A Six-O’Clock News Tragedy

This is a very difficult post to read.  If you do read, please keep in mind that I am only trying to place the reader in the frame of mind to understand the severity of the subject matter.  It is very graphic in nature, and was written to help people really understand the depth of how awful this practice is.

Today in suburban Charlotte, a seven-month old child was dragged from inside her home, stabbed in the back of the head, and when the killer finally was satisfied with their grisly handiwork, unceremoniously tossed the tiny, lifeless body in the trash can.

That didn’t get mentioned on today’s news.  It won’t get mentioned on today’s news in any city in America.  Sadly enough, the lack of news coverage does not mean that it did not happen.  This tragic event has happened 40 million times in America alone in the past 36 years.  It is performed by doctors and physicians who have taken oaths to “Do no one harm.”  This procedure, if you have yet to figure it out, is abortion.

While the abortion argument is that the fetus is not a human being, the very fact that the fetus has its own genetic makeup entirely different from either parent and in reality has the same basic needs as any human being- namely sustenance, shelter, and nurturing should expose that argument for the egregious lie that it is.  The only difference between the six month old fetus and the three day old newborn, aside from developmental differences, is the fact that the fetus draws all sustenance and oxygen from its umbilical cord.  However, the three day old newborn is just as helpless, so to create an imaginary line of demarcation between the previously nonhuman fetus and the human newborn is merely semantics to protect one’s right to not be accountable for one’s poor decisions.

Only in a truly barbaric society that has long since lost any last vestiges of morality could the decision to abort a baby be a “decision of choice.”  Anyone with any cognizance of the horrors of abortion could not, would not, should not, be okay with the concept of the brutal murder of an innocent life.  If the citizenry of America were fully familiar with the procedures that are undertaken in an abortion, there probably would be far fewer people who were in support of it.

I have an idea.  Maybe we should call the two sides “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Using a Saline solution inserted into the amniotic sac to burn the flesh right off of a fetus so that it is forcibly expelled in a bloody heap.”  If that does not work, maybe we should go with “Pro-Stabbing a fetus in the back of the head with scissors, sucking their brains out with a shop vac and tossing the lifeless carcass in a garbage can like an old sandwich.”

I don’t think that anyone who really thinks the process of abortion through from beginning to horrid conclusion could rationally support abortion.  How could it possibly be right to take a human child, with all inherent hopes and dreams possible in a young life, and dash them to the ground because of our own selfishness and conceit.  Shame on Americans who feel that this is an argument of semantics and choice and not the sanctity of life and the benefits of a civilized community.  This is not about freedom of a choice.  This is about whether or not Americans are barbaric, sickening creatures who are unable to look beyond their own selfishness and own desires for lack of accountability.

The Christian Right has a responsiblity to enforce the horrors of abortion, if for no other reason than to make sure that those who claim support for abortion solely out of lack of information are informed.

Ask, Seek, Knock

With the economy being as difficult as it is today, it is not a stretch to see the stress in the faces of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  As pressures mount from job stress, the concerns of a weakened economy that shows no signs of recovery have begun to take their toll in the church.  Men and women are feeling the pressures of possible job loss, and it is creating an increasingly difficult environment for us to show love as Christian brothers and sisters.

I would like to take an opportunity to offer encouragement to those who are in this position.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?   Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?”

God is good.  If God is good, then He can be counted on to provide the needs that you have and that which will keep you going for His mission and purpose.  It is not you providing your paycheck through your job, it is God providing you your means to keep yourself up.

I have been on the bad end of unemployment, I was there for six months.  It was really difficult, but through it all, I saw God provide for me and my family of six in ways that I never could have imagined.  I could not have been more amazed by the timing of His providence in those times of need, and I actually treasure some of those moments in that I was able to see Him work.

It is difficult to give encouraging words to those in this situation.  There is nothing that I can say other than God is the provider of your sustenance and protection.  Pray to God, ask for His peace, grace, and providence.  Seek His face, His love, and His heart, and knock on the door to His will.  You may see that His purpose for you far outweighs the previously lofty purpose you had for yourself.

