History Does Repeat Itself

Israel slaughtered their children by placing them alive on the outstretched arms of the demon god Molech (Psalm 106:37) where the child fell into a burning inferno in the belly of the idol. God's reaction was recorded by Jeremiah:

"...they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children...They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin." (Jeremiah 19:4, 32:35) 

Michael Spielman, founder of www.abort73.com, makes this comment,

"This is a stunning statement to come from the mouth of a sovereign and all-knowing God!...The domestication of abortion has made it tragically common place so much so that we seem to have lost our ability to be outraged by it. How is is that even we who oppose abortion are not more overwhelmed by the fact that it is legal, in the United States of America, to tear apart the tiny bodies of helpless unborn children." ("A Biblical Mandate to do Something About Abortion")

There is a distinct parallel between child sacrifice to Molech and abortion. Rev. Thomas Euteneuer draws the connection when he writes,

"The spiritual dimension of...[abortion]...is its systematizing of ritual blood sacrifice to the god of child murder, Moloch...This demon of murder appears in many forms and cultures through history (Phoenician, Carthaginian, Canaanite, Celt, Indian, Aztec and others) but is always the same bloodthirsty beast that demands the killing of children as his form or worship.

“This demon is not content with a single act of murder here and there. His insatiable appetite for the death of innocents seeks public endorsement to justify his gruesome deeds, and he needs a systematic expression of it to increase his worship. The modern abortion industry offers ritual blood sacrifice to the ancient abortion demon. it is in every way a demonic religion.

May I suggest the Church, either by benign neglect or by design, has failed to recognize  and or acknowledge the spiritual context in which one must place abortion in response to the Biblical evidence. Abortion is a satanic enterprise (John 8:44, 10:10) and our failure to acknowledge this fact has contributed to the silence, and at best, marginal response of the Church to America’s abortion crisis.

If abortion is demonic, there is only one conclusion for the Church. The Body of Christ, the Church, is the only organism (institution) spiritually equipped to engage the satanic forces behind abortion. Therefore the Church must take the lead in the effort to end abortion.

It is also noteworthy that God claimed the children sacrificed to Molech belonged to Him.

"And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore TO ME and sacrificed them as food to the dols...You slaughtered MY children and sacrificed them to idols." 
(Ezekiel 16:20-21 emphasis mine) 

I believe that one reason even those in the pro-life Church, in the words of Spielman, "...seem to have lost our ability to be outraged” by the ritual sacrifice of the unborn in America today, is that we have failed to acknowledge God’s view of the shedding of innocent blood of HIS children. His words, recorded by Ezekiel convey his sentiments. We do well to consider them.

Psalm 106 records the inevitable response of God to the shedding of innocent blood to Molech,

“Therefore the Lord was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them. Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.” (Psalm 106:40-42) 

You can read Jeremiah’s prophecy of the gruesome siege of Jerusalem in chapter 19 of the book of Jeremiah.

Lou Engle draws this sobering conclusion from the Biblical record,

“Blood pollution comes on the land when innocent blood is shed. That sacrificing of babies is fueling the demonization of our nation. A day of reckoning is coming to USA without God’s mercy and through intercessors and action to stop abortion.”

History has warned us. History does repeat itself.

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Mothers - labor on!

In my opinion, there is no job more valuable nor important than mothers who make birthing, caring, nurturing, educating and raising their children their first priority. The energy and sacrifice required to fulfill that task is inestimable. The mother-child relationship provides the first experience of sacrificial love in the child's development. Other than the Father's gift of His Son Jesus Christ for our salvation, children are the most precious gift we have from the Lord. "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." (Psalm 127:3 ESV) Children belong to God, in whose image they have been created and the mother's care of them and sacrifice for them does not go unnoticed by the Lord. Mothers - labor on! Don't let the voices of ignorance, deceived by the evil one, undermine your commitment to your family. They have been been blinded by the god of this world. They and those who embrace their ideology need the truth of the gospel.

Making Jesus Visible

Alice Patterson, author of Bridging The Racial & Political Divide - How Godly Politics Can Transform a Nation, writes,

"In a meeting I attended, a Black pastor friend who had supported Governor Mike Huckabee in the Primary Election, reported that he voted for President Obama. I was stunned. This pastor was a Republican. He was pro-life. He couldn't even talk about abortion without weeping, yet he voted for Barack Obama. His actions showed me that the breach between Blacks and Whites in the political arena was much wider and deeper than I could ever imagine. Given a choice between two White candidates, he would have chosen the pro-life one. But given a choice between a Black candidate who supports abortion and a White candidate who opposes abortion, he chose the Black one. Is it a stretch to say that for many Black voters race trumps values?"

