Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 202
November 21, 2012
Giving Thanks Brings Happiness
Happy Thanksgiving! We should never have to wonder what Thanksgiving is about. It’s all there in the name.
Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
The person who gives thanks learns to be thankful. And the thankful person is a happy person.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6-7).
We live in a world under the curse. Not everything is good or easy. But if you look, you’ll see how much you have to be grateful for. Say thanks to God. And find others to say thanks to as well.
And remember, giving thanks brings happiness.
(Those reading by email will need to go to the blog to see the video greeting.)
November 19, 2012
The Least of These: Helping Those Suffering from HIV/AIDS
How can we as Christians help the most vulnerable people in the world today? It’s a question I’ve asked in previous blogs, and this is another one.
Today’s post focuses on those who have contracted HIV/AIDS. According to the World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS is the world’s leading infectious killer, causing over 30 million deaths to date. Christians have a special responsibility (and privilege) to care for those affected, who are in desperate need of physical, financial, and emotional support—and most of all in need of the saving power of Jesus Christ.
In an editorial written for the Washington Post, Franklin Graham says Jesus is the model for how the church should respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis. I like Franklin, and I like his perspective that helps the needy without undercutting biblical truths (as even some Christian organizations have done):
by Franklin Graham, Samaritan’s Purse
In many ways today, HIV/AIDS has the same stigmas as leprosy did in Bible times. Leprosy was considered a death sentence. Victims were considered unclean and shunned by their families and communities. Yet, Jesus reached out to them, touched them, loved them, and healed them. This is the perfect representation of how the church should respond to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Samaritan’s Purse, the organization I have the privilege of leading, has been helping victims of this deadly virus since the 1980s. In 2002 in Washington, D.C., we organized an unprecedented global conference on the Christian response to HIV/AIDS. Much like this week’s AIDS 2012 conference in Washington, we brought together Christian leaders, political leaders, medical researchers and grassroots workers from 87 countries to discuss the issue and hear from people whose lives had been devastated by HIV/AIDS.
One of our speakers was Sen. Jesse Helms. I remember when he first called me to talk about AIDS, he felt that it was a homosexual disease and that federal money should not be used to help those who were infected. I pointed him to Scripture where Jesus was always full of compassion, even if a person’s sin had caused their circumstances. Instead of asking the sinner what he did wrong, Jesus as the Son of God, used his power to heal their bodies—telling the person to go and sin no more.
Senator Helms soon reversed his position. At our conference, he said, “I think it’s about time that I made a confession that I’ve been too lax too long in doing something really significant about AIDS. It’s been the kind of thing you can lay aside in your agenda. But I tell you, I’m not going to lay it aside on my agenda for the remaining months that I have in the United States Senate. You can’t avoid the seriousness of AIDS or HIV, whether it is in Africa or the United States. The treachery is the same. And the treachery is ignoring it.” Senator Helms became a strong, compassionate voice in the fight against the spread of HIV, and he was committed to getting federal funding to help those suffering from AIDS.
Unfortunately, there is still no cure for HIV/AIDS. But researchers have developed antiretroviral medications that can suppress the virus to the point where victims can now add years to their lives. It’s important that we make that help available to as many people as possible.
As the United States, United Nations and other organizations invest billions of dollars in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it’s crucial that they work with churches and faith-based organizations. In much of the developing world and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, no other institution has more influence than the local church. Former President George W. Bush recognized this, and I am glad to see that he is a keynote speaker at AIDS 2012. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched in 2003, was a landmark in the international response to AIDS—not only because of the unprecedented funding, but also because it involved faith-based organizations in the grass-roots implementation of programs. Starting with PEPFAR, Samaritan’s Purse has reached 1.25 million people with information on how to prevent the spread of HIV. We’ve also provided 200,000 with HIV testing and counseling.
We need an army of young Christians who are willing to go to the remote areas in this world and show compassion and God’s love. We need to tell those suffering that no matter what they have done in life, God still loves them and He will forgive them. Like Senator Helms said, the treachery is in ignoring it.
It is vital that churches and the Christian community continue to work together to inform people of the truth about how HIV spreads. Education about abstinence and marital faithfulness has proven to be extremely effective. For example, a two-year study by Johns Hopkins University of Samaritan’s Purse HIV/AIDS programs in Mozambique found that abstinence among young females rose from 34 to 49 percent after they received information about how HIV/AIDS is contracted. Every percentage point represents many young women who have made positive decisions to avoid behavior that could put them at risk of HIV.
I am not an advocate of passing out condoms to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. We should not condone sex outside of marriage. When a crowd dragged the adulterous woman in front of Jesus and prepared to stone her, Jesus forgave her and said, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). I cannot imagine Jesus giving her a condom and saying, “Keep doing what you are doing and try to protect yourself.”
We have to take responsibility for our lives and the decisions we make. That starts with the facts. And the fact is any type of sexual relationship outside a committed marriage between one woman and one man puts you at risk for contracting the virus.
Unfortunately, millions won’t be faithful to their spouses or accept God’s standards and will put themselves at risk just for a moment of pleasure. Christians are called to live by a higher standard. Like Jesus, we have to warn those who are putting themselves at risk and have compassion for those who are infected.
More Information and Statistics
Compassion International has compiled these facts:
Approximately 15 million children under age 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Of these, nearly 12 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 67 percent of the total world HIV-positive population.
Currently, less than 10 percent of HIV-positive children in need of treatment are being treated.
About 45 percent of new infections occur among young people ages 15 to 24.
Each day, about 1,000 children worldwide become infected with HIV, the vast majority of them newborns.
More than 6,800 new HIV infections occur daily worldwide, and more than 5,700 people die of AIDS.
How Can You Get Involved?
George Verwer with Operation Mobilization provides insight into how we should respond to this global emergency:
1. Let’s receive the truth and vision into our hearts. Let us, as the Word of God says, “Weep with those that weep.”
2. Let us engage in more specific prayer, especially for those infected and those working among them. Pray for the wide range of preventative action.
3. Pray for the release of greatly needed finance. We can be proactive ourselves in giving and motivating others to give. Challenge the leaders of your church to have an HIV/AIDs Sunday when the need is shared and an offering is taken.
4. Try to visit an HIV/AIDs Hospice or ministry. Try to have some HIV friends, and demonstrate the love and reality of Jesus.
5. Pray for workers to go into HIV/AIDs related ministries. Be willing to consider this possibility yourself.
6. Read at least one or two books and collect articles from the press on the subject. Check out related websites.
7. Get involved in distributing information and materials that can awaken people and get involved in prevention.
8. A number of key articles have emphasized the need for the right information and all of us can be more informed and more active in passing on vital information to others. In the end, it will save lives and people will come to know Jesus!
