Category: Faith and State (Page 4 of 7)

How Can Evangelicals Vote for Trump?

March 1, 2016 / Allan Babcock

O Preacher Many evangelicals are voting for Donald Trump. I’m floored. Maybe I shouldn’t be. Maybe I should say many professed evangelicals are voting for Trump. I don’t know. It stumps me.

I get the anger thing. But how can Christians vote for a man who claims to be one, but whose life bears rotten fruit? For example, he’s bragged about his many affairs—“beautiful, famous, successful, married — I’ve had them all, secretly, the world’s biggest names.” And he boldly claims he has no need to ask for forgiveness.

Several times I’ve heard him say we should use American military power to kill terrorists’ families. He’s flip-flopped about racism—denouncing white supremacists, evading the issue and re-tweeting white supremacist propaganda. Where does he stand? Who knows?

From a biblical perspective, he’s disqualified, as I see it. First, repeatedly through the books of Kings, Israel’s and Judah’s kings of Israel and Judah are evaluated by whether they “did right in the eyes of the Lord” or “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” God is not merely a word a candidate uses to attract evangelicals. God is the Judge who will evaluate Donald Trump (and his presidency if he wins) on the basis of righteousness, not on an economic deal in which we get even with China. Why are so many evangelicals forgetting that?

Second, Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Can we trust Mr. Trump to do what is right or simply do what wins? I’m afraid his anger and his petulant reactions to negative criticism prove he’s all about winning at any cost. What is right doesn’t seem to be a consideration.

Third, in Romans 1:29-32 Paul lists the consequences of being given over to a depraved mind for refusing to acknowledge God.

“They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

I’m not being “holier-than-thou.” I’m suggesting this is a Spirit-inspired commentary on Mr. Trump and those who “approve of [him]”. Skim through the text above and see how many descriptions fit him.

I suggest we all should consider these thoughts before we vote. And pray that the person God wants will sit in the Oval Office to lead this nation. We are sliding downward morally and spiritually. Do we really think Donald Trump would be the kind of president to use his “bully pulpit” to slow that slide?

The State Can’t Stop the Church

February 25, 2016 / Allan Babcock

P.Allan “The days of gospel persecution in the United States no longer just hang on the distant horizon; they are already here, at least for some. It’s beginning with the bakers, florists, and photographers. Before long, the consensus may be that faithful biblical exposition is ‘hate speech’ (John Piper, Desiring God Ministries, Think It Not Strange). Fear mongering? Hardly. The signs are here. And for some, the substance has started.

But Acts 12 gives us Jesus-followers confidence and informs believers and unbelievers alike that the State can never stop the church.

King Herod’s Persecution (12:1-5)

Herod Agrippa (10 B.C. – 44 A.D.) ruled Palestine for Rome. He was said to be “a pious observer of Jewish practices and a ruthless suppressor of minorities when they became disruptive” (William J. Larkin, Jr., A Commentary on the Book of Acts). For reasons we’re not told he began to persecute the church. James,

John’s brother, he had killed. Peter he had arrested, perhaps to meet the same fate.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

How could the Christians withstand the king who represented the Roman Empire? Their only weapon was prayer. Author Luke tells us “the church was earnestly praying to God for him”. The Greek word, ektenos, implies they were praying fervently and continually. James’ death was a blow to the believers; they didn’t want Peter to be martyred too.

At this moment, as I wrote in “Think It Not Strange” (https://theoldpreacher.com/think-it-not-strange/), we have brothers and sisters in Christ somewhere in the world suffering persecution. Lois and I include them in our daily prayer time together. Although we don’t know their names or even exactly where they are, the Lord does. I believe not only does the Lord use our prayers for them; praying like this prepares us for the time persecution hits closer to home.

Peter’s Angelic Rescue (12:6-19)

For the sake of space I’ll tell this part of the story . . . Between two soldiers, bound with two chains, on the eve of his trial, Peter was sleeping in prison. Was it the Lord giving his beloved rest on such a night? Suddenly a radiant angel appeared. He poked Peter awake. “Hurry, get up!” As Peter did, his chains fell off. “Get dressed! Follow me!” Peter thought he was dreaming. They walked past Guard Station #1, then #2. As they approached the outside gate, it opened by itself. One block away the angel disappeared. Suddenly it dawned on him that this was real.

