Category Archives: Marriage and Family

Issues impacting marriages and families

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 10/28/2023- Are You Tired Of The Roller Coaster Ride? Look Up. It Could Be MUCH Worse!

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 10/28/2023- Chuck Michaelis takes a quick look at several current events and applies a biblical analysis to stimulate your critical thinking skills.

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 10/21/2023- Do You Really Know What Your Children Are Learning In School?

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 10/21/2023- Chuck Michaelis interviews Catherine Wood, the president of Relationships Under Construction, a sexual risk avoidance education group that teaches in public schools in the US and around the world

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 10/14/2023- Politicians, Wars, And Ballot Issues, Oh My!

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 10/14/2023- Chuck Michaelis examines current events then begins to examine Ohio Issues 1 and 2.

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 8/26/2023- Pride and Perverion-Partners In Crime

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 8/26/2023- Chuck Michaelis talks about pride and perversion and what the implications are for society

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 8/12/2023- A Preliminary Retrospective

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 8/12/2023- Chuck Michaelis looks at the special August election and discusses what may have happened. It’s a bit unsettling.

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 8/5/2023- The Numbers Behind Issue 1 On Tuesday, August 8th

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 8/5/2023- Chuck Michaelis analyzes the numbers behind the August 8, 2023 special election and explains why this election matters so much. It’s definitely not just about November’s referendum. It’s about the Constitution.

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 7/29/2023- Deception And The Opposition to The Special Election Issue One In Ohio.

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 7/29/2023- Chuck Michaelis discusses the biblical concept and implications of deception and how it applies in much of the campaign material being disseminated by opponents of Ohio special election Issue 1. This was originally recorded for broadcast on July 22 but was misplaced by our software. 

PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PODCAST FOR SATURDAY 7/15/2023- What Are The Stakes In Issue 1 And The August 8 Special Election?

Principles and Policies Podcast For Saturday 7/15/2023- Chuck Michaelis examines what is at stake in the August 8 special election, Issue 1. Please vote yes on Issue 1 on August 8, 2023 or better yet vote early.

Ohio’s Disastrous Abortion Ballot Proposal

A Eulogy For Our Late Brother Barry Sheets

On Saturday July 8, 2023 a memorial service for our late brother Barry Sheets was held at Heritage Baptist Church in Gallipolis, Ohio. There were 3 eulogies given. This is the one delivered by Chuck Michaelis, the Chairman of the Institute For Principled Policy.

Eulogy for Barry Sheets

Barry and I met around 21 or so years ago at a Conservative Christian men’s group, which met on Saturdays, every Saturday, really. We hit it off pretty quickly over the next few weeks. There are good reasons for that; We had common interests, common worldviews, and common goals.

At these meetings Barry did there what he always did. He evaluated the talents, faith, abilities, and ideas of those he encountered. He then determined how to best bring those people into his circle, build trust, mentor them, and guide them in helping build God’s kingdom.

Barry did with me what he did with many others; He sought out those with questions regarding issues of faith, church, worldview, Christian statesmanship, our rights and responsibilities, and most importantly mentored us in the concept of “All of faith for all of life.”

If you think this might be an overstatement, look online at the tributes to him. There are huge number of tributes to his mentorship in matters of faith and application of that faith. Like with many others, there were often long complex discussions of theology in which he helped us to piece together from the jumbled pieces of our theology an understanding of the Reformed faith and a realization that this made “all of the pieces of the puzzle fit.” When we were trying to put together a 10,000-piece puzzle with no guide Barry provided the box top with the picture.

To that end Barry was quick to provide resources to those who showed an interest. Much of my own library is either a gift, a suggestion, or a direct result of Barry’s influence on my taste in literature. He would often just hand me a book based on his knowledge of my interests. Others will tell you the same.

Barry often ran Bible studies in his home, at work, at other’s homes, at churches, etc. I am in my current church because Barry ran a men’s Bible study, which I attended, in a Presbyterian church which blended with another Presbyterian church where I subsequently joined and became an elder.

One thing that others may not know was that this man was a world-class book scrounger in antique places and used bookstores, flea markets, and the like. Watching him shop for books was both astonishing and inspirational. He would go into specific sections like theology, philosophy, history, etc. and simply scan… authors, publishers, and, lastly, titles. He ALWAYS found a gem. It was invigorating and exasperating at the same time, especially if I had already examined the same section finding nothing. If he found 2 of the same book, he would pick both, one for me and one for himself. I witnessed these phenomena in antique and bookstores all over the country, literally, and far more than once. We both developed favorite places on repeat visits where we knew could always find some kind of interesting literature. We had a couple of favorites in St. Louis that we visited during annual conference visits.