I've read the book, it delves into a subject few care to talk about, but we all need to talk about and should be willing to address personally - the wide racial and political chasm that separates White and Black evangelicals.

I use the term “racial” reluctantly only because it is the term widely used to describe the differences that separate Whites and other minorities based on skin color, cultural and other ethnic differences. I believe that “race” is poor choice because there is but one race according to Acts 17:26, “...and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” Like it or not we all come from the same blood line. There is only one race!

I believe that this “divide” between White and Black evangelicals is of great concern to Jesus Christ. He said as much when he prayed for us over two thousand years ago,

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message [that’s us]. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me." (John 17:20-21 NLT)

Do we understand the standard to which we are being held? The oneness between believers is to parallel the oneness between the Father and the Son. It is not merely a matter of “getting along.” No, it’s far more organic than that. Our unity is grounded in the act of regeneration common to each believer whereby we “have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13 NLT).

Do we understand what is at stake here? The racial and political divide is deep between Black and White evangelical leaders. It is keeping us apart. It has fragmented the Church of Jesus Christ. It is presenting the world with a distorted, if not ungodly picture of the Body of Christ.

Three observations that relate to this divide,

First, our disunity must be an affront to God. As Jesus points out, when the world sees the Body of Christ as "one," the world will believe He was sent by God the Father. In other words, they will recognize He is God. Nothing can be more central to evangelism than the recognition of who Jesus Christ is. Our disunity, our divisiveness, the fact that we choose to remain apart from one another, and are content to remain apart, hinders the world from understanding who Jesus Christ is. That is a serious indictment.

Let me put it another way. As long as the Church of Jesus Christ is divided by “race” and politics, we do not incarnate Jesus to a lost world. They don't see Jesus Christ as the only one who can meet their need for salvation, forgiveness, healing and restoration. In other words, as long as we are divided, no matter what we say, we do not provide a compelling redemptive message to those outside of the Church. I wonder if the word hypocrisy comes to their mind at this point.

In my dialogue with White and Black pastors, I have suggested that we will not see the spiritual awakening in America we claim to long for, until we purpose to intentionally address this divide and are reconciled to one another!

Secondly, earlier in the same prayer Jesus prayed that God would protect His Church "from the evil one." He went on to state that "They are not of the world even as I am not of it.” (John 17:15,16 NIV)

Then He identified His strategy for their preservation, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NIV)

With the Holy Spirit indwelling us, His truth should be that which draws us and keeps us together. Perhaps I expose myself to the charge of being naive or idealistic when I suggest that there is but one “right” answer to many of the issues on which we disagree. In other words, on any political, theological, social or moral issue, God’s truth will always draw us together in consensus, not separate us in dissension. The challenge we face is to come to an understanding of what that truth is - together.

When speaking to pastors or others with whom I am seeking to bridge the divide, I have often asked them to speak into my life regarding issues where we have differences. I have often phrased it something like this. “I am on a learning curve in my efforts to gain insight into how Blacks think on this issue. I recognize that I do not understand the collective experience that shapes the Black perspective on this matter, so I need you to speak into my life. I am listening.”

I suspect that one factor hindering us coming to a consensus on some of the issues, is the fact that we view the issue from different vantage points. However, the nature of God’s truth is that it is both transcendent and absolute. Therefore I believe that a starting point for dialogue might be to work together in identifying and formulating a Biblical worldview through which to examine the social, political, economic, and moral issues where there has been disagreement.

For this to happen, we must purpose to build meaningful relationships. We must take deliberate steps to open up a conversation and dialogue. That means spending time together in open and honest interaction.

I believe that a safe place for that process to begin is praying together. Prayer in itself is a recognition that we need the Lord’s help. What better posture from which to begin the dialogue.

In prayer we can voice our agreement with Jesus’ two thousand year old prayer for us. I have had the privilege to be part of a weekly pastors prayer group of mostly African American pastors and leaders for the last four years now. In my experience, prayer has been the ideal setting in which to develop relationships. When you bow in prayer in the Lord’s presence regularly, love and trust eventually bind your hearts together in spite of the differences. I believe this might be the only context in which we have the opportunity to begin the healing process.

