Absorption

To briefly address a few points commonly raised about abortion, I just wanted to point out a few things. Let's be clear on terms first. Abortion is ending the life of a human being. Whether you want to call what's growing in the mother's womb a bunch of cells, fetus or a baby- the being has 100% human DNA. Having 100% human DNA would classify one to be a human being to me.

That is the biggest question regarding morality. If it's not really a human being, then the morality is akin to eating a fried chicken egg- since it wasn't fertilized, you're not killing a chicken to do so.

If it is a human being, then you're taking the life of someone else against their will, also known as murder.

   We should at least be honest enough to admit this much.

   I have heard a number of concerns raised in favour of abortion and one guiding principle I would say in response to them is that you reap what you sow. And we must all, men and women, be willing to take responsibility for our actions- and the government employs laws to help us do so in some cases.

   The best method to prevent many abortions would be to reserve sexual relations only for the bonds of holy matrimony- one man and one woman for life.

    (This is of course the original design of God and His command, as laid out in Genesis 2:24 before the fall of man and reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 19. As I am a Christian, I hold to that, but no- I don't expect any non-Christians to do so, though a number of other religions would hold to this too. America is not a theocracy and I don't wish it to be one and thus, I realize you can't force someone to maintain celibacy until marriage.) Nonetheless, the government can pass laws forbidding murder and it has done so (even though those laws are also based upon the Judeo-Christian heritage of faith influence in the US too. But most every country and people of most religious stripes or none accept this.)

  To address the Biblical claims mentioned, it cannot be stressed enough that The Bible, like any other book, must be read in context, which means considering the time and place it was written and to whom and recognizing the type of language used, etc. Of course, The Bible is unique in that it is spiritually discerned and thus the mind of natural man does not receive it, as 1 Corinthians 2:14 says. (Thus, it is necessary to be a follower of Christ and have the Holy Spirit inside opening our eyes and minds to the Scripturesto fully understand it.)

   2 Kings 15 speaks of some of the Kings of Israel. In reading through this book, one notices a pattern. Some Kings are described as having done what is good in the sight of The Lord. Some are described as having done what is evil in the sight of The Lord. It is true that 2 Kings 15:16 states that Menahem ripped open all the women who were pregnant in Tipshah. If we continue reading through verse 18, we see that The Bible says that Menahem did what was evil in the sight of The Lord. Thus, we cannot conclude from verse 16 that God condoned the death of pregnant women or their children, much less commanded it.

   Hosea 13:16 is part of a larger passage where God is bringing an indictment against Israel and Judah for sin. In verse 16, He says that Samaria shall bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. As punishment, the Samaritan people shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

It is important to note that God did not command anyone here to do these things- He said they will happen as punishment for sin. God is not wantonly allowing death and destruction to happen out of arbitrariness. He has a reason- it is punishment for sin. And as the only Righteous Judge of the earth, He has the power, position and authority to mete out that judgment as He sees fit. He is the Potter and we are the clay and He can do whatever He wants with His creation. And God is consistent to maintain His standards and the consequences He puts in place for when we break His laws. Deuteronomy 27-30 explains God's covenant with Israel quite clearly. God plainly told the people that they would be cursed if they disobeyed Him, some of those curses including the fruit of their wombs being cursed and that they would be destroyed and quickly perish. Exodus 20:5-6 also says that God punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generations but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. (Note how the outpouring of His love for obedience outlasts the length of His punishment by about 996 to 997 years.

(It's also important to note that many numbers in The Bible have figurative meanings and not all are meant to be taken literally.)

God always keeps His promises and covenants. Hosea 13:16 is evidence of this.

   Furthermore, other places in The Bible use this same phrase and clearly identify it as evil. (See 2 Kings 8:11-12 and Amos 1:13. In the verse in Amos, God says that He will punish the Ammonites for the evil practice of ripping open pregnant women.)

