A New Cancer in America...

In 1789, probably the most controversial issue faced by the Constitutional Convention was slavery. Several southern states had made it clear that they would take no part in a Union where slavery was not allowed. Furthermore, three southern states continued to engage in the international slave trade. If this practice were banned, they would leave. So, in the interest of “forming a more perfect union”, the issue of slavery was swept under the rug. The proverbial can was kicked down the road. The founding fathers even agreed to put off addressing the international slave trade until 1808. They favored unity over truth. Convenience over justice. The result of these and other compromises meant that slavery became more firmly established in American culture and society, even spreading into the new territories acquired by the country.

By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president, this evil practice had so divided the country that war was inevitable. Forces gathered to fight for their perceived rights and the future direction of the country. All the while, the misery and suffering inflicted on multiple generations of people continued. The cancer of sin had grown immeasurably throughout the nation, and the entire nation was to blame for its continued existence.

After four years of war, the perspectives of some had changed. Among them was the president himself.  Referring to the two opposing sides in his second inaugural address, he said:

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

Mr. Lincoln had come to view the war as God’s justice upon the entire nation. A heavenly scourge upon earthly sin. (It’s interesting that while we have come to use the word scourge to describe great suffering as in the case of a plague or natural disaster, it also is defined as a whip used to inflict punishment.)

We have a new cancer eating away at our nation today. While we go about our daily lives, millions of unborn children are being denied the right to life. No, that statement is too benign. The truth is that millions of unborn children are being brutally murdered, torn limb from limb or scalded to death while their screams of terror and pain are muffled by the very environment that is supposed to provide the most protection. (If that is too painful for you to acknowledge, then you would fit right in with the society of 1850.) 

There are parallels between slavery and abortion:

• The victims are helpless and have no choice in the matter.
• Those who subject them to such suffering consider themselves greater in value. (I realize how this sounds. Many would-be mothers agonize over the decision. Yet, their conclusion supports my statement.)
• There are many who energetically fight the evil, but most who are against it remain silent and by their tolerance are complicit.
• The evil eats away at the core of the soul of America just like cancer in the body.

By the mid-1800s, generations of people had been enslaved and forced to live through intolerably cruel hardship and suffering, many dying at the hands of their enslavers. Since 1973, more than 56 million children, two entire generations of people have been murdered in the womb. While there has been a gradual decline in abortions since 1980, there are still 1.2 million performed each year.  

I wonder. What will the next scourge be on this country?

Perhaps you disagree with me entirely. Perhaps you believe in another premise, another view of this thing inside the womb. Perhaps you believe that it is nothing more than an extension of the mother’s body, a choice she has to make. 

What if you’re wrong?

God’s word makes clear that He plans for and designs each person on this planet. Each is a distinct and separate individual made in His image, spirit and flesh bonded together in a unique form. A child with the same rights as the mother carrying it. The fact that survival outside the womb is perilous the earlier it occurs does not change the fact that the child is a person. I doubt that any newborns (legally considered persons) would survive long if left unattended. 

God’s Word also makes it clear that He detests sin and evil within a society. He destroyed nations because of their wickedness. He even allowed His own people, Israel to be overrun when they adopted the practices of the nations around them. (2 Kings 17:17 states that “They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire …and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.”)

The facts are clear that evil is among us, and it threatens to destroy the very core of who we are. But there is hope. There is forgiveness. For the individual and for the nation. Again, God’s Word makes this abundantly clear. He desires to remove our sin. He pleads with us to confess it and turn from it. And when we do, “…He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

Turn Back the Clock...

President Obama recently gave a speech to the Planned Parenthood Conference.  In his remarks he characterized recent action by states such as North Dakota and Mississippi to protect unborn children as "an assault on Women's rights."  He further stated, "After decades of progress there's still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950's than the 21st century.  And they've been involved in an orchestrated and historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health."

If by "turn back the clock" he means to prevent the dismembering of live children inside their mother's wombs, a place designed to be one of security...