He headed for John’s (also called Mark) mother Mary’s house where he knew a prayer meeting was being held for him. A knock on the outer door brought a servant girl, Rhoda. Hoping to get inside without being seen, he called out. Rhoda recognized his voice and, instead of opening the door, was so happy she ran back inside and announced, “It’s Peter!” They thought she was crazy. So, with Peter standing nervously outside still knocking, the prayer meeting turned into a dispute. “It’s Peter!” “You”re crazy!” “No, really; I know his voice.” You have too much wine with dinner?” “I’m telling you, it’s Peter!” “You’re dreaming!” Finally, some wise soul suggested they open the door. Presto! There stood Peter. After explaining his rescue, he set off for the church safe house.

In the morning, as you can imagine, a bit of a brouhaha broke out at the city jail. King Herod was, well let’s just say, not pleased. Furious, he ordered a search, but no Peter anywhere. Then he interrogated the guards who had nothing to say. Herod had no one left to kill, so the guards suffered his wrath.

Why did the Lord rescue Peter and allow James be put to the sword? In Acts 26:16,17 Paul explained his conversion. The Lord appeared to him and told him I am “delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you . . . ” Implication: the Lord’s hand protects his servants so they can fulfill their calling. Presumably, when they finally do, the Lord calls them home. James had done his job. Peter had more work to do.

From “ground level”, though, the State seems to have won. Just ten years after Jesus’ resurrection, one of the twelve apostles has been beheaded. Despite Peter’s escape, Herod seems obsessed with mutilating the church one member at a time. However . . .

King Herod’s Death (12:20-23)

One day conducting ordinary kingly business . . .

Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Church members may be persecuted and suffer real loss. We may even be martyred. (Only the Lord knows what awaits us in days of growing gospel persecution.) But death is the corridor to Jesus. And eventually, the persecutors become worm food.

The Multiplied Spread of God’s Word (12:24,25).

But the word of God continued to increase and spread. When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

Focus on the first sentence. James has gone to Jesus. The king got eaten by worms and died a drawn out, painful, humiliating death. “But”—I love that word in these battles! “But the word of God continued to increase and spread.”

Be encouraged. Be informed. Regardless of what persecution may come, the State can’t stop the Church of Jesus Christ!

Celebrate that with the video above. The music style may not be your kind, but the song is ours to sing because of our Lord!

“Their God is My God”

February 16, 2016 / Allan Babcock

O Preacher A year ago yesterday 21 Coptic* Christians were executed by Islamic State terrorists in Libya, North Africa. Apparently these men were murdered because ISIS considered them “infidels”—that is, simply because they were believers in Jesus Christ. Christians in Libya.

copt4

Similar violence occurs daily for Christians in places like Libya, Iraq and Syria.

Reading about this, I discovered a remarkable, inspirational fact in an Opinion column in “The Wall Street Journal” of February 12th. The column was written by Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, the chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago.

“The 21 men executed that day were itinerant tradesman working on a construction job. All were native Egyptians but one, a young African man whose identity is uncertain—reports of his name vary, and was described as coming from Chad or Ghana. But the power of his example is unshakable. The executioners demanded that each hostage identify his religious allegiance. Given the opportunity to deny their faith, under threat of death, the Egyptians declared their faith in Jesus. Steadfast in their belief even in the face of evil, each was beheaded.

“Their compatriot was not a Christian when captured, apparently, but when challenged by the terrorists to declare his faith, he reportedly replied: ‘Their God is my God.’ In that moment before his death, he became a Christian. The ISIS murderers seek to demoralize Christians with acts like the slaughter on the Libyan beach. Instead they stir our wonder at the courage and devotion inspired by God’s love.”

The nameless victim’s courage almost takes my breath away. And it raises questions. How did this African unbeliever happen to be captured by ISIS? Did he work with some of the Egyptian Christians? Had he seen something of Jesus in them that attracted him to the faith? Why didn’t he try to save himself by arguing that he didn’t belong to the group, maybe even that he was Muslim? What moved him to defiantly, devotedly, daringly declare, “Their God is my God”?

Whatever the answers, whatever the details of the deadly drama that day, the sovereign grace of our loving God was poured out into his heart.

