Christ-followers are Pro-life!

 

“The clear commands in the Bible trump the prerogatives of 

society, the power of feelings, the precedence of experience 

and the persuasiveness of others.”   Randy Smith

 

  I feel very privileged to have friends from various walks of life. Many of my friends have worldviews very different from mine. With the recent leak of the potential Supreme Court ruling on abortion, it’s been a main topic in the national conversation. 

  Some of my friends are atheists or agnostics. Because they hold that worldview, the Bible has no basis for their values and they do not believe in transcendent moral absolutes. Personally, I respect them because they are consistent with their worldview, though obviously, I disagree.

  I also have friends who are Democrats and Republicans (I told someone recently I’m in the “Kingdom Party.”) Abortion though is not a political issue, it’s a moral one. Because I take a pro-life position, I’ve been accused of being a “Republican.” Though the media typically fails to acknowledge it, there are pro-life Democrats. It’s estimated that 30% of Democrats are pro-life. On the other side, according to a Gallup poll, 42% of Republicans are pro-choice for at least the first trimester. It’s a slur and not an argument to accuse someone that if they are pro-life, they’re a Republican.

  Thinking individuals are cognizant of the fact that politicians are pragmatists. Pragmatism is one of their highest values in that they’re frequently more motivated by the latest poll than worldview and values. Winning the next election often becomes their modus operandi.

  Some of the recent Republican presidents only became pro-life when it became politically expedient, i.e., George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump. Incidentally, both Bush wives, Barbara and Laura, were pro-choice. Please don’t swallow the opposition’s strawman argument that if you’re pro-life, you’re part of a certain political party. Incidentally, Joe Biden’s position on abortion has evolved from being pro-life in 1973 to abortion in any circumstances once he ran for President. Politicians are pragmatists.

  My concern though are the views of Christians. Personally, I don’t like the terms “Christian” or “Evangelical.” They’ve devolved to mean basically anyone who attends a church. It’s as foolish as suggesting you’re a mechanic because you work in a garage. You might be the bookkeeper.

  “Christians” don’t shoot at others because they’re Muslim or some other religious group, as they have in the Baltics. “Evangelical” has been distorted to mean you attend church periodically and are probably white. Both are media caricatures. By those definitions, I play for the “Brewers” because I attend a game as often as some “evangelicals” attend church.

  The best term today for a true Christian is probably “Christ-follower.” Following means that someone else is leading. For the Christ-follower, it’s the Lord Jesus Christ. If you read the four gospels, you must conclude that Jesus believed 100% of the Bible. A true Christ-follower must then believe 100% of the Bible. For a Christ-follower, God’s Word is not a religious smorgasbord where one can pick and choose what you want to believe.

  “Taking up your cross” (Mt. 16:24; Luke 9:23) as Jesus commanded His followers to do demands absolute commitment. Like Jesus, Christ-followers believe and seek to obey all of the Bible, even the parts that they may not understand. For a Christ-follower, it is the Ten Commandments not the “Ten Suggestions.”

  What does the Bible say about the beginning of human life?

  “For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well” (Ps. 139:13-14).

  “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…’” (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb…For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:41-42, 44).

  The biblical case for life beginning at conception is so strong that God’s Word never attempts to prove it, it assumes it. It’s not a “fetus.” What is conceived in the human womb is Imago Dei, “made in the image of God.”

  Who gives life? The Creator God. Who takes the little hands and feet and eyes and nose and lips and assembles them in the womb? The Creator God.

  If we believe the Bible, then we must believe in the sanctity of all human life, born and unborn. From the moment of conception, a distinct individual has come into being—an individual made in the image of God; an individual with a human soul; an individual for whom Jesus Christ died.

  Thus, when a baby is aborted, it’s not simply the termination of a pregnancy; it’s the killing of a human being made in God’s image. Scripture puts a very high value on human life that stands in stark contrast to the moral schizophrenia of our day. Unborn children are as valuable in the sight of God as those who make it out of the womb. The most dangerous place in America today is often inside a woman’s womb.

  Christ-followers can’t rationalize or succumb to sentimentality or political expediency. Being pro-life demands that we care not just for the child in the womb, but for that child outside the womb whether they are rich or poor, regardless of their ethnic group or national origin. It means that we must show God’s love and compassion to all from the cradle to the grave.

  Being pro-life means that we must demonstrate God’s love to those who have had abortions and those who perform them. Sin is sin, evil is evil. Every sin, even those we rationalize as “small,” still sent the Lord Jesus to the cross. It means that we share His grace and forgiveness with all, just as it was shared with us. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

  The hope of our world though isn’t the outlawing of abortion. It’s the sharing of the gospel. Our mission is not just saving human life, it’s to share how one can have eternal life. It’s why the Lord Jesus came! In two millennia the mission hasn’t changed!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

Are the Catholic Bishops Bigots?