If by "turn back the clock" he means to prevent the partial delivery of unborn children only to have their spinal chords snipped and their brains vacuumed out of their tiny skulls...

If by "turn back the clock" he means to prevent the murder of live babies who happen to survive the aforementioned attempts to kill them...

If by "turn back the clock" he means to prevent the legal murder of more than 1 million unborn children every year in the United States...

If by "turn back the clock" he means to silence those who would support such horrible crimes...

If by "turn back the clock" he means to return to honoring Almighty God who fearfully and wonderfully made each one of us...and them...

Then by all means, let's TURN BACK THE CLOCK!

Far from being an "assault on Women's rights," the noble efforts of a courageous few are nothing less than an attempt to protect the rights of the unborn and to return to an attitude of reverence and humility in the presence of Sovereign God.

Pray for our nation! 

Psalm 94

¹ Lord, God of vengeance— God of vengeance, appear.

² Rise up, Judge of the earth; repay the proud what they deserve.
³ Lord, how long will the wicked— how long will the wicked gloat?

⁴ They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
⁵ Lord, they crush Your people; they afflict Your heritage.
⁶ They kill the widow and the foreigner and murder the fatherless.
⁷ They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it. The God of Jacob doesn’t pay attention.”

⁸ Pay attention, you stupid people! Fools, when will you be wise?
⁹ Can the One who shaped the ear not hear, the One who formed the eye not see?
¹⁰ The One who instructs nations, the One who teaches man knowledge— does He not discipline?
¹¹ The Lord knows man’s thoughts; they are meaningless.

¹² Lord, happy is the man You discipline and teach from Your law
¹³ to give him relief from troubled times until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ The Lord will not forsake His people or abandon His heritage,
¹⁵ for justice will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who stands up for me against the wicked? Who takes a stand for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence of death.
¹⁸ If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your faithful love will support me, Lord.
¹⁹ When I am filled with cares, Your comfort brings me joy.

²⁰ Can a corrupt throne— one that creates trouble by law— become Your ally?
²¹ They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the Lord is my refuge; my God is the rock of my protection.
²³ He will pay them back for their sins and destroy them for their evil. The Lord our God will destroy them.

The Depraved Mind...

Dr. Kermit Gosnell is on trial for 7 counts of 1st degree murder.  He's charged with snipping the spines of babies who were born alive during abortions.  A former worker testified she saw chest movements, breath, gasps, arm movement and heard noise like a crying sound before the doctor or a clinic worker snipped the spinal chords.  A nurse reported that the doctor joked of one aborted baby that it was so big it could "walk me home." The defense attorney stated the babies were already dead when they came out of the mothers and that any movements were postmortem spasms.

In response, the National Abortion Federation released this statement: "This particular facility in Philadelphia is an outlier and not typical of the high-quality abortion care provided by the majority of abortion providers in this country."  Translation: "Everybody else does a better job of killing."

According to Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online, Illinois State Senator Barak Obama fought against the Born Alive Infants Protection bill, successfully killing it in the committee he chaired.  Goldberg also stated, "Barbara Boxer says a baby's life doesn't start until they bring it home from the hospital."  (For more on this read George Will's article.)

Tearing a live baby limb from limb inside the mother's womb is called "abortion," while doing so 10 minutes later outside the mother's body is called murder.  Are you kidding me?!?

By the way, the liberal media has been silent about the trial.  ABC, CBS and NBC have presented 0 stories about this while CNN has produced 1.

"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."  [Romans 1:28-32]

A Lesson from Josiah for a Godless Society

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering constitutional challenges to the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Most of us never dreamed that such a question would ever arise, let alone be seriously considered. But our society has changed. While far from being sinless, we have nonetheless in our history demonstrated submission to God’s sovereignty and leadership. From our founding until midway into the last century, our first inclination was to seek God and His help. Now, mentioning God is an offense, and even a crime, and the effect of this change is being felt in every aspect of society.

