Powerful Words from an Atheist

Penn from Penn and Teller asks a profound question of those who have faith in God.  “How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”  Penn is a self-proclaimed atheist, and yet he gets this serious truth far more than many followers of Jesus do.  We can see the task Jesus gave us to do (“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…”) should be an obvious top priority.  Please also recognize how profoundly touched Penn was by a Christian who”loved his neighbor” by engaging him as the Scriptures teach us.  The video is 5 minutes long – it is worth your time – watch it!  You can also say a prayer for Penn that he will read the Bible he was given and come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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A pre-post election post

Regardless of whether Obama or McCain wins tonight or whether you will be happy or shed tears after the election results, please keep a few things in mind if you are a follower of Jesus.

God’s people must let nothing keep us from the priorities that God has set before us – to proclaim the Good News about Jesus.  I am encouraged that so many followers of Jesus I know really love God and love people and strive to live what they believe.  Let us endeavor more to share the love of God!  Let us endeavor more to be generous with all that God has made us stewards over!  Let us endeavor more to help the most oppressed!  Let us endeavor more to be salt and light and hope in our very dark world!

1.  We have a responsibility to pray for our leaders (I Timothy 2:1-2).

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

The Scripture does not tell us to pray for them only if we like them.  Praying for our leaders to have wisdom, discernment, justice, peace, love, and truth is commanded for us to do.  

2.  Jesus is still the only true and eternal hope!  (Luke 4:18-19, John 14:6).

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 
      because he has anointed me 
      to preach good news to the poor. 
   He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners 
      and recovery of sight for the blind, 
   to release the oppressed, 
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Words of Jesus)

 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

3.  We must endeavor to love, live, and share the Good News about Jesus, the payment for our sins (I Timothy 2:3-7).

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.”

4.  We have a responsibility to stand up for the oppressed.  (Isaiah 1:17)

“Learn to do right! 
Seek justice, 
encourage the oppressed. 
Defend the cause of the fatherless, 
plead the case of the widow.”

5.  Regardless of who our leaders are, God is still God, and our privilege is to look forward to the day when Jesus Christ will reign (Revelation 11:15).

“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.'”

I am so looking forward to the day when there will be no more tears and no more pain.  In that day, we will no longer have to wonder whether our leaders know what they are doing, or if they have good or bad intentions, or if they are wise enough for the job.  Our King Jesus will reign and all will be as it should be – finally!  What a sweet and blessed hope we have in Jesus!

 

Abortion and tomorrow’s election

Psalm 139:13
“For you created my inmost being; 
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

The following article is only intended to convey my personal conviction as someone who is endeavoring to follow Jesus and to have His way of thinking permeate my way of thinking in all areas of life.  It is with compassion, tears, and love that I broach the very difficult and painful subject of abortion.  I am aware that what is written here will cause pain and controversy for some people I love very much, and this makes me write with great care.  Please also know for the past 10 years I have endeavored to keep serious political thoughts only to myself and those very close to me.  The reason for this is because political discussions and issues often get in the way of much more important conversations about the Good News of Jesus and the teachings of the Scriptures.  Politics can cause clouds that hinder people from seeing and hearing the most important truths of God’s Word.  

On this subject, speaking the truth in love is extremely important, as many believers and unbelievers are scarred by their choices made in the past and have deep wounds.  We must be sensitive to them when we speak about this subject like we would about the subject of divorce, and sensitive if the conversation comes up in a group or even a blog such as this. At the same time followers of Jesus cannot be silent on the subject as we have a responsibility to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. I have lost sleep and shed tears over this subject lately, much of it over the hardness of my own heart and the silence of my voice. My prayer is that this writing will be more helpful than it is hurtful, and that God will protect, comfort, and teach each reader according to their need. 

I see more and more christians who are touting a pro-abortion candidate as “a gift of God’s grace for our country” and “America’s Messiah”. I disagree with this because of the candidate’s stance on abortion.  His record is very consistent that he is pro-abortion.  There can be no debate about that fact. And there can be no debate about the importance of this subject in this election.

Here is a quote from Obama from the presidential debate on October 15, 2008. It is from the transcript so it is word for word.  The context is about the appointment of new Supreme Court Justices.

“And it is true that this is going to be, I think, one of the most consequential decisions of the next president. It is very likely that one of us will be making at least one and probably more than one appointments and Roe versus Wade probably hangs in the balance.”

Can a christian in good conscience know that abortion is morally wrong, know that a Presidential candidate is pro-abortion, and state, “I want him to be my president, and I will vote for him.”?

The arguments I have heard for yes are the following:

1.  There are many subjects under the umbrella of social justice and abortion is just one of them.  Since I agree with a pro-abortion candidate on the majority of them I will just have to disagree with him on that one. He still has my vote.

