Islam does not need guns or bombs in America

Here is an excellent factual look at what the Koran says, the history of Islam from its beginnings, what was the behavior of its founder, and speaks directly to those who would say, "Islam is a peaceful religion." This is worth watching every minute of it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-871902797772997781

Don

How Do You Know How Many Kids You Should Have?

I have always loved mathematics. It is one of the main reasons I studied engineering in school. Simple math can even give us insights to the effects Christianity and Islam are having on the world today.

My oldest son and I attended an Evangelism Explosion seminar a few weeks ago. In this seminar the instructor sort of went off on a tangent and shared something I have never heard shared in church before. He said that years ago he was teaching a young marrieds Sunday School class and he was teaching them through the Song of Solomon. During this teaching a young woman asked a question he was not prepared to answer. She asked, "How do you know how many kids you should have?"He told her, "Let me look that up and get back to you." He then went searching for an answer in the Bible. He then told us what he found. He said, "Class, you know what? You won't find anywhere in Scripture that you should limit the number of kids you should have. In fact, it says in Scripture that children are a blessing and the more you have the better."

Sadly, I know many Christians have never heard this before. And the way of the culture is to maybe have children but not too many. Most Christian families have followed this cultural norm not knowing any better. I know I was very close to making a decision that would have cut me off literally from having more children. And only by God's grace did He alter my course of action and here I am six children later and hoping God will give us the privilege of raising more.

Ultimately it is God who opens and closes the womb. And I know there are many who desire to have children but are not able and for whatever reason God will many times decide to keep the womb closed. We see in the Old Testament many very godly women whose wombs were closed for a time. But we never see in Scripture God telling someone to sterilize themselves or take some action to prevent conception. God's word clearly states that "children are a blessing" and certainly we see throughout Scripture and in our own personal experience that God does withhold blessings from his people when they turn away from His desires and/or pursue other things instead. In other words, man can reject God's blessings by his own free will and actions.

In this culture it seems very strange for a married couple to leave their reproductive system fully natural and capable as God designed it. And for some it is a very scary idea to let God decide how many kids you will have. But isn't that what faith is all about. Trusting God, because He has proven to be trustworthy and He is God afterall, even when our own logic or the worlds wisdom around us tells us to do something else? And is it not the purpose of the Christian to live for Jesus and not himself?

Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. -Malachi 2:13-15

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. -Psalm 127

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." -Genesis 1:27-28

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. -Proverbs 5:18-19

Don

Evangelism or Saving Babies? Which will it be?

Recently in a discussion about abortion with some fellow brothers, a statement was reapeated over and over and it went like this: "Evangelism must always come first. That is the way it has always been. Then everything else comes after that." Of course in the context of this discussion, "everything else" is referring to pro-life activism. That is, the activity of defending pre-born babies. This statement has several problems.

1. It assumes that doing one means you can't do the other. Why is it that defending babies from being tortured to death is somehow prohbitive of sharing the good news of forgiveness and freedom from sin through Jesus Christ? I reject that at its face and you should too. Or at least, someone is going to have to prove that statement to me. It is a false dilemma. The two are not exclusive of the other and in fact, I would argue, the two are in harmony. What do I mean by that?....

2. The missionary heroes of faith, those we might tout as being in the evangelism hall of fame, are filled with examples of saints who minister first and spent most of their time ministering to physical needs of those they were with. The list is long and just off the top of my head here are but a few:

• Hudson Taylor - missionary to China who cared for the needs of unwanted chinese children
  
• William Carry-missionary to India. Was instrumental in bringing an end to "Sati" the practice of burning widows after their husbands died.
  
• Amy Carmichael-missionary to India. Known for rescuing young girls from being enslaved as Hindu temple prostitutes.
  
• Gladys Aylward-missionary to China. Rescued hundreds of orphans. Helped stop the practice of foot binding.
  
• Corrie Ten Boom-devoted Christian and along with her sister and father, were part of the Dutch resistance to the Nazis and rescued Jews from slaughter.
  
• George Mueller-Evangelist and coordinated orphanages in Bristol, England.
• Mother Theresa-Roman Catholic Nun who ministered to the sick, poor and dying for decades.
  

I know the list could go on but you get the idea. Let's not also forget that the historians record that the early Christian church was known for caring for the sick and needy. And they were also known for caring for abandoned babies. Something that the Roman culture practiced and despite the legal prohibitions by the Roman government to intervene for these babies, the Christians cared for them anyway under great persecution.

