Mike Henderson

Gauntanamo and Football

With all the talk surrounding Guantanamo Bay and the prisoners there one thing has been left out. Recently I was listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio.

Here's what he had to say.  In discussing the recruiting of high school football he commented how it was harder today to recruit players to Notre Dame.  Now Notre Dame you would think would be easy to get someone to come to. 

And it used to be.  There was a time when Notre Dame got a lot of TV time, so by going there you knew you could play on national TV.  That's what some guys want, TV time.

Fast Forward to today.  Everyone is on TV.  All the big programs in the South are on a lot.  And the weather is warmer.  Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the weather in South Bend is not a reason for living there.  Plus in the south you have good looking girls wearing less clothes year round. But that goes beyond this discussion and does not apply to the prisoners I want to talk about.

So why go play at Notre Dame.  It's not the same as it once was and the weather is less than desirable.

Now let's bring that into the current discussion of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.  Here's the reasons listed.

1.  Political.  Everything is political and I don't care to discuss that viewpoint.  Everyone has an opinion.

2.  Money and jobs.  If the prisoners are brought to a nearly empty prison a couple hours west of Chicago it will create a couple thousand jobs and bring in lots of tax revenue.

3.  Reputation.  This is debatable, but basically Guantanamo Bay has not gotten much good press lately, rightly or wrongly.  So many want to just put it behind us and move on.

4.  Better for the prisoners.  After all, they have been mistreated greatly at Guantanamo, or at least that's the story line.  True or not is not the point.

Here's where I am going.  Prison is prison.  Now if you had to chose where to spend the rest of your life, or at least several years of it, which would you chose? 

Choice #1-Two hours west of Chicago; lots of wind, cold temperatures, snow, not much sunshine, etc. You get the picture.

Choice #2-Cuba; year around temperatures in the 80's (and most of these guys are from warm weather climates).

If the prisoners move to the west side of Chicago I wander how they will feel?  They may think we have decided to torture them for life!

The End is Near...?

This coming Sunday I will be talking about one of the most popular topics of all time: Antichrist.  That word has been tossed around for ages.  Countless people have been identified as the Antichrist.

So hopefully I can answer some of the questions out there. Trust me, there have been a lot of fanciful ideas floated.  Even Ronald Reagan was identified by some as Antichrist.  Find out why this Sunday.

Also with the recent shooting at Fort Hood being labeled terrorism by this week's Time Magazine, due to the soldier's ties to Islam and Al'Qaeda.  His motivations seem to be very clear.  How does terrorism play out in the end times?  We will be looking at topic because it is in the Bible.

With Israel in the Land, nuclear weapons on the rise, radical Islam, and oil all in the news everyday thoughts of the END must certainly cross the mind.

This 4-part series has addressed all this and more and we seek to better understand what the Bible has to say about end time events.

Just two weeks left. If you miss a week go to New Hope and watch online, but getting the message live is a much better experience.

Weekend Reflections

The weekend started with soccer and halloween.  Both went well.  We won soccer 2-1 and I invited everyone to New Hope who knocked on our door for Halloween.

Sunday began with rain and an extra hour of sleep.  However, the rain seemed to have little affect on our service. We had a good crowd for part 1 of our prophecy series, "What in the World is Going On?" 

The kids loved the inflatable.  And everyone stuck around after church for the chili cookoff.  That was a big hit also.

So you might say we went 3 for 3 this Sunday.  Message on the end times, an inflatable, and chili.  An unbeatable combination.

This week we will be looking at America's role in the end times.  Fascinating stuff happening right before our eyes.  Three more messages.  If you missed this Sunday you can watch online by Tuesday evening.

Part 2 is just a few days away!

Twisted Thinking

Recently Oprah did a show about abuse based on Rihanna.  The abuser was Chris Brown, the well known singer, entertainer, and dancer. In fact he has even performed at one of Oprah's schools in South Africa.  So obviously they have a friendship and have worked together. 

Let me also point out that Oprah has been very appreciative of Chris Brown's help with the schools.

However, by featuring Rihanna, the girl friend of Chris Brown, on her show, Chris Brown took offense. After all, hadn't he done some charity work for her.  

For some reason, he felt that all the good he has done should nullify his hitting his girl friend.  Oprah told her "He will hit you again."

So Chris Brown has lashed out publicly against Oprah.  At the end of the day to think you can do good, help someone out, etc. and then abuse someone without consequences is twisted thinking.