Recently, I heard a very popular TV commentator say the following with regard to same-sex marriage: “…the compelling argument is on the side of homosexuals. That is where the compelling argument is. ‘We’re Americans, we just want to be treated like everybody else.’ That’s a compelling argument, and to deny that you’ve got to have a very strong argument on the other side. And the other side hasn’t been able to do anything but thump the Bible.”

Our godless society says, “You need more than scripture to convince me that I’m wrong.” But I say, “A God fearing society needs no other argument.” But we have pushed God out of our national life, and I fear we will never return to Him.

I look at the history of the nations of the earth, and I see that while there have been momentary revivals, every nation has traveled down that continual slope away from God and toward evil. We are no different. We have legalized and normalized even the most heinous sins. Homosexuality is no longer a loathsome sin, detestable to God, but an acceptable lifestyle lovingly portrayed on virtually every television show. Abortion is not the murder of a person created by God, but the removal of an inconvenient mistake. Recently, Florida legislators were shocked by testimony from a Planned Parenthood official who supports the right of a mother and doctor to kill an infant who survives a failed abortion.

King Manasseh, probably the most evil of Judah’s kings, “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites” and “passed his sons through the fire” as sacrifices to false gods. Like him, our nation has spent the last several decades actively driving God out of every aspect of our society.

Then I look to the future and see that, after all believers are gathered to Christ, “all the nations of the earth” will gather to battle against Him. If it remains, the United States will be included in this coalition. Ours is not a Godly nation, and when I look at history and to the future, I tremble.

So, is there hope for America? Yes, there is always hope. Manasseh’s grandson, Josiah, sought the Lord while still a child. He purged the land of pagan things and cleansed the Temple. He rediscovered God’s Word and led the people in a great revival and recommitment to God. We can follow in his steps. The truth of God’s mercy and grace has not changed with time. The hope for our society, our nation, our world is for us to follow Josiah’s example in our own lives and homes.

1. Seek the Lord. “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13) Revival begins when we seek the Lord. He’s not hiding. He’s waiting for you to seek Him. “Seek” not only means “search for” but also “to try to acquire or gain”. Seek God in order to gain Him.

2. Cleanse. “Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” (1 Cor. 5:7) Deal with the sin problem in our lives and society. Purge it by trusting in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

3. Repent. “When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.” (2 Chr. 34:19) Warren Weirsbe said, “How people respond to God’s Word is a good indication of their spiritual appetite and the strength of their desire to please the Lord.” Josiah responded with grief and revulsion at what his nation had done. He determined to turn them from the road they were on.

4. Pray. “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” (2 Chr. 7:14)

I was challenged yesterday: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!

We usually see this as a description of the world around us. Open sin in the streets, unchecked appetites and moral anarchy. But “God is describing the attitudes of the mind. The body may still be comfortable but the mind does not function the way He wants it to function.”

Romans 1:18-32 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The males in the same way also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die —they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

God created us with an awareness of Himself, the ability to plainly see Him for who He is. Yet most reject Him. In our society, “almost everything gets a pass except Jesus. We want to push God aside and do things our way. We think of judgment as a natural disaster or financial collapse, but it is instead God’s release of the mind to go where it wants. Our sins of denying Him, being unthankful to Him, etc. will go down through the generations one after another.”

So what is the answer?

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.

Ephesians 5:25b-27 …Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If…my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Relationship...

If religion is a reflection of my belief about who God is and how I might best please Him, then that belief will change with newfound perspectives drawn from my own experience. If however, religion is a reflection of God’s revelation of Himself to me, then it does not change, because He does not change. Self-invented religion will leave God looking at us with an expression of disbelief, while relationship with God based upon His foundation of truth and grace will leave us with an expression of awe. I for one choose to base my life upon the foundation external to myself.

Come Home...

Andy Griffith died this week. Like many other people, his passing has caused me to consider his unique impact on my life. And like many others, I considered writing about it. I considered writing about the wise sheriff of Mayberry, of the loving father, of the loyal friend. But there are many other better writers who are doing the job. So, I'll just cut to the point.

