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Archive for the ‘Biblical manhood & womanhood’ Category

God Says Wait, Biology Explains Why

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Relationships, Sexy or holy?, tagged , , , , , on March 30, 2012| 1 Comment »

I often hear: “Your faith is a good thing… but, you should keep it separate from real life.”

So, I must ask: Of what good is faith in something if it can’t be used to make a positive difference in the world?

Biblical faith is useful because it pairs perfectly with science to protect vulnerable life.  In this case, I’m talking about adolescents and teens.  My faith tells me their lives are valuable.  Faith compels me to post this blog.  It is science that explains why.

Science tells me that the body and mind – intricately woven together — are in need of protection.  Faith tells me that parents are the best defenders of their child’s body, mind (and soul).  Planned Parenthood and local “teen pregnancy prevention coalitions” have concerned themselves with teen pregnancies.  When my sons were in high school (they now father their own children), comprehensive sex education was believed to be the answer:  “If we can give as much information as possible starting at early ages, then adolescents and teens would be able to make better choices.”  Twenty-five years later, we have an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, diminished respect for self and others, emotional anguish, and increased teen pregnancies.

It’s not lack of information that’s the problem.  It’s lack of judgment.

Faith and science explain why:

1) Children need parents to protect them from themselves.  The prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain is not fully developed or functioning until the late teens or mid-twenties.  The PFC is responsible for the executive functions of judging, reasoning, decision-making, suppressing impulses, and weighing the consequences of actions.  However, the amygdala, or “feeling” and emotional part of the brain is functioning early in life.

2) Daughters need their dad’s appropriate love and set boundaries.  They  need their dads to explain why they are worth waiting for.  A girl’s mind and body just aren’t ready for sex.  An immature cervix has only one layer of protective cells to guard against infection; a mature cervix has 20-30 layers.  The risk for a life-long disease or even sterility is too high.  (Not to mention the psychological damage of relational bonding, un-bonding, bonding, and un-bonding.)

3) Adolescents need help with self-restraint.  In “cool” conditions, children can appear to have excellent thinking.  For example, in the classroom a boy may say, “Sure, I’ll wait to be sexually active,” or “I’ll remember to use a condom.”  But, “cool” conditions are not the real world.   Place that same boy in the “hot” environment of an unsupervised party with a “sexy” girl looking for love and, well, his emotions hijack his ability to think and be self-controlled.

More information on sex isn’t the answer.  Nor is letting children “decide for themselves.” The answer is a distraction from sex and help with putting on the brakes.

God says wait; biology explains why.

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Why Are Women Anti-Woman?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Identity, Life issues, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , on March 25, 2012| 1 Comment »

What’s wrong with being a woman?  A woman who is pro-woman no matter our differences?  A woman who doesn’t have to compete with or “one up” a man?  Who appreciates her noble and irreplaceable role?  Who understands that men need women to help them be better men?  Who knows how to build up rather than tear down?  Who does not feel demeaned by the titles of “Mrs., “Mother,” or “Grandmother?”

What’s wrong with being a woman who thinks conservatively?  Who isn’t impressed or foolishly flattered by utopian ideas?  Who keeps herself informed and engages in dialogue?  Who isn’t ashamed to live her life, face each circumstance, and treat other people in ways that flow from her Christian faith – the only worldview that gives her hope?

What’s wrong with being a woman who has never celebrated legalized abortion?  Who doesn’t believe that a woman’s rights are greater than a child’s?  Who recognizes that abortion has only devalued every other human life?  Who agrees with Mary Harnard, staff counsel at Americans United for Life, that abortion is “anti-woman?”  (You can read her article at http://www.aul.org/2012/03/the-anti-woman-world-of-roe/print/ )

What’s wrong with being a woman who doesn’t agree with the worldview, business, and strong-arming tactics of Planned Parenthood?  Who doesn’t want to fund with her tax-dollars an organization that sexualizes girls and then stands ready as the largest profiteering-provider of abortions in the nation?  Who doesn’t appreciate the fact that PP (who does not give mammograms but does mammography referrals) would assault Susan G. Komen when they determined that PP doesn’t really have anything to do with fighting breast cancer and so decided not to grant them 1% ($680,000) of their annual grants?  What’s wrong with being a woman who questions why the $1 billion-in-revenue-monolith PP, in collaboration with Moveon.org, would become so “vile and vicious” against Komen and its donors?  (“The Abortion Empire Strikes Back,” an interview with Komen’s former senior vice president Karen Handel, WORLD, March 24, 2012)