I’m reminded of Ruth. Her husband and her father-in-law had died in Moab. Naomi was mournfully returning to Israel. Ruth said to her . . .

“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you,
For where you go I will go . . .
Your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.”
(Ruth 1:16).

Though grievous, Ruth’s circumstances were not life-and-death. How much more fearlessness did it take for this African to make such a confession!

I’m also reminded of the thief on the cross next to Jesus. One thief mocked Jesus. The other said . . .

” . . . we are receiving the reward of our deeds;
but this man has done nothing wrong.”
(Luke 23:41).

Then he turned toward the man on the middle cross . . .

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
(Luke 23:42).

And Jesus replied . . .

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
(Luke 23:43).

One year ago yesterday that brave African man left Libya’s blood-soaked beach and was instantly with Jesus in Paradise.

* * * * *

I find myself wondering what I would have said. Suppose I was an Egyptian Coptic Christian. Would I have denied my Lord to save my life? Or would I have been devoted to the point of death? But suppose I was that African. To ISIS I would have been an “infidel” only by association. Would I have denied their God? Or would I have had the courageous conviction to proclaim his words, “Their God is my God”?

Such a horror seems other world. We should remember: people in the U.S. have already died at the hand of a terrorist because they proclaimed allegiance to Jesus. These “fiery trials” aren’t limited to the Middle East. They are here. Rarely, thank God. But they are here. And only if our head’s in the sand will we presume more of them won’t be coming.

As I write this, a brother or sister of mine in Christ is being persecuted somewhere in the world, maybe threatened with death. In fact, Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos titled his “Wall Street Journal” article . . .

ISIS Is Guilty of Anti-Christian Genocide.

He complained that the U.S. and the UN have barely even mentioned it, let alone tried to do anything about it. Our fellow-believers in Jesus are being systematically exterminated. (Yes, it’s that big.) Their only “crime”? Faith in Jesus.

God won’t let us forget . . .

“Remember those who are in prison,
as though in prison with them,
and [remember] those who are mistreated,
since you also are in the body.”
(Hebrews 13:3).

Jesus, You were rejected, beaten and crucified for us.
Now some of us who are Yours are being treated as You were.
Protect the persecuted from the evil one.
Give them grace and faith and courage to stand strong in the evil day.
Thank You for these 21 Coptic Christians who refused to deny You.
Thank You for this one African man who proclaimed allegiance to You,
knowing in the very next second it would cost him his life.
May their examples inspire us.
May they move us from indifference to life-sacrificing devotion.
May Your church in America be given grace to wake from apathy
and to put on the full armor of God for the fight.
For the sake of Your sovereign name, I pray.
Amen.

*The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the largest Christian Church in Egypt, and also the largest in the Middle East overall. According to tradition, the Church was established by Saint Mark, an apostle and evangelist, in the middle of the 1st century (approximately AD 42). (Eusebius of Caesarea, the author of Ecclesiastical History in the 4th century, states that Saint Mark came to Egypt in the first or third year of the reign of Emperor Claudius, i.e. 41 or 43 A.D. “Two Thousand years of Coptic Christianity” Otto F. A. Meinardus p28.)

Think It Not Strange

February 6, 2016 / Allan Babcock

Here is a free e-book provided by John Piper and Desiring God Ministries: http://document.desiringgod.org/think-it-not-strange-en.pdf?1452547327.

It is based on the view that Christian persecution will intensify . . .

“The days of gospel persecution in the United States no longer just hang on the distant horizon; they are already here, at least for some. It’s beginning with the bakers,florists, and photographers. Before long, the consensus maybe that faithful biblical exposition is ‘hate speech.’ Many are left wondering what trials may come in the wake of the Supreme Count’s monumental decision in Obergefell vs.Hodges ” landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held in a 5–4 decision that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution).

But it’s more than a prediction based on current events. It’s a prediction based on the scriptural truth that suffering pervades the lives of those who will follow Christ.

I found the book biblical, convicting, challenging and filled with hope. It does, as the authors aim, “help American Christians get ready for the insults, trials, opposition, and even persecution that may lie ahead.”

I pray you’ll read it and be full of faith, hope and joy for whatever suffering we may be called to endure before Jesus comes in glory!

