I have a confession to make to the readers of this blog. I always strive to be real and honest about my imperfections and that I am on the same journey that I encourage everyone who reads this be on. God has shown me a flaw in my heart, the extent of which I was not aware.
I am guilty of judgement. It was a judgement based in ignorance. It wasn't a judgement in the sense of assuming someone's eternal damnation. It really wasn't even a judgement of actions. No it was a judgement assuming their worth or the lack there of. It wasn't that I walked around thinking about it all the time. I just kind of made up my mind after just a little exposure to the show and decided it was going to be garbage.
I confess that I have not seen Duck Dynasty. Only clips and previews. Just enough to get the impression that it was a bunch of ignorant redneck, backwoods folks acting a fool. Part of this is because, while they are not all "rednecks" or "backwoods" most people on reality TV these days do act ignorantly and foolishly. You would think they had no descent raisin the way they show their tail and act like idiots for all the world to see. The fact is I have seen enough of many of these shows to know that there is in most cases zero recognizable fruit of a relationship with Jesus. Occasionally there is a glimmer of hope but for the most part, it is a hopeless display of the very behavior that Jesus and Paul both condemned as unworthy of entry to the kingdom of God. I had not seen this show in it's entirety at any point however, so I just thought it was yet another waste of airtime. I heard folks that I respect talk about liking the show and thought, wow! How in the world can they like something like that.
I confess this was blind, ignorant judgement on my part. Then God corrected me. I cannot speak to the quality of the material in the show because as I said, I have not seen an episode in it's entirety. However, in the last week I have seen interviews with Father(Phil) and Son(Jase) professing boldly their undaunted, faith in and love for Jesus Christ. I was blown away. I thought, WOW! If only the majority of the Christian community, myself included at times would live their faith out loud as well as these guys do.
I am ashamed of my initial stance and grateful for the eye opening that my faithful, patient, loving, Heavenly Father brought me regarding this. I am so thankful that He has provided an open door for this family to show this country what it means to be true followers of Jesus, bold and unashamed.
I know this is not my typical post but I just had to give a testimony to my flaws and God's faithfulness in hopes that it will be used to help someone else who may have been doing the same thing. In fact, we as Christians are in danger of doing this every day. Judging a book by it's cover with our own self-righteous presumptions about who someone is based on the way they look, an accent, or what they do for a living. What is most concerning is that, as with many sins, we do not realize it is happening.
Lord, you are faithful. Please continue to transform my heart and mind, opening my eyes to the hearts of people around me and YOUR heart for them. Help me to see people and love people the way you do. Either as faithful children who are striving to serve you just as I am or as lost sheep in need of a shepherd. In any case, may I get to know them before deciding who they are and assuming their flaws. In Jesus name, Amen.
None of us are above this mistake. Guard your hearts and make this your prayer today.
Josh
Friday, March 15, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Abortion and the pro-choice heart condition
In the wake of the recent anniversary of Roe vs. Wade I have been stirred horrifically regarding the subject of Abortion. I want to make clear from the beginning, the intent of this post, is not to bash over the head those whom have had abortions. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), I certainly have my share of past mistakes, though none of them have scarred me in the way that an abortion emotionally scars mothers and fathers of aborted babies. The fact is that many women whom have abortions regret it after the fact, even if they are not saved. There is something about having a living, breathing human being ripped out of you that leaves you never the same after that. Not only does it kill the baby but it destroys a part of the mothers life and much less often thought about, many fathers lives as they spend the rest of their lives trying to live with the guilt and grief that is attached to the decision to abort. They are all victims of the system. I may speak encouragingly to those whom have had abortions in another post. In the meantime, www.saveone.org is the website for a post-abortion recovery organization that could also prove helpful to you. If you are reading this and are intersted in more info regarding the misunderstandings or outright deceit regarding the abortion industry check out the 20 minute video, To Save a Life@ http://youtu.be/MNJmpQSbFeE or buy Blood Money Film@ www.bloodmoneyfilm.com. There are a lot of resources and information at the latter website. You can also check out a mind blowing 33 minute set of interviews with people on the street who ignorantly think they are pro-choice, many of whom's minds are changed by the end of the video. You can find it at www.180movie.com or there is a tool at the top of my blog page that will actually play the video for you right there.
