The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
- Thomas Jefferson
Only a fraction of a percent of ordained ministers have served as a director of a leading pro-life organization. With over thirty years in strategic Christian service, including more than a decade of pastoral ministry and pro-life activism, the author belongs to a select fraternity.
This and other GB articles represent a synergy of these viewpoints. Using such "depth perception" this commentary is intended to introduce the true nature of the challenge presented by abortion, particularly to modern Christianity.
For years I attended an informal Tuesday 9 a.m. interdenominational pastors prayer meeting. The gathering of about 30 men was officially hosted and led by a modest size Assemblies of God church. It was unofficially led by an older, media favored pastor, of what had long been Fresno’s largest Protestant mega-church.
As corporate prayer meetings go, the hour long sessions were better than some. While ordained decades before, I had first been invited to the meeting as the administrator of a well known Christian para-church organization that discipled substance abuse addicts and prison pre-release men. Housing up to 40 at at time, generally for two years, the program was well respected in the community. Later, I would attend as the executive director of Right to Life of Central CA based in Fresno.
For reasons that have and will be discussed, the topic of abortion was of little or no interest at this, or for that matter, most prayer meetings. Serious and well attended weekly prayer meetings are all too rare in and of themselves. Those frequented by interdenominational gatherings of clergy, all the more so. Constrained by understanding the true nature of abortion and it’s threat, particularly to modern Christianity, I spent years gently earning trust and enlightening my colleagues. Always with an eye to Christ’s counsel to be “wise as a serpents but harmless as doves.” Generally, one or two attendees would lead. Others frequently and sometimes robustly chimed in. All the while, I sociably sympathized with their thoughts and prayers. Through mostly silent support, over months I built up prayer equity while waiting for an opportune moment. A few times a year, a situation would present itself. Unobtrusively, I would synchronize a meaningfully worded info prayer with a current event or report. For example, the story would rightfully come up from time to time regarding how the murder rate in Fresno had noticeably dropped over the meeting’s decade old history. On one occasion, perhaps near the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, I mentioned in prayer that while deeply thankful for a few dozen less murders a year in Fresno, during the same period there continued to over a thousand annual abortions. All but unnoticed. Except by God, Whom had been knitting these babies together in the womb of their mislead mothers.
Following my plaintive prayer, you could have heard a pen drop. A few second’s latter, a junior member groaned, “Oh God…” beginning to offer heartfelt repentance. For the next few minutes a handful more responded sensitively to the Holy Spirit. Then, preferring a more positive gospel, the groups celebrity pastor broke the Spirit’s flow. He did this, as he often did, by off all things singing the old chorus, “Come, Holy Spirit, I need Thee. Come, sweet Spirit, I pray. Come, in Thy strength and Thy power. Come, in Thine own gentle way.” Thus signaling it was time for the group to move on.
Well over a decade later, there remain but a few memorable moments from said meeting. Once, an ordinarily happy-go-lucky African pastor from Nigeria shared his broken hearted realization that cable TV was devilishly delivering ghetto mentality, via streaming rap music videos, right into our homes. He received a compassionately brief response. Another time, a visiting pastor confessed his small church was filled with shattered families and unanswered prayers. He concluded honestly that “nothing works.” At least not very well and not very long.
Each of these cases begs the question, why? Why do most clergy fail to see, much less appropriately respond, to the issue and ramifications of abortion? Why are Christians paying to inundate their homes with a thousand shades of immoral and objectionable entertainment? Why are church families and prayers continually frustrated? Are we missing something?
Some oppositions to the Kingdom of God are obvious and others obscure. Some are recent and others entrenched over time. Some are corporate in nature and others personal.
Abortion is all the above.
Quantum in a variety of ways, the spiritual scourge of over a billion clinical abortions should be obvious. On the other hand, being quietly performed in clinics claiming to specialize in family planning services obscures the issue.
As does the abortifacient nature of many popular contraceptives.
Abortion on demand was legalized during my generation. Even so, massive technological and social changes can make four or five decades seem like centuries.
Wholesale participation in abortion has immense corporate impact. Yet, at least in the developed world, it remains the result of a mother’s personal choice.
