A first time for everything...

So a couple of Sundays ago, when I was apologizing for my long absence, I mentioned that I would soon be preaching my first "mini-sermon". I think it came up again when I started my two-part blog about male leadership in the home. Well, you know what they say... time flies when you procrastinate. Or something like that.

In less than 48 hours, I'll be... preaching on 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 and what it means to be a "new creation".

Anyway, in less than 48 hours, I'll be standing in front of one of our pastors and a dozen or more men from my church, preaching on 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 and what it means to be a "new creation". I thought I'd take a few minutes here to share some of what I'll be talking about.

============

First - the nature of our new creation.

It doesn’t take a seminary education to recognize that the nature of our new creation clearly isn’t physical. Just like upgrading the operating system on a computer, our “hardware” remains the same. So what is it that is newly created? Well, it helps to remember who we really are in the first place. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” It is our soul - our spirit, then - that is the subject of the new creation. Paul talks about this earlier in 2 Cor 5. In verses 1 to 5, he talks about “the [temporary] tent that is our earthly home”, and compares it to the permanent house or “heavenly dwelling” that we have eternally in heaven. He expresses our common desire “that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” - that is, by real, eternal life.

Second - the means of our new creation.

Of course, this just brings us to our next question; how, or by what means, have our souls been newly created?

Paul tells us that our new creation is contingent on our being “in Christ”. We are a new creation because we are in Christ. To understand this, let’s back up just two verses from our reading to verse 14 where we see that “[Christ] has died for all, therefore all have died.” Though he doesn’t go deeper into this concept in 2 Cor. 5, we can understand what this means by looking at a few other passages.

• Romans 6:3-4a -- Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death...
• Galatians 2:20a -- I have been crucified with Christ...
• Colossians 2:12 -- having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

So we have been baptized into Christ’s death, buried with him, and raised with him through faith. What does this result in for us?

• Romans 6:4b -- in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
• Romans 6:11 -- So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• Ephesians 4:22 -- Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.
• Galatians 2:20b -- It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
• And, bringing it back around to 2 Cor 5:17 -- The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

It’s important to remember, though, that this act - being placed in Christ - happens, as Paul reminds us in Titus 3:5, not because “of works done by us in righteousness, but according to God’s own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”.

Did you catch those two words? Regeneration and renewal? Sounds a lot like “a new creation” to me.

Third - the purpose of our new creation.

We’ve seen that our new creation is spiritual in nature, and that it’s occurred because we’ve been placed in Christ. But what is the purpose of our being created anew?

Let's look at 2 Cor 5:15 where Paul tells us that “he [Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Now that we are in Christ, we are to live for Christ.

But how does Paul describe living for Christ? What would our lives look like if we were no longer living for ourselves, but for Him who for our sake died and was raised? Scripture gives us a lot of reasons, but let's focus on just those we find here in the fifth chapter:

• Trust in His word. Verse 7 reminds us that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” That is, we live our lives based on confident trust in God’s promises, even when we cannot yet see their fulfillment.
• Look forward to His presence. Paul says that “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” - we live for Christ now, while looking forward to one day living with Him.
• Make your goal His pleasure. We ought to agree with Paul when he says that “we make it our aim to please him." We should live our lives with the intention of bringing God glory and delight through our actions and attitudes each and every day.
• Be controlled by His love. In verse 14, we are told that “the love of Christ controls us." In other words, we are no longer motivated by our own worldly ‘loves’ or desires, but by the love of Him who “for our sake died and was raised.” As we see in Titus 2:11-12, we are to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”
• Faithfully preach His gospel. The passage reaches its climax here where we learn that we need to be "ambassadors of Christ… imploring others on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Having been placed in Christ, it is now our task - our joy! - to preach the gospel message to others so that they might also be a new creation in Christ.

Living for Christ -- that is why our souls have been made a new creation in Him.

Valentine's Day and being a REAL man...

Earlier this week, we began a two-part series on what it really means to be a godly man leading in a biblically-centered household. We looked at two key passages - 1 Cor. 11:1-3 and Eph. 5:23 - that showed us the biblical model: God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of every man and the husband is the head of the wife. So while we might now know what the biblical mandate is for male headship, the question remains: how is the concept of "headship" lived out in the day-to-day home life of the Christian husband?