9. Get tested for HIV/AIDs especially if you think there is any chance whatsoever that you were infected.
Organizations EPM recommends
Samaritan's Purse
www.samaritan.org
World Relief
www.worldrelief.org
Operation Mobilization
www.om.org
Mercy Ships
www.mercyships.org
Compassion International
www.compassion.com
The statistics on HIV/AIDS are sobering and overwhelming. But we must resist the unbiblical rationalization that we cannot make a difference. “I’m just one person. And we’re just a small church. How can we eliminate AIDS?” The answer is you can’t. But that shouldn’t inhibit our action. A poster asked, “How can you help a billion hungry people?” The answer below was right on target: “One at a time.”
If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness (Isaiah 58:10).
Franklin Graham photo courtesy of Samaritan's Purse; photo credit for: hands | woman
November 16, 2012
It’s Never Too Late to Grow and Change
Today’s guest blog is from Kathy Norquist, Randy's executive assistant. She also serves on EPM's Board of Directors.
My father died on August 28, 2012. He would have been 91 on September 3. I shared the following at his home-going celebration:
There is so much I could share about my dad. He was the most honest and trustworthy man you could ever know. One thing I especially loved was he was so approachable. There was never a barrier with my father.
I could tell you many things about my dad, but I want you to know my father around age 85 when he started studying the Word of God. And at age 90 he was still learning and growing and becoming the man God wanted him to be.
He told me, “I wished I would have read the Bible more in my life. I don’t know why God gave me the privilege in the past few years. I sometimes wonder why it took so long for me to come to truth. I am so glad God was patient with me.”
If you visited my dad in these last years you would have noticed the pile of Bibles and Christian books he surrounded himself with by his living room chair. If you gave him a book to read, he would have it done in no time. He would read big books, like Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven, many times over.
Dad had some deep regrets. He regretted that he wasn’t the spiritual leader in our home. He missed my mom terribly and grieved that he didn’t lead in their marriage like he should have. He would tell me, “I’m not the man I used to be. I wish I could go back and be a better husband and father and teach my children the Bible.”
But I told him, “Dad, the important thing is you are becoming that person now.” I would remind him of what Paul says in Philippians: “Forgetting what lies behind, and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” Over time he learned to forgive himself and accept God’s grace and forgiveness.
Scripture says God’s Word is a “light for our path”. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
As the Word provided the light, the changes in my dad were obvious:
1. He became more of a leader in our family. He made some difficult decisions and stuck by them.
2. I couldn’t imagine my dad living without my mom. But he rose to the occasion and took care of his home, his finances. At 90 years old he was still sorting through papers, organizing things, moving furniture and cleaning up areas. He went through all the family photos and divided them up among us kids.
3. Dad was deathly afraid of speaking in public. Years ago when he was supposed to introduce the new pastor to his congregation he became so physically ill that he had to stay home. But more recently he was the first to stand up at a memorial service and speak eloquently about a man he used to work with and shared humorous stories about his life. I was sitting next to him and was so proud.
4. He wrote heartfelt letters to his family and others and sought forgiveness where he felt he had failed.
5. The past few months he attended a Sunday School class which was even difficult for him because he had such a hard time sharing openly or having any attention drawn to himself. But he went and told me how glad he was to be a part of this small group.
6. He wanted to share with others what he was learning about the Lord and would offer his family books and DVDs. In his last stay in the hospital he told me, “I just felt I should say something to the nurse about the Lord”—so he did.
7. We were talking recently about where he might go if he couldn’t live alone anymore. One of the things that bothered him was if he had to move and pay for a place he would have to cut back on his giving.
8. He became even a more grateful man and would talk about how blessed he was. The evening he died we had dinner together and he said, “Well, we surely need to pray and thank the Lord for this day.” He was overwhelmed with gratitude to God for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (This picture was taken several years ago with my grandsons Bailey and Sawyer, two of his great-grandchildren.)
Dad always wondered why God left him on this earth for so long, especially after Mom died. Well, I know why. He hadn’t completed the work he was doing in his life and our family needed him. We still do and our loss is very great, but his gain is so much greater! I thank God for the legacy he left us and for proving it’s never too late to learn and grow and change.
(Read more about Kathy.)
November 14, 2012
Pray for the Liberties and Faithfulness of God’s People in Russia
I received this letter from a friend, Andre, who is a pastor in Russia. It’s a matter of great concern. Please read it and join us in prayer for the liberties and faithfulness of God’s people in Russia.
Putting the Puzzle Together
Dear friends! I was writing you a letter. But then I got these pieces of news one after another. And getting this news made me leave my ministry update letter and write to you what will follow. Here is the update, which I considered to be urgent.
The first piece of the puzzle: Putin's government is trying to push (and will do so) a new law about high treason. It will widely embrace a whole range of so-called "disagreeable" people. Considering the general situation, evangelical Christians will be a perfect target. And those, who have connection to the West and the so-called detestable American sympathizers—BEWARE. Please, pray for our wisdom and courage under the unraveling situation. We knew these things would come. They are coming a little faster than we expected. I am praying for the safety of our kids in this police state. We are rapidly traveling back to the notoriously known thirties. The same flavor, really, though a slightly different color. More brownish than red. No drastic changes at a time. But the notorious frog boiled alive in the water is being slowly heated. That is a perfect analogy under the circumstances.
The second piece of the puzzle: We have also just read on Russian on-line news that each Russian citizen will be assigned a personal e-mail address for direct connection with the government. They try to represent it as a step toward more freedom and better manifestation of true democracy—after all we will be able to contact the government without having to stand in line or trying to break through a bunch of unconquerable obstacles. However, taken in context and especially in light of the general development and the flow of events in this country, we can see that it is but another tool for people to rat on each other like they did under Stalin, and also a way for the government to exercise tighter control of who is who and what he or she is doing. Fun, huh?
In light of all this we wrote on Facebook that we were even more sure that we wanted to homeschool our girls to prevent them from political brainwashing. How great that homeschooling is legal here these days. We have actually just bought a book with all the laws on the matter....OK. Here is the punch line. I did write these exact words on FB, when all of a sudden….
The third piece of the puzzle, which made the picture almost complete: I called one of my daughters' teachers concerning some homeschooling logistics, yet, this is what I got from her: the Russian government is making a 6 day school week compulsory with kids being kept in school up to 4 p.m., and is already passing a new law in its second reading about homeschooling becoming completely illegal in Russia. Yes, they are planning to ban it completely. Please, pray. They tried to do it before, but there was a major resonance on the part of the people in Russia, and worldwide, which made them relent and recoil.
Whoever is involved in advancing homeschooling in this country, please contact and help us get in touch with people who have any say in this matter. If you know such folks, and if you could help us to connect with them preferably in St. Pete, please, help us do so ASAP. We need good lawyers and also Christian school principals in St. Pete, who might accept our kids while allowing us to teach them at home and have them come there for testing once in a while, whenever required.