Staying Pure in an Impure World

I have been very consumed with the idea of sexual purity lately because it has occurred to me how incredibly important this issue is to our society.  Churches are destroyed over it, lives are laid waste as we as men succumb time and time again to the pressures of temptation to be sexually immoral.

I have to share this with whoever reads this post:  Sexual purity is an attainable goal for ALL men.  Impurity is not an impenetrable state that we cannot escape from, a veritable moral black hole.  Impurity is a set of bad habits built in our mind and in our eyes.  Impurity is something that we can control if we decide to.

The challenge I have for men is this:  if we as men ask for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives, to enter our thoughts and hearts, He will be faithful to enter into our lives and begin to transform our minds and hearts so that we will rise up and grasp for sexual purity.  We can’t break sexual addictions alone.  I can’t stay pure in my mind without the strength of the Holy Spirit.  I have not been pure in my mind because I have not relied on Him.

I would offer a few verses of the Bible to spur men on to sexual purity: 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says this:  “Flee from sexual immorality.  All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

Guys, we are in a battle with spirits and principalities that are not of this world.  Sexual impurity is just one of many ways in which the enemy takes the wind out of our sails and makes it hard for us to fulfill our purposes in Christ.  Pray for strength and an infilling of the Holy Spirit.  God will be faithful to provide you with strength and peace.

Ostriches don’t really put their heads in the sand

I like ostriches.  Even if they don’t really stick their heads in the sand, they are pretty cool.  I do have a point to this, by the way.

I was listening to a snippet from Derrick Webb, whom I just heard for the first time today, and I heard him say that the best thing that could happen to Christians is for their sins to play on the five o’clock news.  Interesting concept, but true in so many ways.

We look at the Christian life as basically this:  I need to hide as much of my crap as I can so that I don’t look bad and I can go sing fun worship songs at church without feeling scuzzy.  I don’t have to make changes that hurt, I don’t have to be different, I just need to be able to cover the icky stuff and not have to deal with it.  Then, we don’t have to:

1. Get rid of our sin.
2. Be embarrassed of our sin.

If we had all of our dirt aired out for everyone to see it, then I don’t think we COULD continue to hide our junk.  Satan and death have power over us all as long as we continue to pretend like there is nothing there to deal with.  As we are able to come to terms with our problems, bring them out into the open, then give them to the LORD to heal our broken hearts and minds, then we will be able to walk comfortably as servants of the LORD Almighty.

I am in a process of developing pure and blunt honesty with those around me.  I believe a transparent life is the only way in which we can all grow and become our fullest potential in Christ.  I pray for two things:  utter transparency and an infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Those are the two things that everyone needs in their lives in order to effect change.

All of my life, I believed ostriches stuck their heads in the sand when they were afraid.  I finally found out that they didn’t.  Why now would I decide to emulate an ostrich and shove my head into the dirt whenever they don’t even do that?  Guys, Christians, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let’s stop shoving our heads in the sand.  Stop living the Christian life as though it’s about shoving our heads in the sand and hiding as much junk as we can.  Let’s start living out loud, being transparent, facing our own faults and failures head on, and not looking back when it is time for God to change us.  Let Him who began a good work in you when you were saved finish His work.

Unity in the Church

When I say we need unity in the church, I don’t mean that we need to just embrace every latest and greatest fad and fashion in the church.  I am asking for a binding of hearts and minds into one body that takes issues in the church head on.  I am asking that men of the church get in the game and stop waiting for purity to find them.  I am asking for men to start shepherding our families, our children, bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  I am asking that we stop discussing poverty in the church and fight it.  I am asking that when we sniff out doctrine that is damaging to the church, we pull it out and put it to spiritual death.

Christians, if anyone is reading this, this is a heartfelt plea.  We must pull the church together to fight the darkness that envelopes the earth.  We must stand with the light as our guiding power, not sleep in the light as our comfort and warmth.  We are warriors.  We are the children of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

THE LORD IS A WARRIOR.  THE LORD IS HIS NAME.

