such far away places as the Bahamas, China, South Africa, and the Soviet Union. And it all started on a bus.”

But there is ONE GLARING problem — that tidal wave never hit the CHURCH in AMERICA.
It was in 1963, which was almost 50 years ago, that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said 11:00 a.m. is still the most segregated hour in America. Here we are some 47 years later and that statement, even is Los Angeles, is still true. An article in the Jan. 11, 2010 issue of Time Magazine states that 93 percent of the churches in America are still primarily segregated. Less than 8 % of churches are diverse. How is this possible?

The 5 Star Initiative is simply to get churches to be more intentional about diversity… getting our churches to ACCEPT the great commission to reach “all nations.” And I know is sounds simplistic, and I am sorry if you do not agree, but if we could just start by diversifying our platform and our stages, we could see immediate change within our churches today. Finding ways to include people of all cultures in our worship teams, in our praise teams and in our choirs; being intentional about representing all nationalities with who makes the announcements, who conducts the baptisms, and who leads the congregation in prayer. All of this would have a HUGE ripple effect on those who are first-time visitors, those who will look to the stage and see that this is a church that accepts people from all walks of life.

I’ve seen the difference in the church I serve, and I think you’d see the difference in your church as well. It is time that the Church of 2010 reflects the church of Revelation 7:9-10.

Watch the above video. Go to http://www.dreamofdestiny.com/ and sign up to be a part of the 5 star Initiative.