The puzzle complete: Taking this news in context of a couple pieces of the puzzle everything becomes clearer, at least for those who can read the signs of the times. Where else can your kids be best brainwashed? Bingo! In the public school system that has ALL of its SOVIET values, however disguised, shoved down your children's throats with no say on the parents’ part concerning what they are taught on a day-to-day basis. The water is slowly getting hotter for the notorious frog to boil to death slowly, slowly, slowly, without making any life-changing and earth-shattering jumps OUT. Now my first thought was—we are outta here. No way am I staying in this country, after all, we still have our visas. But then the second thought immediately was—NO, NEVER, WHAT A FOOLISH NOTION! God did not call you to leave, Andre. You gotta remain and be here with the people, who He called you to lead, encourage, support, pray for and with. You need to serve them and suffer with them if needed. Keep your eternal perspective. I do believe that together we will be able to do something. WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT more than ever.
Thank you for walking this way together with us.
photo credit: Jennuine Captures via photopin cc
November 12, 2012
Thoughts on The Shack in light of the author’s new novel and devotional
The Shack spent 50 weeks at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, has sold 18 million copies, and has been translated into 41 languages. November 13 marks the release of another book by the same author, called Crossroads. I haven’t read Crossroads, but I know that it will refuel interest in and generate even more sales for The Shack. In addition, there is now a devotional available titled The Shack: Reflections for Every Day of the Year.
For years I was asked to respond to The Shack, and though I didn’t do so publically, I did write an extensive review of it that I made available to a small number of people privately.
The complete paper, “Reflections on The Shack”, is available on our website. This is deliberately detailed and way longer than a typical review or article. Read it only if you have a special interest in The Shack.
Here is the introduction to the article:
I’ve had no desire to step into controversy in a public discussion about the book. However, after years of silence, time has demonstrated that many people are indeed basing their theology on The Shack. For a variety of reasons, including my hope for further interaction with the author and my desire to not be part of another controversy (I’ve been in my share), I originally decided not to publish this or post it online. When people asked me about it, I told them they could request my unpublished paper.
It now seems appropriate to finally post an updated version of what I wrote years ago, since I still receive so many questions about the book.
I am also posting it because of the ongoing trend of unbiblical theology surfacing in supposedly Christian books (see my comments on Mary Neal’s To Heaven and Back). This is a problem that didn’t start or end with The Shack but it is now something I think I should address more publically.
November 9, 2012
A Response to Tina Fey’s Rebuke of Prolife Men
Cassi is a dear sister in Christ who heads up the disability ministry at our church. Her response to comedian Tina Fey’s much publicized rebuke of prolife men is well worth reading. And she (Cassi, I mean, not Tina Fey) is daily devoted to ministry to the weak and needy. Her voice is one of the kind of voices in the church we most need to hear, to the glory of our risen Jesus:
Response to Tina Fey {In That I Am Not a Gray-Faced Man with a $2 Haircut}
This post isn't likely to gain me any friends. But it's one of those that has been bouncing around in my head (and on my heart) for quite some time. I sit down in hopes of writing something else—anything else—but I just can't get around this thing.
So I apologize in advance.
I know this is going to offend some of you. Feelings will be hurt; tempers may flare.
And I'm sorry for that.
I am not sorry for writing it though.
Truth be told—I will be feeling the same hurt and anger as I type these words.
Here goes....
"If I have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a two-dollar haircut explain to me what rape is, I’m gonna lose my mind!” —Tina Fey
Rape is inexcusable. It's disgusting. Under no circumstances are there any exceptions to that fact.
Rape hurts the victim and the victim's family. Likely for the rest of her life she will experience the affects of being brutalized in this most horrific way.
Rape is a crime that should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Every time.
Without exception.
But who should be punished for this horrific crime? The rapist.
End of story.
Rape shatters hearts—crushes spirits. Rape makes it extremely difficult to experience real intimacy for a long, long time...if ever. Rape steals innocence, leaving anxiety in its wake.
Please know that I hear you on these things.
So does my husband and everyone else who has chosen to love me.
I have a hard time remembering without crying. A hard time writing these words without wanting to throw up. But can I just tell you that through that absolute most traumatic experience I have ever had....God had a plan! Rape was not His plan but from the beginning of time He knew how He would use it.
That is what I believe Richard Mourdock was saying.
Here's the thing, my rape did not result in a pregnancy. But it did set forth a chain of events in which I found myself giving birth to a precious baby boy at the age of 15. And while I was not violently assaulted by my son's father, I was taken advantage of, emotionally/psychological abused and manipulated, lied to, stolen from, threatened....for years. The time I spent with him is in close competition with the time I spent with my rapist (wow. Hardest two words I've ever put together).
Obviously my son is a reminder of the time I spent with his abusive father. But that is NOT who he is. He does not deserve to be punished in any way for the pain I suffered as a result of the actions of his father. He is one of my greatest joys. A life created so intentionally, with a PURPOSE, a perfect blessing.
We have to stop telling girls who have just experienced the horror of rape that ending their babies’ lives will make the hurt go away. It absolutely will not.
As I write this, tears flow, but not for my own painful memories. My heart hurts for the girl out there RIGHT NOW carrying a child in her belly, no one loving her enough to tell her the truth.
And then be there for her no matter her choice.
I am not writing this to bring shame to any woman who has chosen abortion. I am not claiming to know anything about the road that led her to that point. I don't. But what I do know is that from great pain can come great blessing. There are options. Options that don't require ending a life.
If you truly do not think that abortion ends a life, this post is not for you. I believe there is overwhelming evidence in support of that....but I am not sharing today in hopes of convincing anyone.
I'm speaking to those who believe abortion is wrong, except in cases such as rape. I cannot wrap my mind around exceptions in this case. If it's not murder, it's not murder...and should be allowed no matter the circumstance.
Likewise, if abortion is taking the life of another human being and not an acceptable option when a baby would simply be an "inconvenience"...it's not an acceptable option no matter the circumstance.
Rape does not justify murder.
And I feel like I can say that because I am not a "gray-faced man with a $2 haircut".
-Cassi
(Note: I chose to use female pronouns for this post; however I am well aware that men can also be victims of rape. My intention was not to ignore that fact.)
Tina Fey photo credit
November 7, 2012
Don’t Stop Voting (you do it every day with the choices you make)
The election is over, but the truth is that every season of our lives is election season. Voting isn’t something you do just every few years. We cast multiple votes each day. We cast votes for Heaven or Hell, for grace or truth. For self-control or self-indulgence. For the Spirit or the flesh. For abiding in Christ, or independence from Christ. For wisdom or foolishness, and blessing or curse.
Every decision we make, every action we take—and the heart attitude with which we conduct our lives—casts a vote for one kingdom or another. Every vote counts. Eternity will be affected by them.
We can’t solve all our nation’s problems, but we can address the issues of our own hearts. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
You can still talk to parents and kids in your neighborhood about the value of unborn children, and offer support and help as needed. You can go to city streets and homeless shelters and offer your service. Your ballot may or may not have made a difference, but your vote to love your neighbor will. God won’t overlook it, as He won’t overlook a single cup of water given to little ones in His name.