In the same vein, Scripture explains that some sins are deal breakers and some are not:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 New King James Version - Emphasis QC’s
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46 New King James Version - Emphasis QC’s
In this parable Christs reveals that both the sheep and goats are clueless as to His extreme concern and identification with the needy. Even so, discerning and doing one’s duty, or not, eternally separates the two camps. Such confusion seems surprising in light of this and other teachings of Jesus, as well as His apostles. All having been painstakingly handed down for millennia. Then again, spiritual insensitivity is fast becoming more the rule than exception. I know whereof I speak.
Decades ago, on the lookout for prayer meetings, I ran across an all nighter sponsored by Right to Life of Central CA commemorating the Silver Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Out of Fresno County's population of a million, perhaps ten Christians came and went. Of those only two, a friend and myself, were ordained. Though at the time neither of us had pastorates. That night I first learned that the global death toll of clinical abortion exceeded a billion. Five to ten times the planet’s population when Jesus walked the Earth. As a minister and charismatic at that, I valued my discernment and responsiveness to both Scripture and the Spirit. Needless to say, I was totally shocked to be blindsided by such a statistic. Deeply moved, from that day to this, I have continually pondered these things in my heart.
Early that following morning my friend drove to a local abortuary to pray in his car. Excited, he called from his cell phone to discuss his sense of the Lord’s presence. To my knowledge he never returned. It was a year before I felt ready to become a sidewalk counselor. There I discovered Jesus in His smallest and most innocent form. Totally dependent for “food” and “drink,” “naked” and “in prison” in the very womb of His mother. There I watched as He was repeatedly carried, “like a lamb to the slaughter,” into a medical clinic. A most solemn and sorrowful scenario with grave spiritual ramifications. One repeated in Fresno alone over 100,000 times.
It seems crucial to note that in the quantum parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus forever condemns not just those committing abortion, but those guilty of the sin of omission by failing to rescue the perishing. This in keeping with a myriad of Scriptures, including a direct warning from Proverbs:
“Rescue the perishing; don’t hesitate to step in and help. If you say, “Hey, that’s none of my business,” will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know—Someone not impressed with weak excuses." Proverbs 24:11-12 The Message
This bodes poorly for modern Christian who for decades did little to nothing to end the holocaust of clinical abortion. Add to this the all but ubiquitous use of contraceptive abortion through abortifacients may be an eternal problem. Add to this the all but ubiquitous use of contraceptive abortion through abortifacients may be an eternal problem. Add to this the all but ubiquitous use of contraceptive abortion through abortifacients may be an eternal problem. Particularly given the hesitancy or even refusal of church leadership to be informed, much less inform their congregations. Who, if they were like the average Catholic who may well be warned, may pay little attention.
Rev. 9:21; 21:8; 22:15; Gal. 5:20 - these verses mention the word "sorcery." The Greek word is "pharmakeia" which includes abortifacient potions such as birth control pills. These pharmakeia are mortally sinful. Moreover, chemical contraception does not necessarily prevent conception, but may actually kill the child in the womb after conception has occurred (by preventing the baby from attaching to the uterine wall).
Most clergy and laity object, citing being personally pro-life and anti-abortion. Yet Christ seems to dismiss such justification in His story, not parable, of The Good Samaritan. One may well image the Priest and Levite who passed by, leaving the victim half dead, were both pro-safe travel and anti-robbery. Yet failing to stop and render immediate and long term aid nevertheless condemned them.
Keep in mind that church attending Christians could have ended abortion in a single day, 365 days a year, for 50 years, by simply sending 1% of our congregations to have family friendly picnics in front of every abortion clinic in America. With thousands peacefully blocking entrances, even should there be numerous arrests, the sheer numbers involved would shut down all abortuaries in a single day. With 99% more now authentically pro-life Christians waiting for a chance to join cause.
Still hundreds of millions maintain that the distance from the scene of the crime, abortion clinics, absolves them from guilt. The argue that even if abortion is murder, there are many murders for which believers bear no responsibility. True, yet if they had been regularly scheduled to take place at a business locations for decades, producing a death toll of over 63 million in America alone, and we did nothing, would we not be culpable?
Such concerns and more strongly suggest the overwhelming vast majority of First World believers fall far short of the Bible's standard of being authentically pro-life.
