I am reading "Amazing Grace" by Eric Metaxas. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. It is the story of William Wilberforce and his campaign to end slavery.

The movie, "Amazing Grace" -- also about Wilberforce, is very very good -- but the book is even better. It is outstanding.

The past three weeks we have held our Friday morning prayer walk in a newly reopened Salvation Army Chapel. Today we were back on the streets.

We walked around a brand new community center just opened by the city of Nashville. It is called the McFerrin Park Community Center and it is a beautiful building in the inner city neighborhood where we prayer walk weekly.

This morning we prayed at all 4 corners of the corners of the McFerrin Park Community Center building. We also prayed at the doors. Of course we had the Salvation Army flag with us which stands for the blood of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit. While we were at the door an employee walked up from inside the building and asked what we were doing. We told him we were praying for God to work in the building and then asked if we could pray for him. He said yes.

We prayed that he would be able to see how much God loves him and that he could be an instrument of God's love to the young people who will be using the community center. After we prayed he had tears in his eyes.

The new community center is wonderful, but it is surrounded by drugs, crime, and poverty. Our prayer is that Almighty God will show up and do what no building or program can do -- set people free and empower them to live a life of hope, encouragement, and personal victory!

One of my jobs at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Nashville is to interview men who are new to our center. I have to ask them a series of questions about their drug and alcohol history. One of the questions is: "What kind of person are you?"

Men will openly tell me about their drug and alcohol abuse, about lying to their family, about leaving their children and refusing to pay child support, about all kinds of immoral sexual behavior, about stealing from family or friends, about their time in prison, about abusing their wife or girl friend, about suicide attempts, DUI's, crimes they have committed, and on and on. (Sometimes their stories even make Tennessee Titan, Pacman Jones, sound like a model citizen.) Then when I ask them the question; "What kind of person are you?" they almost all say; "I am a good person."

And it is not just alcoholics and addicts who believe they are "good" people. As our society continues to ditch the common views of morality from almost every human culture, religion, and time period; we still claim that we are "good" people. But are we?

Paul of Tarsus, who wrote a big portion of the New Testament said: "I am the chief of sinners," and "O wretched man that I am." While we, in our day, can even sing the song that says: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me," all the while boasting in our self-proclaimed goodness.

In this puffed up, feel good, anything goes culture, we seem to have lost the ability to humbly and sincerely say: "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

America has considerable closet confusion!

Sicko-vision (nasty, negative, and disrespectful TV and movies) has come out of the closet -- clean, uplifting, and positive entertainment has all but vanished into the closet; buried under the "G" or "PG" label.

Cheapo sex has come out of the closet -- sexual purity has retreated into the closet.

Profanity, vulgar conversation, and adolescent language have leaped out of the closet -- clean, respectful, and honorable language has all but disappeared into the closet.

Pornography has exploded out of the closet -- respect for a fellow human being and her (or his) body has retreated into the closet.

Homosexuality has danced out of the closet -- the sexual morality of almost all cultures, religions, and time periods has been slammed into the closet.

Drugs have come out of the closet on to TV commercials, street corners, and even the Sheriff of Williamson County (Brentwood, Franklin, TN) was arrested for buying drugs -- while living drug free is slipping into the closet.

Abortion is way out of the closet -- while pictures of the dead aborted babies are so far in the closet that they are never shown in the popular US media.

Violence and militarism are hyped-up and closet free -- non-violence as a lifestyle is so deeply in the closet in most people's minds that it is regulated to the Amish.

Lavish lifestyles are out of the closet and flaunted on the "red carpet" -- the despair and hopelessness of modern American poverty are lodged deeply in the closet.

It seems that every religion, cult, and new age idea, is now out of the American closet -- however; passionate, heart-felt, sacrifical, Biblical Christianity seems to be in the very bottom of the closet.

A pro-homosexual organization said that General Peter Pace's remark that homosexual behavior is immoral, was outrageous. Really? How is simply agreeing with the view of almost every culture and religion in human history that homosexual behavior is immoral, outrageous?

General Pace wasn't outrageous! Those calling him outrageous are the outrageous ones! Those who want to go against the history of human ethics and promote a sin as decent behavior are absolutely outrageous! And the American public is also outrageous for beginning to accept decadence as delightful/gay!

What people do in private is their business, but what they flaunt in public becomes public business! So speak out boldly General Pace against sexual immorality and also speak out against the immorality of war!