Barry was deeply generous in resources and time despite working for a salary that was, frankly, shockingly small. His deep desire was to serve his Lord by doing his job to the best of his ability and to do it for groups that he knew could not afford the regular “influence lobbyists” as he called them. He did not just take on any client. He wanted to, and did, make an impact by creating partnerships with those trying to honor God in their work.

Barry called himself a “confrontation lobbyist,” explaining that influence lobbyists used money and gifts to create influence. Confrontation lobbyists do what the title implies, and Barry was the best; he boldly confronted policy makers who were either wavering or fully in the wrong camp on a particular subject, bill or resolution. It earned him both respect and loathing, often both. We had many a laugh in imagining what was going through the mind or coming out of mouth of policy makers, or opposition lobbyists who had learned first-hand what a confrontation lobbyist is capable of. On one of my last visits with him we did just that. I can’t really give you details but we both got a hearty laugh over a recent political declaration he had been given. Oh, yes, he was ill, but he still had that quick wit and hearty laugh I came to enjoy making happen.

Barry and I had many ventures and adventures, some might say misadventures, together. We already talked about our meet up in the Christian activist group. Our involvement was pretty short-lived due to what we both thought was too much heart and not enough head in leadership.

Barry thought enough of my talents and abilities to bring me into the leadership of the Institute for Principled Policy, a Reformed Christian policy think tank that brought me into contact with others in the executive committee like Dr. Mark Hamilton, philosophy professor from Ashland University and founding pastor of a church, The Rev. Max Forsythe of Christ Covenant Reformed PCA in Reynoldsburg who was also a historian. I was brought into contact with Dr Ian Hodge, a great Reformed thinker from Australia. All of these men are now passed leaving me in sole possession of the Institute, a lonely endeavor.

During its active existence, under Barry’s influence as the Executive Director, the Institute was and is deeply involved in working on pivotal legislation, key referendums, and shaping public policy and opinion.

An example of the Institute’s influence can be illustrated by Barry and my work to get a specific bill passed. Hearings went into the late night. The committee hearing the bill wanted to cut out the portions that actually made the bill work, leaving a useless husk that did nothing except make suggestions but had a feel-good title. This is an all-too-common practice in the legislature; create a shell legislation that does nothing but gives the sponsoring groups something to brag about to donors. The committee browbeat the original sponsor group of the bill to accept the changes, but the Institute for Principled Policy was the only holdout. Negotiators came to us and, with Barry in the lead, we said “the bill as written or kill it. Then see what happens.” The bill passed and was eventually signed into law and is in effect now.

The Institute under Barry’s leadership worked both for and against key matters involving marriage, gambling, family, abortion, education, mandatory vaccines, pornography, US constitutional matters. Barry and I became the voices of the Institute for Principled Policy in 2011 or so. We were co-hosts of the Principles and Policies program hosted on WLRY and podcast from the Policy Institute website (www.principledpolicy.com). This show co-hosting continued up until about 3 weeks before his death. He slowed down over the last few weeks, but he didn’t stop until he just couldn’t do it anymore. Now I host alone and believe me I miss his wit and insight. The audience will as well, I’ll wager.

Barry continued to work on key legislative and referendum matters until just a couple of weeks before his death. He worked on Issue 1 to protect the Ohio Constitution, the unborn, and children from predators.

Barry and I got involved in small party politics with a party supposedly applying Christian worldview and guiding principles and we wound up in the state executive committee. We both learned something about what happens when small fish in big ponds move over to minor parties and become big fish in small ponds. They often become what they fled. Needless to say, we had good men around us in our Ohio party who tried to help guide the national party, only to be thwarted by these big/small fish people. Barry and I and our Ohio executive committee soon found ourselves thrown out of that party. Let it be said that we knew it was going to happen and we (meaning Barry and me) set a trap for the national executive committee, with the help of our state committee co-conspirators that forced them to expel us by blatantly violating a rule that we had fought against, but which passed over our objections.