Nearly 100 Saturdays I went to warn and beg up to twenty girls a day to spare their babies. Via public parking constraints, forced to pass near I implored, “If God gives you the gift of a child don’t let anyone harm it.” Often alone, sometimes there would be nearly a handful of us. On a good day, one or two mother’s would listen and change their minds. On many other occasions none at all.
In over two years I don’t recall a single member of the clergy or even lay leader joining us. Though I understand the odds may have somewhat improved through the influence of 40 Days For Life.
Only a fraction of fraction of a percent of ordained ministers have served as a director of a leading pro-life organization. Far less still have had the honor and responsibility to act as the chief liaison to thousands of churches in state wide pro-life political initiatives. With well over thirty years in strategic Christian service, including more than a decade of pastoral ministry and pro-life activism, the author is privileged to belong to a select fraternity. This and other chapters represent a synergy of these viewpoints. Using such depth perception, this commentary is intended to introduce the true nature of the challenge presented by abortion. Particularly to modern Christianity.
During California’s 2005 Prop. 73 Parent’s Right To Know initiative I produced the pro-life political DVD entitled “Protect Me…Please” to be shown in hundreds, if not thousands of churches, prior to or on election Sunday. Groundbreaking, the 3 minute video featuring post abortive laments of teenage girls, made the front page of both the LA Times and San Francisco Chronicle. Prop. 73 failed by a narrow margin.
During the subsequent Prop. 85 initiative I achieved another milestone. For the first time, four leading Protestant state denominations, the Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel and Foursquare, officially endorsed a political initiative. Again Parent’s Right to Know (PRK) was defeated.
Our third attempt in 2008 with Prop 4. affectionately dubbed “Sarah’s Law” failed as well. Wikipedia lists the statistics as follows:
More than political, my involvement was spiritually motivated. After having spoken to thousands of Christians across denominational lines, it was clear that far less than 1% of either clergy or laity had the vaguest notion of the scale of abortion’s true threat to either the pre-born or the Church. California’s PRK initiatives served as a series of spiritual MRI’s for it’s population, Christian and otherwise. The Golden State commits the lion’s share of America’s tens of millions of clinical abortions. Thus even something as innocuous as simply requiring a single parent to at least be notified 48 hours prior to their minor daughter having a surgical procedure, would have been the most effective pro-life accomplishment since Roe vs. Wade. Yet, even though consent, not notification, was required before a school nurse could administering an aspirin to a teen, the initiatives repeatedly failed.
As did modern Christianity. Three times, over a three year period, God used PRK to assess and reveal Churchianity’s spiritual sensitivity and condition. And that basically through the leadership and financial auspices of Jim Holman, a single Catholic donor and newspaper publisher.
Three times we failed the test.
Put another way, three times God provided the slowest pitched pro-life softball possible. He required no persecution or shouldering one’s cross. No fasting or prayer vigils. No rescue arrests or even sidewalk counseling. All God asked of California Christians was to vote correctly, on a single issue one time in a row. During all three opportunities, millions of Christian voters either swung and missed, or failed to swing at all.
There is one institution entrusted as the gate keeper of all human society. The Church, ordained by God and acknowledged by man, had stood vigil as guard and conscience of Christian nations for the better part of two millennia. Our greatest institutions were inspired and guided by the truth given to the Church for the benefit of all humanity. From the 1st century to the first half of the 20th, Christianity in general, and Western Christianity in particular, served in many ways as a city on a hill and a lamp on a stand providing guidance and light for the whole Earth.
For the last several decades, the very Christian nations once evangelizing the globe with the Gospel of Christ have become heralds of another message. How did these nations so quickly loose their way? Who would have believed that in little more than a single generation, our generation, morality would be inverted, while the protectors would become predators, and that of their own offspring?
Jesus warned you cannot enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods without first binding the strong man. Unfortunately for us, it would appear the demonic took the lesson to heart.