Our next chance to vote is right here and right now, whether we spend time with God, pray for His help, read His Word, serve our family, help the poor, dying and needy, entertain this thought, speak these words, watch this television program, or click on this Internet site. (You already vote often; vote wisely.) The key to change and influence in this world is not, and never has been, politics. It is faithfulness to Jesus. In the end (which will never end) acts of faithfulness—many of them quiet, some seen only by God—are the votes that will count, bringing the eternal results that will matter. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
Just as nonchristians won’t have a second chance to go back and this time accept Christ, so we as Christians won’t have a second chance to go back and this time serve Him. Today may be our last opportunity to represent Christ to our neighbors and to the needy.
As missionary C.T. Studd put it, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Read more in EPM's magazineRandy shares more Post-Election Perspectives in the latest issue of our ministry's Eternal Perspectives magazine. This issue issue also includes the articles, "Seven People Lying at the Side of the Road" by George Verwer, "No Hypocrites!" by Joni Eareckson Tada, and "Quality Christian Fiction: an Oxymoron?" by Randy Alcorn.
Eternal Perspectives is sent free to all who request it. To subscribe by mail or to receive an email notification when the latest edition is posted online, go to www.epm.org/subscribe.
girl photo credit: abcdz2000 via photopin cc
November 5, 2012
Resting in God’s Sovereignty over Human Events, Including Election Day
Tomorrow is Election Day. Like many of you, I'll be very glad for the election season to be over.
If at this late date you are still wanting to think about who to vote for, check out any of the series of blogs I wrote in the last four weeks:
Part 1: Racial Issues, Helping the Poor and Financial Responsibility
Part 2: Which Candidate Will Best Protect Religious Liberties?
Part 3: Which Candidate Has More Christian Beliefs? (And Should I Vote for a Mormon?)
Part 4: Do the Candidates Have Different Positions on Abortion and Does it Matter?
Part 5: Is it Wrong to Vote for the Lesser of Evils? Shouldn’t We Instead Vote for a Third Party Candidate?
Part 6: Responses to six comments, including that we should never vote for a candidate who would allow abortion for rape and incest
Part 7: Responses to 12 More Comments, Including “It’s wrong to vote pragmatically,” “Politics is a waste of time” and “I’ll only vote for a Christian”
Or, you may wish to see my interview regarding the candidates that I did Saturday night at my home church with one of my pastors:
Regardless of the election results, let’s all pray for our president, our country and our world.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thankgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Let’s pray too for our churches. We may increasingly experience persecution in the years to come, as our belief in Scripture will continue to separate us from the culture around us. As Romans 8:28 indicates, God brings good things out of bad:
And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice; and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. (Acts 8:1–8)
Note the church’s fruitfulness and even joy in the midst of persecution! If churches in American face more adversity in years to come, which I think we will, may we too experience greater zeal for Christ, fruitfulness, and joy in our Lord.
May we pray too for those who will be back in the trenches bringing the gospel to the lost, and trying to save unborn children from being killed and women from having to endure the horrors of abortion. That's a hard job under any president. I thank God they're doing their work alongside the compassionate people who work all over the world to care for the needy of all kinds. It is our privilege to support all of these great causes.
Where should our focus be in the final hours leading up to the election? Certainly we should be trusting God and seeking his sovereign will for tomorrow’s outcome. Before the last presidential election, Albert Mohler wrote the article “A Prayer for America on Election Day,” which I encourage you to read. It includes some thoughtful points on praying for the election process.
There is great comfort in acknowledging and embracing Scripture’s teaching that God is sovereign over human events, including elections. In Isaiah 46:10, God says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Those who believe in a God who knows “the end from the beginning” can relax because even though they don’t know what lies ahead, their sovereign God does: Charles Spurgeon wrote, “There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty.”
It might seem that acknowledging we aren’t in control would raise our level of fear. But that’s not true. Recognizing God’s in control should allow us to rest in His sovereignty. A spirit of fear and timidity is not from God (2 Tim. 1:7).
No matter what the outcome of tomorrow’s election, our hope should not be in America’s president. Nor should we give in to fear or hopelessness if the results are not what we hoped. (Things may not be as bad as we anticipated if it doesn’t go our way, and may be worse than we anticipated if it does go our way.) Our hope should be in a good God who is all-powerful, and who is working out his eternal plan. Scripture says, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).
Nations will rise and fall, but through it all, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2). “The LORD foils the plans of the nations....But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:10-11).
Scotty Smith has written an excellent prayer that encourages us to focus our gaze on our sovereign Lord:
A Prayer about God’s Sovereignty and Gospel Sanity
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, And he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” Dan. 4:34-35
Almighty Father, I need to “bookmark” this passage and return to it often, even daily, for it doesn’t just tell the conversion story of a pagan King; it’s the ongoing story of my distractible heart. Pundits, social-media soothsayers and side-walk prophets abound, all clamoring for our attention. But we’re never more sane than when we raise our eyes toward heaven and focus our gaze on you. Navel gazing, circumstance watching and daily news fixating never serve us well.
“At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it (Rev. 4:2). Father, help us to see and understand the glorious implications of the occupied throne of heaven, and the peace that comes from savoring your uncontested perpetual enthronement. Your dominion is the only eternal dominion. November elections and political insurrections; the world economy and temperature instability; earthquakes and oil leaks; multiplied conspiracies and grassroots rebellions… none of these things affect your reign one micro-bit for one nanosecond.
For your kingdom endures from generation to generation. There never has been, nor will there ever be, any nervous sweat, furrowed brows or anxious pacing in heaven. There will never be one moment of consternation or vexation in the corridors of paradise; no need for a plan B to emerge from the “big boardroom.”
Father, you do as you please with the powers of heaven and the peoples of earth. We praise you for marshalling the powers of heaven for the salvation of ill-deserving rebels like us, and for the ultimate transformation of the entire cosmos. Though many tried to hold back your hand and many have arrogantly said, “What are you doing?” Nevertheless, you chose the sacrifice of your Son and the “foolishness” of the cross (1 Cor. 1:18) as the greatest demonstration of your sovereignty and grace.
The only King who could say, “Behold the world I have made,” is the only King who would say, “Behold the people for whom I die.” Father, the greatest sanity is gospel sanity. Keep us sane, Father; keep us gospel sane.
We choose to lift our eyes to heaven today and fix our gaze on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith; and we cry with unfettered, unabated joy, “Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a salvation!” May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. So very Amen we pray, in the mighty and merciful name of King Jesus.
Nanci and I are thanking God for His sovereign grace, and entrusting ourselves, our children and grandchildren, our churches and our country to His care and mercy.
Joining you in prayer,
worship photo credit: Will Foster via photopin cc
ocean photo credit: ...-Wink-... via photopin cc
November 1, 2012
Election 2012, Part 7: Responses to 12 More Comments, Including “It’s wrong to vote pragmatically,” “Politics is a waste of time” and “I’ll only vote for a Christian”
The comments I’ll respond to were on the previous blogs, in case you wish to check out any of them:
Part 1: Racial Issues, Helping the Poor and Financial Responsibility
Part 2: Which Candidate Will Best Protect Religious Liberties?