What’s wrong with being a woman who believes that human life is the greatest natural resource of any thriving nation?  Who believes every human life is created by God?  Who finds something perverse in a national health care plan that sees human life as a debit entry on a balance sheet?  Who wonders why Kathleen Sebelius would want to be the “secretary of human prevention” or insist that “poor” and “mostly black and brown” women receive free contraception and abortion-causing drugs?  (Do I hear the whisper of eugenics?)

What’s wrong with being a woman who dares to ask: Why are so many women “anti-woman?”  More girl babies than boy babies are aborted around the world.  Girls mentored to be sexually-free are seldom told their female anatomy is more susceptible to bacteria and infections.  Girls assured that abortion is a “right” are rarely asked if they’d like to listen to the heartbeat of their unborn child or watch that baby on the ultrasound screen.  Young women told that children inconvenience relationships, careers, and success too often become older women longing for the sounds of grandchildren.

Why are so many women “anti-woman?”  Why do they find little value in teaching their daughters the skills for making a home… a nest for husband and children?  Why do they give them license to unrestrained emotions?  Dress them to be temptresses?  Make them physically, psychologically, and spiritually more vulnerable?

Is the National Organization of Women (NOW) pro or anti-woman?  Are women’s studies classes on university campuses pro or anti-women?  Are Congresswomen and women justices on the Supreme Court pro or anti-women?  When Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Dana Perino, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, S.E. Cupp, Laura Ingraham, Condoleezza Rice, Michelle Malkin, and other conservative-thinking women are called all manner of hateful names by Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz, Bill Maher and other crude un-gentlemen, do liberal-thinking women come to the defense of their sisters?

Why are so many women anti-woman?  What’s wrong with being a woman who is o.k. with being a woman?  Who doesn’t doubt her value?   Who can  re-adjust plans to welcome an “unexpected” child?   Who delights in making a home no matter the size of the house?  Who speaks well of good men?

Women who believe in the vitality and hopefulness of being a wife, mother, grandmother, and encourager of all that is female are just exactly what this country needs.

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Worship: What Does This Mean?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Vocation, tagged , , , , , on March 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

There was a time when I would have said that worship was something I did on Sunday mornings.  To worship, I thought, meant to “go to church;” to sing hymns, participate in the liturgy, and listen to the pastor’s sermon.  While it’s true that this is worship, it is only one kind of worship.

Romans 12:1 describes a worship that takes place every minute of every day.  God’s Word says to me, “. . . In view of God’s mercy . . . offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Worship means living my life in such a way that brings glory to God.  If I truly believe that God had great mercy on me, a poor and miserable sinner, and that Jesus Christ sacrificed His life because of my sins, then I have opportunity to live like a new person.  I have opportunity to respond to God’s great love in a way that pleases Him.  That shouldn’t just be on Sunday during congregational worship, but on every day of the week and in ever circumstance.  The choices I make, the work I do, the way I serve others, the attitude I have – all of these common, everyday thoughts and actions are either worship of God – or self.

It’s far too easy to worship self.  I do this every time I insist on my own way, or put my needs before others, or whine, or pout, or feel sorry for myself.  But, to worship God, my Creator and Redeemer, I must “become nothing” so the Holy Spirit who lives in me can alter my thinking, choices and behavior.  How does this work?

Jenna is in college… and pregnant.  The father of the baby wants to marry her.  They love each other, but the timing is all wrong; after all, she has plans for a career, travel, and the joys of marriage for a while without children.  Her dreams are shattered.  But, in view of God’s mercy, Jenna has the opportunity to sacrifice personal desires for the life of another.  Her choice to adjust plans in order to welcome a precious new life is her spiritual act of worship.

Max is a grandfather.  The patriarch of his family.  He is plagued with one physical challenge after another.  He had wanted to be the strong one for his wife and family; instead, he is the one who needs constant care and medical attention.  But, in view of God’s mercy, Max has the opportunity to adjust his attitude and his plans for “life after 80.” Rather than wasting time by complaining, Max chooses to sharpen his wit and laugh in the midst of adversity.  He encourages friends and family by turning their attention toward running the race marked out for them (Hebrews 12:1).  This is his spiritual act of worship.