This morning I was looking through the onscreen TV guide for something to watch and saw "Matlock". It had already started, but I thought it would be interesting to see Andy in action and do a little reminiscing of my own. As I changed the channel a commercial was finishing, so I just looked back to my computer for a moment. The show returned with Andy (Ben Matlock) sitting at his kitchen table. He was quietly plucking a banjo and singing an old familiar hymn:

...tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me; see on the portals He's watching and waiting, waiting for you and for me.

Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home...

I can't think of a better tribute.

P.S. For those who may not have known, Andy Griffith was a devote Christian and early in life considered being a minister. He instead graduated with a degree in music and became a music teacher before going on to become the actor we all knew so well.

My Heroes

Have you ever had the opportunity to meet one of your heroes in person? Were you fortunate enough to have the time to get past that initial awestruck moment and share with them just what they mean to you? Well, I just did. I actually met two of my heroes. Believe it or not, I ran into Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw having lunch together. They were sitting right there chatting like old friends, and I actually had the nerve to speak to them. They were kind and allowed me to ramble on about memories I had and then to express my appreciation for what they had been to me in my childhood. But, just as the encounter was turning into a conversation, I woke up… As I lay there, a bit saddened, I really started remembering a lot of things. So, I decided to get up and tell you before I forgot it all.

There is not a more dedicated fan than an elementary school boy. His imagination is the real world and his heroes are the giants in that world. In the 70s there was no greater rivalry than Dallas and Pittsburgh. I was a Cowboy fan. Roger was my guy. He was my giant. He was the epitome of the Christian gentleman and an example of character to all of us. Graduating from the Naval Academy, he had gone on to serve his 6 year obligation to our country including a tour in Vietnam before he played in the NFL. That kind of commitment is rare today (Pat Tillman embodied it). I loved watching the Cowboys whenever they were on one of our two and a half channels. (One channel was more like radio than TV.) Roger really showed you how to handle yourself no matter what happened in the game. He was poised and reserved. He did his job, and he waited until the game was over to celebrate. (Sounds a little like someone else, but that’s another story.)

The Steelers…they were the enemy. They were rough and mean and were always stalking my Cowboys, waiting for any chance to take away what rightfully belonged to them. Several times they did, right before my eyes. I hated Terry Bradshaw. In my young eyes, he was everything that Roger was not. And, worst of all, he was the leader of the pretenders to the throne. I have to admit I had a soft spot for Joe Greene after his Coke commercial came out, but all I could think was “How can a nice guy like that play for the Steelers?” I was sure he got a good talking to by the rest of his team. Did I mention I hated Terry Bradshaw?

At the Super Bowl they were at it again. My Cowboys were there to receive their deserved championship trophy and the Steelers were there to lie and cheat and yank it away. But Roger and the boys would have none of that. They really turned up the heat that day. While the offense did their thing, the defense painted a target on Mr. Bradshaw and everybody took their shot. They really clobbered him. They did everything by the book of course, but that was before a lot of the quarterback protection rules we have today. Time after time, he would come to the line and they would just lay him out. It was late in the game, and they were still pounding him when he really took a shot. Two of my guys were coming full speed as he was scrambling, and they sandwiched him. I think he still feels that one. He was already limping around, but this one really hurt him.

That’s when I saw it. All through the game, I had been watching my guys lay the wood to Terry Bradshaw. What I didn’t see until that moment was that Terry Bradshaw kept coming back. That’s a lot for a 12 year old boy to process. There, staring me right in the face was commitment…determination…perseverance. In that moment, I realized I no longer hated him. I respected him. No, I didn’t switch my allegiance. But I took note of this man. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that this man also had qualities I could admire. I learned about his struggles on and off the field. I learned about how he faced his own short comings and the way he kept coming back. Roger Staubach was my hero from day one. Terry Bradshaw became my hero, and Roger doesn’t mind. I know because he told me so.