First, we must be real leaders. In doing so, we need to remember that headship does not equal dominance, where a man lords it over his wife and demands complete obedience. As we saw earlier, God does not view women as

We ought to treat our wives as a precious gift from God and our helpmate - for that is precisely who they are.

second-class citizens - as believers, we are all equally His children and are, therefore, of equal worth and value. We ought to treat our wives as a precious gift from God and our helpmate - for that is precisely who they are.

It is important to remember that God has intentionally placed the husband in this position of responsibility. It doesn’t matter if you are a “natural-born leader” or have no leadership skills whatsoever. It doesn’t matter if your wife is resisting your leadership, fighting with you or rebelling against your attempt to lead. You are not demanding this position; God placed you there. But, you ask, how do I lead?

Fortunately, we are given an example - the perfect example, in fact - of how to lead. Immediately after telling us about the headship of the husband over the wife in Ephesians 5, Paul goes on to call husbands to the highest of standards in vv. 23-25. These verses show us the next way we live out biblical leadership:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

So, then, to be real leaders, we must be real lovers.

Our acceptance of our wives must not be based upon their meeting of our expectations, realistic or otherwise.

That is, we must love unconditionally; not surprisingly, Paul uses the word “agapao” here for love. This is no mere physical love; our acceptance of our wives must not be based upon their meeting of our expectations - realistic or otherwise - but on their worth as God’s gift to us. We can do this through our words - consistent affirmation and verbal reminders of our love go a long way. So, too, do a dozen roses on Valentine's Day. But real actions are also necessary. As 1 John 3:18 reminds us, “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

If we look at the example of Christ, we see Him demonstrate agape love in action as the most sacrificial of loves - and this must be our example, as Paul makes clear. As Christ did for the church, so we must do for our wives.

The love that Christ demonstrated for His church - and thus, the love we must demonstrate to our wives - is both sacrificial and sanctifying.

When it comes to sacrificial love... guys, let's be honest with ourselves. Are we really loving our wives sacrificially? When was the last time you genuinely gave up something you wanted - a ballgame, golfing with buddies, time on a hobby, maybe even money - in order to demonstrate love to your wife? I'm not saying you should never go to a ballgame or go golfing with your friends - but if you have an opportunity to give up your own desire in order to tangibly show sacrificial love to your wife, well... it's what you're called to do. What we do with regard to our wives should be for their good, not for our own sake.

When it comes to the sanctifying nature of our love, our goal should be to help our wives be as holy as possible. Are you washing your wife with the water of God’s word every day? Are you praying with your wife every day?

Have you put the same amount of thought and effort into how you can spiritually provide for your wife?

Are you interceding for her in prayer every day? Are you demonstrating holiness in your own words and actions, leading by example? I know these are tough questions, guys - but they're vital. Your wife is the second-greatest gift that God has given you. Let's put it this way: you probably put a lot of thought into how you can materially provide for your wife... find a good job, work hard, set up a retirement fund, etc. But ask yourself this: have you put the same amount of thought and effort into how you can spiritually provide for your wife?

When you "appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that [you] may receive what is due for what [you have] done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Cor. 5:10), do you think Christ will be more concerned with whether your wife had nice clothes and a fancy car or whether you did all you could to present her "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25)?

Finally, we must be real servants. Just as Christ is our example as it relates to how we demonstrate love to our wives, He is also our example for servant leadership. Paul reminds us, in Philippians 2:7 that Christ, in His incarnation, “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” We see in John 13:1-17 a prime example of servant leadership as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.

We, too, must follow His example and humbly serve our wives; to do this effectively means we must first seek to know and understand their needs and concerns, and then work diligently to meet them. We must be willing to attend to their needs even before our own, regardless of the cost. Living this out leaves us no room whatsoever for exerting our headship for our own pleasure or self-gratifying purpose.

This is what it means to “love your wives, as Christ loved the church.” This is what it means to be a biblical leader in our homes.

Questions for my readers (oh, by the way, these are not rhetorical questions, despite what the silence on this blog might suggest):

• Give an example of when you demonstrated sacrificial love to your wife?
• Did you see that love make an impact on your wife? Did it help make it easier for her to submit to your biblical leadership?
• How do you show sanctifying love to your wife? How often do you read the Bible and pray together?
• Think of one way you can serve your wife this weekend - do it, and then tell us about it here.