   (Here is a quick article about this phrase where both the verses mentioned in 2 Kings and Hosea are discussed.

https://claudemariottini.com/2014/06/19/ripping-open-pregnant-women/)

   Another worth mentioning is that as a Christian, I also believe those babies would also have gone to eternity with Lord Jesus in Heaven, as 2 Samuel 12 would seem to indicate. But woe to the one who sent them there by slaughtering them! Jesus said if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble into sin, it'd be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea. (See Matthew 18:1-6) I think Jesus clearly loves children including babies.

He says in Jeremiah 1:5 that before He formed him (i.e. Jeremiah) in the womb, He knew him and set him apart before he was born. Note that it says specifically that God formed him, not his mother. And 1 Corinthians 6 says our bodies are temples of The Holy Spirit and we belong to The Lord (for all who have trusted Jesus as Saviour and Lord.) Romans 14:8 says whether we live or die, we belong to The Lord. Psalms 24:1 says the earth is The Lord's and everything in it! Thus- whether we believe in Him and follow Him or not- we all belong to God as part of His creation.

So if it's anyone's body in pregnancy, both the woman's body and the baby's body belong to The Lord and He has said that we shall not kill. (Exodus 20:13)

Isaiah 66:7-9 further confirm that it is The Lord who causes the baby to come forth in the womb. Isaiah 44:24 reiterates that The Lord is the One who forms us in the womb and Psalms 139 says the same thing.

   Proverbs 6 says that He hates the shedding of innocent blood. There are numerous other Bible verses that make clear that God abhors the shedding of innocent blood. In reading the totality of Scripture, I find impressed upon me how much God loves the helpless and weak victims and despises any violence against them.

   As I said, there are other passages that could be mentioned, but the main point here is that The Bible tells us how much God loves all people. He doesn't want any to perish but all to come to repentance. That's why Jesus died and rose- to pay for all our sins. If we believe that God raised Him from the dead and confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we will be saved! (Romans 10:9-13) And then when we follow Him in obedience, we become more and more like Him and come to see people as He does- people made in His image who are eternally loved whose lives we must protect and preserve rather than destroy them.

How Now Shall We Live?

     How do you separate church and state? If The Bible and all other religious books are not utilized to form or at least inform law, then what moral basis is used? Who even defines what morality is and if it's a good thing? Perhaps immorality would be better? Perhaps some things religion has called moral are really immoral and vice versa? Who can say?

    I think President Obama was right in recognizing that America does still have a very large Christian population, but there are also Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and other faiths- and people of no faith.

   Yet the thing that America has to recognize in its history is that many of its laws in place echo the commands of religious texts, primarily The Bible because there were many Christians who helped found the country, alongside Deists and others who at least had a general respect for The Bible and Christianity, even if they themselves were not Christ followers.

   (This is not to suggest that America has had a good record of consistently following The Bible in its decisions because all are sinners and fall short of God's glory. In any case, I don't like the term "Christian nation" because a nation can't follow Christ- only individuals. One of the main points of America's founding is freedom of religion, which allows for anyone to worship God in any faith they choose or to not do so at all. It is always a voluntary choice- never forced upon people by government. In that sense, separation of church and state certainly exists.)

    That said, it must be clarified that here I am speaking of people forced to follow a religion, of which there are a number of countries that practice this, with harsh penalties in place for anyone following or promoting anything other than the state religion. Thankfully, America does not have this system in place. Yet there are some laws that certainly comport with Christianity's tenets (along with a number of other religions) that inhabitants are compelled to follow or face consequences.

    Laws against theft and murder would certainly resonate with religious texts- should these laws be overturned because of their religious nature? The main value behind such laws is a respect for human life and property of human beings. Why do we regard human life with such supreme value? For the Christian, it's because human beings are made in the image of God and are the pinnacle of His creation. God commands us to respect and value human life because He loves us eternally and holds us in a status of infinite importance in His kingdom. To steal from someone or murder someone would not only be a grave evil to the person, it would also be a besmirchment to God and His creation.