A Deadly Cancer

There is a deadly disease in churches today. It is a disease that is crippling the men of the church, it is bringing the church itself into chaos and disarray, and the church responds by sweeping everything under the rug.  The disease I am talking about is sexual impurity.

I have spoken about this before, but never with this fervent attitude.  We as men have to step up and say “NO MORE!!!”  The divorce rate inside the church is the same as outside the church.  7 out of 10 pastors who call in to Focus on the Family for help call for help with a sexual addiction.

The reason why this is such a devastating and painful attack on the church is nothing other than the church’s refusal to bring it out into the open.  The church as a body does not deal with this disease, and the men inside the church are not willing to take this head on.  Why not?  Do we want to continue to cradle these secret trysts with our fantasies in our hidden box, to be pulled out when we are looking for a “quick fix?”  Is it our pride and desire not to be found and unmasked for what we really are?

I think if we are going to move forward as a church, the body of Christians needs to be ready to make a stand against the constant barrage of attacks of sexual impurity.  When we see that church has become a more dangerous place than even the grocery stores with their smut, it is time to take action!  When we feel that we as men are not actively taking up our sword and shield to fight off this attack from the enemy, rather than sidling up with our hidden pet sins we should instead reexamine ourselves to discover our inner warrior.

“The LORD is a warrior.  The LORD is His Name.”

In the world? Or of the world?

How close do you need to get to being “of the world” in order to reach the unchurched?  I ask this because it has been something I have noticed over the years.  With the proliferation of “Seeker-Sensitive” churches and the “Emergent/Emerging” church movement, the emphasis has been moved to a Christianity that seems willing to “blur the lines” of doctrine in order to reach those who were not previously reached.  I appreciate the desires of these movements and I appreciate the heart behind them.  It has a lot in common with the heart of the apostle Paul who followed the idea of being “all things to all people.”  I am reminded in many ways of the approach taken by our master, the LORD Jesus Christ.  Jesus was not against dining with the “unclean” and making them feel loved.  He never left anyone out of the ever-abiding glow of His grace who sincerely wanted in.

Here, however, is where the similarities end.  Unfortunately, the going trend I have seen from these movements is not “bring the unchurched out of the world and introduce them to the life that is found in Jesus Christ.”  Instead, it concerns itself with “worship experience design,” is Ted Kluck called it in “Why We Are not Emergent.”  The substance of the Gospel that brought repentance and a turn of one’s life toward God is strangely absent in this new worship experience that much like Miller Lite, tastes great but has less filling.

The funny thing is this:  while the current church movement is trying to move away from the reality of sin and the chasm between God and us, Jesus never once backed off of that issue.  Jesus was quick to offer grace to those willing to receive it, but just as quick to point out their sinfulness as well.  I think part of the allure of the LORD is that even though he was just in pointing out the fallen state of man, He did so while holding out grace in His lovingly outstretched hands.

I think this is to be the model of Christianity:  Holding out the open hand of grace that is willing to point steadfastly toward the truth of the redeeming gospel of Jesus Christ, that we may both delight in the Lord’s mercy as well as rest in His law and thereby live in peace.  The church grew after Christ’s death precisely by not being part of the world.  We should do the same.

American Idols

What is it about America that makes it so easy for us to fall into idol worship?  Now, I know that you may think that is hilarious, because America does not have a high concentration of golden calves, or Molech worship, or child sacrifice, all of which are commonly associated with idol worship.  However, to say that idol worship does not occur in America would be folly.

Turn on your television.  Read the newspaper.  We have television shows that are specifically designed in order to create new pop icons for American youth.  We have television shows that are designed to place us in the middle of the lives of washed up celebrities clammering for a grasp of their once potent fame.  America is obsessed with idols.

What is your idol?  Is it yourself?  Do you find yourself placing you above God?  How about success?  Is success your idol?  Search your life.  Idols are anything you place above God and value more than your relationship with Him.  I have had them.  You have had them.  Idols are everywhere, and we have to have the wherewithall to avoid them at all cost.