Botched abortion results in live birth. WWOD? (What would Obama do?)

Tonight, I was planning on posting the follow-up to last night's post about male leadership in the home. However, I felt that the following news story - despite its disturbing nature - needed to be discussed. Please understand that I am not providing this information to shock or disturb you - nevertheless, you will likely find it very disturbing indeed.

Last week, several news sources reported that a young woman went to an abortion clinic outside of Miami in 2006 and paid $1,200 to a doctor to abort her 23-week pregnancy. Before we go any further, you should know that at this gestational age, nearly 50% of delivered babies survive. That is, a child born only six months into a pregnancy may be extremely premature, but it is certainly viable.

A child born [at 23 weeks] may be extremely premature, but it is certainly viable.

(In fact, in February of 2008, quadruplets born at 23 weeks survived.)

After receiving medication to dilate her cervix, the young woman waited several hours for the doctor who had been notified. While she was waiting, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl. What happened next is extremely disturbing: one of the clinic's owners - who has no medical license - knocked the baby off the chair where the mother had given birth, cut the infant's umbilical cord, placed the live baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw the bag into a trash can.

An autopsy determined that the little girl had filled her lungs with air after being born.

A week later, police recovered the decomposing remains of the little girl in a cardboard box outside the clinic. An autopsy determined that the little girl had filled her lungs with air after being born, thus proving that she had been born alive.

Though all this happened over two years ago, the facts are only now coming to light because of a medical malpractice suit filed against the abortionist by the young woman.

Last week, the Florida Board of Medicine revoked the license of the doctor in question, and prosecutors are considering whether or not to file murder charges against the doctor.

What does all this have to do with President Obama? Well, if this had happened in Illinois, prosecutors wouldn't even have the option of charging this doctor with murder or homicide. This is because Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act when he was in the Illinois State Senate. That's right - a law that would simply extend constitutional rights to children who are born alive as the result of a botched abortion... and Obama repeatedly voted against it. Who would want something as insignificant as infanticide stand in the way of a women's "choice"?

Here are some choice quotes from President Obama regarding this issue:

• "What we are doing here is to create one more burden on women, and I can't support that."
• "The bill [is] unnecessary... and was introduced for political reasons [alone]."
• "There was no documentation that hospitals were actually doing what was alleged in testimony..."
• "[The Born Alive Infant Protection Act] would have taken away from doctors their professional judgment..."
• "[It] was essentially a way of getting around Roe vs. Wade."

All this over the following text:

A live child born as a result of an abortion shall be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law.

Now remember, this is the same man who proudly proclaimed his support for FOCA during the election and who, within a few days of taking office, signed an executive order that will result in an increased number of abortions overseas paid for by our tax dollars.

So, questions for my readers:

• If you are a Christian and voted for Obama, do you regret your vote?
• Did you know about Obama's record on infanticide?
• If not, did you bother to look?

Male leadership means more than hogging the remote

One of the things that's been keeping me busy recently is my involvement in a men's group at my church designed to help develop ministry leaders. The other day, when I gave you my pathetic excuses for not blogging, one of them was that I am preparing to preach a mini-sermon for the first time. The preaching assignment is for that class, and as I work on preparing my sermon (which will be on 2 Cor. 5:16-17), I'll share my progress.

I'm going to blatantly rip off my own material to generate a couple of blog entries.

But that's not this post. Nope, tonight I'm going to blatantly rip off my own material to generate a couple of blog entries. Oh, don't worry - it's still good stuff... in fact, I'm hoping to actually get a little dialog going here since all I've been hearing lately are the crickets.

So, one of my recent assignments for this class was to examine two passages (1 Cor. 11:1-3 and Eph. 5:23) and discuss the biblical mandate for male leadership in the home.

Christian men go to church, find a woman they like, drag her off to their cave and insist she bring him the TV remote and a cold beer.

This is a surprisingly controversial topic, since folks outside the church really don't get it - they seem to think it's a "Me Tarzan, you Jane" sort of deal where Christian men go to church, find a woman they like, drag her off to their cave and insist she bring him the TV remote and a cold beer. Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbole, but not much... just listen to NOW's rhetoric on this issue every time the SBC holds a convention.

