Category Archives: Theology

I’m Pro-choice but Anti-abortion.

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Somebody  told me they were upset because a Christian friend accused her of being pro-abortion because she said was pro-choice. “That angers me”, she complained, “because I hate abortions but I think a person should have a choice in this matter.  How come Christians think pro-choice is the same as pro-abortion?”

I can understand her frustration at being labeled as being in favor of something that she despises.  Most people would consider her stance rather neutral.  She is not in favor of abortion but neither does she think people should be restricted from having them if that is their choice. She is tolerant.  She is correct – at least politically.

But here could be why her friend accused her of being pro-abortion simply because she was pro-choice.  Think this through with me.

First of all, I know of no one that would say they are pro-abortion.  No one who understands even the most basic aspects of abortion, its trauma to the woman and the death of the child, could say they are pro, or in favor of, abortion.  The reason, however, some people equate pro-choice with pro-abortion is because if you look at the practical outcome of a pro-choice stance it produces the same thing a pro-abortion stand would produce.  For example, a pro-choice senator asked to vote on a measure limiting abortion would vote the same way as a pro-abortion senator, if such a person existed.

Let me try to illustrate by looking at a parallel example, another hotly debated topic – gun control.  Let’s assume you hate guns but you also believe people who want to own them should be allowed to freely own guns.  You have a pro-choice stance. If  you were forced to vote or take a stand on the issue, even though you hate guns you would have to side with the pro-gun people to oppose restrictions on gun owners.  Therefore, though you would never say you are “pro-gun”, the ultimate outcome of your position is the same as the pro-gun people.  In this case, pro-choice is virtually the same as pro-gun, it produces the same outcome, no limitations on the ownership or use of guns.

Apply this same template to the abortion debate.  You hate abortions (guns) but you feel people should be able to freely have an abortion (a gun) if that is their choice.  Therefore, the practical outcome of your stance is as if you were pro-abortion (pro-gun).  As much as you hate abortion (guns) a pro-choice stance puts you squarely on the side of those who profit from the death caused by abortion (guns). If you hate guns, like we assume you do for this example, it would likely make you angry to be called pro-gun but your “neutral” stance actually advances the distribution and uncontrolled ownership of guns – the pro-gun position.

However, there is an even stronger reason that some would say being pro-choice is equivalent with being pro-abortion.  If I am pro-choice, I am saying I am in favor of a person having the right to make whatever choice they desire  – either option – keeping the child or aborting the child as long as it is that woman’s choice.   I am pro her keeping the baby if that is her choice.  But, I am also pro aborting the child if that is her choice.  If I am “pro”, or in favor of, only one choice then there really is no choice.  To truly be pro-choice I must be in favor of either option – keeping or aborting the child.  Therefore, to be pro-choice says I am pro, in favor of, abortion in the case where that is the woman’s preferred choice.  In that case I am pro-abortion.  I cannot say I am pro-choice if I do not support one of the two choices available.  So, quite literally, while I might hate abortions, if I am pro-choice I am also pro-abortion at least on occasions where the woman chooses to end the child’s life.  If abortion is her choice then abortion is my choice for her – or I am not truly pro-choice.

While it may be frustrating to have people align you with something you hate so much, in reality, your stance is one that fosters abortions and, at least in some cases, is pro, or in favor of, abortions.  If you are not in favor of abortions even if that is the woman’s choice then you are not pro-choice.  If you are in favor of abortions when it is the woman’s choice then you must admit that, at least sometimes, you are in favor of abortions, or pro-abortion.  There is no neutral stance on this issue.  Think about it.  I would love to hear your comments and if there are any fallacies in the reasoning or something I am missing, please point it out.
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Proverbs 6:16-17
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, …

Banking on the Bible

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I am in Berlin, Germany today spending time with a couple who are missionaries with Commission To Every Nation (www.CTEN.org). Why missionaries in Germany? After all, this is the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation and there are churches in every town. Germany is also the birthplace of liberal theology and, believe it or not, some of the people they are reaching are seminary students who do not believe the Bible.

Does that sound astounding that you would go to seminary and not believe the Bible? Weirder still is that some seminaries teach that you cannot fully trust the Bible. After all, it has stories about fish eating people, guys rising into the clouds, a person turns into salt, blind people seeing and deaf people hearing – nice little tales but not really meant to be believed.

Satan’s first attack has always been against God’s Word – “Did God really say …?”. That is why cults always have their own versions of the Bible (i.e. JW, Mormons, Biblical Universalists) or their own supplemental material that you have to read to “really understand” the Bible.

If we cannot fully trust God’s Word then we have nothing to stand on, our entire understanding of God is just conjecture. We can know there is a God because of the complexity of nature and the order we see in the universe but is He friendly and involved or angry and distant. The only way we can know Him is that He has chosen to tell us about Himself. Take away the Bible and your guess is as good as mine, which is only as good as anyone else’s. Without the Bible as our authority, throwing young women as sacrifices into volcanoes to please this unknown God is as legitimate as loving your neighbor as yourself.