Part 3: Which Candidate Has More Christian Beliefs? (And Should I Vote for a Mormon?)
Part 4: Do the Candidates Have Different Positions on Abortion and Does it Matter?
Part 5: Is it Wrong to Vote for the Lesser of Evils? Shouldn’t We Instead Vote for a Third Party Candidate?
Part 6: Responses to six comments, including that we should never vote for a candidate who would allow abortion for rape and incest
The good news is that with the election next week, this is my final election blog! (Monday’s blog will be Scripture and prayer for our nation.) I’m relieved to finish, because I’m disillusioned by politics and I feel torn by the ethical dilemmas. I have heard things I agree with said by nearly everyone who disagrees with me. I keep finding myself thinking, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I used to say!” Below are comments I’ve received, followed by my responses.
“I don’t have to vote for someone perfect, but he does have to be a Christian.”
I’ll answer with what someone said in another comment: “Neither Sir Winston Churchill nor Franklin Roosevelt were believers as far as I'm aware. Yet God sovereignly used them to deliver the democratic nations. Many Christians at the time perhaps would not have chosen these men for various reasons, but because one is saved does not mean he is fitted for a governmental role.”
“Anyone who is on the ballot is electable, and Virgil Goode is on more than half the state ballots.”
Virgil Goode, of the Constitution Party, is favored by many who have made comments. One article quotes Goode as saying, "We won't win the popular vote probably but we have a shot of winning the Electoral College.”
But he is polling at less than 1%, with the two leaders both at 47%, and the Libertarian candidate getting most of the rest. Under any scenario, how could the Electoral College move his way? I welcome disagreement in the comments, but in my opinion, either Virgil Goode believes what he said and is out of touch with reality, or he does not believe it and is speaking falsehood. Neither is a good sign.
Dan Phillips wrote me, “If by some parting-of-the-Red-Sea level miracle a third party candidate won, he would have BOTH parties of BOTH houses of Congress opposed to him. He would have no one to draft and champion his legislature. He would be like a third-team player on a football field. It wouldn't matter if he were smarter, more savvy…they all would be focused on bringing him down.”
“I don’t believe in voting against a candidate, only for a candidate. I can’t vote for the one and I am not going to just vote against the other.”
But when there are only two people who can win, you do vote against one by voting for the other. (Why do we oppose voting against someone? Because it sounds negative?) If you do not vote for the only candidate who can defeat the one you most oppose, then you are not using your vote to oppose the evil you are most against.
If anything is at stake in this election, there are things you are for and things you are against. You vote for the one you are most for and least against. You vote against the one you are least for and most against. That’s just how it works.
“We are living in the last times, and evil is bound to increase. Government isn’t going to make a difference anyway.”
This is the old argument that caused many Christians to withdraw from our culture in the first place. The idea is, “Why rearrange the furniture on the Titanic? The Bible says the ship’s going down, so no reason to try to keep it afloat.”
Ever since I came to Christ in the early 1970’s, I’ve been told by people that Christ must return in the next five years. Well, it’s been forty years and there’s a lot more Christians could have done but didn’t.
We don’t know when this world is going to sink. Our grandchildren may grow old on it. So if we can do some good, and do what we can to hold on to some of the freedoms people died to protect, why shouldn’t we? If the price of getting someone in office to protect religious liberties is voting for a very flawed candidate, is that worth it? I think it may be.
“Please discourage everyone from wasting their time on politics. Get them involved in serving the sick and delivering good news to the poor.”
I certainly agree that we should focus on the gospel and helping the needy. But we are stewards, and as such are responsible for multiple callings, and all that God has entrusted to us. Ironically, the gospel’s reach has been impaired by so many Christians withdrawing from art, music, politics and so many other aspects of our culture.
If we had no influence on the direction of our culture, as the early Christians had no voice in the Roman Empire, that would be different. But America is a nation that affirmed the rights to life and liberty, and there’s a long history of people fighting for and dying for those rights. The person who submitted this note has probably enjoyed those rights her whole life. In fact, those rights have allowed her the freedom to deliver the good news without being arrested or beaten. Yet she apparently doesn’t believe in doing what’s necessary to pass them on to others.
Some people do waste their time in politics by making it their god, as other people do sports, food preparation, crafts, music and art. But politics, like all these other things, certainly has its place.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do [music, art, sports, politics, evangelism, helping the poor], do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
“I'll just have to agree to disagree with you on your support of the Republican Party.”
The funny thing is, I am no supporter of the Republican Party. I’ve never given them a dime. I have not voted Republican in three of the previous six elections. Every election I vote for and against candidates and ballot measures, not parties.
Five years ago I wrote a controversial blog in which I called upon Christians not to support Rudy Giuliani for president after Pat Robertson had come forward to support him as the Republican Party nominee. I said, and I still say, I will never vote for a president who does not defend the righto life of unborn children.
Now, will I vote for someone who would save 98% of unborn children, while permitting the death of the 2%? I profoundly disagree about the 2%, but realizing we live in a country where forty years of federal laws have protected 0% of unborn children, I will support a candidate who wants to save 98%, when the only alternative who could win is a candidate utterly committed to insuring that not one unborn child would have legal protection. People keep telling me how Romney has flip-flopped on abortion. Of course he has. But has he flip-flopped the right direction? I only wish President Obama would flip-flop on abortion!
I don’t believe we should seek to be either conservative or liberal, but to be Christian, which sometimes means helping as many people as you possibly can, even when you can’t yet help all of them.
“To me, voting is not to influence results, but simply to follow my conscience and obey God.”
Some godly people have said this, grieved that I would take into consideration such unspiritual things as whether someone has a chance of winning an election. A good man wrote a blog disagreeing with me, saying, “My perspective precludes me from voting for either of the two majority candidates. I view voting as a choice between obedience and disobedience to the instructions of God.”
The implication is that those who vote differently than he does are disobeying God. But I find myself looking at a godless post-Christian culture. Apart from a great spiritual awakening from God, America will not return to its godly roots.
So for me, voting is not a pulpit from which I affirm the greatest ideals, without any hope of influence, but merely a tool to do the best I can to support what good is possible, and to resist evil to the limited extent that I can.
My vote does not mean I’m aligning with all of a candidate’s views or his religion. But I seek to be obedient to God by praying for direction and making a decision that is in keeping with a conscience that compels me to believe I should use my vote to—possibly, at least—make a difference.
“Christians should stop saying the right candidates will never be elected, and simply vote for them so they WILL be elected.”
I’ve been there and said that! In two elections I wrote in Alan Keyes, because he was a solid prolife believer with great vision. I hoped and prayed that he would be our first African American president. But when I talked about him to my Christian friends, they’d say, “He’d be great, but he’ll never be elected.” So I responded, “Vote for him and maybe he will be elected!”