Churchianity disagrees. Most claim exemption from at least major deception. Yet consider the mighty Samson. Anointed by the Lord a Nazarite from before birth and called to be a judge and defender of God's people. Modern Christianity has a similar, if not greater, mandate. Yet, we too have been beguiled by the charms of worldly wisdom. Even as Delilah, a type of the lusts of the world, bound Samson in pleasure and deception, so too Churchianity has been artfully seduced. Concession by concession, compromise by compromise, our Nazarite vows have been broken and our hair cut. Like Samson, drunk on our indulgences, we've been bound by strong cords in our sleep. How else could our nation, congregations and families have been so pillaged? Is it possible that like Samson, we who could not be conquered without yielding to sin, have grieved the Holy Spirit and have lost our strength to stand against our enemies?
It's not only possible, it's a certainty.
As detailed extensively elsewhere, the New Testament Book of James is filled with strong warnings against worldliness. Though his privileged position as Christ’s half brother, James gained insights by both revelation and decades spent with the Son of God in real life situations. Like Jesus, James cared little for pretense, religious or not. His cry was for love, not in words but in deeds:
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27 NKJV
Finally, only in the case of abortion, has the wholesale termination of life been legalized, embraced and exported by formally Christian nations. And this by millions becoming billions. Such circumstances explain that while lessor ministries are laudable, they, in and of themselves, hardly fulfill all the “Law and the Prophets.”
“When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” Matthew 22:34-40 The Message - Emphasis QC’s
"Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." James 4:4 NKJV
"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was." James 1:23 New King James Version
While clearly not all 70% were practicing Christians, whatever the actual percentage is remains shocking. How can we who are commanded to lay down our lives for our friends and even enemies, take the lives of our own children? How can martyrs, the translation of the New Testament word witnesses, become murderers? Only by falling from grace and denying the core values of our faith. Abortion's true objective all along.
So again I ask, like Samson, have we been strategically seduced? Are we bound and taken captive by an army of worldly lusts? Having miserably failed the first half of Scripture’s test, we are clearly out of compliance with the last half of James’ previously referenced directive, “to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” We have only to gaze a moment on our spiritual reflection to decisively answer the question. For decades Barna has provided the perfect mirror by which modern Christianity can measure itself against the quality of love for God and others as Christ commands. Friendly but firmly, their polls of Churchianity’s behavior have for decades painted a clear and troubling portrait.
A Barna poll of Christians reveals the extent to which the following attitudes and actions have been deemed morally acceptable by "Born Again" Christians:
Just these handful of dated statistics prove that our tolerance of and/or participation in abortion is no anomaly. Truth be told, we seem to be fans of all seven deadly sins. And then some.
Abortion is just the pinnacle sin a long list of serious transgressions. Nevertheless, Scripture directly and indirectly repeatedly warns that participation in the shedding of innocent blood, either by commission or omission, has a devastating effect on God's people.
The answer to the question of how the Church has become so worldly so quickly is simple. One poor choice at a time. As Gulliver found in Lilliput, enough of the smallest cords can bind, as twisting together they become cables. Choices lead to habits. For better or worse, over time, habits create lifestyles. Lives in which sins can fasten like chains.
Along these lines, the New Testament agrees with a moving scene from Batman Begins. Here Christian Bale, as Batman, is confronted by his childhood friend Rachel Dawes, played by Katie Holmes. Batman, back from an extended absence, is posing as the playboy Bruce Wayne. During his time abroad, Rachel has repeatedly risked her life in the D.A.’s office trying to save Gotham from criminal meltdown:
Dawes: Bruce?
Batman: Rachel?
Dawes: I Herd you were back. What are you doing?
Batman: Uh, just swimming. Wow. It is good to see you.
Dawes: You were gone a long time.
Batman: I know. How are things?
Dawes: The same. Job’s getting worse.
Batman: Can’t change the world on your own.
Dawes: What choice do I have? When you’re too busy swimming.
Batman: Rachel. All of.. all this. It’s not me. Inside I am… I am more.
Dawes: Bruce. Deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be. But it’s not who you are underneath. It’s what you do that defines you.