Full think it not strange

Against Trump

January 30, 2016 / Allan Babcock

The conservative magazine National Review caused quite a stir recently when it published an edition with this cover . . .

It contains 22 brief essays written by well-known conservatives. Each essay explains (and in some cases warns) why Donald Trump should not be the Republican nominee for president. Below I’ve presented the essay written by Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the author of Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel.

I am not implying one cannot be a good Christian and favor Mr. Trump. I am saying, however, that any Christian favoring Trump should read and give serious consideration to Moore’s thoughts before voting in the primary . . .

In 2009, the Manhattan Declaration, led by Chuck Colson and Robert P. George, reaffirmed the three primary goals of religious conservatives: to protect all human life, including that of the unborn; to reinforce the sanctity of marriage and the family; and to conserve the religious freedom of all persons. All three goals would be in jeopardy under a Trump presidency.

Yes, Trump says that he is pro-life now, despite having supported partial-birth abortion in the past. The problem is not whether he can check a box. Pro-life voters expect leaders to have a coherent vision of human dignity and to be able to defend against assaults on human life in the future — some of which may be unimaginable today and will present themselves only as new technologies develop. Trump’s supposed pro-life conversion is rooted in Nietzschean, social-Darwinist terms. He knew a child who was to be aborted who grew up to be a “superstar.” Beyond that, Trump’s vitriolic — and often racist and sexist — language about immigrants, women, the disabled, and others ought to concern anyone who believes that all persons, not just the “winners” of the moment, are created in God’s image.

One also cannot help but look at the personal life of the billionaire. It is not just that he has abandoned one wife after another for a younger woman, or that he has boasted about having sex with some of the “top women of the world.” It’s that he says, after all that, that he has no need to seek forgiveness. At the same time, Trump has made millions off a casino industry that, as social conservatives have rightly argued, not only exploits personal vice but destroys families. One may say that Trump’s personal life and business dealings are irrelevant to his candidacy, but conservatives have argued for generations that virtue matters, in the citizenry and in the nation’s leaders.

Can conservatives really believe that, if elected, Trump would care about protecting the family’s place in society when his own life is — unapologetically — what conservatives used to recognize as decadent? Under withering assault in the Obama years, social conservatives have maintained, consistent with the beliefs of the Founders, that religious freedom is a natural right, not a matter of special pleading to be submitted to majority vote. Most Americans do not agree with the Little Sisters of the Poor on contraception, and the sisters do not have a powerful lobby in Washington. This shouldn’t matter. Trump’s willingness to ban Muslims, even temporarily, from entering the country simply because of their religious affiliation would make Jefferson spin in his grave.

Trump can win only in the sort of celebrity-focused mobocracy that Neil Postman warned us about years ago, in which sound moral judgments are displaced by a narcissistic pursuit of power combined with promises of “winning” for the masses. Social and religious conservatives have always seen this tendency as decadent and deviant. For them to view it any other way now would be for them to lose their soul.

The Living Church

January 24, 2016 / Allan Babcock

In 1973 we planted a church in New Jersey. Named it “The Living Church.” The local Episcopal priest (half?) joked, “I guess that means the rest of us are dead.” Ours was alive, yet nowhere near the “alive-level” of the Jerusalem church in her exhilarating early days. Makes me long for what they had.

In this series of posts, I’m focusing on “The Acts Eight”—eight sermons scattered throughout the book. To see them in context we ‘re following the narrative. It’s taking more time than I anticipated. I hope the Lord uses it for good.

In Acts 5:12-16 author Luke writes a third summary (see 2:42-47 and 4:32-37 for the first two) of church life, as she marched through her early months and years. This summary intoxicates . . .

Alive with the Spirit’s Power

The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

“Seeing” the scene helps—so an explanation. Solomon’s Colonnade was a porch-like walkway running along much of the eastern side of the temple courtyard. They met in homes, but this was the public place believers gathered. Outsiders kept their distance. (Memories of Ananias and Sapphira?) Yet more came to faith; numbers surged. Miraculous healings were regular. Crowds came from outside the city with their sick. Like the days of Jesus.

A clarification. The NIV says, “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders”. An unfortunate translation, because it makes the apostles the actors. More faithful to the original Greek is the ESV translation: “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done . . . by the hands of the apostles.” This makes the apostles the means, not the source.