In a blog five years ago I addressed the question of whether Mike Huckabee was electable. I wrote:
I confess I get impatient with Christian leaders who withhold support from the best candidates because other candidates, including prochoice ones, are supposedly more “electable.” If we’d just, on the basis of conscience, give support to people of God-honoring conviction instead of withholding it, some of them would become electable.
I will never forget when National Right to Life came forward to support Fred Thompson, who was not as solidly prolife as Mike Huckabee. A friend who worked for NRTL admitted to me, “We just thought Huckabee wasn’t electable.” Thompson stayed in the race just long enough to ensure McCain had the nomination instead of Huckabee. Prolifers cancelled out each other’s votes. That happens every election.
Sadly, many Christians will just vote the party line. If they’re Democrats they’ll vote for Obama, if Republicans for Romney, if Libertarians for Gary Johnson (or write in Ron Paul), if Constitutional for Virgil Goode. And a number, unhappy with all those alternatives, will write in Jesus for president. As the website says, “Say NO to Satan by writing in Jesus, as he is the only alternative.” (Not sure who his vice-president would be.)
The argument, “If Christians would just support the best candidate, he would win!” has a fatal flaw—politically, you cannot get evangelicals to agree on who’s the best candidate. Typically our votes are spread between four or five candidates. No matter who the best candidate is, if he’s third party many won’t vote for him, and if he’s Republican many won’t vote for him (that includes Christians in the Democratic Party and in all the third parties).
Take an increasingly unchristian national consensus, then couple it with the fact that the declining number of serious Christians are hopelessly split in their convictions about who to vote for. This is a formula that is a recipe for failure. And everyone, including me, has this great solution—“All of you just vote for the candidate I believe is best!” Alan Keyes, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum all come to mind, but not many of you seemed to agree with me…nor I with you. :)
So we need to ask God for direction, then do the best we think we can with the vote given to us. If “vote your conscience” for you means vote for the best man even if he can’t possibly win, so be it. If it means vote for the man who could possibly win and would be better in defending religious liberties and the right to life and financial responsibility than the alternative candidate, so be it. Just realize that “vote your conscience” is what we’re all trying to do, but it never results in Christians voting for the same person.
“President Obama is the candidate who cares most about the poor and needy. He will get my vote.”
I don’t doubt that our president genuinely cares about many poor people. I do believe that like many politicians of both major parties, he thinks just giving people money solves their problems, when often it only increases dependence and insures ongoing poverty by removing incentives to work to the degree they are able.
But what troubles me most is how selective he is about which needy people he cares for. Clearly he cares nothing for unborn children. But what about people with disabilities? Speaking of Mike Huckabee, he wrote this a few weeks ago:
This week, Obama’s campaign website posted a letter from a young woman with Down Syndrome. She wrote that she works and pays taxes, but because she gets some government support, she’s one of the 47 percent that Mitt Romney doesn’t care about. It’s sad that she’s been convinced of such a false idea, and it’s sickening to use her to score political points. I know of no Republicans who begrudge help to those who genuinely need it. But I do know the Democratic Convention was practically a four-day infomercial for taxpayer-paid abortion, for any reason. Today, as many as 91 percent of babies diagnosed prenatally with Down Syndrome are aborted. If you’re going to claim to be the only party that cares about people with Down Syndrome, seems to me the least you could do is defend their right to live.
“No matter what, I still can’t vote for a Mormon.”
I understand this position. I am not one who has ignored or minimized the biblical problems with Mormonism. I would recommend reading the article by Pastor Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, who ignited the country a year ago when he said that Mormonism was a cult. (Which, of course, it is.) Now he has changed his mind not about Mormonism, but about Romney as a candidate. It’s worth reading. I will quote here two things he said that I haven’t:
In October of 2011, the Obama Justice Department argued before the Supreme Court in the case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC that the ministerial exemption to federal hiring standards should be rescinded. The revocation of that exemption would mean that churches could be forced to violate their doctrinal beliefs and hire homosexuals as pastors or women as priests.
An astonished Supreme Court asked the Obama representative if the federal government should have jurisdiction over whom a church hired as its minister and the representative said “Yes.” Fortunately, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected that claim. Yet, the fact that the Obama administration would state such a position should be chilling to people of any faith.
….A second milestone development this past year was President Obama’s public approval of homosexual marriage in May of 2012 which has both energized efforts of evangelical Republicans and at the same time diminished his support among evangelical Democrats (primarily Hispanics and African-Americans).
One does not have to be a homophobe to understand that it is impossible to reconcile homosexual marriage with the teaching of Jesus Christ who described God’s design for marriage as one man and one woman in a lifetime relationship (Matthew 19:4-6). Any deviation from that standard—adultery, polygamy, pre-marital sex, or homosexuality—is a sin according traditional Christian and Jewish teaching.
Beyond the theological objection to homosexual marriage, evangelicals see a flood of societal problems that will be unleashed on a country that attempts to redefine marriage.
“Pragmatism is compromise, and compromise is a sin.”
Some things, such as upholding the Bible and standing up for Christ, should never be compromised. But what about if you’re in management or representing a union in a dispute? Is compromise sin? No, compromise is necessary to reach an agreement. In fact, it can be a sin not to compromise. Yes, some families, churches and businesses have been hurt by compromise. But many families, churches and businesses have been hurt by a parent or leader who refuses to compromise.
Some of the same Christians who understand that compromise is part of the business and sports worlds, part of athletics, part of nearly everything, view politics completely differently.
If this country is like a car driving 70 MPH toward a cliff that is 100 miles away, of course you want to stop it and preferably turn around. But what if, on the day you have to vote, your two options are to keep driving 70 MPH or slow it down to 30 MPH? At least if you slow it down, you buy some time to make an adjustment.
Is this a pragmatic action? Sure. So is brushing your teeth, or putting gas in your car. Using your brain to make wise choices between limited options is being pragmatic. Compromising values is wrong, but making wise decisions to bring about the best possible results in keeping with your values can be right.
As there is good and bad cholesterol (so my doctor tells me), I think there is bad pragmatism and good pragmatism. Bad pragmatism is when principles are violated; good pragmatism is when godly wisdom is exercised to make the best of the available options.
“There is no difference between Obama and Romney.”
Now, you can argue that in some areas the candidates don’t differ much. But it’s simply inaccurate to say there’s no difference at all. One is absolutely committed to using tax dollars to fund abortions overseas. The other has promised to stop this through reinstating the Mexico City Policy. And if he is as concerned about his image as his critics say, surely he would not begin his presidency by breaking that promise.
PolitiFact’s Truth-o-Meter demonstrates that both President Obama and Governor Romney have said things that are true, mostly true, mostly false, and false. It also measures what issues they’ve flip-flopped on. While it recognizes Romney has flip-flopped from prochoice to prolife, it maintains he has not flip-flopped on gay marriage, which he opposes.