In Bruce Wayne’s case, his secret identity as Batman stands him in good stead. As for Churchianity, not so much. “It’s what you do that defines you” is a sentiment shared by the Scriptures and devoted disciples down throughout millennia. A message beautifully expressed in the life and ministry of Jackie Pullinger, “a British Protestant Christian charismatic missionary to Hong Kong and founder of the St. Stephen's Society. She began ministering in Hong Kong in 1966. Her work has resulted in thousands of drug addicts being saved from their drug addictions. The early years of her Hong Kong ministry are chronicled in the book Chasing the Dragon (1980’s)." QC highly recommends viewing her short video entitled Go. Here’s a partial transcript:
The principal of the Gospel is this. The Gospel always brings life to the receiver and death to the giver. If the Gospel brought death to Jesus Christ, why would we think that in preaching the Gospel it would be any less for us? So no. He said, “If anybody would be my disciple he must take up his cross and follow me." If it killed him to give life to us, and he invites us then to do the same, why would we expect that it would be any less? So the mixture of our message is life and death. And laughter and tears. And such it is. But for us, life is never ordinary. Life is never flat. And this is what Jesus said about his Father in John 17, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life. Only to take it up again. No one takes it from me.” Jesus was not sentenced to die by his Father. He was allowed to chose. “I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again.” He said, “This is why my Father loves me.” God the Father had this extraordinary plan of winning you and me for eternity by having his Son killed. But his Son voluntarily responded. You know it’s not so easy for him to respond. In fact he spent his entire life practicing. And even the night before it was still difficult for Jesus. And He said, “God is there another way? Is there another way?” And I know many many people in the church say, “Is there another way?" And in our Hong Kong churches it does look as if there’s another way. Normal Christians live a normal Christian life. Go to meetings, jump up and down on stages, while we are exhausted and die. And they say, “Well you got a special ministry Jackie.” Well no. I think we’re all called to give up our lives. Would you like to do this with us. We’d really like some help…”
Quantumly, we are both what we do and fail to do. If we fail to care for our bodies they weaken, sicken and die. The same is true for our souls. Biblically there are two kinds of faith. Living and dead. Living faith must grow, feeding on a diet of personal and corporate sanctification and devotion. It must be regularly examined and kept free of doctrinal disease. It must be continually exercised with good deeds, particularly those that accompany true salvation. Unfortunately, for Scripturally illiterate modern Christianity, before you can obey God you must know and understand His commands. The beginning of obedience is Bible study. The average believer seriously does so less than ten minutes a day.
Little wonder we fail to recognize, much less keep, the Bible's most important tenants. On the other hand, on average American family’s watch many hours of TV a day. It's one thing for a Christian to have a divided heart. Far worse when we give worldly entertainment 30, 50 or even 100 fold the quality time we set apart for seeking, much less serving God. Particularly One, who as the Creator of at least 200 billion trillion suns, is a self proclaimed “consuming fire.”
Splintered into a variety of denominations, proclaiming various versions of Christ, Churchianity has little interest in diligently pursuing that which is most important… the honest truth. Even those more discerning often sing and preach half the genuine gospel or less. Given Omnity’s gracious outpouring of blessing on this generation, our lackluster response is all the more unbelievable.
It's been said if you want to gage how popular a church is, count the number who attend the Sunday morning service. To discover the popularity of a pastor, count those attending Sunday night or the mid week service. To determine how important God is to a congregation, count those regularly participating in a prayer meeting. That is, if the church even has one. And serious, lengthy and regular prayer is just a preliminary to the kind of radical discipleship exemplified and required by the New Testament.
The New Testament repeatedly advises against claiming be a Christian without living like one. In Christ’s judgment of Revelation’s seven churches, He reverberates a warning. Not “I know your faith and worship... tithing and attendance record... emotions and good intentions" but rather "I know your works.” Based on their actions, not their doctrine, words or worship, Christ examines His Church. He reveals their sins and warns them of coming reward or judgment. As a quick review:
It's a bad sign that five out of seven of Revelation's churches were severely warned of temporal, if not eternal judgments.
This is a chilling scenario in light of our aborting five to ten times the Earth's population in Jesus' day. Not to mention a litany of additional sins we daily provide the Devil as the Accuser of the Church. Remember Christ's warning, "to whom much is given, from him much will be required.”
How has the Church in First World Nations become so worldly? Answer this question and you uncover abortion's secret weapon and primary objective. But be warned, you will not like the answer.