American Christianity

You know, it is sad to sit down and think for a moment that there are people in China who are actually dying for the gospel, and then reflect on the state of Christianity in America.  I am reminded of a song by Keith Greene where he says that the “church just can’t fight because it is asleep in the light.”  How true.  We live in a time where we have more resources, more wealth, more ability to fulfill the mission of Christ than we have ever had, and yet we spend most of our time trying to further our own tiny kingdoms carved out of debt and dust.

The church in America is headed for dire straits, not because of our lack of resources, but in fact our abundance of resources.  The worst problem we face sometimes is making sure we can pay our $1,200 mortgage payment.  There are people in places like Afghanistan where that is more than the average worker makes in a year (Afghanistan’s per capita income is $834/year).  While I admit, those can be stressful, and I have been there before, it is nothing like what Christians face in other parts of the world.

In China, you can be imprisoned for owning a Bible.  In Arab countries, dominated by Sharia Law, imprisonment is what happens when Christians get really lucky, because beheading is the typical recompense.  All of that to say this:  American Christians have become weak on substance.  If Paul were here today, his response to the church would be along the lines of “I wish I could give you the meat of the scripture, but you are still on baby food.”  If Christianity is to survive in America, the change will have to come from Christians deciding to pursue the heart of God, and not the heart of Culture.

My heart goes out to the church here in America.  I am afraid that if we do not awaken from our slumber, we will be swamped by the ravaging march of postmodernism and feel-good syncretism because we do not hold dearly enough to our Christian beliefs.  I pray for Christians who fall asleep in the light while the world around us falls apart due to our lack of involvement in the world.

My challenge is this:  take a moment to look around at your life.  Look at how bad it is, then imagine that it could possibly be worse.  Then, think about that for a moment, and think for another moment that it is even worse than that.  Now you are beginning to approach the destitution of billions around the world.  Now, look at what you HAVE been given by God and try to be thankful for it when you realize that there are countless others around the world that do have it much worse than you who bow before beheading blades praising the God of Heaven, who languish in prison in chains for the gospel of the Christ, who live their last days out loud as a living sacrifice to the LORD.  I think if we took the time to realize the sacrifices made for the sake of the Bible, we would be far more willing to give far more of our hearts in real service to the one who created us all.

Being a Good Man

It’s hard today to be a good man.  Hollywood doesn’t want you to.  Culture doesn’t want you to.  Heck, in many ways, your own government doesn’t want you to.  It takes courage to step up to the plate and really be a man.  I don’t know how to get the church in an uproar over this and stop the bleeding, but there has to be a way for us to get men and women to stop allowing culture to pull us in the wrong direction.  The divorce rate is the same in the church as outside the church.  7 out of 10 pastors calling Focus on the Family for help are calling for help with sexual addictions.  Worse yet, it is the one thing that no one in the church wants to blow the lid off of and get out of our churches.

Why is that?  Sometimes, being a male myself, I believe that it is because men want to be able to keep their own little hidden sins and pet pleasures without having to change and really be a man.  I know I have done that in the past.  Sadly, I think it would have been hard for me before to work up the courage to blare out my own iniquities even in cyberspace.  I find that getting the truth out really does make you a freer person.  Men struggle with faithfulness, and a large part of the struggle is based in an unwillingness to admit the problem.  As men, we should challenge ourselve to be more than just biologically male.  Stomp out the secret sins and pet pleasures.  Eradicate them from our lives.  It is hard!!!!  I recently gave up a part of my “sexual enjoyment” that was actually hampering my relationship with my wife and my family, because I was placing it above them.  It is stupidly hard to get rid of these things, but it is a call to purity that the church needs before we can successfully stop the bleeding of our hearts and souls by society.  Until we are willing to stand up and say “NO MORE,” we will continue to head down this path of no return, where marriage and faithfulness are less the norm than they are a curiosity.

I pray that men in the church will get down on their knees and pray for strength in fighting this killer of marriages.  I pray that we will be open and honest, to bring all of our resources against this ensnaring evil that Satan knows is so easy to bring us down with.  I will pray for the church and for men, and for myself to be a good example to my children.  I still recommend Fireproof and the Love Dare for anyone who is serious about bringing love and openness and restoration to their marriage.  They are great resources, and no one should be without them!