Pastor, Speak Up For Life - It’s Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

Next Sunday, January 22, is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Will you be giving your congregation a chance to hear what God's Word says about America's greatest moral evil, the murder of over 3,000 unborn human beings every day by state sanctioned abortion?

According to Lutheran pastor Dr. Lawrence White, 

“The great reformer Martin Luther once declared that the preacher who does not rebuke the sins of the rulers through God’s Word spoken publicly, boldly and honestly, strengthens the sins of the tyrants, and becomes a partaker in them, and bears responsibility for them.” (The Sin of Silence)

Was the Apostle Paul a “Seeker Sensitive” Preacher?

Was Paul a "seeker sensitive" preacher? You decide. In Iconium, Paul went to the Jewish synagogue "...and preached with such power that at great number of both Jews and Gentiles became believers. Some of the Jews, however, spurned God's message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. But the people of the town were divided in their opinion about them...Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them. When the apostles learned of it, they fled to the region of Lycoania...And there they preached the Good News." (Acts 14:1-7 NLT)

Note Paul and Barnabas’ strategy: they entered the synagogue, not always friendly to the gospel, but Paul’s custom (see Acts 17:1-7), evidently not concerned about preaching to a “seeker sensitive" audience. After all Paul “was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16) and was convinced that gospel was “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). Their ministry was fruitful and divisive - a pattern you find in the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles.

Note the results: many were converted but their ministry incited great opposition - in other words their proclamation of the Gospel "divided" the audience. Evidently no concern for popularity, acceptance or prestige on their part. Even though there was organized opposition to their ministry, they “stayed there a long time,” boldly preaching a message of grace and God’s power confirmed their message. They did not leave Iconium until they learned of a death threat against them. If you think things got better for Paul, read Acts 14:19 where in Lystra, his next destination, Paul was stoned and left for dead by those offended by his message.

Where is the similarity with today’s “seeker sensitive” movement? 

Paul’s Preaching - He Was On To Something I’d Like to See More of Today

I wonder what would happen in our churches and nation, for that matter, if we preachers  modeled the Apostle Paul's preaching?

"...I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness - timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:2-5 NLT)

His methodology seemed to be driven by his understanding of the nature of the Gospel,

"...when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:23-24 NLT) 

Right up front, Paul conceded that there would be push back from his audience. He knew that some wouldn’t just ignore the message, they would be offended by it, (his preaching caused enough riots to warrant that assumption) and others would write him off as a fool.

That didn’t lead Paul to adjust the message or the delivery. It didn’t prompt him to rely on gimmicks or other stage events in order to create or maintain an audience or following. No need for smooth public relations or media hype in developing a mega ministry. He felt no need for personal recognition, prominence, prestige or power.

He evidently did not measure his success by how popular he was in the community to which he brought the gospel. He didn’t measure success by how many red carpets met his arrival.  

“In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5 NLT)

On the contrary, success was measured by his faithfulness not his acceptance.

“We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us.” (2 Corinthians 6:6-8 NLT)

His ministry model stands in stark contrast to the boastful pride of America’s worldly and commercially driven ministry empires and personality cults promoting personal success, materialism and prosperity.

“We are ignored even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” (2 Corinthians 6:9-10 NLT)

Paul’s secret? His acknowledgment that ministry he was not about him but about the glory of God.

“We now have this light [the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ] shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Paul’s example continues to fascinate me in its stark contrast to how many preachers play church today. He was on to something I’d like to see more of today. 

What's Missing In Our Preaching?

I read Acts chapter nine this morning. The Apostle Paul had an encounter with Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus, is filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately begins to preach the Gospel proving Jesus was the Messiah. He fled Damascus to escape a murder plot. He goes to Jerusalem and boldly preaches Christ there, debating the Greek speaking Jews. He was sent home to Tarsus to escape a murder plot. I wonder what this says about our preaching. Too watered down - sensitive - or just not powerful and convicting? Reminds me of Luke's account (Luke 4) of Jesus' first sermon given in his home town of Nazareth after his 40 day fast. Jesus "returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit," where he preaches in the synagogue at Nazareth. His message infuriated them so much that they mobbed him and tried to throw him over a cliff. Makes you wonder what's missing in today's preaching?

