How Many More?
During World War II the leaders of Nazi Germany planned and carried out the torture, mutilation, and murder of over 6 million Jews and over 5 million Christians. They were chosen for extermination based solely upon their race (Jews) or religion (Christians). We shudder to think about this many people being purposefully put to death. These events have led to a great many books, movies, research projects, and documentaries about Adolph Hitler and the scourge he unleashed on the earth.
Hitler is identified as insane, demonically driven, as evil incarnate, or worse. There are few that would try to defend him or justify his beliefs or actions. The world still suffers from trying to understand and explain what he did and why he did it.
And yet, when we are shocked and stand in horror at the thought of 11 million people being murdered over the course of a half dozen years or so, we are forgetting the war dead (25 million military deaths) and other civilian casualties (26 million civilian deaths, not including concentration camps). The tragic results of WWII leave us shaking our heads and wondering how it all happened. How is it that 62 million people on this earth died as the result of one man's evil ambitions?
And yet, is in not that the heart of every man is desperately wicked and indeed full of evil ambitions? The Bible tells us that men and women without Christ will live "in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." (Eph 4:17-19)
It is no wonder then that we have here within our own nation a class of people who have been singled out for torture, mutilation, and murder. While we shake our heads in disbelief at Hitler we approve a sentence of death upon the most defenseless among us. Who are these people that we have allowed to be killed simply for who and what they are? Unborn human beings. Babies still in their mother's womb.
Their crime? Conception. The motive for their murder? Convenience.
Now think about this. Don't stop reading. Let this sink in. For all that we say about Hitler and Nazi Germany what excuse do we have to offer and what justification do we have for the fact that since 1973 there have been over 43 million* babies slaughtered simply for who and what they are. We balk at 6 million Jews in concentration camps. We are moved and grieved by 5 million Christians murdered. We cannot fathom 62 million dead from the Second World War.
And yet we IGNORE 43 MILLION BABIES whose mothers and fathers have used a “medical doctor” to assassinate them!
Forty-three million.
43,000,000.
Here are the cold, hard facts. The church in large part continues to hide from the truth. The church shuts up, sits down, and goes merrily on its way hoping not to have to talk about or even acknowledge the extermination of human beings to which they themselves are a party. Yes, the church is to blame. The church is responsible. The church has failed.
The reason? Because we have fallen for a number of lies.
Myth 1 - Elect the right people and abortion will stop. This is simply not true. Even with the hope of new Supreme Court Justices and the election of self professed Christians to political office we still have in this country a legal right to murder babies in the womb at will. But politics offers no solution, for even if outlawed we still have not attacked the root of the issue.
Myth 2 - Ignore it, after all it is not our business. The church must see that this is her business! Our nation is being judged by God because of our wickedness and we sit silently by, or worse, we justify this sin by saying that it is not our business and that there is nothing we can do to stop it.
Myth 3 - Kill those who kill. There are those who claim to follow Christ and at the same time feel that they are justified themselves to kill abortion doctors. There can be no such justification. The church is not called to conquer and subdue with violence or to kill the doctor, for this is to be guilty of the doctor's sin. Whether we kill babies or kill doctors, we are murderers. And unrepentant murderers do not inherit the kingdom of God.
Myth 4 - There is nothing we can do. This lie leads us to a false sense of safety and peace when there is no safety or peace. There is much we can do. Start with prayer. Outreach in the community and at pregnancy help centers. Why can't the church ACT like the church? (more on this later)
Myth 5 - It does not affect me. This is the grand deception, for we as a nation are indeed responsible for this sin. We think it is not that bad. Abortions are on the decline. We have a new Supreme Court so it is just a matter of time. How much time? How many more? The truth is God is already judging us. Looking at Sodom and Gomorrah it is a wonder we are still here! We will not escape just because we pretended that nothing happened or fell for the lie that there was nothing we could do.
There are more lies that we could discuss but instead let us talk about the solution. It is not political. It is spiritual. The only solution to the slaughter is the salvation of sinners! The answer we need to find is the church acting like who and what she is - the body of Christ! Let us preach the gospel with love, willing to suffer for our faith and our stand if need be. Let us be willing to pay the price - if we know a girl who is pregnant, befriend her. If she is in any way considering abortion, offer to help pay her medical bills for prenatal care. Bring her into our home and give her a safe place to live. Surround her with love and help her decide whether to keep her baby or give her baby up for adoption. We must SACRIFICE on behalf of these whom the world hates and wants to see destroyed before they are even born.