Thirdly, this is first and foremost a spiritual issue - a matter of the heart. The healing will take a work of God the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus was interceding with God the Father on our behalf to that end over two thousand years ago. Based on Jesus’ prayer I believe that His Spirit would take delight in facilitating such a healing.

In my personal journey on this road to reconciliation nothing has been more helpful than the realization that to experience reconciliation with my brothers and sisters, will first of all require a work of God’s grace in my heart and life.

The truth that has impacted me more than anything else in this effort, is repeated throughout the Scriptures. Simply put, humility before God releases His grace. The posture from which God will pour out his grace, is the humbling of ourselves before Him, followed by humility before those with whom there has been disagreement, mistrust and misunderstanding.

Over and over again I have turned to 1 Peter 5:4 and Philippians 2:3-4.
Peter wrote,

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’” (NIV)

and in a similar vein, Paul admonishes us,

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility consider others better than yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (NIV)

Humility is the great equalizer. It allows us to defer to others. It allows us to see ourselves and others from a godly perspective - as equals in Christ. God’s grace becomes the oil that dissolves our self-righteousness and lubricates the friction caused by of our differences.

As Alice Patterson has put it,

“The Lord places His anointing on those attempting to bring unity across racial, denominational, and political barriers, because it is an answer to his last prayer in John 17:21 that we would be one.”

Patterson's book is a resource I am using in my effort to foster dialogue among Black and White pastors and leaders. I wrote these words on the inside cover of a copy I recently gave to a nationally prominent African American preacher,

John 17:20-21 is burning in my soul.
It is for us today!
It is needed today!
It is God’s will for us today!
Let’s let Him make it happen today!
Verse 20 He is praying for us - [for it] to happen!
You have my ear.
(my cell number)

Mrs. Patterson frames the challenge before us,

“Are you willing to be the one who satisfies the Lord’s longing to find someone that He can use to heal our land? Saying yes requires that you climb down into the gully. Into this wide political and racial divide. Into this broken place. You will be required to stand in this place of brokenness long enough to deal with tough issues so the Lord can heal His body and eventually our nation. It sounds easy, but it must be challenging or the Lord wouldn’t need to search for such a person. He could just choose from the millions waiting in line for the assignment. ‘Choose me, Lord. over here! I’ll be the one.’”

...to take up the challenge to make Jesus visible. Will you?


(You can order or find more about Alice Patterson’s book at her website
http://www.justiceatthegate.org/)

Instead of bunnies...

Instead of Easter bunnies, baskets and colored eggs, why not just tell it like it is. Jesus died a cruel death on the cross for our sins, was buried and resurrected from the grave. "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this...? (John 11:25,26 NLT)

Day 39 of 40 Days For Life - Who Is the Enemy?

When I arrived at the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Pembroke Pines this afternoon it was pouring rain with gusty winds, but the 40 Days For Life group was on the sidewalk opposite the clinic braving the rain and wind in blue parkas.

After it cleared up I noticed we had visitors - first three then two "pro-choice" advocates with signs. One read "Honk if you're pro-choice" another "End Ignorance Not Abortion Be Pro-Choice."

The term "pro-choice" is an oxymoron when used in the abortion debate. As I've said before, you cannot extend to a woman the right (choice) to kill her unborn child, as the U. S. Supreme Court has done, without at the same time denying her child the right (choice) to live.

As for the reference to "ignorance," well, you be the judge. As Randy Alcorn has noted, "To be prochoice about someone's right to kill is to be antichoice about someone else's right to live...The pro-choice position always overlooks the victim's right to choose...The blacks didn't choose slavery. the Jews didn't choose the ovens. And the babies don't choose abortion...Abortion rights are not reproductive rights, but child killing rights."
If the truth of his reasoning is “ignorant,” I plead guilty.

We need look no further than Jesus to explain how educated, intelligent people can embrace the pro-choice rhetoric as counterintuitive as it is. He declared that the devil was a "murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth. When he lies he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) Lies and murder have always gone hand in hand. Deception and murder are endemic to abortion - in fact they characterize the abortion industry. Those who defend and promote it have been deceived.