Since childhood, Jake had wanted to be a physician.  Between the university and med school, he served his country in the military as a medic.  On a routine mission, something went terribly wrong and Jake’s life was forever changed.  He endured a series of operations intended to restore the use of his hands, but it was the Holy Spirit who performed the miracle.  In view of God’s mercy, Jake had opportunity to sacrifice personal goals and, instead, travel a different path.  He entered seminary, married, and became a father.  Several  years later, Jake and his family became missionaries.  His spiritual act of worship made a difference in the lives of countless men, women and children who might never have known Jesus Christ without Jake.

Our everyday lives are filled with opportunities to worship God  At work, we have the choice to give the best we can offer… or just get by.  In the neighborhood, we have the choice to engage ourselves in serving others… or remain unengaged and self-focused.  At a party, on a date, or at a sports event, we have the choice to please God… or please ourselves.  In view of His great mercy, we are encouraged to think, say, and do holy things… things that please God.

How do I know what is pleasing to God?  He tells me in His Word found in Romans 12:2.  “Don’t conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

What does worship mean to me?  The Holy Spirit has been patient with me.  Slowly (and against my will) opening my eyes to see.  To hear.  I’m beginning to understand that I have opportunities to worship with every attitude.  Every choice.  My behavior toward others.  Even my tone of voice.

Do I worship well?  No, I’m still a poor, miserable sinner.  But, in view of God’s mercy, I am a forgiven sinner.  Because of what Jesus Christ did for me, each new day is an opportunity to start over.  To try again.  To live differently than the world around me.  I am not captive to my past mistakes.  Because of Jesus, I have the freedom to make choices that are pleasing to God, but also a blessing to my neighbor.

My prayer is that I will worship on Sunday with thanksgiving and praise for what God has done.  God wants to see our faces turned toward Him.  But, even more, He wants to give to us.  I come to church on Sunday empty.  Used up.  Ready to be filled.  I don’t give to God on Sunday.  He gives to me.  He fills me with His Word and Sacrament.  Walking out the church door, and for the rest of the week, I have opportunity to live in response to His great mercy.

Each word, work, or service can be my worship — to His glory.

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Not a Gentleman, But Not a Lady, Either

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Life issues, tagged , , , , on March 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A well known and conservative talk show host recently failed to control his tongue.  More importantly, he failed to be a gentleman.  On public radio, he used words to boldly but negatively describe a young college woman.  The words used are not dissimilar to the words a father uses in Proverbs 7 when warning his son away from the woman of the night who says, “Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.”  But, the woman is not married to the one she entices for pleasure.

I am disappointed that a man who values “the high road” lowered himself to less than a gentleman.  But, I am also disappointed in the young woman and those who are using her to build a false argument for the cause of women’s health.  Thinking back to my high school and college days, I know for certain what a girl was called when the boys knew she was sleeping with someone and looking for contraceptive hand-outs.  

Really, women.  Let’s be honest.  What the HHS did in mandating that the insurance providers of religious organization cover the cost of contraceptives — including drugs that end a human life — was an assault on religious liberty and freedom of conscience.  That’s my liberty.  My conscience.  To take a stand against churches paying for birth control and drugs that might abort children in the womb is no infringement on women.  If a woman believes that contraceptives will improve her health, then she is free to visit Planned Parenthood where drugs and procedures will be provided (unfortunately with the help of my tax dollars).

Men, please practice self-control and act like gentlemen (that means watching your language and respecting even foolish women).  Women, practice the same self-control and act like ladies.  Ladies who respect themselves and men.  Ladies who don’t calculate that they need $3000 worth of insured contraceptives during their unmarried years at the university.

God said that it wasn’t good for man to be alone.  He needed a helper.  Women, there are a lot of good men out there who want to do the right thing by us.  Let’s help them — and future generations — by focusing less on our “rights” and more on our responsibilities.

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A Revolution Against Evil

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Parenting & Education, Vocation, tagged , , , , on March 2, 2012| 1 Comment »

I’m a tolerant person.  Tolerant of people, but not of the wrong things people do.