My desire for now is to speak with those who are pro-choice. Those who would like to stand in favor of abortions while professing Christ as Savior and Lord. I would dare to say it can't be done. If you are justifying blatant sin in the face of biblical teaching then the most likely fact is that your heart is hard toward the things of God and you have no relationship with Him. I do not write this to condemn you for as Jesus said in John 3:18, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Belief is not intellectual ascent. It is submission to His Lordship and obeying His commands. John 15-24 speaks repeatedly to the fact that those who truly love Jesus will obey Him and keep His commandments. So, if you are not doing this you are already condemned.
One of the Ten Commandments is "THOU SHALT NOT MURDER!" (Exodus 20:13)
Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22, "You have heard it was said to those of old, You shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgement. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement". The Apostle John expounds on this in the letter of 1 John 3:15 by saying, "Everyone that hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." If Almighty God himself says that anger towards your brother is as murder in order to drive home the seriousness of the offense, then how severely do you think He feels about the actual taking of life. Whether you are talking about an innocent adult, a guilty, murderous rapist, or an innocent, unwanted, unborn child; if this person is bringing anger, hate, guilt, or resentment into someone's life, are those not equally dire offenses in the eyes of God. Now take those feelings one step futher and actually take the life of that person and imagine the wrath of God directed toward that.
Many have tried to justify this vicious act by arguing over the time table at which a fetus becomes a person. It is a ridiculous argument. Possibly the youngest surviving premature baby ever was born in November of 2010 at 21 weeks weighing just one pound. That baby is now thriving. The obscene irony is that if the doctor had intentionally killed that baby he would have gone to prison. In fact, a doctor is on trial now for doing that very thing in an abortion clinic. However, if that baby had been in the womb at 21 weeks and unwanted by the mother she would have been completely justified in aborting it. It is a terrifically horendous travesty that our hearts will allow us to differentiate between the two. Only an unregenerate aka. non-Christian heart could maintain the ability to ignore this truth. I know this because God cannot stomach that thought process. In fact, He hates it.
While no man can truly know the heart of another in relation to Jesus Christ and only God is the judge as to their eternal outcome, Jesus himself makes it very clear that the fruit of our Christian walk will be representative of our relationship with Him. (Matthew 7:13-27) You cannot claim to know and be known by the God of the universe, Creator of all things, and support the destruction of what God's word says He made and formed. (Psalms 119:73) In fact, Psalms 139:13-16 says this about Gods creation of us.
"For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."
God inspired the writer to use words and phrases like, "knitted me together", "fearfully and wonderfully made", "and intricately woven" in this scripture. These words do not indicate the carefree, emotinally uninvested efforts of some factory manufacturer on an assembly line. NO! These are the words of our Creator who took delicate care to lovingly mold us into exactly who he wanted us to be. The means by which we are conceived, who we are born to, and where we are born are no accident. Our personality, termperament, cognitive ability, and physical make up and ability are no mistake. Our God made us exactly how he intented us to be, to accomplish the purpose for which we were created.
How dare we think we have the right to destroy that!
This is the same God who said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God." (Matthew 18:14) Anyone who thinks that abortion and this God of the Bible go hand in hand are decieving themselves and have much reason to be concerned about their eternity.
On a website called, www.abortion.procon.org This pro abortion idea was stated. Motherhood must never be a punishment for having sexual intercourse. President Barack Obama said in a Mar. 29, 2008 campaign speech in Johnston, Pennsylvania, "I have two daughters... I'm going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
This man, our President, claims to be a Christian and yet, rather than thinking of a baby as a consequence for which responsibility should be taken, he thinks of it as a burdensome punishment that no one should have to endure courtesy of their own moral irresponsibility. That is heinous and it angers me. But he is not alone. Thousands if not millions of people in America and around the world think just as selfishly and just as sinfully. And their eternal life is in danger.
I wonder statistically, how many pro-choice advocates have ever actually had an abortion. The evidence that I have seen and you will to if you watch the above referenced videos is that there is absolutely nothing beneficial to the mother. In fact, if they don't die, the overwhelming majority wish they had never done it. The impression is that the mother is as much a victim of the system and a victim of the peer/family pressure of others as the baby is. She is scared, confused, and very rarely has an advocate telling her both sides of the story. Although I have seen testimonies of those whom have been talked out of abortions by those who have had them. They do seem to be the rarity. Probably because news of that is not a great selling point for an abortion clinic.