    I think most would agree, regardless of their religious status, that these are good laws that should stay in place. I recognize some would offer vastly different reasons for valuing and upholding such laws but we would still be agreed on their worth and need to be in place. Is that the solution then? Should we establish laws by consensus? Perhaps within the election cycle for leaders there should also be moral surveys in place to determine the nation's general consensus on morality.

Otherwise it could just be left to each individual to determine what is right in their eyes and live accordingly.

(Of course, at least one society did that for a while in history and it didn't work out well for them. See Judges 17:6 and 21:25 in The Bible.)

   In the end, it comes back to the question, "How should we live?" We must then address the question, "Why should we live that way?" Who is the ultimate authority in governing the affairs of men and women?

In order to build a building, you must have a foundation. If the foundation is not sure, the building falls. The same is true for nations.

Die Here or Recant (song)

In keeping with the theme of persecution in my last post, this song seemed appropriate. Some may doubt the reality of what feels like the year of attacks on Christian faith at times but that may be because they are viewing the world through an American lens. Even the USA and North America in general are experiencing a number of subtle (and some not-so-subtle) acts of persecution and affronts to the faith. The degree is not nearly to the level that brothers and sisters in The Lord face the world over, particularly in China and Middle Eastern countries. That doesn't mean that North America and the Western world will be spared persecution that involves not only loss of rights and freedom but maybe even to the point of death. And as we face such things in the body of Christ, though no one necessarily wants to face that, we know that the weight of glory is worth more and weighs more than any of our light and momentary sufferings. I'll steward God's grace and blessings well enough; I must also steward the trials and persecutions He allows to come. If it comes down to the government vs. God, I choose God above all. Thus, when the choice is to die here or recant, go tell Nero I can't. To live is Christ and to die is gain! (Philippians 1:21)


"Die Here or Recant"
(parody of "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 9/7/2018)
(Matthew 10:26-33, Matthew 24:4-14, John 15:18-27 and 16:1-4, Proverbs 28:1, Acts 1-12, Acts 5:29, Romans 8, Hebrews 11:32-40, Philippians 1:21, Philippians 3, Revelation 2:10-11, Revelation 5:9-11, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20-22)

With a warning from a bogus jury
In a council that says, "Don't preach Christ"
You go scrolling through Acts now for Pete's retort
In Acts 5:29
Lord God raised up The Son that you killed by hanging (on the cross)
God our Father over men obey!
Our Father gave our Lord exaltation
We must tell you in His Name
That we fear God, not man
"They will not give up Christ!" - "Arrest them!"
But we've locked up behind bars before
And The Lord's angel opened doors of the prison
(They) completely disappeared
It's a futile cause; they're at temple walls
There's no prison door they fear, you dudes
We'll take that Gamaliel's advice
Just like the wicked run but these dudes
(Are) Bagheera the cat!
Signs and wonders, dude- so cool, Steve!
They tell lies that cite the dude's blaspheming!
He wants forgiveness for bad jury
When they stone him- if it's forsake Him for life
To adhere I just can't
More mourning comes when James' killed after
And Jesus said persecutions (would) come!
It won't go away- His voice or cross or mission
So we have to hold on
Until trumpet sounds and in The Light remain!
And the minute persecutors say
"Avow Lord Christ or now go meet Him!"
To live is Christ (and) die is gain!
So tell Nero I can't
There's no recant
.................................................

A Call for Endurance

"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what The Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death." (Revelation 2:10-11)

"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from Heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in The Lord from now on.' 'Blessed indeed,' says The Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!' " (Revelation 14:12-13)

Let us keep praying for the Iraqi saints and followers of Christ all over the world who are facing such tribulation and persecution that they would be faithful to Jesus no matter what and that they would keep loving their enemies, praying for them, speaking The Truth in Love, and faithfully obeying Jesus. And may we all heed the call to be faithful to Jesus and endure no matter what may come. The temporal life and its pains are temporary, but the celestial life and its joys are eternal. And let's keep praying for those who are so opposed to Jesus who need to know that He loves them too and only wants them to repent, trust Him and live.