 

“We have no right to prejudice another in his civil enjoyments because he is of another church.”  Thomas Jefferson

 

  A Belgian farmer accidentally altered the border of Belgium and France after moving a boundary stone to make way for his tractor. A history enthusiast walking the national border between France and Belgium was the first to notice that one of the stones marking the boundary between the countries since 1819 had been displaced by more than 7 feet—making France smaller and Belgium larger. Officials with the Belgian government said they’ve asked the farmer to return the stone to its proper place. Failing that, the long-dormant Franco-Belgian border commission will have to resolve the dispute. “We should be able to avoid a new border war,” neighboring French Mayor Aurélie Welonek told La Voix du Nord.
  There’s been a growing movement to move the boundaries of religious freedom and rights of faith groups for the last fifty years. It’s moving toward a “holy war” though one side will fight in the courts to preserve one of our greatest blessings of the United States, a blessing that was essentially unknown in any other nation until the birth of America – the 1^st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” 

  But it’s not Congress that has continually infringed on our 1^st Amendment rights, it’s the courts as judicial activists which was never the intent of our Founding Fathers. A continual phrase that’s used to justify these egregious actions against people of faith is the “separation of Church and State.”
  Educated individuals know that the phrase is not in the Constitution. It was Jefferson, in personal correspondence, when he was President, who used it referring to the State meddling in the affairs of the Church, not the Church seeking to control the State.
  Enemies of the Church continually seek to manipulate the court of public opinion with accusations of hate, bigotry, meanness. They use slurs and emotionalism rather than objective truth and reasoned argument. No longer content to seek to eradicate religious rights and secularize the public square, they now seek secularization within religious groups and will not be satisfied until all people of faith are goose-stepping with their agenda.
  A clear example of this is the attack on the Catholic Church for refusing Holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians. As a Bible-believing Christian, I do not believe in the sacramental teaching of the Catholic Church and have fundamental theological differences on an entire range of issues from the authority of Scripture, justification by faith alone, all of the Solas of the Reformation and would even differ with their view of birth control. Yet, this is a shared moral conviction on the sanctity and dignity of human life. If we believe in the Bill of Rights in general and the 1^st Amendment specifically, we must defend the Catholic Church’s right to govern their church as they see fit and hold to their convictions.
  Some years ago our family visited Salt Lake City and the Mormon Tabernacle but were not allowed entry into the Temple because we weren’t LDS. Holding certain dogma and restrictions is common to nearly every religion. Muslims limit non-Muslims from their mosques and holy sites and Jews limit even Jewish women from certain places. Religious groups limiting access to worship settings or practices is common as it fits their belief system. Christianity is rare in that there are no spaces where unbelievers are not welcome, though they, like the Catholic Church, may limit participation in certain religious practices.
  While President Biden is our second Catholic president, he is the most pro-abortion president in our history and is out of touch with popular opinion. A recent survey found that while 61% said abortion should be legal in most or all cases during the first trimester, in the second trimester, about two-thirds of respondents, 65%, said abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, and in the third, 80% of respondents oppose abortion.
  Catholic dogma teaches that abortion is murder. The outcry of cruelty in refusing holy communion to pro-abortion politicians brings to my mind the baptism scene in The Godfather near the end of the movie. While the new Godfather, Michael Corleone, is being asked by the priest baptizing his son, “Do you renounce Satan and all of his works?” To which he responds, “I do renounce them.” At that very same time Corleone is having his rivals assassinated. Movie director, Francis Ford Coppola, brilliantly contrasted the murderous evil Corleone had ordered while going through the motions of verbalizing righteousness in parenting the new life of his son.
  Everyone knows that the Catholic Church is unapologetically pro-life. One wonders if those appalled that Catholics are being consistent would agree to allowing them to refuse anyone from communion. Should they be forced to offer communion to anyone? What about a devil worshipper, or a Nazi or white supremacist? Does a faith group’s precious beliefs mean anything or must it cave to the court of evolving morality and public opinion. Faith groups, in light of the clear wording of the 1^st Amendment, must be able to refuse communion or anything else to those they believe violates their sacred tenets, in this case, the sanctity of life.  
  The Catholic Church is sending a powerful message in that Archbishop Cordileone, the Archbishop of San Francisco issued a pastoral letter on the human dignity of the unborn, Holy Communion and Catholics in public life. He writes: “This is especially a time for us Catholics, whose faith calls us to advocate for the universal good of a consistent ethic of life in every stage and in every condition to call our country back to respect for human life…and this is especially so for Catholics who are prominent in all walks of public life, entertainment, media, politics, education, the corporate world, and so forth, as they have such a powerful influence on shaping the attitudes and practices of people in our nation.”
  Mark it down. People of faith and conviction will not compromise even if courts or public opinion rage against them. We can’t. We answer to a Higher Authority. As Peter answered the government of his day, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). In 2,000 years the Church has not surrendered, Look at China and Iran if you want to see how the Church will respond to pressure and persecution. I’m thankful for the 1^st Amendment, but God’s people will still do right and act righteously even if someday we no longer have it. “We must obey God rather than men.”

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

Brave New World???

“We've got a duty to die and get out of the way with all of our machines and artificial hearts and everything else like that and let the other society, our kids, build a reasonable life.” Governor Richard Lamm

In the year 2274, the remnants of human civilization live in a sealed city contained beneath a cluster of geodesic domes, a utopia run by a computer that takes care of all aspects of life, including reproduction. To prevent overpopulation, everyone must undergo the rite of “Carrousel” when they reach the age of 30. There, they are killed under the guise of being “renewed.” To track this, each person is implanted at birth with a “life-clock” crystal in the palm of the hand that changes color as they get older and begins blinking as they approach their “Last Day.”

  That was the premise of a popular 1976 Sci-Fi movie with Michael York called Logan’s Run. Back then, it seemed far-fetched and unbelievable. Today…maybe not so far-fetched.

  Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Increasingly, more Americans identify as pro-life. Yet, pro-life isn’t only about abortion. It’s defending human life from conception to death. It means that birth selectivity, mercy killing and euthanasia are also morally wrong. Many who’d claim to be pro-life would have no problem aborting a child if tests confirmed that the child will be disabled. But what’s considered disabled? Down Syndrome, physical limitations or autism? What about gender selectivity? Many choose to abort if the child is not the gender that they’d prefer.