I could go on and on but the primary issue is this. The moral decline of this nation and this world are spiraling out of control at break neck speed. We, the true believers must continue to stand against the lies of the enemy. Not only those directed toward us but those directed at sinners or believers caught up in a huge mistake. Listen to me! If you stand on the side of murder of the born or the unborn, whether in word or deed, in an unrepentant stance then you will not inherit the kingdom. You will not go to heaven. The bible says that God hates all evildoers and that He must and will pour out His wrath on all sinners at the judgement. (Psalms 5:4-6) That is why Jesus had to die. In order for God to be just and loving, someone had to pay the price for our sins and that is what Jesus did. He took our place so that God's wrath could be satisfied and we could still have a shot at eternity with Him.
This is bigger than being pro-choice or whether or not you have had an abortion before. This is about the fact that we are all sinners and we all deserve to go to hell. Not because of any one sin. That first sin that we ever consciously committed in our life, once fully understanding right from wrong, seperated us from God for all eternity. Unless we are born again and begin living for God instead of for ourselves we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. I pray that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that the Holy Spirit will convict your heart about that and you will cry out to God to save you. GOD LOVES YOU! That is why he sent Jesus. Make no mistake, you cannot earn salvation. It is a free gift. Romans 3:24 says that we have been "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 5:8 says that, "God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."
If you already feel that tug at your heart to believe on Christ and begin walking in obedience then it is time. Pray to God. Tell him of your need for Him. Thank Him for saving you. If it is real, you will know because your heart will be changed. Not only should you no longer be ok with abortion but your desires will begin changing away from the desires for the things of the world and toward the things of God. Repentance means turning away from sin and running towards God. You will not ever attain perfection but you should always, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit be striving for perfection. (Philippians 2:12-13) You cannot merit salvation by doing this however, salvation bears the fruit of obedience to God's Lordship as evidence of salvation. Fruit that is not motivated by obligation, but by love for your Heavenly Father. Begin reading the Bible and attending a solid Bible teaching church. Your life will never be the same. If you have given your life to Jesus and you are struggling with the guilt of a past abortion, you need to know that there is freedom from guilt and healing from the pain available in this new relationship with Jesus. As you begin praying and reading your bible God will show you this and He will set you free and fill you with joy and peace. This is the Good News of the Gospel!
Love in Christ,
Joshua Newton
My desire for now is to speak with those who are pro-choice. Those who would like to stand in favor of abortions while professing Christ as Savior and Lord. I would dare to say it can't be done. If you are justifying blatant sin in the face of biblical teaching then the most likely fact is that your heart is hard toward the things of God and you have no relationship with Him. I do not write this to condemn you for as Jesus said in John 3:18, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Belief is not intellectual ascent. It is submission to His Lordship and obeying His commands. John 15-24 speaks repeatedly to the fact that those who truly love Jesus will obey Him and keep His commandments. So, if you are not doing this you are already condemned.
One of the Ten Commandments is "THOU SHALT NOT MURDER!" (Exodus 20:13)
Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22, "You have heard it was said to those of old, You shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgement. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement". The Apostle John expounds on this in the letter of 1 John 3:15 by saying, "Everyone that hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." If Almighty God himself says that anger towards your brother is as murder in order to drive home the seriousness of the offense, then how severely do you think He feels about the actual taking of life. Whether you are talking about an innocent adult, a guilty, murderous rapist, or an innocent, unwanted, unborn child; if this person is bringing anger, hate, guilt, or resentment into someone's life, are those not equally dire offenses in the eyes of God. Now take those feelings one step futher and actually take the life of that person and imagine the wrath of God directed toward that.
Many have tried to justify this vicious act by arguing over the time table at which a fetus becomes a person. It is a ridiculous argument. Possibly the youngest surviving premature baby ever was born in November of 2010 at 21 weeks weighing just one pound. That baby is now thriving. The obscene irony is that if the doctor had intentionally killed that baby he would have gone to prison. In fact, a doctor is on trial now for doing that very thing in an abortion clinic. However, if that baby had been in the womb at 21 weeks and unwanted by the mother she would have been completely justified in aborting it. It is a terrifically horendous travesty that our hearts will allow us to differentiate between the two. Only an unregenerate aka. non-Christian heart could maintain the ability to ignore this truth. I know this because God cannot stomach that thought process. In fact, He hates it.
While no man can truly know the heart of another in relation to Jesus Christ and only God is the judge as to their eternal outcome, Jesus himself makes it very clear that the fruit of our Christian walk will be representative of our relationship with Him. (Matthew 7:13-27) You cannot claim to know and be known by the God of the universe, Creator of all things, and support the destruction of what God's word says He made and formed. (Psalms 119:73) In fact, Psalms 139:13-16 says this about Gods creation of us.