President Obama, PolitiFact indicates, has flip-flopped on gay marriage. He said in 2008, "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage."
In contrast, On Wednesday May 9, 2012 President Obama said, "I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."
What bothers me about President Obama’s change on gay marriage is not that he flip-flopped but that he landed on a position that would radically redefine marriage and family.
On the question of religious liberties, the two candidates are substantially different. Does anyone seriously believe Mitt Romney would act no differently than Barack Obama in regard to the right to hold minority religious positions? Of course he would. He is a Mormon, a religious sect that considers liberty precious. Were these liberties taken away, his own faith would be threatened. Hence, I believe he will be more likely to defend religious liberties than President Obama, who has attempted to take them away unlike any president before him.
We’ve recorded a four-minute video in which I share what is at stake in President Obama’s demand that Christian organizations and employers pay for insurance that provides abortions and contraceptives for their employees. I did a more detailed assessment of this in an earlier blog.
Since you don’t even like politics, why have you written these blogs?
This one is my own question. I answered it the last time I wrote political blogs, four years ago. The answer was, because of my four grandsons, and my wanting them to have rights and not have to suffer under God’s judgment landing on a society in rebellion against him. And now, this time, I have a fifth reason—David Franklin.
I have mixed feelings about this election. Partly because, whichever candidate wins, I will have low expectations. But lower expectations of government need not be cynicism. It can also be a reminder of the good news that God is the sovereign King, and that he alone is the hope of this nation. And even if this nation crumbles (which could happen under either presidential candidate, or be delayed to sometime in the future), God is the only hope of each person and each family. He has been that all along, but perhaps this time it will be just a little more obvious.
Meanwhile, regardless of our country’s direction, may we devote ourselves to passing on to our families what they so desperately need, so that they may love our Savior in this broken world, for God’s glory and their good:
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done….which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. (Psalm 78:4-7)
This is my last election blog in which I’ll say anything about the candidates. Monday’s blog will be Scripture and prayer for our country. Then the blog will be back to “normal,” with a variety of articles, videos, and matters of eternal perspective. We invite you to visit regularly, or sign up for our feed by email (enter your email address in the form at the top left corner of the blog). If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, please join me there too, where I share Scripture and great quotes daily.
Trusting in the Risen Jesus,
More Election 2012 Blog PostsPart 1: Racial Issues, Helping the Poor and Financial Responsibility
Part 2: Which Candidate Will Best Protect Religious Liberties?
Part 3: Which Candidate Has More Christian Beliefs? (And Should I Vote for a Mormon?)
Part 4: Do the Candidates Have Different Positions on Abortion and Does it Matter?
Vote here photo credit: mhartford via photopin cc
Arlington photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc
Supreme Court photo credit
Speeding car photo credit: alwarrete via photopin cc
October 29, 2012
Election 2012, Part 6: Responses to six comments, including that we should never vote for a candidate who would allow abortion for rape and incest
It’s ironic that my politically related blogs are getting a lot of mileage (the last one got 12,000 hits in the first 18 hours, five times the usual.) If you read my normal blogs, Facebook or Twitter, you know that I regularly focus on Scripture and great quotes of a Christ-centered nature, and almost never talk about politics. I sometimes address the value of human life, but that’s not politics, that’s just loving your weak and vulnerable neighbor, like Jesus said to do (Matthew 22:37-39).
I don’t watch political programs or listen to political radio and rarely read political articles. I do care about helping the poor and needy (including unborn children), and I care about religious liberties, as they relate to our call to follow Christ and love God and our neighbors, and as I try to pass on to my children and grandchildren freedoms that were passed on to me. These are what have motivated me to address these subjects.
In this blog, I’ll respond to some of the many comments submitted to these previous blogs:
Part 1: Racial Issues, Helping the Poor and Financial Responsibility
Part 2: Which Candidate Will Best Protect Religious Liberties?
Part 3: Which Candidate Has More Christian Beliefs? (And Should I Vote for a Mormon?)
Part 4: Do the Candidates Have Different Positions on Abortion and Does it Matter?
Readers’ comments and my responses
1. “Don’t put your trust in Mitt Romney to save this country!”
My trust isn’t in Mitt Romney. Not for a moment. No candidate can save this country, not in this election or any other! Mitt Romney couldn’t save this country if he were the most godly man ever to inhabit the White House. He is only one man, he’s flawed, and, sadly, as I’ve said, especially in the third blog, I believe his view of Christ, the gospel and the true church are seriously in error, contradicting Scripture.
God’s Word is emphatic: “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save” (Psalm 146:3).
Only Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. Only he can bear the weight of our trust. “This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD’” (Jeremiah 17:5).
My trust isn’t in this country either. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
Only God can save the USA, and I don’t know whether He will. Clearly, we don’t deserve it, but that doesn’t always stop God, does it? But whether or not this country survives the judgment due us (for many things, including the shedding of innocent blood), we DO know that our God of sovereign grace will go right on saving people.
If Mitt Romney becomes president he could certainly fail. He may come no closer to balancing the budget than Presidents Bush and Obama. Some think he may lead us into an unnecessary war against Iran, or another country. Others have warned that Romney will be guided by the Mormon White Horse Prophecy. Some have commented they believe a Romney presidency would be a great platform for Mormonism. This idea troubles me, though Mormonism has sometimes made converts precisely because its true nature is not known. It’s possible that more public scrutiny will help some not to choose it. Others say that a Romney presidency will be no more dictated by Mormonism than the Kennedy presidency was by Catholicism.
Presidents face many events and world leaders outside their control. Sometimes the difference between a great presidency and a failed presidency is simply what good and bad things happened in the world, and in America, that were outside the president’s control.
Governor Romney is not the ideal candidate. The only question is whether he is a better alternative than the only other man who can possibly win. And whether God wants us to use our vote to choose less evil and more good, or whether he would be more honored if we use our vote to make a statement of our ideals even if our preferred candidate cannot win.
2. “I’m voting for the candidate I most believe in. If we elect a president who takes away religious liberties then we’ll get exactly what we deserve. And maybe persecution is what we need anyway.”
There’s a half-truth in this. As He did in the spread of the early church, God often uses persecution to spread the gospel. In fact, in this world under the curse, God often uses suffering to draw people to Himself (as I share in my books If God is Good and The Goodness of God). Persecution for the gospel will draw a line in the sand so that nominal faith will be sifted out. So perhaps persecution is something God will use to get us serious about living out the gospel.
Still, don’t wise people do what they can, short of denying Christ and his truths, to avoid being persecuted? After all, God uses sickness and accidents to accomplish good. But it is still reasonable to try to avoid sickness and accidents. God does indeed use persecution, but isn’t it still reasonable for us to take steps to avoid persecution by defending religious liberties and seeking to elect a president who will preserve those liberties?
I think the “it’s not my fault” approach can be a bit irresponsible. Might not it be partly our fault if we didn’t vote for the only person in this election who could reverse the stripping away of religious liberties?