My objection:  There are many subjects under the umbrella of social justice and some have greater weight than others.  The subjects concerning the protection of innocent life are more important than those that pursue happiness.  Can we state that we love our neighbor as ourselves (including our unborn ones) and promote the campaign of someone who will not seek their protection?  Because one in five pregnancies ends in abortion worldwide, we cannot think of this matter as a secondary issue.  Can we afford for the most powerful person in the world to be wrong on this matter?

2.  Neither party intends to change anything about the situation so the subject of abortion doesn’t matter.

My objection:  A battle that should be fought but is not will always be lost.  I cannot state 100% that a pro-life candidate will appoint the correct Supreme court justices to overturn Roe versus Wade, but we are guaranteed that pro-abortion candidate’s nominees will keep the status quo.  A pro-abortion candidate winning insures that nothing on this subject in America will have the potential to change for a very long time.  

3.  What about all the innocent people in Iraq who have died since the war started?  Why are you picking the unborn over them?

My objection:  The death of any innocent person is awful.  We must remember that Iraq’s former dictator was responsible for the death of large numbers of his own people, the paid rape of hundreds if not thousands of women, and the mass murdering of a people group.  Regardless of what we should have done in the past we must deal with the reality that we are there at the present.  Even if the pro-abortion candidate is 100% correct on Iraq and the pro-life candidate is 100% wrong…the number of human lives at stake is not even close. According to the World Health Organization 43 million abortions occurred world-wide in 2003.

In closing, followers of Jesus should be pro-adoption, pro-education, pro-helping the poor, and pro-life.  The subject of life trumps all others, and we must protect the innocent.  I do not see anyway around the argument that if the pro-abortion candidate wins, then a vote for him in this election makes one complicit in every abortion in our country from when the new judges are appointed until Roe versus Wade is overturned*.

Christians may due to their conscience about other subjects say that they will not vote for the lessor of two evils and will abstain from voting, but I cannot agree with the thinking of christians who promote a pro-abortion candidate as a great agent for hope and change.  

Finally, I am thankful for the grace of God which is sufficient for all things.  Let us love and have our hope solely in One Person – Jesus Christ!  Please also know that I am open to calm, civil, and loving discussion about this or most any other subject.**

———–

* I do not believe that we are complicit with every act the person we vote for commits for 2 reasons: 

1.   We cannot see the future and are ignorant of the sins people will commit in the future. 

2.  I reiterate that different issues have different moral weights, and we are sometimes forced to pick between them.  If certain bad things happen because of my vote for the pro-life candidate I am not automatically complicit with them because I was forced to make my decision based on the greater moral issue. 

I do believe we are complicit when we know the actions someone will commit are morally wrong and it carries great moral weight (like slavery and abortion) and we vote for that person anyway.  Under those circumstances, I don’t see a way to avoid complicity.   

** Due to the sensitive nature of this topic.  I will be diligent and thoughtful about which comments are approved and not approved for public viewing.  If I do not approve your comment I will endeavor to send you a private email.

 

Enjoying the abundant life

Many followers of Jesus are totally missing out on the enjoyment of the abundant life, and most all of us go through periods of time where we are not dialed in.  It is therefore good to look at a few Scriptures on the subject.  I recommend that you read Romans 8:1-11 and II Corinthians 5:14-21 before continuing.   www.biblegateway.com is a good place to read the Scriptures online.  For most of my postings I use the New King James Version.

“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep'” (John 10:7-11). 

Let’s notice that Jesus is once again claiming that He is absolutely necessary for salvation.  See the post “Is Jesus the only way” for more on this subject.  The wonderful news is that Jesus desires to give us life and not just life, but a more abundant life.  Oh and don’t forget that life is also eternal life (John 3:16).

Romans 8 tells us that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Those who are believers in Jesus are free from the penalties of sin!  God has declared them to be innocent because of what Jesus has done.  It stands to reason that since God has not condemned us that we should not condemn ourselves.  This being said, Romans 8 continues to tell us that the flesh cannot please God. The reality is that only God the Father’s children can please the Father.  Those who refuse Him cannot please Him.  Those who are “in Christ” should walk in the Spirit we have been given knowing that in the Spirit we can and do please God.

II Corinthians 5 states that the followers of Jesus are “new creations”.  We are not defined by our past, but by our place of newness in Christ.  Because of this we can have confidence in God’s ability and desire to work in us and through us in the “ministry of reconciliation”.  

In summary verse 15 of the same chapter states, “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”  The abundant life is the life that is lived for Jesus.  If your definition of an abundant life is different than that you may seek, but you will not enjoy the abundant life.  Even now Jesus holds out the offer of the abundant life for those who do not know Him to by faith believe in Him.  And for those of us who are already His, Jesus desires that today we would fully participate in the abundant life, the life free of condemnation, the life that shares in the ministry of reconciliation with Him!  May God work in your heart according to your need.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment.  If you don’t want your comment to be seen by the world, just put the words “private comment” in your text.