Perhaps what is even more distressing is that the vast majority of those claiming to be “pro-life,” live as though abortion was not ravaging our nation. Life goes on with an apparent blind eye to the ritual bloodshed taking place at abortion mills and hospitals in our neighborhoods and communities. A similar ambivalence allowed slavery to be perpetuated for several hundred years in our “Christian” nation. How could that have happened? Deception. The same deception that is allowing history to repeat itself in regard to abortion.

Today, as I watched the prochoice advocates holding their signs, I reminded myself that the advocates of abortion are not the “enemy.” In fact the medical staff and all those associated with the butchering of the unborn are not the enemy. Paul identified the enemy when he wrote of the unseen reality behind this kind of evil,

‘...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV)

To the Corinthians he wrote,

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
(2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV emphasis mine)

To young Timothy he gave these instructions,

“Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
(2 Timothy 2:25-26 emphasis mine)

Ending abortion is Church business. The Church is the only institution spiritually equipped to engage the satanic forces behind abortion.

Paul said as much,

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)

We have been sufficiently armed for the warfare,

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority... And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:9-10,15 NIV)

The Church must take the lead in the effort to end abortion. The battle to end abortion is ours to win or lose.

“If you fail under pressure, your strength is not very great.

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; 

Don’t stand back and let them die. 

Don’t try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it.

For God knows all hearts, and he sees you. 

He keeps watch over your soul, and he knows you knew!

And he will judge all people according to what they have done.”
(Proverbs 24:10-12 NLT emphasis mine)

Message Given at Rally For Religious Freedom - Fort Lauderdale Federal Building March 23, 2012

For three quarters of a century now, many of our leaders have been looking to social darwinism, Marxist atheism and secular humanism as the philosophical foundation for the reshaping of our nation.

This at the expense of transcendent moral truth and the Judeo-Christian worldview that shaped the founding of our nation. Moral relativism is not what made this nation great. Secular humanism did not provide the guiding principles underlying the freedoms that produced the most prosperous nation in world history.

Our fore-fathers came to this country seeking, religious freedom, among other things. Not freedom from religion, but freedom for individuals to put the principles and ideals of their faith into practice. And the founding governing documents of this great nation were the product of that process.

Two hundred some years later, we have now come full circle as these religious freedoms are now under attack.

The question I want to ask is, how should we respond?

Thousands of Americans join us today in Stand Up For Religious Freedom rallies across the nation. 129 rallies at last count. We gather in prayer and public witness to oppose the recent Health and Human Services’ mandate announced by the Obama administration.

As we do so, may I suggest two Biblical mandates that should guide our prayers and response to the challenge before us.

First, the Church must begin by repenting of its own sin. The apostle Peter wrote, “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household”
(1 Peter 4:17 NIV)

We need to repent of our sexual immorality. In the Spring 2012 edition of Insight, a publication of the National Association of Evangelicals, it is reported that,

“Eighty percent of unmarried evangelicals between the ages of 18 and 29 have had sex. That’s 4 out of 5...30 percent of unmarried evangelicals have been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant.”

There is a direct correlation between sexual immorality and abortion, 83% of all aborted children being conceived out of wedlock.

We need to repent of the Church’s complicity with abortion. Insight also reports that,

“Thirty-two percent of all unplanned pregnancies among evangelicals end in abortion.”

According to Focus on the Family, 250,000 evangelical women choose abortion each year in America; 5.6 million women in evangelical churches have aborted unwanted children. (heartlink.org).

One study found that 43% of women having abortions identify themselves as Protestant and 27% as Roman Catholic. (AGI “In Brief” 2008)
That’s 70% of all abortions. As Rev. John Ensor has pointed out, if Christians stopped having abortions, abortion clinics would close having lost 70% of their business.

Insight concludes, “Abortion is happening in the Body of Christ, and it’s time for us to talk about it.”

May I suggest that a good place to begin the conversation is with a call for repentance.

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret” (2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV).

Abortion is, and always has been a gospel issue.

We need to repent of our hypocrisy. Just last week Dr. R. C. Sproul Jr. wrote a blog about the strong response of Christians to the recently published article by two Australian ethicists outlining why they considered “after birth” abortions to be ethical.
(“Savorless Salt” at http://rcsprouljunior.blogspot.com/)

He concludes with these words,

“We expose our hypocrisy, our callowness and shallowness when we protest after-birth abortion, sex-selection abortion, partial-birth abortion, late-term abortion, unsafe, unregulated abortion, Obamacare funded abortion, all the while living a business-as-usual life in the face of babies being butchered in our neighborhoods every day. The evil of killing babies is that they are babies, no matter their age, no matter whether they are born, no matter how they came to be, no matter what butchering technique is used. We, the living, must repent. Lord have mercy on our souls, and the souls of the babies we destroy.”