The argument that we’d be getting exactly what we deserve is certainly true. But that doesn’t mean we should seek to get what we deserve or stand by apathetically as freedoms people died to purchase are taken away from us. What we should do is stand for liberty, make efforts to preserve it, and then if it is taken away, trust God to use our suffering—and that of our children and grandchildren—for His glory.
3. “ The Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen, but do you see in any of his writings an attempt to use his rights as a citizen to influence a city? No. He used the message of the Gospel, the power of God to those being saved.”
It is absolutely true that Paul’s great faith was in God and in the power of the gospel. But in fact, Paul did use his rights as a Roman citizen to call for justice in how he was treated: “As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, ‘Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?’” (Acts 22:25).
Paul appealed to his rights once again, with God’s kingdom in the forefront:
Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” (Acts 25:10-12)
Scripture models for us how to have our minds on God’s kingdom, and not put our hope in the kingdoms of men. But at the same time, we should recognize that God has sovereignly used American churches, with our liberties, to send out missionaries all over the world. Now, persecuted churches can also send out missionaries. But while we still have rights, it makes sense to steward them and protect them. This is why I applaud the many Christian organizations that have filed lawsuits against the government for attempting to take away their freedoms by forcing them to pay for insurance to provide abortions and contraceptives for all their employees (see my blog on religious liberties).
4. “I won’t vote for any candidate that would allow a single baby to die. Since Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would allow babies conceived by rape or incest to be aborted, it would be wrong to vote for them.”
There have been dozens of comments to this effect.
Now, this would be exactly right if the other viable candidate’s position saved more children’s lives. But we are in a general election in which 95% of voters have indicated they will vote for either President Obama or Governor Romney. President Obama supports the legality of all abortions. He favors no law which would save the life of a single child. Governor Romney favors laws which would keep legal only 2% of abortions, while making illegal 98% of all abortions in this country.
Yes, you can vote for Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party, who believes all abortion should be made illegal. But in the last poll I saw, he has the support of less than 1% of the population. If he cannot come anywhere close to winning the election, he cannot help any children.
By refusing to vote for Mitt Romney, who favors saving 98% of children, and casting your vote for a man who would save 100% if he could (but of course he never will when getting 1% of the vote), you end up helping elect another man who favors abortion for 100% of those children.
Now, I realize the president doesn’t have any power to implement such a law. But I am addressing this because a number of states have attempted to enact various lifesaving laws, including informed consent, parental consent, and making abortion illegal except in cases of rape, incest and endangering the life of the mother. So just think in terms of what the candidates favor, not simply what they have the power to do. After all, the point is many are refusing to vote for such candidates because of this position.
“We don’t dare think pragmatically.” More on this in the next blog, but for now, can I just say that if 100 babies are drowning, I would rather jump in and save 98 of them than stand on the shore and say, “I’m not going to do what I can to save any of those babies unless I can save all of them.” If saving as many babies as you can even when you know you won’t save them all is “pragmatism,” so be it. It is also just doing what you can to save precious children God loves. No one believes more strongly than I do that children conceived by rape and incest are just as precious as other children. But we must begin somewhere, and after 40 years of legalized abortion, every poll shows that people will not approve a law that wouldn’t allow for abortions in the cases of rape and incest.
Be sure you are thinking clearly about this. If you have 100 babies who are going to live, and you say it’s okay for two of them to die, that is horrific! But this is not our situation! If you have 100 babies who are already going to die, and you can’t save all 100 but you can save 98, shouldn’t you do so? To sacrifice the 98 because two are going to die is illogical. It can be argued that it is immoral. How ironic that people would take the moral high ground by allowing the 98 to die when their brothers and sisters are trying to save their lives. Can’t we do what is possible to save the 98% and then do all we can to persuade people not to kill the other 2? (I’ve also written on the question of the life of the mother being at stake.)
Twenty years ago in Oregon there was a ballot measure that would have made abortion illegal except in the cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother. Had it passed, it would have saved tens of thousands of lives. But two groups rose up against it. The abortionists, with Planned Parenthood on the one hand, and on the other hand many prolife Christians who said they would not support a measure that allowed even a single child to die. But of course, those children and fifty times more were already dying. And since they couldn’t save every life, by voting against the measure they chose not to save a single life (to the utter delight of Planned Parenthood and the abortionists).
These no-compromise believers may have slept well at night, but all those babies whose lives were not saved kept crying out to me.
5. “The Republican Party is not consistent with its prolife platform.”
Many have commented they believe the Republican Party is not telling the truth when it affirms a prolife platform. Or, at least, you can’t count on a Republican president following through (never mind the Mexico City Policy, which they have followed through with). But I have another question. Is there anything about the Democratic Party’s platform and actions that makes you doubt even for a moment that it will fully support the death of every unborn child at every stage of pregnancy right up until birth? So if you’re really prolife, you can be skeptical whether Republicans will do the right thing, but you can know for sure—and if you doubt this for a moment look at what was emphasized again and again at the Democratic National Convention—that if President Obama is reelected, abortion will be more firmly entrenched than ever in any policies and healthcare mandates that come from the White House. (See this African American pastor’s plea to Christians in the black community to not go along with this and other agendas.)
I will tell you this—if the Republican Party’s platform called for the legalized death of any poor and needy person, any person of any race, gender, sexual orientation, age or size, I would not retain membership in that Party. (I say this recognizing that the Republican Party is very flawed, and I am not enamored with it in any way, and I respect people who have left it to become independents or members of a third party.)
6. “These blogs have seemed to embody the very opposite of an eternal perspective.”
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
This is an eternal perspective—to always look beyond our circumstances and trust that God is sovereign, and that He is working all things together for the good of his children (Romans 8:28-29). If this election turns out different than we hope, so be it. God will still be on the throne.
Our jobs are temporary, our health is temporary, our culture is temporary, our lives in this world are temporary. However, having an eternal perspective doesn’t mean you quit your job, refuse medical care, and don’t step out of the way of an oncoming car!
An eternal perspective doesn’t mean indifference to the world. You can have an eternal perspective and at the same time have a realistic view of what you can and cannot accomplish with a single vote in a single election.
You cannot bring in God’s kingdom with a vote. So some of us, seeking to honor our King and to help government restrain evil, vote for less evil and as much good as we can among the candidates who can possibly win. Then, regardless of the results, we move on, serving Christ and living in light of eternity, and reminding people America is not their true home. (In some cases, you might also spend the next four years investing in alternatives so that next time there is a candidate with even a remote chance to win who is better than either of the two electable choices were this time.)
More Election 2012 Blog PostsPart 1: Racial Issues, Helping the Poor and Financial Responsibility
Part 2: Which Candidate Will Best Protect Religious Liberties?
Part 3: Which Candidate Has More Christian Beliefs? (And Should I Vote for a Mormon?)
Part 4: Do the Candidates Have Different Positions on Abortion and Does it Matter?
photo credit for political party icons
photo credit: Bas Lammers via photopin cc