That church, that was The Living Church. Alive with the Spirit’s power.

But such dynamic success instigated opposition . . .

Advance Despite the Court’s Clout

Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.” At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin– the full assembly of the elders of Israel– and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this. Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead– whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 5:17-42).

This text, too, beats with the Spirit’s life. First, the miraculous “prison break”, noted almost matter-of-factly. Second, the bold “defense” of the apostles, which Peter attributes to the power of the Spirit. Third, the rejoicing by the bloodied apostles. And finally their unstopping good-news-proclaiming.

Speaking of “the bloodied apostles”, it’s significant to note that the flogging may well have been the traditional 39 lashes with bone-filled straps. That they rejoiced having been “counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name”, and that they continued spreading the Gospel knowing the cost, points to the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit in them.

In fact, it’s quite remarkable how unflinchingly they declared Jesus to be the One . . .

raised from the dead by the God of their fathers. Thus they connected Jesus to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
the Court had killed by crucifixion. Thus declaring their unquestioned guilt before God.
God exalted to the place of ultimate authority (“exalted to his own right hand”).
who is now “Prince (Greek arkaygos–leader, prince, pioneer) and Savior”.
whose exaltation is for the purpose of giving repentance and forgiveness of sins. Thus giving the Court opportunity to repent and be forgiven.
whom the apostles saw alive again with their own eyes.

So again, as before (4:1-22), the “optics” for the Court aren’t good. Despite their best efforts, they look powerless and inept, as the bloodied apostles leave rejoicing and persistently spread the word.

Aberrant Today?

Question: Is Acts only a history of the church or a model? If model, then from my (admittedly limited) view, we’re not matching up well. What is happening among us that can be attributed only to the Holy Spirit? When was the last time people came because they heard how the Lord was miraculously changing lives among us? Are we in danger of persecution because our words and works threaten powerful people?

Maybe we should pray desperately for what we’re missing from the model . . .

Flip-Flop

January 23, 2016 / Allan Babcock

Back in November I named Ben Carson as my choice for president (https://theoldpreacher.com/carson-vs-media/).

Now I’ve done what politicians do—flip-flopped. (Those of you reading this from other countries, I hope you’ll find something for yourself in this.)

I’ve flip-flopped only because, in my humble opinion, I don’t think Carson can get the nomination and I don’t want my vote wasted. I certain am anti-Trump. I think his candidacy is all about himself. As far as flip-flops go, Trump has flipped as far as humanly possible and I’m praying he’ll flop big-time. I understand the anger. But just as lashing out in anger on a personal level solves nothing, neither will it on a national level. No way are his views (which seem to be all over the map) consistent with a biblical worldview.

Words matter. Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks “(Luke 6:45). This is why inappropriate or vulgar speakers need a heart change, not a speech therapist! What we hear from Mr. Trump’s mouth reveals the condition of Mr. Trump’s heart. I for one don’t want that heart in the Oval Office.

Last December I posted a Marco Rubio video in which he spoke of his Christian faith (https://theoldpreacher.com/rubio-on-jesus-more/). I’m posting another today (although the sound quality is poor). In it Rubio responds to a question from an atheist. I’m impressed that Rubio doesn’t minimize his Christian faith. My sense is that he spoke from his heart at the risk of losing the atheist-bloc’s vote. I’m not campaigning for him, though, under the circumstances, I think I’ve flip-flopped and will vote for him in the primary.

Whatever happens, I’m convinced we need more politicians, more leaders in every area and more Christians in general to speak up for Jesus. Not to beat anybody over the head with the Gospel, but to make it clear where we stand—and to speak that truth firmly but humbly in love.

One question has long-concerned me: If so many of us profess faith in Christ, why is our country (and the world!) as godless as it is? Is it because many of us really aren’t believers? Or is it that we have no intention of obeying the One our mouths call “Lord”?

The Country That Murders an Innocent a Minute

January 20, 2016 / Allan Babcock

I stumbled across this post by Andrew Napolitano on “Newsmax” and thought it informative about abortion from a legal point of view. Take the time to read it and realize how lawless our country has been and continues to be regarding this devastating issue. And wonder with me how long God, in whose image all these innocents are created, will withhold his wrath from America. More than that, let’s pray and vote for a pro-life president.