Choosing A Presidential Candidate

Human life is the greatest resource of any nation. Every day in America the lives of over 3,000 unborn human beings are lost through state sanctioned abortion. The blood of 53 million unborn babies murdered since 1973 has polluted the land of the our nation. God will not turn a blind eye to this bloodshed. He will not let the shedding of innocent blood go unpunished. We think otherwise at our own peril. 

The brutality of Hitler's National Socialism, the Communism of Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and the totalitarianism of many other dictators have been characterized by a similar calloused disregard for human life. Check out history. No civilization/nation that has perpetrated or permitted the killing of its young has survived. You can only read about them in history books.

The sacrifice of unborn children on the altar of convenience is not only the moral issue of the day, it is the most critical issue facing our nation as we approach the next presidential election.

The transcendent truth of our Judeo-Christian heritage which has guided this nation for over 200 years, has been been marginalized in favor of moral relativism which now drives many public policy decisions. As a result the state has relinquished its constitutional duty to protect the unborn. Life in the womb has become expendable when it interferes with the interests of those with the power to terminate it. 

America needs a president who understands that the sanctity of human life is the first right from which every other right proceeds, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our founding fathers recognized that the right to life was preeminent. They recognized that it was an “unalienable” right “endowed” by our Creator, not a right that could be given or rescinded by the state. 

America disregards this truth at the risk of its very existence. Our failing economy could very well be an expression of God’s mercy calling us back to the truth upon which, God in his Providence, allowed this nation to be founded. 

I am looking for a presidential candidate willing to embrace the transcendent truths held by our Founding Fathers and committed to develop public policy consistent with those values. 

180 - the Documentary - Abortion and the Gospel

In the documentary, 180, released earlier this week, Ray Comfort draws a stunning parallel between the holocaust of Nazi Germany, that took the lives of eleven million people, and abortion in America.

"I'd like you to feel like you would in Germany, when Jews were being killed all around you." Comfort says, " You'd be horrified. And we've got a holocaust in America where real babies are being murdered because of a woman's choice, and it's legal. It's like Nazi Germany. He [Hitler]did it legally. He didn't do anything legally wrong."

In his street interviews, Ray Comfort asks some very difficult questions as he draws a parallel between the Nazi holocaust and government sanctioned abortion in America. He asks a young man, "Do you think it's okay to kill kids in the womb?"  

The reply, "I don't think it's okay, I just don't think that, "um…"

Comfort continues, "But isn't that like what Nazi Germany was about? It's like saying, 'What Hitler did was wrong. I think it's his choice. I don't think its' okay, but he did it, and it was his choice to do so, and he had the sanction of the German people, because they allowed him in. And so it's okay, but even though, you know, I don't agree with it.' Can you see it's a similar thing?"

The young man replies, "Uh, I guess when you put it like that, it is very similar, yeah.  It's very similar to say that –I guess me saying that it's okay for someone to choose [abortion] is the same thing as saying it's okay for Hitler to choose."  Bingo, the light went on.

But that was not always the case. The moral quandary of some who personally oppose abortion but do not oppose another's choice to do it was apparent when one young lady insisted that "…it [abortion] should be allowed, because it is a choice, but I feel like I personally would not do it. It's just—" Comfort responds, "So you wouldn’t' kill Jews, but it's okay for someone else to kill them?"  "Yes," she replied!

What Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal just as today, in America, it is legal to kill an unborn child in the womb of its mother.  As Comfort pressed the logic of those who defend the right of a woman to kill her unborn child, he repeatedly asks them to complete this sentence, "Killing a baby in the womb is okay when…" or "It's okay to kill a baby in the womb when…"

Ray Comfort asks this penetrating question to another person, "So what would you say to someone like you in Germany that says, 'Well you should never kill Jews, but I think people should have the right to do it."