I have no tolerance for socially experimenting with children, stripping away their innocence, and setting them up for a fall.  I see the mission of pro-sodomy groups who know they can’t have their own children so absolutely must recruit other people’s children.  I’ve studied more than I ever wanted to know about Margaret Sanger, Alfred Kinsey, Planned Parenthood (PP), and SIECUS.  I am convinced: evil does exist.

What else should we call PP’s Northwest Region’s promotion of “Where Did You Wear It?”

The Daily Caller is reporting that, as part of National Condom Week, the nation’s largest abortion factory is selling and distributing 55,000 condoms with QR codes that allow users to “check in” and plot their GPS location on the interactive PP “Where Did You Wear It? map.

The PP site asks users: “Did you use a condom to protect yourself against unwanted pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases?”  Once answered, PP offers up encouragement like “You Go tiger!” and “Safe sex should be shared.”  Users can then anonymously brag about intimate details of their allegedly safer sex experience.

PP asks users to describe the experience by choosing from PP-suggested phrases like “Ah-maz-ing,” “rainbows exploded . . . ,” (ezerwoman chooses wisely not to give more examples).  Finally, users are asked to answer the question, “Where did you wear it?” and then encouraged to share their entire experience with the world through direct links to Facebook and Twitter.

Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America calls this “the most despicable mockery of love, marriage and the private relationship between a man and a woman” that she’s ever seen.  Even worse, “our tax-dollars are actually funding this organization that so brazenly undermines our values.”

Yes.  Evil does exist.  And evil has no desire for a generation of hope.

This Sunday, March 4, my fifth grandchild is going to be baptized.  Kate joins a big brother, Max, and three big boy cousins, Jaden, Ethan, and Andrew.  These young lives are proof that hope exists.  You can be sure that I will stay in this battle between good and evil for their sake… and for as long as I have breath.  I will talk to my grandchildren about patient love.  Friendship and trust.  Courtship and marriage.  I will guard the gate of their modesty.  I will encourage them to bring glory to God rather than to themselves as males and female.  I will always remind them that they are on a journey to an eternal destination.  And… I promise to help them journey well by warning of deception and teaching the truth.

George Orwell said, “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

The revolution for a new generation begins with each parent.  Grandparent.  Resisters of evil – all!

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Canada, Homeschoolers & “Gay” Sex

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Parenting & Education, tagged , , , on March 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In Alberta, Canada, homeschooling families, may soon be forbidden from teaching that homosexual sex is sinful as part of their schooling program.  Under the province’s Education Act, homeschoolers and religious schools will be banned from “disrespecting” people’s differences. 

“Whatever the nature of schooling – homeschool, private school, Catholic school – we do not tolerate disrespect for differences,” said Donna McColl, assistant director of communications to Alberta’s Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk.  “You can affirm the family’s ideology in your family life, you just can’t do it as part of your educational study and instruction.”  McColl added that Christian homeschooling families can teach biblical lessons on homosexuality in their homes, “as long as it’s not part of their academic program of studies and instructional materials.”  (Told to LifeSiteNews in February 2012.)  The legislation, known as Bill 2 in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, requires that all schools “reflect the diverse nature and heritage of society in Alberta, promise understanding and respect for others and honor and respect the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Human Rights Act.” 

The Human Rights Act has been used to target Christians who hold biblical beliefs about homosexuality.  In 2009, the Alberta Human Rights Act was amended to classify marriage as an institution between two “persons,” rather than a man and a woman. 

Paul Faris, president of the Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada, said, “The long arm of government wants to reach into family’s homes and control what they teach to their own children in their own homes about religion, sexuality and morality.  The Progressive Conservative government has 67 of the 83 seats in the Alberta Legislature, so the bill is almost certain to pass.

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Jesus Said: Don’t Hinder the Children, But Are We?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Parenting & Education, tagged , , , on February 28, 2012| 1 Comment »

Jesus said, “Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them” (Mark 10:14).  Jesus also said, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin” (Luke 17:1-2) 

Jesus expressed righteous anger when the disciples were trying to prevent little ones from coming to Jesus.  Jesus knows that infants can believe or trust (Luke 18:15) as shown by the way they long to be held by parents rather than by strangers.  An infant may inherit God’s kingdom (salvation) just as an infant may inherit the parents’ blessing and property.  Children have to trust and receive the care of others, and only in the same way does the kingdom of God come to us. But, what is the world – what are we – doing to prevent children from trusting God?  What are we doing to hinder them or cause them to sin?