Both life experience and Scriptural revelation agree mankind is missing something. Incomplete, in a variety of ways, humanity daily seeks something few take the time to quantify. In a word, happiness. All our books and magazines, music and movies address it. Through our best virtues and basest vices we pursue it. Every day we each long and work for it. Our pursuit of happiness is in hope of having a full life. We each feel a degree of emptiness. From the holiest of saints to the most notorious of sinners, we seek fulfillment. We mistakenly long for happiness, when what we truly crave is nothing short of glory. Ultimate and everlasting joy.
The issue is simple. Through seemingly insignificant choices we vault our own pursuit of happiness over and above Christ’s command and example of selflessness. This goes double for the sins of commissioning and/or omission regarding abortion. With temptation and deception, entitlement and sin rampant, it’s “death by a thousand cuts” that is killing modern Christianity. Along with the world we’re commissioned to save.
There are many kinds of fulfillment. James speaks of a wisdom from above and a wisdom from below. The later being "earthly, sensual and demonic." So too, fulfillment can come from various sources in a wide variety of forms. From holy contemplative prayer to drug induced altered states of consciousness.
It's been said sin is simply taking by force now what God would grant in His time. We do so because we are hungry to be filled. We crave what we want and demand it now. Herein lies the power of sin over mankind. The root of all sin is a trinity of lust. The lust of the eyes, flesh and ego known as pride. These compete with the trinity of glory, which is truth, goodness and beauty. The passage in James mentioned previously begins by addresses believers this way:
"Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it." James 4:1-2 The Message
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15 New International Version
Perhaps more serious than the outward results of the sins themselves, is our failing to keep God's most important commands. Habitually disobedient lifestyles result in our breaking fellowship with Him. Knowingly or not. As we grieve the Holy Spirit our experience of and sensitivity to God's presence diminishes. As faith weakens, we risk a cascading effect, leaving us in danger of loosing an accurate sense of God. If not our very salvation.
A crucial example of this is unanswered prayer. James is one of many Biblical authors who address the question of who can pray so God will hear? Again he continues warning the church of his day and ours:
“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4:2-3 English Standard Version
Thus the primary target of abortion is revealed. Satan's objective has always been to tempt the Church to participate in, or at least adopt a lukewarm response to, the millions and billions being sacrificed on his alter of lust and selfishness. Unlike First World Christianity, he realizes the quality and quantity of such a previously unthinkable act would cause God to curse the blessings of His own people. This beginning of judgment would leave us wide open to a vast array of demonic attacks. Finally, without commensurate repentance, abortion would mutate and God would be forced to justly judge His sinful Church. Not to mention the entire world. Both in this life and in eternity.
The Old Testament is replete with warnings against the shedding of innocent blood. Particularly by on such an unprecedented scale. Amos is particularly harsh in regards to God's people failing to do justly by the needy:
- "Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" Amos 5:18-24 NIV
Amos continues God's accusation with what may be a surprising twist turning the above indirect reference to abortion to a more direct denunciation by including the swine of Molek among the Israel's idols:
- "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god[b]—which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus," says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty." Amos 5:25-27 NIV
Of Molek, Scripture warns:
- "Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord." Leviticus 18:21 NIV
- "Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him." Leviticus 20:2 NIV
- "They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin." Jeremiah 32:3 NIV
- “Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.” 1 Corinthians 15:35-38 The Message
Great news! Unfortunately quantum transformation is a two way street. As noted by C.S. Lewis’ quote regarding our future appearances as gods and goddesses, horrors and corruptions. In the same way, once a sin is introduced, there are only three possible outcomes:
Complete Repentance: The offense against God and man must be recognized and fully repented of, uprooting plant, root and all. While this option remains available, it has never happened in all of human history. Not even in regards to the least of sins.
Commensurate Judgment: Failing to respond in time to Divine waring, punishment befitting the sin is dispensed.
Growth and Mutation: Should sin fail to be fully repented of or summarily judged, it will certainly expand in both quantity and quality. The afore referenced ripe tomatoes, not to mention immense and towering redwoods, grow from tiny seemingly insignificant seeds. So too temptation and deception, entitlement and sin, can and will mutate exponentially.