In his interviews, Ray Comfort moved from dialogue about abortion to dialogue about the spiritual state of those he interviewed  - sharing the Gospel with them. It was a natural and powerful transition.

On January 21, 2011, I had the privilege to bring a message at the Rally for Life held in front of the Federal Court House in Fort Lauderdale. This was part of my concluding remarks,

"Ultimately, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the solution to America’s abortion crisis. Innocent blood has polluted the land and profaned the name of the Lord. But there is a greater blood shed at Mount Calvary that can transform the heart of a mother so she will choose life for her child; that can cleanse the guilty, forgive, heal and restore those involved in abortion. What America needs to hear is God’s truth about abortion wrapped in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. God always responds to repentance."

The documentary 180, does exactly that. For the millions of prolife Christians and especially the thousands of prolife pastors who have been reluctant to speak out on this, the greatest moral issue of our day - if not in American history, this documentary provides both a model of how to communicate Biblical and moral truth regarding the sanctity of human life, but, perhaps even more important, provides a poignant example of how abortion and the gospel go hand in hand. This is what, with rare exception, the Church is failing to do. Pastors shy away from the subject of abortion for a variety of reasons, none of which are justifiable since abortion is a gospel issue.

Grace is never found apart from truth. Abortion ends the life of an innocent human being by medical procedures that can be described as nothing less than barbaric. The Gospel brings life to those who otherwise will be lost for eternity. I believe that when the Church begins to speak the truth about abortion in the context of the gospel, we will see revival, first in the Church, then in our nation. I hope you will watch 180 (www.180movie.com), and share it with others. Further, I hope you will find the grace to communicate both the truth about abortion and the gospel to those in you sphere of influence. God could use you to birth a spiritual awakening in America.

Debt, God and Country

I wonder how long the American public will continue to tolerate the malfeasance of Washington politicians? The Federal government spends $300 billion a month despite taking in only $180 billion on the revenue side, borrowing the $120 billion difference each month. On Wednesday, August 3, the day after President Obama signed legislation increasing the debt ceiling, Federal debt rose to 100% of gross domestic product (GDP). The credit rating agencies had been warning the politicians that unless they reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio quickly, the Federal government would lose its prized AAA credit rating - and yesterday it happened as Standard and Poors downgraded the Federal government’s long term credit rating to AA+. 

We the tax payers are the losers. Our standard of living continues to decline - the value of the dollar is declining - the value of our savings and investments are declining - the value of our homes are declining while the cost of living is increasing - compare yesterday’s grocery and gasoline bills with three years ago. The poor, who can afford it the least, are hit the hardest.

This is not only governance at its worst, it is democracy at its worst. As David Barton has said, “Congress never reflects the values of the nation; rather it reflects the values of those who voted in the last election.” Historically American society has valued transcendent truth, the foundation of its body politic reflecting Judeo-Christian values. With the secularization of our culture, we have drifted away from that broadly held consensus, replacing it with moral relativism and post-modernism, allowing self aggrandizement to trump the common good. 

The Scriptures are not silent regarding debt. There are warnings, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7 ESV) Debt brings a loss of freedom - the borrower coming under a state of obligation to the lender. Interest devours the resources of the debtor. Borrowing facilitates overspending. Debt mortgages the future as the priority of all future income must be the repayment of debt. Most importantly, from God’s perspective, debt must be repaid, “The wicked borrows but does not pay back.” (Psalm 37:21 ESV) 

Pastor Guy McGraw has said, “Nothing that is morally wrong should be politically right.” We have been warned, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7  ESV) Jesus exposed the heart of man when He said "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24 ESV) The way of prosperity makes God the priority, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

Therein lies America’s hope, for “Righteousness exalts a nation (makes a nation great NLT), but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34 ESV) A return to God will likely precede a return to sound fiscal policy.