Do we hinder a child from coming to Jesus through the act of abortion?  Can a dead child grow in trust and a personal relationship with Christ?  Do we prevent a little one from coming to Jesus through the act of infanticide?  Peter Singer, an ethicist and professor at Princeton University has long proclaimed that no newborn should be considered a person until 30 days after birth and that the attending physician should kill some disabled babies on the spot.  “Human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time,” he wrote in 1979. “They are not persons;” therefore, “the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.”  Where in Scripture does Jesus say that He wants a relationship only with perfect children?  Where does God say He cannot make a difference in the world through less than perfect children?

Do we cause little children to sin by giving them information they cannot process?  K-12 sex education is mandated in some form throughout U.S. schools.  Such education is built on the premise that more knowledge is good.  (What did God warn man about in Genesis 2:15-17?)  At early ages, boys and girls are put in classrooms together to learn about all things sexual.  The goal is to make children “comfortable with their sexuality.”  A great deal of information, discussions of “safe” sex, and how to use contraceptives are offered in elementary and middle school.  Religious or moral views are not considered “science;” therefore, they are not tolerated in the classroom.  But, purity instruction is scientifically supported.  A child’s brain is not fully developed; therefore, he cannot process all information.  Adult brains use the frontal lobe to think through the facts, rationalize, and put the brakes on emotional responses.  The frontal lobe is not fully developed until the late teens or even early 20s.  It’s not lack of information that puts children at risk; it’s lack of judgment.  This is largely ignored by sex educators, fashions, the media and internet.   Children are tempted with sexual images and suggestions away from what is holy, pure, healthy, and good.  Pharmaceutical companies and Planned Parenthood stand ready to profit from harmful choices.  What do you think?  How does all of this benefit children?  Are children led to Jesus, or away from Him? 

Do we cause children to sin by letting them believe that marriage between two men or two women is perfectly acceptable?  Homosexual groups are pressuring schools to teach children that they can choose whichever they want to be: boy or girl.  That homo, bi, or transsexual are “diverse” and “normal.”  Does such teaching lead children to Jesus Christ, The Word – or away from Him?

There is hope!  There is always hope for children when parents trust God’s creation and design.  Guard innocence.  Resist evil. 

Please visit Dr. Miriam Grossman, then contrast her scientific study with PP’s TeenWire

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Women, Sex & Health Care

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Relationships, Sexy or holy?, Vocation, tagged , , , , , on February 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

There is a stage being set.  I see male and female players, but focus on those of my own gender.  Why?  Because the way we women choose to play our role determines much for men and children.  Our character matters.   Each woman being called on stage is a daughter of Eve.  Each one is prompted with one question.  “Did God really say . . . ?”  So far in my lifetime, I have heard many responses.

“We are not created, but self-evolved!” proclaim deceived women.  “We are unbound sexual beings with the right to express our sensuality and seek pleasure.  Our daughters must be made comfortable with their sexuality.  Give them all knowledge and they will choose well.”

“We are no different from men,” proclaim foolish women, “and entitled to an equal playing field.  Men do not have to bear children, nor should we.”

“We have the right,” proclaim restless women, “to unlimited access to birth control and abortion.”

Deceived, foolish, and restless women have difficulty holding men accountable as faithful husbands.  Devoted fathers of their children.  Laborers who work for honest pay.   Builders of vibrant community.

When the act of sex is disconnected from procreation, an entire culture pays the price.  Everything – from the family to the economy, from ethics to health care – is affected.

Choosing to follow after the sensual lifestyle because “it’s who I am” comes with tremendous cost to society.  There are pills before sex and after sex.  Pills to fight infection.  Pills to fertilize life or abort life.  Fearing they may lose their “sexual freedom,” women cry out, “Do not come between me and my right to health care.”  In fact, “whether the conscience of my neighbor is good with my lifestyle or not, they must help fund my pills and procedures.”