  At the recent Golden Globe Awards, actress Michelle Williams, when she accepted her award suggested that abortion is a way to protect one’s career and finances: “I’m grateful for the acknowledgment of the choices I’ve made, and I’m also grateful to have lived at a moment in our society where choice exists. Because as women and as girls, things can happen to our bodies that are not our choice. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose.”

  Ms. Williams never suggested that she was raped or forced to have sex,  but instead freely chose to have sexual relations that resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. She’s “grateful” to have the freedom to terminate a life if it hinders her future, in her case being an actress and creating “art.”  Yet, if it’s acceptable to terminate a life at the beginning because of financial liabilities or career inconvenience, why would it be wrong to terminate a life at the end, if one was the caregiver and/or it was a financial burden and hampered a career?

  We’re living longer. Look at the candidates running for President. Most are pushing 80. Then, we’re running out of money for financial care of the elderly and infirm. The cost of healthcare is skyrocketing and the costs for the last three months of life are the highest. It’s not a leap to draw some obvious conclusions. If it costs the most to care for someone at the end of life and they have a terminal disease or limited “quality of life,” “mercy killing” or euthanasia become a much more viable option.

  One of contemporary society’s greatest faux pas is racism. Yet, bigotry toward the elderly is so socially accepted and so much a part of American culture, most never give it a second thought. By 2025 the number of people aged 60 and over will double and by 2050 it will reach 2 billion globally.

  Yet, consider the all too common attitude toward the elderly. It can take many forms and includes depicting them as frail, dependent, and out of touch in the media. According to the World Health Organization, ageism is most rampant in high-income countries. Americans, as a whole, place great value on youth, beauty, vitality and the ability to earn a large income. Aging is often seen as a debilitating process that robs people of these high-prized attributes.

  In one study, 70% of older Americans said they’d been insulted or mistreated because of their age. This can take the form of something as simple as a server asking a senior’s younger companion what the senior would like rather than addressing the senior citizen, or by the numerous portrayals in the media of elders as crabby, incompetent, and superfluous.

  If that’s happening while the elderly are still self-sufficient and independent, what will be the outcome when they aren’t? There are two common phrases that open Pandora’s Box for a Culture of Death: Quality of Life & Death with Dignity.

  Quality of Life. When John Quincy Adams was well past the usual span of life, a young friend met him on the street and asked, “How is John Quincy Adams today?” Adams replied: “John Quincy Adams is very well, thank you. But the house he lives in is sadly dilapidated. It is tottering on its foundations. The walls are badly shattered and the roof is worn. The building trembles with every wind, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out before long. But he himself is very well, thank you.”

  If we are just a “human animal,” it’s not a reach, as one would do with a dog or cat, to end their suffering that’s a result of aging. But according to Scripture we are not the “human animal.” We are Imago Dei – made in the image of God. Life is sacred and must be protected as much as possible.

  Death with Dignity is a farce. There is no dignity. The Bible calls death “the last enemy.” For the individual who has committed their life to Christ, it’s a transition that culminates in an eternal transformation.

  Please understand, there’s a vast difference between extending life and prolonging death. Death can be extended by medical science for a long time. There are difficult end of life ethical decisions. Sadly, our culture is moving forward into utilizing euthanasia that’s both passive and active.

  Euthanasia is not mercy, it’s killing and morally wrong! If we believe that we are created by God and God gave us the breath of life, we must be strong defenders of the sanctity of human life at every stage of life.

  Preserving life is rarely convenient or cheap. We must be wary that we’re not conformed to a “culture of death,” where human life is cheapened and its termination is justified if it’s an impediment to ME.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

The Abortion Debate: A little more light & a little less heat

“Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on.” Alyssa Milano

With the conservative bent on the current U.S. Supreme Court, there’s been a barrage of legislative action related to abortion on the part of the States. States like New York seek to protect their “abortion rights.” Others like Georgia, with their new stricter laws prohibiting abortion, hope a lawsuit will make its way to the Supreme Court to see Roe v. Wade re-addressed and even overturned. In the midst of this political maneuvering, there’s often been more heat than light from both sides of the moral debate.

  Yes, Alyssa Milano actually did tweet that. Unbeknownst to her, she was suggesting exactly what those who hold a biblical worldview believe and is the solution for abortion – abstinence. The Bible teaches that sex outside of marriage violates God’s standard for sexual morality. Let’s not forget that single professional football star, Tim Tebow, was ridiculed for committing to his own personal “sex strike” until marriage. The rationale of those opposed to abstinence is that we’re little more than animals with no hope of restraining ourselves and must succumb to our more carnal urges.

  There’s also blatant hypocrisy on the part of those who promise to boycott states like Georgia which have passed new pro-life laws. Here are just a few examples: Sophie Turner won’t film in Georgia, but she filmed Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland which bans abortion. Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman have both said that they’ll no longer work in Georgia, yet both filmed Star Wars in Tunisia, where it’s illegal to be gay. Tunisia has arrested people for just appearing to be gay.

  The most imprudent protest against new pro-life legislation has been from Disney. Yet, Disney has been filming in Bolivia, where abortion is illegal, Croatia, where abortion is illegal after 11 weeks and the UAE where abortion is illegal and being gay is illegal. Disney has no problem filming in any of these locations, yet suddenly Georgia is the enemy. It doesn’t take a genie to see that this is a big marketing blunder. How can one promote themselves as a “family place,” yet support what exterminates their customer base – families? In light of Disney’s defense of  “reproductive choice,” can we expect them to shut down production in China, including the shuttering of their theme parks on Chinese soil? China has draconian anti-LGBT discrimination and one of the worst records for human rights abuse. If Disney truly cares about human rights, how can they do business in a country with nearly Nazi-like laws against their own citizens?