The Scriptures here and the situation going on with the persecuted church around the world made me think of a very spiritually true and sound line from "The Dark Knight"- "What would you have me do?"- Bruce Wayne/Batman.... "Endure."- Alfred Pennyworth...... It's just as Jesus said in Matthew 24:13-14, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." ..... So, as Matthew 24:44-46 tell us, "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over the household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes."   Note that the passage clearly tells us that the Son of Man is coming at a time we don't expect-therefore, we must be ready. Ready-not standing around speculating on His return or just bemoaning the state of the world and wringing our hands. We also can't be disinterested bystanders sitting back comfortable in our faith and waiting for our sweet chariot to swing low and take us home. We should be a faithful and wise servant of The Master-we have been set over His household as members of the body of Christ and we are to work together to care for His body and give food to His household at the proper time. This of course includes all of His domain-the whole earth and universe. Speak The Gospel Truth-the Words of Life to edify the church and to throw out the lifeline to resuce the perishing. We must be faithful in obeying Jesus and sharing His love with others that they might come to salvation too. And until Christ does come, we must be the face of His Love on the earth and His agents of change to help keep the peace and show grace and mercy and love to a lost and cold, uncaring world. Keep looking up, for our redemption draweth nigh-in His time, which may or may not be in our lifetime (we don't know and don't need to know and don't need to worry about trying to know)- and keep enduring and being faithful. And don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Be faithful with what God has given you today.

A Response to Grace

(Note: This was written in reaction to reading an excerpt from "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey, so consider it a book report of sorts. :-))

Beautiful post here! What a great reminder of how The Gospel of Jesus Christ has so radically transformed individual people's lives and entire nations for the better!

   This is a very helpful reminder for me because I often have discussions with a friend who most often seems to see the ugly side of Christianity and rarely acknowledges any of the good. In having apologetics discussions with people about the reputation of Christianity in the world, I prefer to redirect people to Christ. I am well aware that there are people who may have been genuinely Christians while also being genuinely mistaken about interpretation of The Bible's commands who brought about much evil in the world. (It's hard to forget the large number of Christian American settlers who helped wipe out so many Native Americans and kidnapped Africans and enslaved them....and the examples can go on.)

   And some might combine history like this with the difficult passages in The Bible regarding slavery and laws regarding sexual behaviour and so forth and conclude that slavery and rape are acceptable practices in Christianity.

    Of course, the Christian church today steadfastly condemns such actions. And part of the reason why is because we look to the person of Jesus Christ as the ultimate model for human behaviour. And as you mentioned, we can see how Jesus embraced and empowered racial minorities and women and truly lived out His mission to preach Good News to the poor. And He ultimately fulfilled this mission on the cross of Calvary and in the empty tomb. The Good News Jesus brought us is that we can have forgiveness of sins and be reinstated in His family. All are welcome! The rich and poor are on equal footing in His kingdom. There are no races in Him- no slave or free- no male or female- we are all one in Christ Jesus. This is the way His kingdom operates in opposition to the world that assigns value to some things and people and decides others to be worthless. In a paradox described in Psalms 8, we are both utterly worthless and infinitely important and valuable at the same time. "What is man that You should think of us, Lord?" writes the Psalmist. "Yet You made us a little lower than the angels."

    Isaiah 53 says that Christ had nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him, yet our fallen state had nothing in it that He should desire us! But The Desire of nations desires all nations to come to repentance and into His kingdom! Of course, there is only one reason that explains the reason for this paradoxical pursuit- Love! Love all excelling- Love Divine! Love of course makes absolutely no sense and I think sometimes that may be the surest way to know we are truly acting in Love when our actions make absolutely no sense in the world's eyes. This is the power of The Gospel and truly the power of Love. Love pours abundant grace on us by absorbing our guilt and enduring our punishment. And of course, as Song of Songs 8:6-7 tells us, Love is stronger than death. So of course, Love conquered the final enemy and opened the way for us to enter His presence as we triumphantly ascend from death's sting into the presence of The One who took away death's power.