3. And thirdly, since when does "evangelism" trump the commandments of Jesus? Jesus and the apostles clearly commanded Christians to care for the physical needs of the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40) and to care for "widows and orphans" (James 2). We see through out the Old Testament that God repeatedly demands justice for the helpless and needy.

I don't understand this logic. But really I should. Why is that? What is it that is different about the helpless people that the above listed saints cared for and the unborn children being killed by abortion? The difference here is that most people do not see the pre-born babies as the same as the victims of the above injustices. The pre-born is an abstraction and abortion is merely a lesser of evils but not a great evil. At least not nearly an evil comparable to the genocides listed above.

I see this all the time. The smartest people and what you might say are the most godly people completely miss that there is a holocaust happening in their own backyard.

So you see there is no contradiction between Christian evangelism and pro-life activism. That is unless the unborn are really not human beings and are not our "neighbor" who we should love as ourselves.

Don Cooper

"If those who claim the name of Christ are not willing to stand up against something as evil as killing a baby, then the world has the right to ask if Christ is real." -Francis Schaeffer

Baby Gabriel Is Born

There are times now in my life that I reflect on the work that I am doing and find it very odd.  In its most simplistic sense, I find it odd that there is even a reason that I have to argue that killing babies is wrong and should be illegal.  Fortunately, for most people, I don't have to argue too much because the facts speak for themselves and for most people when they see the hard evidence of what abortion is, the person's conscience reasons them to the conclusion that it is seriously wrong.  Unfortunately, these are facts that most people do not want to see and in fact would prefer to remain ignorant of them or in denial of them.  Hence the need for all the crazy stuff I do at CBR:  http://abortionNO.org

 Just a few days ago my son Gabriel was born.  I have been looking at this incredibly beautiful creation so perfectly formed.  He is utterly helpless and entirely dependent upon us to care for him.  He cannot talk and although he looks around and is very alert for a newborn baby, I am not sure how much he can even think.  Yet that makes him all the more precious. I would give up all things for the sake of this little boy.

I think about the pro-abortion arguments that attempt to justify killing babies with statements such as "viability" (which is another word for dependence), size, ability to think, level of development, etc. and I think how absurd these arguments are.  And in its most simplistic sense I am reminded that abortion is nothing short of the most evil and disgusting act that man has ever devised.  What kind of person takes a helpless, innocent human baby and rips him apart limb for limb?  When I look at my son I am reminded that there are babies just like him who are being tortured to death every day.  It is just wrong and utterly disgusting.

 

I am sometimes asked by people, "Why are you so passionate about abortion?".  Or they may ask, "Why did you decide to do this work fulltime?" And while I understand the question at some level, for the most part I want to ask, "Why do you even have to ask me that?"  Babies are being tortured to death all around us.  Why are you not so passionate about abortion?  Why are you not doing all you can to save these babies from this horror? 

The Tolerance of Injustice and the Gospel

This morning I was listening to some hymns on a CD and one hymn reminded me of the Civil Rights movement.  It has been forgotten by the politically correct that the Civil Rights movement and the abolitionists of slavery had a foundation in Christianity.  Those who were at the forefront of these efforts openly proclaimed the name of Christ and His teachings.  With that in mind however, I thought that it is amazing that the gospel spread to African Americans in this country when there was so much hypocrisy abounding.  When slavery was legal, the institutional church was silent at best and pro-slavery at worst.  This can be seen in the writings of such people as William Loyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.  

Why was the institutional church silent or pro-slavery?  Because it was not politically correct to be openly opposed to slavery. It was devisive.  You might offend some of your church members who were slave owners and depended upon it for their livliehood.  And besides that, the black man's humanity was in doubt so who was to say whether slavery was right or wrong.  One might believe the black man was fully human as a white man.  While some thought it was not so.  But who were they to force their view on somebody. Each person would have to make up his own mind.  In the mean time, let's get about our business of "worshipping" God.

 

It is sickening to think about really.  Yet are we not at that same point today?  The humanity of the pre-born child and the inhumanity of abortion that kills that child is in debate today.  And sadly, the institutional church has for the most part been a non-player.

 

How much moral authority can the church have when she tolerates something as evil as killing a baby?  How convincing is the message of the love of Jesus when those bringing that message are either complicit in the deaths of babies or complacent about the killing going on around them?  

 

More to follow... 

 

DEC