  Moral ineptitudes make strange bedfellows. The spirit of Margaret Sanger still lives. White Supremacists also oppose the new anti-abortion laws. Why? “Only reason Blacks here in the US have only grown by a few percent each year is because of Planned Parenthood and abortion.”

  Apart from the moral issues, the pro-choice position is fiscally naïve. Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with her obsession with climate change suggests that young people should seriously consider even having children. No one seems to see the end result of such fuzzy thinking: “Who will pay the bills?” Americans and politicians are insatiable for more government programs, but there’s no free lunch. When was the last time you heard of a budget cut being proposed, much less passed?

  A few weeks ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report, concluding that the U.S. is in an official baby bust. It’s been declining for four straight years, but last year the number of babies born in this country fell to a 32-year low. There’s a term called the “replacement level” when you’re talking about fertility. To maintain our current population a woman needs to have 2.1 children, but we’ve been below that level since the early 1970s. Some outcomes of our population decrease will be greater labor shortages and school closings. Taxes must increase. The need for elder care will increase with fewer available to step into those roles. The more that the birth number falls below the replacement level, the weaker our economy will become, especially as a homegrown workforce decreases and more retire. Already-strained programs like Medicare and Social Security will suffer. Fewer workers, i.e., taxpayers,  means fewer paying into the system that supports the growing number of retirees.  We’ve come a long and dark way since Hillary Clinton’s 1990’s comment that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.”

  What’s the solution? Obviously, it’s not another government program but none of these problems are new. Ours is a post-Christian age. The early church faced a pre-Christian one with far worse atrocities; slavery, religious prostitution, infanticide, etc. As the gospel, remedied old world problems, it can remedy contemporary world problems. It’s the gospel that can transform someone’s life, changing someone with no life values to someone who values life and willingly sacrifices for those who can’t defend themselves, the pre-born, disabled, infirm and elderly. We have examples within our own church of grandparents who’ve stepped up to care for a grandchild or an elderly parent.

  It’s the gospel that transforms culture, not social programs, jobs or education. Those are outcomes of the gospel. A Christian who is living out a biblical worldview is a better spouse, parent, student, worker, and citizen. It’s one reason that at Grace we’re committed to planting churches in places like South Chicago (Tom Kubiak) and Nepal (Bishnu).

  The gospel is not just a ticket to heaven. It’s a lifestyle. Living it out means that we’re unapologetically pro-life, but it’s much more than just babies. We’re also pro-living. We want that unaborted child to grow up healthy and safe into adulthood, and to have a quality life filled with opportunity. Yes, we are pro-life – we are pro-life from the first heartbeat to the last breath. That’s what it means to be a Christian. That’s what it means to have a biblical worldview.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Defending a Culture of Life in a Culture of Death

“God already thought of us before the creation of the world. Not one of us is extra. All of us are desired by God.” Dr. Jose Maria Simon Castellvi

  Are you like me? Sometimes I feel like I am living in the midst of the Holocaust. Just when I think that I’m shockproof at the hardness and rationalization of evil in hearts, I find I’m stunned again.

  Recently, Breakpoint shared this posting. It took my breath away. The physician responsible is now being investigated. In 2010, 38-year-old Tine Nys was one of approximately 1,000 people euthanized in Belgium, but Nys was not suffering from a terminal illness. In fact, she wasn’t sick at all. Despite how it’s sold around the world, inevitable death isn’t a requirement for euthanasia in Belgium. The standard for eligibility is “unbearable and untreatable suffering,” which now includes psychological suffering. 

  Between 2005 and 2014, 124 people diagnosed with a “mental and/or behavioral disorder” were euthanized in Belgium. These included conditions such as depression and dementia. But in Tine Nys case, it’s wasn’t even clear that she was “suffering” at all, much less in an “unbearable and untreatable” sense. Nys had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism.

  If you’re familiar with the Autism Spectrum, you know that Asperger’s is characterized by, among other things, difficulty in social situations and restricted interests. It’s also characterized by “remarkable focus and persistence,” “attention to detail,” and an aptitude for recognizing patterns. If that doesn’t sound especially unbearable, you’re correct, and most people agree. In fact, Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has called Asperger’s a possible “big advantage” in places like Silicon Valley. My son, Ben, was diagnosed with Asperger’s many years ago. I know that we have others who are somewhere on the Autism Spectrum in our church family and nearly all of us know someone who is on that spectrum.

  In the midst of a “culture of death,” the Church of Jesus Christ must, as it has since those early days of a “culture of death” in the Roman Empire, be committed to a “culture of life.” And it will become more costly and require more sacrifice on our part. We must speak graciously, kindly and in a Christlike manner BUT we must speak. We must remember, too, that our mission is first the gospel and heart change, then social change. We must also be aware that politicians are first pragmatists. At the end of the day, they’re usually more concerned about the next election than pro-life issues in spite of the rhetoric, campaign promises and political saber rattling.

  For example, during the last two years, in spite of a “conservative majority,” Planned Parenthood was not defunded. Frequently, you’ll hear someone make the ludicrous statement that abortion is merely 3% of what Planned Parenthood does. Can you imagine though if someone defended sexual predator, Bill Cosby, suggesting that sexual assault is only about 3% of what Bill Cosby did over his long and illustrious career, and thus his egregious offenses should be overlooked, and that you can’t paint him with the broad brush of “sexual offender,” just because a very small percentage of his activities were horrifying and abusive?