There’s a well-worn joke about a man who died and went to heaven and saw two signs - one said, “Those men who have been bossed around by their wives, stand here.” The line underneath this sign went on as far as the eye could see. The other sign said, “Those men who have never let their wives boss them around, stand here.” One lone man bravely stood in this line. The newcomer approached the man in this second line and asked him, “How’d you do it? How’d you manage to be the only man in this line?” The man looked at him nervously and said, “My wife told me to stand here.”

Though we laugh at this comical example, the unfortunate reality is that our culture has - successfully, for the most part - managed to redefine the roles and responsibilities of men and women, both in society at-large and in the domestic arena. Even the church has struggled with its understanding of this issue, with the Complimentarian vs. Egalitarian debate regarding gender roles and leadership in the church causing division between, and often within, denominations.

While this blog is limited in scope to the role of male leadership in the home, it is important that we take the time to address this issue for the same reasons as we would consider the debate in the larger context. Some of these reasons include:

• It is vital that the church act biblically. If the Bible speaks clearly on the issue and the church ignores it, we can be certain that trouble will follow.
• It is equally vital that Christian families act biblically. When the biblical understanding of gender roles is ignored, undermined or disobeyed, marriages and families can be devastated.
• We must maintain a clear understanding of biblical authority. Those who argue that the role of the male as ‘head’ is nothing more than “one interpretation among many” are ignoring the clear, repeated commands of Scripture and are thus undermining the authority of the Bible itself.
• Finally, the nature and understanding of gender roles - and even gender itself - is at the core of many of the cultural shifts we find ourselves experiencing today. This is especially evident in the debates over homosexual marriage and the "new morality" we see in this area.

With these reasons in mind, let's take a closer look at the biblical mandate for male leadership in the home. Before delving further into this, one initial understanding must be made clear. Man and woman are both designed by God of the same essence (Gen. 2:23) and are equal in terms of their status in Christ (Gal. 3:26-29). The difference in roles does not mean - or even suggest - that there is a difference in value or importance. This is a popular misconception, and it's important that we understand this before moving on.

We will examine two passages in particular as it relates to this issue. The first is 1 Corinthians 11:1-3:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

Similarly, Ephesians 5:23 reminds us that:

the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

Both these passages make the same point, that the husband is the “head of the wife”. In reading these, we see a chain of authority - God the Father is head over Christ the son. Christ is head over both “every man” (1 Cor. 11:3) and “the church, his body” (Eph. 5:23). Finally, in turn, the husband is the “head” of the wife. This distinct and clearly-defined order of headship is critical to understanding the precise nature of the role of male leadership in the Christian family.

As it is used in this passage, the Greek word for “head” can refer to either origin or leadership. Some have argued that, since woman was made from man (Gen. 2:21-23), origin - and not leadership - is what Paul had in mind here. However, this would mean that the Father originated Christ - something we cannot accept, since Christ is coeternal with the Father (see John 1:1-3).

Our proper relationship to one another as men and women is to be a reflection of the way God relates to Himself [in the Trinity].

Therefore, Paul was clearly illustrating the husband/wife relationship as being analogous to the relationship between the Father and the Son. Our proper relationship to one another as men and women is to be a reflection of the way God relates to Himself; the Father to the Son, the Son to the Father. As mentioned earlier, this clearly does not imply a difference in worth. In His earthly ministry, Jesus was subject to the Father even though He is equal to the Father (John 5:19ff, 10:30, 14:28). Similarly, the wife is subject to the leadership of the husband even though, in Christ, she is equal to him (1 Cor. 3:21-23, Gal. 3:28).

Now that we know why it’s important to study this issue, and what the biblical mandate for male leadership actually is, we need to look at how this can be lived out in the day-to-day home life of the Christian husband. So stay tuned for part two of this post later in the week.

In the meantime, questions for my readers:

• Before you became a Christian, what was your understanding of the role of men and women in marriage?
• If you're married, how do you deal with this challenging issue in your home?
• If you grew up with Christian parents who modeled this for you, tell us how that helped you in working on your marriage?
• If you didn't have this modeled for you, tell us how that hindered you from following the biblical mandate in your marriage?