The healing of our land depends more on the Church repenting, than anything anyone else can do.

I almost hesitate to cite 2 Chronicles 7:13,14 because it is so often quoted. But I will anyway, because it could very well be the most under-practiced quoted Scripture in the Bible.

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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.”

No mention of the sins of politicians, judges or others in authority. No, it’s, “if my people” - that’s us. That’s where we must begin. Our repentant prayer will unlock the outpouring of God’s healing upon our land.

Secondly, we must involve ourselves in intercession for President Obama and those who govern us. The apostle Paul’s instruction,

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”
(1 Timothy 2:1-6 NIV)

Whether a supporter of President Obama or one who opposes his policies, we are instructed to pray for him.

Have you ever wondered why the command to pray for those in authority is followed by a clear declaration of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and man and God’s desire for men to be saved? Could it be that God wants to change the heart of those who serve Him in government and bring revival to our land - in response to our humility, repentance, and obedience in prayer?

Today, I ask you, to join me in taking a stand for religious freedom. But may it be from a posture of bowing in humility and repentance before God, first of all me, for my sin and you for yours, the sin of the Church and then the sin of our nation. And may it include heartfelt intercession for the leaders of this nation and the people of this nation, a prayer for salvation if they do not know Christ, a prayer of blessing, and a prayer for God’s intervention in the affairs of a nation where many are turning their back on God.

May God help us. May God bless America.

Business As Usual - Day 31 of 40 Days For Life

You cannot extend to a woman the right to kill her unborn child without at the same time denying her child the right to live. Every abortion kills an unborn human being.

This is the moral quandary faced by those who claim to oppose abortion but insist a woman has the right to "choose" an abortion. Believe it or not I have had pastors attempt to defend that position. It is both morally untenable and defies reason.

Any doubt that deception is endemic to the issue of abortion?
"...your father the devil...is a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him." (John 8:44)

The Planned Parenthood (PP) clinic in Pembroke Pines kills children on Friday afternoons. Knowing that, I always regret seeing young women going into the clinic accompanied by an older woman or a young man. Not a good sign. What is worse is seeing the men drive up, pick up a young woman as soon as they exit the front door of the clinic.

It's routine business at the PP abortuary in Pembroke Pines. Today a Dunbar armored truck (a competitor to the legendary Brinks) drove up and a uniformed guard entered the PP clinic and returned momentarily with something under his arm. Killing unborn babies is a big money maker for PP. According to their own figures they performed 329,445 abortion procedures in 2010 that produced an estimated income of $148,579,695,and that’s a conservative estimate. That would fill a whole convoy of Dunbar armored trucks.

What is routine, or business as usual for PP, is paralleled by the routine the American public has settled into in regards to the shed blood of over 3,300 unborn each day. As Michael Spielman, founder of www.abort73.com has written,

“The domestication of abortion has made it tragically commonplace, so much so that we seem to have lost our ability to be outraged by it. How is it that even we who oppose abortion are not more overwhelmed by the fact that it is legal, in the United State of America, to tear apart the tiny bodies of helpless unborn children?”

That is a question every American should ponder.

I wonder what it will take to awaken the pro-life Church into a response as routine as the business as usual killing of the unborn at the abortion clinic down the street.

Just as I have been preaching for years now that abortion is first and foremost a spiritual issue (as opposed to political and therefore off limits in the pulpit), I am equally convinced that the failure of the Church to respond to the abortion crisis is a spiritual issue.

James said as much,
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
(James 1;27 NIV)

The application of this truth to the distressed parties of an abortion is striking. A child put to death by his/her parents is orphaned. A mother abandoned by the father of her unborn, or manipulated and coerced into the murder of her own child, has in one sense been widowed.

And the influence of the world in James equation is noteworthy. Conformity to the world has always been a liability in understanding both what God values and what He expects from us. (Romans 12:2) When the love for the world has been purged from the Church, perhaps then, care for the unborn at risk of abortion and the post-abortive victims of abortion, will become business as usual for the Church. For their sake and ours, I hope so.