  The silence of Black Lives Matter supporters when it comes to abortion is inexcusable. Abortion is the biggest killer in the black community. In New York City alone, thousands more black babies are aborted than born alive each year. The abortion rate among black mothers is more than three times higher than it is for white mothers. Nationally, 36% of all abortions were performed on black women though they’re only 13% of the female population. The little-discussed flip side of “reproductive freedom” is that abortion deaths far exceed those of cancer, violent crime, heart disease, AIDS and accidents. Racism, poverty and lack of access to health care are the typical explanations for these disparities, yet black women have much higher abortion rates even after you add in a statistical control for income.

  More died in 2018 from abortions than any other cause of death worldwide. Nearly 42 million abortions were performed last year. That means that nearly a quarter of all pregnancies worldwide (23%) ended in abortion. For every 33 live births last year, 10 children were aborted. Because it’s debated on whether to even call abortion what it is: death, and unborn babies what they are: humans, the nearly 42 million lives that were lost last year to abortion aren’t even recorded in the global death toll of 2018, which was 59 million.

  Human life is a wonderful thing. There’s nothing else like it. Every human being, no matter how small, is fearfully and wonderfully made. Every human being, no matter how disregarded, bears the image of God. Every human being, no matter how weak, will keep on living forever.

  And that’s why we can offer hope! Jesus offers forgiveness for women who have aborted a child and hope to men who have encouraged a wife or girlfriend to abort. Jesus offers hope to employees of abortion clinics and hope to those who are apathetic about this great evil in our society.

  So, what can we do? We can pray and we can proclaim!

  We may think our prayers are small in relation to the magnitude of the evil of abortion, but God is not small. Hearts are changing toward abortion, even among those who don’t know Christ.

  We will only see true life and cultural change through proclamation of the gospel! Our main calling and greatest gift to this world is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the only message that gives pardon for the agents of death and power for the agents of life. Since we have all at one time been children of darkness (Ephesians 5:8), the blood-bought pardon of Jesus is precious to us all. That’s where we must start, by offering the free gift of salvation – God’s grace, forgiveness and eternal life!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Have you hugged a politician today?

“The Gospel cannot and must not be identified with partisan political posturing.”  Carl Trueman

  This weekend Jane and I are at The Wilberforce Weekend, a Christian worldview conference hosted by the Colson Center. We have had the privilege of listening to speakers like Ravi Zacharias and Os Guinness.

  Please pray for us tomorrow as we visit our Wisconsin Senators’ offices and Congressman’s office. We’re bringing invites for them to local events; Burlington Chocolate Fest and the Waterford Balloon Fest. We’re also inviting them to our future building dedication.

  Hopefully, you know this already, at Grace we’re committed to being non-partisan or a-political. The Gospel reaches across all political barriers. It’s why we won’t endorse candidates or political parties.

  Though I personally support the repealing of the Johnson Amendment, it’s not so that our church can endorse political candidates. It’s that I’m concerned that as our culture continues to morally devolve, the day may come when, because of their tax exempt status, churches will be told that they can’t teach what the Bible says about certain subjects because they’re considered “hate speech.”

  Our country was founded on religious freedom, i.e., the 1^st amendment. Our nation’s Founding Fathers would be appalled that RICO laws were re-interpreted to punish pro-life groups. The more fences to keep the camel’s nose out of the church, the better. Students of history know the term “Separation of Church & State” is not part of our Constitution. Thomas Jefferson’s intent, (he coined the term) was not to keep the church out of the government, but rather to keep the government out of the church.

  At Grace Church our mission is the Gospel! We are to seek to reach every person, whether they are a citizen or a governmental leader, with the good news that there is true hope and another Kingdom. God’s love, grace and forgiveness is available for everyone because of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

  For some time, as have many other Christian leaders, I’ve been concerned that the Church in America is needlessly alienating major portions of the population because of our political persuasions. Until recent times, many Christians thought their values were still held by a majority of Americans. Thus, Christians merely needed to mobilize the moral majority and encourage them to speak out, especially by voting. We could then turn things around, we were assured, if only we could mobilize the masses.

  For the most part, this view is recognized as unrealistic. Biblical values are increasingly becoming an unpopular minority view. Consequently, government will continue to regulate and oppose a biblical worldview.  

  Yet, for many Millennials and ethnic groups, there is at least a perceived too tight of a connection between conservative party politics and Christians. The prime example is abortion. Abortion is used as a wedge issue to establish a dividing line between Republicans and Democrats. The argument is that the Christian way of voting must be for the political party that has a pro-life statement in their platform. Too many Christians fail to recognize that politics and pragmatism are nearly synonymous. Abortion is a “red meat” issue to ramp up party support. Political rhetoric and action are not the same thing. Abortion is a campaign slogan embraced during an election cycle and often abandoned the day after the election. Because abortion is a “red herring,” it preempts discussion about other biblical subjects; genocide, persecution, poverty, marriage…to name just a few.   