The stage is set for Election Day.  Do you see the lines forming?  “Stand here, if you’re in favor of women’s health!”  “Over there, if you don’t give a wit.”  Backstage are powers and principalities busy pitting women against men, parents against children, a people against God.

Well, I give a wit.  But, my conscience can’t embrace the funding of Planned Parenthood or health care that mandates religious institutions to cover abortion-causing drugs.  Nor can my conscience turn away from deceived and restless women.  They may speak in one trained voice: “My body, my choice.”  They may be loud.  Bold.  Impassioned.  But, loud, bold, and impassioned voices can be a cover for unhappiness.  Fear.  Discontent.

Knowing this, I am compelled – mercifully compelled – to take a stand for women.  Not for our foolish and hurtful choices, but for women of character who are needed by men.  Children.  A nation.

Because God really did say there is a way that is right.  A way with blessings.  A future.  Hope.

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No Time For Foolishness

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , on February 15, 2012| 1 Comment »

Dear friends and fellow people of faith,

Now is not the time for foolishness. 

Please, don’t look at your watch on Sunday morning and complain if Divine Service expands beyond your allotted hour.  Instead, thank God that He is serving you and filling you with Word and Sacrament so that you are energized for your vocations of parenting, teaching, working, learning, building, and neighboring.

Please, put away your pride and curb your sensitivity if your pastor seems to speak directly to you and your particular weakness or sin.  Be grateful that God is using His servant to stir your conscience and lead you away from harm.

Please, don’t close your ears and plant your feet stubbornly if you hear your pastor speak about sins including abortion, homosexuality, living together outside of marriage, so-called gay “marriage,” euthanasia, and so on.  You may feel loyal to a particular political party.  You may believe that the church should stay silent where the government has spoken.  But, a pastor that speaks where God speaks is a pastor who is faithful to his call.  Instead of resisting that pastor or telling him to keep quiet, please pray for him.  Pray that he speak the Truth of Christ with the attitude of Christ.

Please, don’t be distracted by hymns with melodies you don’t like; or vestments that seem too priestly; or the weekly Lord’s Supper that stretches “church” even longer; or an organ that sounds, well, too much like a church organ; or a choir that doesn’t entertain.  Instead, be thankful that you can congregate with fellow believers in a public place of worship.

This, dear friends and fellow people of faith, is no time for foolishness.  Why?  Because we are living in a country that has legalized the killing of children in the womb whose hearts beat as vibrantly as the hearts of their mothers.  (Those 53+ million babies would have invigorated our economy and supported an aging 76 million baby boomers.) 

We are living in a country where three states have legalized euthanasia and six states plus the District of Columbia have legalized so-called same-sex “marriage.”   

We are living in a country where voters – many of them Christian – elected Barak Obama.  Under this president and his administration, freedom of worship (personal faith kept to oneself) has replaced freedom of religion (personal faith shared and practiced in public). 

Under this president, freedom of sexual expression (hetero, homo, bi or trans) is the right above all other rights. 

Under this president, the government partners with Planned Parenthood (the nation’s largest provider of abortions) and we, the taxpayers, fund deceitful cover of rape and under-age prostitution, separation of minors from their parents, and drugs and procedures that place girls and young women at risk physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Under this president, people of faith – people like you and me – are being stripped of their right to conscience; in other words, their right to resist evil and do good.  With “Obamacare,” for example, church bodies are being told that they must obey Caesar rather than God. 

So please, dear friends and people of faith –

This is not the time to foolishly complain about the length of Divine Service, or liturgy, or sermons that make you squirm.  This is the time to thank God that you can still gather in His name and in a public place.  This is the time to grow more familiar with The Word, partake in the Sacrament, and encourage one another to resist evil and mentor a new generation for Christ.

Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).

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Are Catholics Stupid?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Citizenship, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Vocation, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

No.  Neither are those of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  Or other church bodies which are speaking up in defense of religious liberty.

But, President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius must think differently.  Following the firestorm ignited by his policy forcing religious organizations to pay for “contraceptives” and sterilizations, the President offered a compromise.  “Quite frankly,” said Bill Donahue of the Catholic League, “he’s adding insult to injury.  He must think the Catholics are stupid.” 