Does this sound radical? Would it upset our schedule? Would it mean we would not have time for games and entertainment and might have to miss a few television shows or movies? Would it mean our budget would be stretched? Our savings spent? Our sensibilities offended?
Good. The church needs a good kick in the teeth. The fake hypocritical smile that we put on for Sunday Show Time Religion needs to be shattered. God is not impressed with our Sunday finery and our sanctimonious games. We play at worship. The proof? The way we live the rest of the week. And God hates worship that is not sincere but instead impotent. This worship is not the worship of God - it is the worship of SELF. It is idolotry. It is not life altering it is self enhancing! True worship is DEATH to self. Worship that pleases God is worship that conforms us into the image of Christ and finds us more holy after worship than we were when we started!
This is about how we as the church live like the church day to day. We can ignore the problem and pretend it does not exist or affect us or we can get involved and help reverse the curse of the destruction of life from the very womb. Resources abound. Opportunities are endless. And the truth is that if we do not stand up for the dying then we are guilty before God of killing them.
How many more have to die before we decide that this is an issue that we cannot ignore?
We cannot marginalize it as a political debate. We cannot try to persuade or out debate and out argue the opposition. We must preach and live the gospel. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ provides a solution to this sinful dilemma. Why? Because remember, where does all of this sin and evil and wickedness come from? Our hearts. And the first thing God does when He saves a sinner is to give him or her a new heart, a new mind, and a new life.
The solution is not the outlawing of sin, it is the redemption of sinners.
And yet we have such a low view of God and His Word that we think that we must seek alternative solutions. God's Word is powerful, alive, active, effectual, sufficient, and unstoppable. And it is never sent forth without always accomplishing the purpose for which God sends it forth.
How do we stop the massacre? Live and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. BE who God called us to be. DO what He called us to do. And beg for His mercy. Perhaps He will turn us back to Himself as a nation. Perhaps He will destroy us as a nation. Either way, justice will be served. And when it is, let us make sure that we are not the ones standing with blood on our hands, the blood of over 43 million lives sacrificed to the spirit of the age.
Hitler is identified as insane, demonically driven, as evil incarnate, or worse. There are few that would try to defend him or justify his beliefs or actions. The world still suffers from trying to understand and explain what he did and why he did it.
And yet, when we are shocked and stand in horror at the thought of 11 million people being murdered over the course of a half dozen years or so, we are forgetting the war dead (25 million military deaths) and other civilian casualties (26 million civilian deaths, not including concentration camps). The tragic results of WWII leave us shaking our heads and wondering how it all happened. How is it that 62 million people on this earth died as the result of one man's evil ambitions?
And yet, is in not that the heart of every man is desperately wicked and indeed full of evil ambitions? The Bible tells us that men and women without Christ will live "in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." (Eph 4:17-19)
It is no wonder then that we have here within our own nation a class of people who have been singled out for torture, mutilation, and murder. While we shake our heads in disbelief at Hitler we approve a sentence of death upon the most defenseless among us. Who are these people that we have allowed to be killed simply for who and what they are? Unborn human beings. Babies still in their mother's womb.
Their crime? Conception. The motive for their murder? Convenience.
Now think about this. Don't stop reading. Let this sink in. For all that we say about Hitler and Nazi Germany what excuse do we have to offer and what justification do we have for the fact that since 1973 there have been over 43 million* babies slaughtered simply for who and what they are. We balk at 6 million Jews in concentration camps. We are moved and grieved by 5 million Christians murdered. We cannot fathom 62 million dead from the Second World War.
And yet we IGNORE 43 MILLION BABIES whose mothers and fathers have used a “medical doctor” to assassinate them!
Forty-three million.
43,000,000.
Here are the cold, hard facts. The church in large part continues to hide from the truth. The church shuts up, sits down, and goes merrily on its way hoping not to have to talk about or even acknowledge the extermination of human beings to which they themselves are a party. Yes, the church is to blame. The church is responsible. The church has failed.
The reason? Because we have fallen for a number of lies.
Myth 1 - Elect the right people and abortion will stop. This is simply not true. Even with the hope of new Supreme Court Justices and the election of self professed Christians to political office we still have in this country a legal right to murder babies in the womb at will. But politics offers no solution, for even if outlawed we still have not attacked the root of the issue.