  There is no Christian form of government. Christ’s Church has survived and even thrived under the most diabolical of governmental systems. A biblical worldview sees government as an institution established by God (Gen. 9:6; Rom. 13) for the purpose of promoting justice for its citizens—protecting the innocent from the aggressor and the lawless. Without personal security, every other function of government (protecting life, liberty, property, reputation, etc.) is meaningless. As Christians, we recognize government as a sacred institution whose rulers are ministers of God for good. God ordained the State to practice godly justice and commands us to submit to it. As long as government serves the purpose for which God created it, we must show our allegiance to God by submitting to human government, understanding though that civil government is secular in nature while Christianity is spiritual. As believers, we’re aliens and strangers, passing through a temporal world (1 Peter 1:1). Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Our highest authority is God. At times, Christians must choose to “obey God, rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

  Too many Christians become caught up in an angry world’s spirit of winning political battles and forget that elected officials and government bureaucrats are also part of “For God so loved the world…” It is a sin to hate anyone, even a Nero or a Hitler. Politicians are not the enemy, Satan is. When we treat those whose ideology is different from ours as the enemy, we create an evil barrier to the Gospel.

  A pagan world is incensed when things don’t go its way, screaming for its rights. We’re to be different, a Christian-counterculture. Only the Gospel, will bring true change to society, since it transforms sinners from the inside out. There are no Christian nations, only Christian people. Our commission is to proclaim the Gospel faithfully in whatever context God puts us.

  Imagine what would happen if every believer wrote their elected officials, thanked him/her for serving, letting them know they were praying for them. It would be a beginning and hopefully open doors for the Gospel. 

  Which Kingdom are you focused on? This temporal world’s or King Jesus’ eternal one? 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

The Irrational Hypocrisy of Abortion

"The abortion industry kills as many Black people every four days 

as the Klan killed in 150 years.” John Piper

  If you think about it, this counter-cultural reality that we need to even have a Sanctity of Life Sunday is very sad. It shows the irrationality of the dark world we live in that we must point out that mothers shouldn’t kill their children and that fathers shouldn’t be complicit in that decision. No human life is worthless or disposable, regardless of skin color, age, disability, economic status, etc. The very fact that these things must be proclaimed is a reminder of the moral horror of this present darkness.

  I find that the abortion argument is based on an irrational hypocrisy. It’s same tired rational that a woman has the right to choose what she does with her own body. BUT she doesn’t have that right to choose in so many other areas. Abortion only gives her the right over her reproductive organs, even that’s legally limited. While it’s legal for a woman to have a baby scraped from her uterus, it’s illegal for her to sell her uterus or most other body parts. It’s illegal for her to cut off her own finger or gouge out her own eye. She can’t legally take her own life. But somehow it’s supposed to be rational for her to take the life of another because it’s “her body.”

  Another irrational hypocrisy is that abortion needs to be legal because of all of the cases of rape, incest or where the mother’s life would be in jeopardy. If you add all of those “potential” cases together, they make up less than 5% of all abortions that take place. Politically (I didn’t say ethically or morally), if we who are pro-life compromised with a lost world on those potentialities, 95% of all abortions would become illegal.

  Abortion is an irrational hypocrisy in that the father has no rights. The father has no legal right to intervene in whether his child lives or dies. Some will suggest he doesn’t have to carry a baby for nine months. No, but if the mother chooses to have the baby, legally, he must financially carry that child for the next 18 years with 17% of his income. He has no rights so that he can protect his child before birth, but has huge responsibilities if the mother chooses to have the baby. What about his rights?

  Many rightly decry gun violence, suggesting the problem is easy access to guns in our culture. It’s irrational hypocrisy that many of these same individuals are not only pro-abortion but support the incomprehensible atrocity of partial birth abortion. With such a twisted worldview being purported and such a low value of children, is it any surprise child abuse has risen some 500% since abortion was legalized? If one does not value a child before they are born, why would they value them after they are born?

  Partial birth abortion is so irrational that a baby can be killed even in the third trimester. Yet, if the mother has a vaginal birth and abandons or kills the child after its birth, she can be charged as a criminal. With the new discoveries in medical science, premature babies born as early as 22 weeks survive. Great emergency efforts are taken to save a preemie, yet a baby can still be aborted up to nearly full term but somehow it’s still a “fetus.”

  It’s illegal for a minor to have her ears or anything else pierced without parental permission. Most schools won’t give a child even an aspirin. But in many states a pregnant teen can be taken by school personnel for an abortion without parental consent. It’s an irrational hypocrisy!

  If some of the supporters of the Affordable Care Act had had their way, personal freedom would have trumped religious freedom. The original federal rules required companies, who because of their conscience or religious beliefs were opposed to abortion, to still fund it in their company insurance plans. Until wiser minds in the courts stepped in, ObamaCare mandated insurance coverage for abortion inducing drugs even on Catholic nuns – specifically, the Little Sisters of the Poor in blatant disregard that religious freedom is a Constitutional right. It’s an irrational hypocrisy that uses the Constitution like a baseball bat when it fits one’s worldview, yet ignore the 1^st amendment protecting those with religious convictions. It becomes more inane, in that nuns take a vow of chastity yet would be forced to pay for a service their religious vows would never make tenable.

  There are nearly 700,000 abortions in the United States annually. The politically correct reasoning is abortion is needed so that there will not be all of these unwanted children. Yet, 58,000 children are adopted each year, some 6,500 of them are foreign children. Though there are no national statistics on how many people are waiting to adopt, experts estimate it’s somewhere between one and two million couples. It’s an irrational hypocrisy that refuses to add up the basic numbers. If every aborted baby was instead allowed to live and be adopted, there still would not be enough children for those desperately desiring to adopt. And currently, babies are adopted in spite of extremely high costs, onerous laws and immature mothers who change their mind at the last moment about the adoption.

  Abortion is not just evil, it’s irrational. Let’s stop pretending it’s necessary. It’s the ultimate selfishness, taking the life of another so one’s own life is not “complicated.” Christians must be the greatest advocates of life. We must advocate and teach our children biblical morality so abortion is never a temptation. We must support adoption and foster care programs. 