Murdering Continues as Roe Turns 43

By Andrew Napolitano | Wednesday, 20 Jan 2016 10:42 AM

Image: Murdering Continues as Roe Turns 43

In one week during January 1973, President Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated to his second term, former President Lyndon B. Johnson died, the United States and North Vietnam entered into the Paris Peace Accords, and the Supreme Court legalized abortion.

Only the last of these events continues to affect and haunt the moral and constitutional order every minute of every day.

The court’s decision in Roe vs. Wade is arguably its most controversial in the post-World War II era. Its effect has been as pernicious to human life as was its 19th century intellectual progenitor, Dred Scott vs. Sanford, in which the Supreme Court ruled that African-Americans are not persons.

Roe declares that the states may not ban abortions during the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy because the states have no interest in or right to protect the baby during that time period. This made-up rule was a radical and unconstitutional departure from nearly 200 years of jurisprudence, during which the states themselves decided what interests to protect, guided since the end of the Civil War by the prohibition on slavery, and the requirements of due process and equal protection.
During the second trimester of pregnancy, the Court declared in Roe, states may regulate abortions but only to protect the health of the mother, not the life or health of the baby, in which, the Court found, the states have no interest.

This, too, was a radical departure from well-settled law.

Under Roe, during the third trimester of pregnancy, the states may ban abortions or they may permit them; they may protect the life of the baby or they may not protect it.

This diabolic rule, the product of judicial compromise and an embarrassing and destructive rejection of the Civil War era constitutional amendments, permits the states to allow abortions up to the moment before birth, as is the law in New Jersey, where the state even pays for abortions for those who cannot afford them.

The linchpin of Roe vs. Wade is the judicial determination that the baby in the womb is not a person. The court felt it was legally necessary to make this dreadful declaration because the Constitution guarantees due process (a fair jury trial, and its attendant constitutional protections) whenever the government wants to interfere with the life, liberty or property of any person; and it prohibits the states from permitting some persons to violate the basic human rights of others, as was the case under slavery.

As the Supreme Court sometimes does, it ruled on an issue and came to a conclusion that none of the litigants before it had sought.

Roe candidly recognizes that if the fetus in the womb is a person, then all laws permitting abortion are unconstitutional. The court understood that abortion and fetal personhood would constitute the states permitting private persons to murder other persons.

So, in order to accommodate the killing, it simply redefined the meaning of “person,” lest it permit a state of affairs that due process and the prohibition of slavery could never tolerate. George Orwell predicted this horrific and totalitarian use of words in 1949 in his unnerving description of tyranny, “1984.”

Is the fetus in the womb a person?

No court has contradicted the Supreme Court on this, and the Roe supporters argue that nonpersonhood is necessary for sexual freedom. Think about that: The pro-abortion rights crowd, rejecting the natural and probable consequences of ordinary, healthy sexual intercourse, wants to continue to kill babies in the name of sexual freedom.

I take a back seat to no one when it comes to personal freedom. But the freedom to kill innocents violates all norms of civilized society. It violates the natural law.

It wasn’t even condoned in the state of nature, before governments existed.

It violates the 13th and 14th Amendments. Yet, the Supreme Court and numerous Congresses have refused to interfere with it.

It is a grave and profound evil. It is legalized murder.

Is the fetus in the womb a person?

Since the fetus has human parents and all the needed human genome to develop postnatally, of course the fetus is a person.

A simple one-line statute could have been enacted when Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush were in the White House and Republicans and anti-abortion Democrats (the handful that have made it to Congress) controlled the Congress. They could have ended the slaughter by legislatively defining the fetus in the womb to be a person.

They did not. Are the self-proclaimed anti-abortion folks in Congress sincere, or do they march under the anti-abortion banner just to win votes?

Their failure to attempt to define the fetus in the womb as a person seriously, and the Supreme Court’s unprecedented dance around the requirement of due process and the prohibition of slavery has resulted in 44 million abortions in 43 years.

That’s an abortion every minute.

Abortion is today one of the most frequent medical procedures performed in America; and the Democrats have become its champion.

They, and their few Republican allies, have become the champions of totalitarianism as well. The removal of legal personhood from human offspring in order to destroy the offspring is only the work of tyrants.

How long can a society last that violates universal norms and kills its babies in the name of “sexual freedom”?