Prophetic Christians appreciate distress tends to awaken God’s people to the perils about them. While true, so is the fact that extreme pain and suffering clouds and hardens angry hearts and minds in far greater numbers. Tellingly, the Bible never directs believers to pray for judgment or persecution. An unprecedented global revival, if not reformation, would be far more preferable.
With so much at stake, it's high time we believers recognize our massive physical and spiritual blessings and begin seeking God as seriously as we do wealth and pleasure. Let's strive to be thankful and stop taking God and His gifts for granted. Let’s renew our efforts to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Before trials force the issue, let’s redouble our attempts to approach God acceptably, loving Him as He deserves and our neighbors as they so desperately need.
An Acrostic of Change
Today there are many opportunities for individuals, churches and organizations to have an impact on people within their communities.
For some great simple pro-life ideas just click the link below: Change
For an overview of being authentically pro-life click the link below. For an in depth report on serious church and denominational objectives and strategies to enable the church to have a comprehensive pro-life, pro-family and pro-mission strategy click the link below:
Authentically Pro-Life
Objectives
UPDATE: Roe vs. Wade Overturned
To the joy of countless millions, on Friday 6/24/22 the landmark decision Hobbs vs. Jackson by the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe vs. Wade. Thus auspiciously ending 50 years of national tyranny against 60 million pre-born.
Or at lease throwing the decision to allow mothers to continue conspiring with physicians to murder the offspring within their wombs back to America's 50 individual states...
Nor does it address the more subtle yet sinful and deadly issue of contraceptive abortifacients, prevalent throughout society and modern Christianity.
While I now live in North East Texas, years ago I spent nearly 100 Saturdays at Central California clinics warning and imploring up to twenty girls a day to spare their babies. Via public parking constraints, forced to pass near I implored, “If God gives you the gift of a child don’t let anyone harm it” while handing them carefully explicit literature.
Often alone, sometimes there would be nearly a handful of us. On a good day, one or two mothers would listen and change their minds.
On many other occasions none at all.
As in Christ's end time parable of the Sheep and Goats, there I discovered Jesus in His smallest and most innocent form. Totally dependent for “food” and “drink,” “naked” and “in prison” in the very womb of His mother. There I watched as He was repeatedly carried, “Like a lamb to the slaughter,” into a medical clinic. A most solemn and sorrowful scenario with grave spiritual ramifications.
One repeated in Fresno alone over 50,000 times.
In over two years I don’t recall a single member of the clergy or even lay leader joining us. Though I understand the odds may have somewhat improved through the influence of 40 Days For Life.
Only a fraction of fraction of a percent of ordained ministers have served as a director of a leading pro-life organization. Far less still have had the honor and responsibility to act as a leading liaison to over a thousand churches in state wide pro-life political initiatives.
With well over thirty years in strategic Christian service, including more than a decade of pastoral ministry and pro-life activism, the author is privileged to belong to a select fraternity. This and other articles and books represent a culmination of this experience. Using such depth perception, this commentary is intended to introduce the true nature of the challenge presented by abortion. Particularly to modern Christianity.
During California’s 2005 Prop. 73 Parent’s Right To Know initiative I produced the pro-life political DVD entitled “Protect Me…Please” to be shown in hundreds, if not thousands of churches, prior to or on election Sunday. Groundbreaking, the 3 minute video featuring post abortive laments of teenage girls, made the front page of both the LA Times and San Francisco Chronicle. Prop. 73 failed by a narrow margin.
During the subsequent Prop. 85 initiative I achieved another milestone. For the first time, four leading Protestant state denominations, the Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel and Foursquare, officially endorsed a political initiative. Again Parent’s Right to Know (PRK) was defeated.
Our third attempt in 2008 with Prop 4. affectionately dubbed “Sarah’s Law” failed as well. More than political, my involvement was spiritually motivated. After having spoken to thousands of Christians across denominational lines, it was clear that far less than 1% of either clergy or laity had the vaguest notion of the scale of abortion’s true threat to either the pre-born or the Church.
As a topical Biblical commentary, Quantum Christianity was designed in recognition of the need to examine and handle truth carefully and honestly. Scriptural and otherwise. The nationalized legalization of clinical abortion, and its apparent overruling, presents a perfect case in point.