Be obedient - even if it means getting wet.

A year ago, if you'd told me that I'd be getting baptized this January, I'd have thought you were crazy.

God has a way of shattering my preconceived notions and assumptions

After all, I'd been baptized many years ago - when I was in high school - and had been a Christian for even longer than that... or so I thought. But, if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably already discovered what I did - that God has a way of shattering preconceived notions and assumptions.

You see, I'd been living under the mistaken belief that I had been a Christian since praying a particular prayer as a very young boy. I struggled mightily with sin as a teenager and, even though I “rededicated my life” more than once at junior high and high school summer camps, all I'd really ever done was promise to "be a better person". As if it was up to me!

But last year, while going through a discipleship program (the one I mentioned in yesterday's blog), I spent some time reflecting on how and when Christ had drawn me to Himself. In the process, I discovered - rather uncomfortably, I might add - that my moment of true repentance and faith didn't come until I was a college student at a Christian university.

I'd felt bad about sinning before... I'd never truly repented of my sin.

One evening, during a communion service, I was struck with the sudden impression that I must not take part… though I had previously “believed” on an intellectual level all the basic elements of Christianity, I’d never truly repented of my sin, and placed my entire faith in Christ and what He had done for me in dying on the cross. That is, I’d felt bad about sinning before, but it was merely the "worldly grief [that] produces death"… in hindsight, that evening I experienced the "godly grief [that] produces repentance that leads to salvation". (2 Cor. 7:10.)

Though in my mind I was already a Christian at the time, I repented of my sin - not just the particular sin I was struggling with at the time, but my rebellious and sinful nature, my pride in trying to claim my life as my own - and placed all of my faith in Christ - and Christ alone - for my salvation, acknowledging His lordship over all of my life. By God's grace, though I may have mistakenly considered myself a Christian already, I truly belonged to Him beginning that evening.

Fast-forward nearly 20 years, and the realization struck me - my baptism as a teenager happened before I was actually saved! Quick, somebody find me some water and a pastor! Well, it took a few months, but I finally had the opportunity to be obedient to my Lord's command to be baptized last month. What a powerful testimony to God's grace - to see nearly 100 people come and be baptized... confessing their faith in Christ and being outwardly baptized to symbolize the inner baptism that had already taken place!


Some of us were like me - long-time Christians that had put the proverbial cart before the horse, and wanted to get things done in the right order. Others had been Christians for years as well, but had never been baptized. Still others were those who, though chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4), had only recently been granted God's gift of "repentance that leads to life" (Acts 11:18), and had placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the one without sin whom God made "to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21.) But all of us were heeding Christ's call to obedience, and proudly proclaiming to the world that we belong to Him!

If you are a Christian, and you've not been baptized, what are you waiting for? If you were baptized as an infant and think that 'counts', think again - and obey your Lord's clear commands from Scripture. We'll talk more about baptism and the role it plays in a believer's life later on - maybe in a few weeks. But for now, don't wait any longer... get dunked!

Questions for discussion:

• Did you come from a religion with a tradition of infant baptism?
• If so, and you eventually came to repent and place your faith in Christ, have you since been baptized?
• If you're a Christian and you haven't been baptized yet, are you considering it?
• If you have objections to being baptized, share them here - let's talk about them and see what Scripture says.

Making disciples - the importance of mentoring ministry

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells the eleven disciples to:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

This command, which would come to be known as the Great Commission, would become a driving factor in the growth of the early church. Of course, in order to make disciples, we must first proclaim "repentance and forgiveness of sins... to all nations" (Luke 24:47), remembering that "we are ambassadors for Christ... implor[ing people] on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:29).

But what then?

How do we actually go about the process of making a disciple? Is it like making a cake?

Once someone repents and places their faith in Christ, how do we actually go about the process of making a disciple? Is it like making a cake? "Take one new believer, add a pound of church, a cup of Bible, stir vigorously and bake at 350 degrees"?

The word "disciple" means "one who learns", and Jesus goes on in Matt. 28:20 to tell the eleven precisely what these new disciples should learn; the eleven are to "teach them to observe all that I have commanded you." In doing so, Jesus turns His eleven remaining disciples ("one who learns") into apostles ("messenger, one who is sent").