Whose personhood will the government define away next?

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano was the youngest life-tenured Superior Court judge in the history of New Jersey. He is Fox News’ senior judicial analyst. Napolitano has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications. He is the author of the best-seller, “Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History.”

Guns Are Us

January 7, 2016 / Allan Babcock

The Rev. Franklin Graham slammed President Barack Obama’s gun actions Wednesday, saying that they “will do nothing to change this horrific problem.” Graham is quoted in a “Newsmax” article today written by Todd Beamon ( http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/franklin-graham-sin-humans-kill/2016/01/06/id/708454/#ixzz3wZmAJe9V).

Graham went on to say, “you can take all the guns in America and put them in a pile on the Mall in Washington, D.C—and those guns will stay there and will eventually rust and decay. Not one gun will crawl out of that pile and shoot or harm anyone.

“It takes a human being, and a human heart bent on evil, to pick up a gun, load it, and pull the trigger. The problem we have in this country is sin.”

Graham laid blame on the removal of God from society and a Hollywood industry that glorifies violence. He proposed a heavy tax for manufacturers of any movie or game that graphically displays violence.

Tuesday President Obama had announced plans to tighten federal background checks for gun sales, require gun sellers to be licensed or face criminal prosecution, and to expand mental health treatment. Most critics argue that these measures would have done little or nothing to prevent mass shootings the nation has suffered.

Graham lamented our nation collectively turning our backs on God and reaping horrible bloodshed. “The only cure?” he asked. “Jesus Christ. That’s what will make a difference in our nation.”

I say “Amen” to that. The question is, however, “What will we followers of Christ do about it?”

We are as guilty as anyone in expecting the government to fix whatever is broken—unless it impinges on our freedom. And I’m as guilty as anyone. Illegal immigrants? Sluggish economy? Threatened recession? Terrorism? Mideast firestorm? Healthcare? Government should solve it all. If they don’t or won’t, we complain.

I’m not a politician-sympathizer. Government has acerbated the country’s problems, not alleviated them. It frightens me when I see this administration’s flagrant disregard for the Constitution. For the president to declare we are a nation of laws, then ignore or break those laws is the height of hypocrisy and a genuine threat to America’s freedoms.

As long as they’re not the start of a slippery slope, the president’s announced gun control measures are not unreasonable. But laws have limits. When Graham diagnoses sin as the root of the nation’s problems, he’s pointing to the human heart—sinful human nature. The Bible makes it blatantly clear that even God’s laws can only curb evil, never remove it. For that we need a new heart, a new righteous human nature. This is what God promised through the new covenant established in the blood of Jesus Christ . . .

“I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
(Hebrews 8:10–12).

Graham is right, of course. The only cure for gun violence is Jesus Christ. Only he can remove guilt that plagues us, turn us toward righteousness and justice and love, and give us rock-solid hope instead of artificial escape.

Typically we regard spreading the Gospel as good for the sinner or a means of building up the Body of Christ. But we also must think of it in terms of societal good. I’m reminded of the question, “If you were walking alone down a dark street one night and met a group of intimidating-looking guys coming toward you, would you feel better if you knew they were returning from Bible study?”

In Christ, we have the cure for the vicious curse of deadly violence. The question now is . . .

. . . what will we do about it?

Rubio On Jesus (& More)

December 1, 2015 / Allan Babcock

I’m curious whenever a politician is asked about Jesus. So when I found this video from Marco Rubio, I watched and listened—and was thrilled to hear his witness.

Donald Trump brought his childhood Bible to a campaign rally to show the world he’s a good Methodist. (Please!) Rubio, on the other hand, articulately seems to speak from his heart about a relationship with Jesus founded on God’s Word and infused with the Holy Spirit. Some may wish he had left the Roman Catholic Church behind. But who are we to say where God can be doing his saving work?

I post this today not to endorse Rubio (though he and Dr. Ben Carson are running neck-and-neck in my mind). I post this because I usually view politicians with a healthy dose of cynicism. Not here. At least by his words and what I sense from his heart, Rubio really knows Jesus. He’s to be applauded for speaking openly about him.

Secondly, I post this today to encourage us all. God is at work in some of the most unlikely of places. That should keep us praying for those needs that seem most unlikely to be met.