What a treasure of infinite worth we have in the Bible. A God we can only know if He chooses to reveal Himself to us has, in its pages, pulled back a curtain to allow us to peek into eternity and catch a glimpse of Him. We can know what pleases Him and what displeases Him only because He reveals it to us. We can know how to find peace with Him  only because He reveals it to us. Most importantly, we can know what path leads to eternal life and what path leads to death because He has revealed it to us. Take away the Bible and we are all just guessing and when it comes to something as crucial as our eternal destiny, I do not want to be just guessing.

Everybody is betting on something.  Muslims are betting that Allah will have mercy.  Hindus are betting on their good works. Atheists are betting there is no God.  I’ll put my hope in what the Bible says.  It has been proven over and over again to be dependable.
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2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV)
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

5/26/2011

A Purpose Driven Piper

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I resisted reading The Purpose Driven Life just because it was so mind-blowingly popular.  Everyone and their dog was reading it.  OK, I don’t know any dogs that read it but I think that is just because it didn’t have any pictures.  I finally only broke down and read it when someone in my congregation warned me about all the New Age teaching in it.  I felt I needed to be aware of it if it posed a danger to the flock so I made an $8 investment in a copy.  (By then, there were zillions of copies in the Half price book store.  Glad I waited.)

I was astounded at what I found and then even more puzzled as to why it was such a huge seller.  It was basically a compilation of every sermon I heard growing up as a new believer.  Unbelievers were buying this and eating it up?  Go figure.  I couldn’t find any new age, any compromise of the gospel or any wickedly bad doctrine – just lots of cool Christian sayings, lots of alliteration (which means it has to be from God) and witty plays on words to communicate what was a sound message of salvation.  Why all the criticism?

I watched Rick Warren on Larry King where he unashamedly proclaimed the gospel with clarity and power.  I even began to follow him on Twitter and he has an amazing ability to pack an entire sermon – minus altar call – into 160 characters.  I gotta admit I became a fan of the guy.  But was I missing something?

Enter the heavy weights.  John Piper is a theologian (of the Tulip Calvinist flavor), pastor and respected teacher.  If Rick Warren is some new age guru who slipped sloppy theology into his book just to sell a trillion copies, John will flush him out and expose his evilness.  The interview is great.  I suggest you set some time aside to watch it and then decide for yourself.

http://blog.pastors.com/piperinterview/

Some things don’t change.

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Sunday, as folks were connecting with God during the worship service, someone cut loose shouting a first person word from God – “Worship Me! Worship Me! I love you! Worship Me!”

Though the Summit Church believes all the gifts of the Spirit are still in operation today and such startling expressions used to be the norm, there was an immediate mood change from a God-focused time of worship to a man-focused time of wonder – some wondering why this fellow was shouting we should worship him.

I am amused at the way different generations experience God.  Ecstatic outbursts were expected when I was a young man but today they can spark confusion even in Charismatic churches. Because He looks at our heart I don’t think the Lord cares if we change the definition of proper worship behavior but when we change the definition of proper life behavior we drift toward disaster. Continue reading →

Do sinners experience God’s love?

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QUESTION:

In my reading I came across some statements that do not quite sit right with me.   What do you think about them?

“Because of our rebellion and disobedience we are separated from God and we do not experience His love. As long as we are going our own way and doing our own thing we do not experience God’s love.  In order to experience God’s love we must be ‘born again.'”

ANSWER:

I would disagree and here is why. Continue reading →

Why Crucify?

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Question:

What was the big deal about Jesus being crucified that in 1 Corinthians 1:23 Paul said that is what he preached?  It seems he should have said “but we preach Christ” risen from the dead.  Wouldn’t it have been the same if they stoned him or killed Jesus with a sword?

Answer:

You are right that a major message of Paul was not just that Jesus died but that he was “crucified”.  He should have been stoned.  At his trial he was convicted of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65) and Scripture clearly teaches a blasphemer should be stoned (Leviticus 24:16). Continue reading →

Will everyone eventually be saved?

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QUESTION:
Someone told me that hell is just temporary and that the greek word associated with eternal punishment really meant for a limited time but the church translated it “eternal” to control people through fear.  Is God saving some people now but will save others after they have been in hell for awhile?

ANSWER:
Some refer to this teaching as Biblical Universalism trying to distinguish themselves from the traditional universalists that deny the Scriptures.  

While Biblical Universalists lay claim to believing the Bible it is still the same old heresy “in sheep’s clothing”.  First, they deny all major translations of the Bible as being accurate.  These “mistranslations”  include the King James Version, New International Standard Version, New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, the Amplified Bible, The Net Bible, New Century Version, New Living Translation, International Standard Version as well as many others.   Instead, they refer you to a few obscure translations which, if you will check it out, you will find were almost exclusively done by other universalists who were not well educated in the original languages and had a point to prove by “correcting” the translations done by scholarly teams of translators both old and new. A key to cult success and heretical teachers is to undermine the trustworthiness of Scriptures so you are left having to depend upon their word, or their translations, for the “truth”. Continue reading →

Are all Jews going to be saved?

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Question:
In Romans 11:26 the Bible clearly says “all Israel shall be saved.” Does that mean we should not waste our time witnessing to Jews since they will be saved anyway? Also, does that mean they will be saved just because they are Jews without having to trust in Jesus?”

Answer:
Often when we don’t understand a passage of Scripture a little diligent study will reveal that the Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible. Questions we have are often answered somewhere else in God’s Word. Continue reading →