    Jesus Christ, Lover of my soul and body- the embodiment of Love (1 John 4:8-10), provides for both my soul and body. In John 10:10 He said He came to give us life and life abundant. I think it is His example exactly that moves us as His followers to bring comfort to the needy and afflicted and poor and poor in spirit in the world. We must freely give as we have freely received. Matthew 25 gives a practical way of soothing the hurts of this world with The Balm of Gilead. Give the hungry food. Give the thirsty water. Shelter the stranger. Clothe the naked. Visit and aid the sick. Go and comfort the prisoner.

    These are all ways we love our neighbour as ourselves and in so doing we demonstrate our love for God, Whom we love with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength. And we always speak The Truth (John 14:6) in Love. (Ephesians 4:15) May I ever do these three in tandem, reaching a hand out in Love to all and especially the least of these.

    Of course, the aid and Love is given despite the response. Jesus healed all 10 lepers who came to Him though only one returned to thank Him. We must do no less in offering help to all regardless of the response. The response is always the responsibility of The Holy Spirit in any case.

     That is the vision I want to see my life continuing to grow in every day I walk with Jesus. I trust that He is continuing to shape the saint out of the sinner. I trust that He is helping me to have the faithfulness of the elder brother without the judgment and bitterness as well as the penitance of the younger prodigal brother. I recognize that I am nothing more than a ragamuffin beggar at the door of God's grace. Praise God that He gives generously to those who don't deserve it, can never earn it or repay it and can only appropriately bow in gratitude and humbly share Grace with others.

I know I am far from perfect in doing that and I seek to be better by His power every day.

I believe God has been doing that work in me over the years of my walk with Him ultimately through the working of His Spirit in Scripture reading, prayer, church service and encouragement and rebuke of the brethren and sisters. I believe He has also used a variety of Christian people and the artistic gifts He's given them to help me in that process. I could name numerous writers and musicians and missionaries and pastors and other laymen and laywomen. Of course, I think it's most often the lowly of this world (by worldly standards) that have been some of my dearest friends who continue to remind me of God's heart for the vain things of this world. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) They continue to soften my heart and make glad my heart.

Of my favourite artists though, I must say that among others like Brennan Manning, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, A.W. Tozer, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom, Jim Elliott (the anniversary of his martyrdom and entry through Gates of Splendor is today, January 9, by the way), Joni Eareckson Tada, Watchman Nee, Voddie Baucham, Mister Rogers, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley, Keith Green, Larry Norman, Chris Rice, Carolyn Arends, Andrew Peterson, Rich Mullins and many others still- including many personal friends whose names are not known by the world at large (but of course God knows all these names quite well), Philip Yancey has quickly entered that pantheon and I am very grateful indeed for his writing. I appreciate the writing that acknowledges the reality of God's wrath and judgment without minimizing the incredible extent of His amazing grace! Fellow Christ followers like these and more have helped me realize more and more this truth. God is way more intolerant and punishing of our sin than we often realize and He's way more gracious and loving than we can fathom. It is both truths at once that we must embrace. And praise God that through Christ, mercy triumphs over judgment!

   Books like "Disappointment with God" and "The Question That Never Goes Away" and "What's So Amazing by Grace?" continue to remind me so often of these truths and bring me to my knees weeping in both grief for sin and in tears of joy for God's grace that is greater than all my sins! I feel sure "Vanishing Grace" will do the same when I read that next. So thank you again for letting God use you to bless, convict and encourage so many hard hearts and heads. (While I believe my head went soft ages ago ;-), I pray my heart will ever grow softer before The Lord as He keeps working.)

May The Lord continue to bless you and your family and use you for His glory richly. :-)