The president is playing word games which fail to mask his assault on core convictions regarding the sanctity of human life held dear for decades by many Christians.   Catholics, Southern Baptists and Missouri Synod Lutherans believe aborting a child by way of so-called “contraceptive” pills such as Ella or “Plan B” is a sin.  The government said, “So what?  You’ll do as we say.”

Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius have blatantly disregarded individual conscience and faith by forcing religious organizations to pay for “preventative services for women.”  HHS, you see, has included unintended pregnancy as “a condition for which safe and effective prevention and treatment” need to be more widely available.  (This sets the stage for mandated coverage of abortion as the treatment when prevention fails.) 

In effect, Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius see pregnancy not only as a burden, but as an obstacle – or disease – that must be overcome.  To commemorate the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Mr. Obama was unashamedly transparent.  He said legalized abortion is indispensable “to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.” 

I believe Mr. Obama is being honest in a most sobering way.  He is taking a stand against life and liberty.  He is friend to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions, but foe to the church that seeks to protect and rescue human life in Jesus’ name.  More important than the sanctity of human life to this administration is the sanctity of personal liberation.    

So, here’s what I think.  Catholics, Southern Baptists, Missouri Synod Lutherans, Rick Warren, and other conservative believers are not stupid.  But, we are enablers.

I think this government is doing what it is doing because we Christians have enabled the culture to deteriorate.  We let ourselves come under the influence of nonbelieving neighbors in the land.  We went to the university and mingled with those who followed Darwin, Lenin, Sanger and Kinsey.  We set aside God’s Word on all matters of life to follow after human opinion.  We believed ourselves wise enough to separate good from evil. 

Abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court only because many in the so-called faith community had already condoned it.  And, why do you think that might be?  Because they had fallen for the lie that abortion is “a tragic but necessary choice.”   Behind that lie was another: We are “sexual beings” whose right to be sexual trumps all other rights, even the right to life. 

Perhaps we in the faith community ought not be so critical of this government for attacking religious liberty.  Perhaps we set ourselves up for the attack by letting people who oppose God shape the thinking of our children.  Lenin said that America would never be changed by a Bolshevik-style revolution.  Instead, believed Lenin, removal of God and the rule of socialism would be guaranteed if children were separated from their parents and taught to follow after “their sexual instincts.” 

A century of Darwin and at least five decades of Sanger and Kinsey have had their way with American children.  Those children grew up questioning God and standards of morality.  They were taught to be comfortable with their flesh side – their sensuality, but this put them at odds with their Creator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.   For them, the First Commandment is no longer “You shall have no other gods before Me;” rather, it is: “I am my own god” and “it’s my body, my choice.”  This becomes crystal clear to me as I hear women defend President Obama’s order that all religious institutions provide contraceptives.  They completely miss the fact that individual conscience is being violated and religious liberties stripped away.  They focus, instead, on their sexual liberties and the “right” not to be burdened by the procreative miracle of sex.  “I’m a working woman,” said one, “who must be guaranteed my reproductive rights.”  “This Catholic uproar,” said another woman, “has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with women’s health.” 

Do you agree that Christians have enabled such thinking?  It is fact that even “good” Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, and other Christian parents have allowed their sons and daughters to be educated by those whose worldview opposes God.  Children have been separated from parents and tutored K-12 in “sex education” or “family living” or “human sexuality” classes whose origins are not God but Sanger and Kinsey.  Educated in such an environment, children do come to think about the act of sex, marriage, family, and civic responsibilities in ways that open the door to government intervention.

Legalized abortion and now this bold attack on religious liberties and individual conscience are government policies that happen when the people (that’s us) seek after the unholy rather than the holy.  After sensuality rather than purity.  After self-gratification rather than generational faithfulness. 

People of faith are not stupid.  But, we are enablers.  I’ve always believed that God placed me where I am at this time in history to play a specific role as the woman He created me to be.  As that woman, I have a choice.  To enable neighbors – and, thus, a culture – to seek after things of God… or self.  To raise the standard of behavior for men and children… or to lower it.  To live as if I’m on a journey to eternal life with God… or just “here for the moment, so get all I can.”

There are those who want to strip away the right to defend life.  Purity.  Marriage and family.  Ethics.  Just law.  Freedom of conscience and faith.  We can no longer enable them to do so.

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