"For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."
God inspired the writer to use words and phrases like, "knitted me together", "fearfully and wonderfully made", "and intricately woven" in this scripture. These words do not indicate the carefree, emotinally uninvested efforts of some factory manufacturer on an assembly line. NO! These are the words of our Creator who took delicate care to lovingly mold us into exactly who he wanted us to be. The means by which we are conceived, who we are born to, and where we are born are no accident. Our personality, termperament, cognitive ability, and physical make up and ability are no mistake. Our God made us exactly how he intented us to be, to accomplish the purpose for which we were created.
How dare we think we have the right to destroy that!
This is the same God who said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God." (Matthew 18:14) Anyone who thinks that abortion and this God of the Bible go hand in hand are decieving themselves and have much reason to be concerned about their eternity.
On a website called, www.abortion.procon.org This pro abortion idea was stated. Motherhood must never be a punishment for having sexual intercourse. President Barack Obama said in a Mar. 29, 2008 campaign speech in Johnston, Pennsylvania, "I have two daughters... I'm going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
This man, our President, claims to be a Christian and yet, rather than thinking of a baby as a consequence for which responsibility should be taken, he thinks of it as a burdensome punishment that no one should have to endure courtesy of their own moral irresponsibility. That is heinous and it angers me. But he is not alone. Thousands if not millions of people in America and around the world think just as selfishly and just as sinfully. And their eternal life is in danger.
I wonder statistically, how many pro-choice advocates have ever actually had an abortion. The evidence that I have seen and you will to if you watch the above referenced videos is that there is absolutely nothing beneficial to the mother. In fact, if they don't die, the overwhelming majority wish they had never done it. The impression is that the mother is as much a victim of the system and a victim of the peer/family pressure of others as the baby is. She is scared, confused, and very rarely has an advocate telling her both sides of the story. Although I have seen testimonies of those whom have been talked out of abortions by those who have had them. They do seem to be the rarity. Probably because news of that is not a great selling point for an abortion clinic.
I could go on and on but the primary issue is this. The moral decline of this nation and this world are spiraling out of control at break neck speed. We, the true believers must continue to stand against the lies of the enemy. Not only those directed toward us but those directed at sinners or believers caught up in a huge mistake. Listen to me! If you stand on the side of murder of the born or the unborn, whether in word or deed, in an unrepentant stance then you will not inherit the kingdom. You will not go to heaven. The bible says that God hates all evildoers and that He must and will pour out His wrath on all sinners at the judgement. (Psalms 5:4-6) That is why Jesus had to die. In order for God to be just and loving, someone had to pay the price for our sins and that is what Jesus did. He took our place so that God's wrath could be satisfied and we could still have a shot at eternity with Him.
This is bigger than being pro-choice or whether or not you have had an abortion before. This is about the fact that we are all sinners and we all deserve to go to hell. Not because of any one sin. That first sin that we ever consciously committed in our life, once fully understanding right from wrong, seperated us from God for all eternity. Unless we are born again and begin living for God instead of for ourselves we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. I pray that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that the Holy Spirit will convict your heart about that and you will cry out to God to save you. GOD LOVES YOU! That is why he sent Jesus. Make no mistake, you cannot earn salvation. It is a free gift. Romans 3:24 says that we have been "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 5:8 says that, "God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."
If you already feel that tug at your heart to believe on Christ and begin walking in obedience then it is time. Pray to God. Tell him of your need for Him. Thank Him for saving you. If it is real, you will know because your heart will be changed. Not only should you no longer be ok with abortion but your desires will begin changing away from the desires for the things of the world and toward the things of God. Repentance means turning away from sin and running towards God. You will not ever attain perfection but you should always, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit be striving for perfection. (Philippians 2:12-13) You cannot merit salvation by doing this however, salvation bears the fruit of obedience to God's Lordship as evidence of salvation. Fruit that is not motivated by obligation, but by love for your Heavenly Father. Begin reading the Bible and attending a solid Bible teaching church. Your life will never be the same. If you have given your life to Jesus and you are struggling with the guilt of a past abortion, you need to know that there is freedom from guilt and healing from the pain available in this new relationship with Jesus. As you begin praying and reading your bible God will show you this and He will set you free and fill you with joy and peace. This is the Good News of the Gospel!
Love in Christ,
Joshua Newton
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