This time, we're advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of silky clean har.

Since the very last thing that Jesus has taught the eleven is to "go... and make disciples", this process becomes self-replicating. Like that annoying shampoo commercial from the 70s... "and they'll tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on." Only this time, we're advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of silky clean hair.

Believer, have you ever thought about it that way? You learned about Christ from a friend, a family member, a pastor... and they learned about Christ from someone

You can trace the teaching you've learned all the way back to that mountain in Galilee!

before them... and so on, and so on, and so on... you can trace the teaching you've learned all the way back to that mountain in Galilee shortly after our Saviour's resurrection! No wonder "we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" (Heb. 12:1), they're gathered to watch the fruit of their obedience to God!

But now it's your turn. Your turn to teach a new disciple "all that [Jesus has] commanded you." Find someone in your church, maybe someone in your Bible study or small group, who is a newer believer, someone who is still drinking spiritual milk (1 Cor. 3:2, Heb. 5:12-13) and come alongside and make them a disciple.

Or perhaps you're a new believer, and you need someone to come alongside you and help teach you "all that [Jesus] commanded". You're new to this road, grateful to God for His reaching out and saving you, but you're still confused by His word and don't know how to grow. Find someone in your church, someone who would be willing to mentor you, so that you will become "acquainted with the teaching about righteousness" and able to eat "solid food", being able to "distinguish good from evil" (Heb. 5:11-14).

Along those lines, I've been blessed to participate in a program at our church called Partners. It's a deep and challenging curriculum designed for one-on-one discipleship like what I've just been describing. I went through it - as the learning partner - last summer. Even though I've been a Christian for many years, I grew tremendously during my time in the program. Now, I'm getting to go through it again - this time as a teaching partner, helping a new brother in Christ to grow in his understanding, knowledge and love of God and His word. It is a constant reminder to me of God's grace to be able to be used by Him in this way, and I pray that He will continue to work effectively through me as I play my part in "making disciples".

Questions for discussion here in the blog:

• How long have you been a Christian?
• Have you ever come alongside a new believer and discipled him or her? Tell us about how God worked through you and the growth you saw in your partner.
  
• If you've been a Christian for awhile and you're no longer just "drinking milk", but you haven't yet "made disciples",why not? Share with us your commitment to do so and keep us posted on your progress.
  

One final note: for those of my readers who attend CBC, I would strongly encourage you to join the Partners program if you haven't already. Whether you've been a Christian for a short time, or most of your life, I assure you that you'll grow in your walk with Christ as a result. To my other readers, the curriculum that I've used is available to anyone - you can read about it here, and order it online here.

{tap, tap, tap} "Is this thing on?"

When this new year first started, we looked at the concept of making God-centered resolutions after studying a few from Jonathan Edwards' famous list. If you haven't read that post yet, please take a few minutes to look it over and come back (it really was a good one). A couple of days later, I posted my own list of resolutions relating to this blog. Needless to say, I've not been as diligent here as I'd have liked.

I owe my loyal readers - both of you - an apology.

The last two weeks have been filled with a whirlwind of activity; not that I offer that as an excuse, of course. Instead, I mention it because some of the things that have taken place in recent days are going to make their way onto this blog. So, a quick review of events and preview of blogs to come:

• I'm leading someone through our church's Partners ministry, an in-depth, one-on-one discipleship program.
• My involvement at our church's worship team has increased over recent weeks.
• I was baptized last month.
• I watched helplessly as my camera - the means by which I make a living - smashed to the ground and broke in pieces.
• I'm preparing to preach a mini-sermon for the very first time.

So stick around for awhile, as I share a little "behind-the-scenes" of Speaking Boldly!

... but Wallis surprises AND disappoints

Yesterday, I posted a brief news item regarding President Obama's decision to rescind the "Mexico City policy" and allow federal funds to go to organizations that promote and perform abortions around the world. A disappointing move to say the least - but not especially surprising given Obama's clear and unmistakeable record on the abortion issue (which was discussed here, to some extent, before the elections).