Myth 2 - Ignore it, after all it is not our business. The church must see that this is her business! Our nation is being judged by God because of our wickedness and we sit silently by, or worse, we justify this sin by saying that it is not our business and that there is nothing we can do to stop it.
Myth 3 - Kill those who kill. There are those who claim to follow Christ and at the same time feel that they are justified themselves to kill abortion doctors. There can be no such justification. The church is not called to conquer and subdue with violence or to kill the doctor, for this is to be guilty of the doctor's sin. Whether we kill babies or kill doctors, we are murderers. And unrepentant murderers do not inherit the kingdom of God.
Myth 4 - There is nothing we can do. This lie leads us to a false sense of safety and peace when there is no safety or peace. There is much we can do. Start with prayer. Outreach in the community and at pregnancy help centers. Why can't the church ACT like the church? (more on this later)
Myth 5 - It does not affect me. This is the grand deception, for we as a nation are indeed responsible for this sin. We think it is not that bad. Abortions are on the decline. We have a new Supreme Court so it is just a matter of time. How much time? How many more? The truth is God is already judging us. Looking at Sodom and Gomorrah it is a wonder we are still here! We will not escape just because we pretended that nothing happened or fell for the lie that there was nothing we could do.
There are more lies that we could discuss but instead let us talk about the solution. It is not political. It is spiritual. The only solution to the slaughter is the salvation of sinners! The answer we need to find is the church acting like who and what she is - the body of Christ! Let us preach the gospel with love, willing to suffer for our faith and our stand if need be. Let us be willing to pay the price - if we know a girl who is pregnant, befriend her. If she is in any way considering abortion, offer to help pay her medical bills for prenatal care. Bring her into our home and give her a safe place to live. Surround her with love and help her decide whether to keep her baby or give her baby up for adoption. We must SACRIFICE on behalf of these whom the world hates and wants to see destroyed before they are even born.
Does this sound radical? Would it upset our schedule? Would it mean we would not have time for games and entertainment and might have to miss a few television shows or movies? Would it mean our budget would be stretched? Our savings spent? Our sensibilities offended?
Good. The church needs a good kick in the teeth. The fake hypocritical smile that we put on for Sunday Show Time Religion needs to be shattered. God is not impressed with our Sunday finery and our sanctimonious games. We play at worship. The proof? The way we live the rest of the week. And God hates worship that is not sincere but instead impotent. This worship is not the worship of God - it is the worship of SELF. It is idolotry. It is not life altering it is self enhancing! True worship is DEATH to self. Worship that pleases God is worship that conforms us into the image of Christ and finds us more holy after worship than we were when we started!
This is about how we as the church live like the church day to day. We can ignore the problem and pretend it does not exist or affect us or we can get involved and help reverse the curse of the destruction of life from the very womb. Resources abound. Opportunities are endless. And the truth is that if we do not stand up for the dying then we are guilty before God of killing them.
How many more have to die before we decide that this is an issue that we cannot ignore?
We cannot marginalize it as a political debate. We cannot try to persuade or out debate and out argue the opposition. We must preach and live the gospel. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ provides a solution to this sinful dilemma. Why? Because remember, where does all of this sin and evil and wickedness come from? Our hearts. And the first thing God does when He saves a sinner is to give him or her a new heart, a new mind, and a new life.
The solution is not the outlawing of sin, it is the redemption of sinners.
And yet we have such a low view of God and His Word that we think that we must seek alternative solutions. God's Word is powerful, alive, active, effectual, sufficient, and unstoppable. And it is never sent forth without always accomplishing the purpose for which God sends it forth.
How do we stop the massacre? Live and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. BE who God called us to be. DO what He called us to do. And beg for His mercy. Perhaps He will turn us back to Himself as a nation. Perhaps He will destroy us as a nation. Either way, justice will be served. And when it is, let us make sure that we are not the ones standing with blood on our hands, the blood of over 43 million lives sacrificed to the spirit of the age.
~pastorway
*This from information compiled from two primary sources that keep track of abortion statistics: The Centers for Disease Control and Alan Guttmacher Institute.
posted by Phillip M. Way | 11:00 PM
1 Comments:
Amen. Thank you, brother, for a powerful post and a powerful stand.
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