  In Christian love we must assist young mothers emotionally and financially who choose life and decide to have that child. We must have Jesus’ view of the wonderful value of children and teach our own children a biblical worldview of the sanctity of God’s precious gift of human life. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

When "Coma" comes to life...

“Is human dignity and human life so cheap that the rights protecting it can be traded away to appease the appetite for intimidation and prejudice of a vicious and self-centered group - for whatever reason, power, politics, nationalism, or unity?”  Christina Engela

  Sometimes I feel so naïve. Sometimes I don’t want to know. Too many times, I just wish I didn’t know. In 1977, popular author, Robin Cook, wrote a suspenseful science fiction book, Coma which was later made into a movie. It was one of the most frightening movies I’ve ever seen.

  Coma is the story of a third year medical student working as a trainee at Boston Memorial Hospital. When patients begin mysteriously going into comas and disappearing, she begins to investigate, only to discover they’re being kept alive until their healthy organs can be harvested.

  Welcome to the new brave new world! Coma is no longer fiction. Lifenews.com recently reported (09/22-16) that religious minorities and political dissidents are being imprisoned in China, sometimes without reason. While imprisoned some are taken to surgical facilities where their organs are harvested while they’re still alive. Tragically, this takes place in other countries (Iran, Philippines), but China, unlike anywhere else in the world, is the only nation where systematic forced organ harvesting occurs on a mass, state-sanctioned level.

  The foundation of this atrocity, of course, is worldview. The Chinese Communist Party believe that people’s very bodies are in the domain of the state. Whether it’s forcing women to abort babies or forcibly harvesting organs, the Chinese government believes it “owns” people, including their very bodies and internal organs. It’s a culture of death.

  But it’s not just China. If someone says, I have “eternal gratefulness,” one would think they were talking about something spiritual…someone saving their life, or at least something truly wonderful. The last thing you’d think they were talking about is an abortion. Yet, that’s the phraseology Andy Richter, Conan O’Brien’s longtime sidekick, used as he bragged about the abortion his then girlfriend and later wife had when he spoke at a recent fundraiser for Planned Parenthood. Richter went on to credit her abortion back in 1992 with allowing them to live the lives they wanted. His justification: “My girlfriend knew that she was not ready for motherhood, and I knew that I was in no way prepared to be a father.” But who is ready to be a parent?

  The Richters have two other children. As their living children grow and become adults, will this choice make sense to them? An obvious question for them would be: “If I’d been conceived earlier, maybe I would have been aborted…because Dad and Mom weren’t prepared to be parents.”

  I appreciate the Richters at least acknowledge they had some remorse for their decision and were sad about it. Tragically, they only saw a temporary circumstance and made permanent decisions.

  Where are we as a culture when we see a baby as “ruining your future?” Aren’t there other options? Abortion permanently ruined the chance for that child to ever have an opportunity at life. It’s something no one should be “eternally grateful” for. It’s a culture of death.

  Last July, Betsy Davis, had a euthanasia party, celebrating her decision to take her own life, becoming one of the first people under California’s assisted suicide law to kill herself with a lethal cocktail. It’s a culture of death. Disability rights groups, many in the medical community, are upset by the new law because of the potential for horrendous abuses of human life. One primary concern is that doctors aren’t required to be present when the patient takes the deadly medicine, so there’s no way of knowing whether the person is taking the poison of their own free will.

  The culture of death for a hopeless world is becoming normative and there are potential ramifications which are horrifying. For example, on average 50% of healthcare costs occur during the last 6 months of life. From an economical perspective, what’s an obvious way to cut costs, particularly if your worldview is contaminated by a culture of death? Cut out or at least dramatically reduce that last six months.

  Phraseology like “good death,” “death with dignity” or “quality of life” erode our upholding of the sanctity of life. The Bible calls death “the last enemy.” There is no such thing as a “good death.” Consider this, does world renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking, truly have “quality of life”? Not according to the accepted standard in the culture of death.

  A Coma world can be overwhelming. You and I though can make a difference – we must not just accept the status quo.

  There are 700,000 abortions annually in the United States alone and well over a million couples waiting to adopt each year. Add to that, there are another 500,000 children trapped in the foster care system. Do the math.  There’s no need to murder a baby. If anything, there is a wonderful opportunity for a greater good and the gift of great joy in giving that baby up for adoption to a desperate couple longing for a child. Many in foster care should be given a chance at life and be allowed to be adopted.

  Our broken system protects horrible parents at the expense of innocent children. Give those children a chance at a fulfilling life! They should have the right to a future. Parents who demonstrate continued irresponsibility should lose their parental rights and children. Scripture teaches people are accountable for their choices, so let’s hold them accountable.

  The Bible does make provision for birth control. When an unplanned child is conceived, that baby is never unwanted. Abortion needs to end.

  The US must stop worshiping at the altar of economics and cease doing business with countries who butcher their citizens, like China. At the very least, products should be labeled showing where they’re manufactured. Pro-life consumers could choose to buy products from nations who don’t murder their citizens. “Distributed by Bensenville, AR” just doesn’t cut it. 

  As Christians and churches, we must be pro-active in support of those at the beginning of life and those at the end of life. The early church believed that. Those early believers also lived in a culture of death. They sacrificed and gave of themselves to preserve life so they could share the message of eternal life. May we have their same love and commitment! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Katniss! Seriously!?!