A faithful handling of the Old and New Testament requires would be students and adherents to develop spiritual discernment on a variety of subjects crucial to Biblical Christianity. The lack of which has produced hundreds of differing denominations espousing various Christs and versions of the gospel. Tragically, many of the hopeful insights inherent in Christ's command to "Judge with righteous judgment" continue to go largely unrealized within modern Christianity.
Such is certainly the case when considering the American church's 50 year track record in regards to an appropriate response to abortion. Or more accurately, the lack thereof. Both clinically and contraceptively.
Bear in mind that church attending Christians could have ended abortion in a single day, 365 days a year, for 50 years, by simply sending 1% of our congregations to have family friendly picnics in front of every abortion clinic in America. With thousands peacefully blocking entrances, even should there be numerous arrests, the sheer numbers involved would shut down all abortuaries in a single day. With 99% more now authentically pro-life Christians waiting for a chance to join cause.
Yet nothing could be further from the case. Then or now.
Nor have we seriously addressed the widespread use of abortifacient contraception throughout Christendom. A topic that many, if not most, churches and even pro-life organizations know or speak little about. Most often chemical in nature, early term abortions are a result of various forms of birth control and other devices. Abortions of this kind happen before the mother is aware of her pregnancy. The exact numbers are unknown. Some estimates suggest the daily total of these types of abortions may be surprising large. In the U.S. alone perhaps between 834,000 to over 4,000,000 per year (Dr. Bobmir Kuhar, Infant Homicides Through Contraceptives Pg 27.) Lower estimates range around 100,000 to over 1,500,000 annually (Randy Alcorn: Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? How Often Does the Pill Cause Abortions?)
Thus the compelling need to rethink Jesus' directive to “Judge with righteous judgment” should be abundantly evident.
But is it? Throughout the Hobbs vs. Jackson decision by the Supreme Court celebratory posts and podcasts, sermons and ceremonies, is there any awareness of the reality of the seriousness our situation? Or brokenhearted repentance in light of the depth of our failures?
Are any of today's joyful messages cognizant of the Bible's repeated warning that God is not mocked.
- “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. Galatians 6:7 AMP
- For they sow the wind [in evil] And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster]. Hosea 8:7 AMP
Is our revelry tempered with the sobering fact that while abortion is currently the pinnacle sin of mankind, it's only the tip of the iceberg? One floating in a Water World of immorality unleashed by the continual and increasing tsunami of the 60's sexual revolution redefining and/or eliminating traditional marriage and family.
These devilish sociopolitical engineering undoubtedly ushered in such modern woes as career felon George Floyd's sainthood and efforts to undermine criminal justice. Antifa and BLM riots and violence. CRT and orchestrated racial tensions. C19's plandemic and goal overreach. Medical interference and harmful vaccines. Woke agenda and transgenderism. Biden's malevolent war on Ukraine and America's economy. All part of the Great Reset.
And these are just the highlights. All coordinated and choreographed by the clearly visible and menacing Iron Triangle of liberal global politics, media and corporations.
Yet even now, modern Christianity, up to and including the vast majority of Prophetic Christians, refuses to discern the clearly repeated handwriting on the wall. And having done so, to enter the crucible of James 4's Prayer of Anguish in hopes of James 5's reconciliation to, and empowerment by, God.
Particularly the Person of the Holy Spirit, Whom we continue to annoy and grieve, if not profane and blaspheme.
Instead, across America, Laodicea is masquerading as Philadelphia. Lauding the Supreme Court for Hobbs vs. Jackson while the highest court in the land continues to sidestep or support all the devastating atrocities mentioned above. Many of which modern Christianity has yet to Scripturally repent of, up to and including sins of clinical and/or contraceptive abortion. In regards to commission and/or omission.
Mankind’s current pinnacle sin of abortion is spiritually quantum in a variety of ways. For example, it’s hardly just like any other sin. Even so, as with any other sin, it does require the event and process of genuine repentance. Like faith itself, honest and heartfelt repentance encompasses our entire mind, heart and will. As required by the previously mentioned passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14’s perfect formula for repentance.
Pro-Life Series Articles
- AbortionNo.org (graphic content)
More information
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