Today, I read Jim Wallis' blog at Sojourners. Now, let's be honest here... Sojourners is a social-justice oriented and politically-liberal faith-based group. To give you an idea of their political and theological leanings, Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo are two of their contributors. Wallis himself is a longtime leftist (dating back to the Vietnam war era) who has written a number of books critical of Christians who hold conservative political or social beliefs. So it really shouldn't have come as a surprise... but it did. I'll let you read Wallis' own words here:

I am encouraged that President Obama’s first action on abortion was to release a statement supporting a common ground approach to reducing abortion, even as he also reiterated his policy of supporting legal choice. Even more significant was his decision not to issue an executive order rescinding the “Mexico City policy” on the day of the anniversary of the Roe decision and the annual March for Life. For the past two decades, this particular rule has become a back-and-forth of instituting and repealing as administrations have changed—almost as a partisan tit-for-tat.

In breaking the symbolic cycle, President Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized abortion debate, and called for both a new conversation and a new common ground. I hope that this important gesture signals the beginning of a new approach and a new path toward finding some real solutions to decrease the number of abortions in this country and around the world.

In his statement, Obama acknowledged that “this is a sensitive and often divisive issue,” but went on to say “no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.”

I support the president’s call for a new dialogue on the best ways to achieve abortion reduction while retaining his position on choice. And I hope the discussion can now move beyond the usual politics of abortion, changing the polarized debate, and building a new common ground movement to dramatically reduce abortion. This is a goal to which we can all agree.

At best, it is naively optimistic of Wallis to be "encouraged" by Obama's lip service

At best, it is naively optimistic of Wallis to be "encouraged" by Obama's lip service.

to the "common ground approach to reducing abortion". More likely, it is a reflection of Wallis' own political obeisance to the left that is preventing him from seeing the truth here. That truth is simple: there is no "common ground". Obama has shown every intention of keeping his campaign promise to sign FOCA (see these posts for more information), and yesterday's news item is further proof.

Apparently, though, the mere fact that Obama waited one additional day to rescind the "Mexico City policy" was enough to encourage Wallis. Since Obama didn't do it on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, Wallis finds him to be oh-so-very-genuine about his claimed desire to decrease the number of abortions! Wow, now that is some seriously flawed logic.

Now that is some seriously flawed logic.

Apparently, by waiting an additional 24 hours (as compared to Clinton's reversal or Bush's reinstatement of the policy), Obama avoided the "partisan tit-for-tat" that Wallis argues has been this policy's history.

If that's "post-partisan politics", we're in for a long four years.

Wallis goes on to say that by delaying the signing of the executive order, "Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized abortion debate."

Precisely how is Obama's decision... "showing respect" for [those] who believe that abortion is an unjustified killing...?

Somebody please help me here... precisely how is Obama's decision to allow our tax dollars to fund abortions overseas "show[ing] respect" for me or others who believe that abortion is an unjustified killing of an unborn human being. Seriously - anyone able to tell me... in what way does this show "respect" for those of us with a Biblical understanding of this issue?

Wallis acknowledges the "polarizing" nature of the debate; but he follows that statement with comments that indicate he believes polarization to be a bad thing, universally speaking. The fact is that important moral issues are typically polarizing - in fact, if they're not, that's probably evidence that it's not much of an issue to begin with. Whenever you take an uncompromising view against an evil - whether that evil is slavery, ethnic cleansing, fascism or abortion - there will be polarization. Not only is it logically unavoidable, it's morally inexcusable to try to avoid it!

Finally, Wallis expresses "support [for] the president's call for a new dialogue" and hopes that we can build a "new common ground movement to dramatically reduce abortion." Dramatically reduce? But if abortion is a valid "choice" - i.e., it's morally acceptable - then why bother working for a reduction in the quantity? Ah, but Wallis' statement belies the fact that he knows it's not a morally-valid option. Given that, how can he - or we - work for anything less than the complete elimination of this abhorrent act?

Would a mere reduction in slavery have been acceptable to Lincoln? Would a mere reduction in the number of lynchings been acceptable to Martin Luther King, Jr.? Would a mere reduction in
the number of Jews thrown into the ovens been acceptable to the Allied Forces in WWII?

Wallis' desire to build a "common ground movement" mays sound like a noble goal, but it's a compromise whose price will be paid in blood... and funded by your taxes.