This kind of maneuvering was nothing new to Barry. An avid hunter and confrontation lobbyist, he knew how to encircle, confuse, and finally issue the coup de grace to his prey. I had learned from the best and was heavily involved in devising and setting this trap. We laughed about this for years. We were also able to warn our state party replacements about what was about to happen to them. They later came to us astounded that we had been able to tell them, almost verbatim, what was going to be said and done. So much for a supposed Christian guiding policy. Barry had taught me well.

I was, at this time, the executive director of a Christian worldview summer camp, Camp American, and I invited Barry to become one of our Christian worldview teachers. Barry became an integral part of this effort. His teaching was simply first rate and he even taught classes on lobbying and influence in policy matters. The only payment he received was free tuition for his children, Webster, Rutherford, and Grace. He was a student and speaker favorite.

Barry and I also teamed up to teach a 12-week class on the US Constitution called Institute on the Constitution. I was the historical source and Barry was the political source. Together, we simply were an unbeatable team, and we taught this class all over central Ohio for several years. I had developed a competition for Camp American we called the Constitution Game in which students were given theoretical constitutional scenarios and the students had to provide article and section to determine whether or not it was constitutional. We made this kind of a fun thing at Camp, and I even appeared as Constitution Man, complete with red silk shorts, white USA T-shirt, a blue-starred cape, entering with the pre-arranged cry “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a BLIMP! No, it’s Constitution Man.” Barry soon joined me as “Declaration Boy” complete with tricorn hat, cape and copy of the Declaration of Independence pinned to his chest. He helped me judge the answers and, frankly, everybody in camp showed up to see the competition. I like to think Constitution Man and Declaration Boy contributed to the fun. We certainly had fun doing it, Barry and I adapted that game to the Institution on the Constitution classes, minus the costumes and personas, and gave a weekly question for which correct answers were awarded with a resource like a book, tape, DVD, etc. mostly from Barry’s generous contribution.

What do these small slices of our 20-plus year of friendship and association add up to? Barry Sheets was, much like George Washington, an indispensable man. Don’t over-analyze this, please. One like him only comes along very rarely. He will not be easily or quickly replaced. Not long before he died, I told him it might take 5 men to fill the hole he was leaving us. In his characteristic humility he dismissed that as mere flattery, rather than a statement of fact. This was not false modesty. Barry was one of the most effective, yet truly humble, men I have ever known or known of. He simply would not hear of this and stated that we would be fine without him. I’m not so sure.

Many ask how he was able to accomplish what he did in his relatively short lifetime. The answer is that his Faith in Christ, his devotion to God, family, church, state, and country left him no choice but to obey the voice of God in His Word, the Bible. His application of the “all of faith for all of life” principle contained in that Word guided him in his understanding of what he had to do, and he did it. Barry prayed and studied the Word daily and supplemented that study with commentaries and expository books to guide him in his understanding constantly.

Barry was devoted to his family and as his work brought threats by vile miscreants against both he and they he took extra precautions to protect them. He made sure they were prepared to fend for themselves in case of his absence. This started many years before his illnesses. Barry was a planner.

Barry was an elder in the PCA and through that eldership he kept a church that could not live without him alive by performing his elder duties but also exhorting when there was no pastor, which was nearly all the time. The church was in tiny Pliny WV and he used to joke about when people asked how the church could be found. “Can’t miss it” he would say. “Just go south on 35 out of Pt Pleasant and we’re the church behind the adult bookstore.” He wasn’t kidding.

Barry worked tirelessly to guide policy at both the state and federal levels as a legislative aid, a lobbyist, a public policy advocate, and a tireless worker for the rights of both the born and unborn and as a good citizen of the US, Ohio, and heaven.

In short Barry was a man who was determined to be used by God and to obey His commands. He was wholly devoted to hearing and obeying the Word of God.

I for one will miss this man more deeply than I can communicate. He was my brother, my mentor, my broadcast partner, and most of all, my friend. May God grant us, like Elisha, a double portion of His spirit.

The Passage of our Brother, Mentor, Friend, and Broadcast Partner Barry Sheets

Barry Sheets has lost his fight with cancer. We mourn but he is worshiping at the feet of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Earth’s deep loss is heaven’s gain.

Barry passed on Sunday July 2, 2023 at home with his family around him. 

There will be a memorial Service at Good News Baptist Church on Saturday July 8, 2023 at 5 PM. The Church is located here. There will be a potluck after.