“My mom was really religious with me when I was young…I wouldn’t have been able to get birth control if it weren’t for Planned P. I wouldn’t have been able to get condoms and birth control and all these things I needed as a normal teenager who was growing up in a Jesus house.”  Jennifer Lawrence

 The headline of the recent article was: “Jennifer Lawrence defends charity against anti-abortion campaigners” with this caption underneath the headline, “Actor tells Glamour magazine she accessed birth control as a teenager via Planned Parenthood, and describes clinic shooting as ‘an attack on women’.” For a few days, it made all the news cycles which dealt with celebrity or entertainment news. Overnight Jennifer Lawrence became the new poster child for the pro-choice movement, a Joan of Arc riding in to rescue the world from those evil pro-life oppressors.

  If most thinking individuals, whatever their position on abortion, would take a few moments to analyze what Jennifer Lawrence said and what those using her celebrity status are purporting, they’d be appalled. To use the analogy of her popular film, Hunger Games, her worldview is much more President Snow and the Capitol than it is Katniss Everdeen.  

  First, the Colorado shooting was not an attack on women. It was murder, an attack on human life. Just a cursory reading of the personality and background of the shooter, Robert Louis Dear Jr., from his ex-wife and others who knew him, makes it very apparent that he’s mentally ill. To label what he did an “attack on women,” is like suggesting the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris were an art critic dispute which turned violent. It’s the same wearisome hypocritical propaganda continually paraded out by those who scream bloody murder over the phrase “radical Islam,” yet are the first to claim any violence directed at or near a Planned Parenthood facility is without a doubt, another radical right wing crazy Christian.

  Second, it justifies violating parental rights. In a day when parents can’t send a couple of Tylenol capsules to school with a child struggling with headaches, to somehow rationalize a government financed agency giving body altering medicines to a minor, is inexcusable. A minor can’t have their ears pierced or get a tattoo without parental consent. Somehow, though, it’s “okay” for someone to undermine the parents and provide birth control pills. What planet are they from?

  Over the course of my ministry, I’ve seen too many young people who were neglected or abused by a parent/s. In a few cases, for the protection of the child, I felt that there should be a TPR (termination of parental rights). Most don’t realize how difficult it is to obtain a TPR?

  Several years ago I was assisting a young Mom who was being beaten by her ex-boyfriend. Unfortunately, she and her abuser had a young daughter together. Though this Mom had to be hospitalized after being savagely beaten, though he was a serial abuser and drug addict, and went to prison, yet terminating his parental rights was virtually impossible. But because Jennifer Lawrence’s mother was “too strict,” Planned Parenthood was allowed to terminate her parental rights in regards to birth control pills for her daughter. And somehow that makes sense!?!

  Third, apply this rational to any other area of teen behavior and the media elite would scream for your head…and rightfully so. The faulty reasoning for violating a parent’s rights when it comes to birth control pills is: “Teens are going to have sex anyway. Let’s make sure it’s safe sex.” Yet, if you apply the same faulty logic to other areas of “normal” teen behavior, you’re risking some serious jail time.

  For example, are teens going to drink? Some parents have reasoned, “They’re going to drink anyway, so we’ll have the party at our home and provide the alcohol to make certain no one is injured or killed in drunk driving accident.” If it’s ever discovered, law enforcement will charge the parents. Are teens going to smoke? Should we have a state funded agency provide cigarettes? Are teens going to experiment with drugs? What about porn? Wouldn’t it be better, if those sexual images were provided by a “responsible” adult rather than a bunch of adolescent friends? Yet, it’s a criminal offense, as it should be, to provide porn or alcohol to minors. Schools have onsite school endorsed programs to discourage alcohol and drug use by minors, yet to discourage sexual relations is usually considered “religious” and thus, prohibited.

  Apply such faulty reasoning to any other area besides our sex organs, and everyone knows how illegal, absurd and dumb it is. If we want adolescents to learn self-control and to say “no” in other aspects of life which can cause them great harm and have long term consequences, then why would we rationalize it’s appropriate to encourage them to behave like dogs in heat when it comes to their sex drive? Aren’t we also cracking open the door for sexual abuse or date rape by failing to teach self-control and abstinence? 

  Fourth, with a Welfare system out of control and major behavioral problems among children from single parent homes, why would we encourage adolescent sexual relations? Study after study reveals children do much better when they live in a married, two parent home. Somehow we fail to connect the dots. The rise of teen crime, drug problems, mental health issues, STDs have coincided with the Conventional Wisdom of the day – “free love.” But sexual love is not free. There are often emotional and spiritual baggage, and lifelong intimacy issues for someone who has multiple sexual partners. Add to that, if a young man fathers a child, he is responsible to pay 17% of his income to support that child until the child turns 18. For a teenager, it can seem like a life sentence.

  Welfare rolls are overflowing with children where the father is neglecting his responsibility and the State must step in. Ask any teacher or school administrator, and they’ll tell you that the children with the most educational and behavioral issues typically come from either single parent homes or ones where the couple is co-habiting instead of from a committed marriage. What about the needs or rights of the child? Doesn’t every child deserve to know Dad and Mom are committed to each other and to them?

  Sanctity of Life is much more than just protecting babies. It’s a worldview which considers not only conception, but a child’s entire life. Christians must be the first to return and be committed to a biblical ethic of morality. We must stop rationalizing, “Everyone is doing it.” We must, as the Bible exhorts us to do, “Count the cost!” There’s a high cost in condoning anything other than a biblical view of sexual intimacy and marriage. Our children and culture are paying a high price for our “rights.” We need to ask: As a Christian, am I part of the problem or part of the solution?   

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