|
RECAP NEWSLETTER - 4/4/5 Issue 36 Matthew 7:24 "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." After examining Christ, Pilate could plainly see that He was innocent and not worthy of death. However, he consented to His death by choosing to overlook the matter. Even though he washed his hands before the multitude, he was still guilty. He was guilty by omission. He had the ability to do what was right, but chose to allow wrong. I fear that sometimes we as Christians can get the mentality that we can wash our hands of what goes on in society. Yes, for some things the heathen will be heathen. For other things, such as murdering unborn children and killing the disabled, we are not without responsibilities. Even Judas, in Matthew 27:4, reckoned, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." It is one thing if your church had a message about the 'sanctity of life' during the time Terri was starved. It is another thing if your church puts it out on the marquee that Terri was murdered. It is another thing when everyone in your church stands alongside the road with signs stating that Terri was being murdered. It is another thing if your church rented a bus and took everyone down to Florida to protest the killing. It is another thing if you were arrested for trying to give water to a dying woman. As Christians, we cannot just wash our hands and think that we are always innocent. Ezekiel 33:6-7 "But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me."
MISC I have not been able to respond to emails as quickly as I would like since I have been extremely busy with work and side projects. Please pray for me that I will have the time, health, and energy to minister through this website. Most importantly, that I will walk worthy of Christ, do right, and spend time in His Word and before Him.
"There are those who believe that a new modernity demands a new morality.
What they fail to consider is the harsh reality that there is no such
thing as a new morality. There is only one morality. All else is
immorality." --Theodore Roosevelt
"Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want
CURRENT EVENT RECAP "So, what do you think about Terri Shiavo?" I have been asked that question several times now, and it is almost irritating. Most of the people who have asked me that question are only vaguely aware with the simplest idea regarding the situation. You can usually tell who has been getting all of their facts from the evening news and office gossip. Terri Shiavo was not in a vegetative state - far from it. She was cognitively disabled. My answer to the questions has narrowed down to the effect of: "Jesus Christ makes it perfectly clear that if someone is hungry, we should feed them. If they are thirsty, we should give them drink. Matthew 25 makes this very clear." Terri was not dying of some terminal disease. She was hungry, and thirsty, and even exhibited distress at the prospect of being starved to death. In the news, we saw people rally around the idea that the government should not get involved. They stated that the government should not get involved in personal and family matters. That is true to a point. The whole Terri Shiavo murder was a case of situational ethics that was used to create dialogue and inure people to the concept of euthanasia. I agree wholeheartedly that the government should not meddle with the family. But, I think we do great error if we harp on that subject instead of the crux of the matter. Romans 13:4 defines one of the functions of authority as "the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Conservatives may be too quick to champion behind the banner of keeping government out of family affairs. If we mindlessly rally behind an excuse because it may certainly be true in most circumstances, we may overlook legitimate intervention. To clarify, let me state that I am using the word 'government' very, very loosely here. The 'government' (those who have the authority and ability to execute wrath on those that do evil) should have intervened. The reason being that at the very best, the circumstances surrounding Terri's medical condition were extremely questionable. There was sufficient evidence and expert witness testimony to justify some type of criminal investigation of wrongdoing. However, I do not believe it should have gone to the federal level, or possibly to the state level. In the early days of our country, if you were suspected of abusing or neglecting your children, you were judged before a jury. They examined the case and determined if your child should be removed from your home. The Terri Shiavo case should not have been brought before a solitary judge; but a grand jury should have intervened and thoroughly examined the matter. Amendment V of the united states Constitution cleary states that "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury..." It also states that no person "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..." We violated all of those. Her life was taken away from her after she was detained for fifteen years deprived of common-sense therapy, and now her monetary funds and property are going to an adulterer. In his epic work, "Democracy in America," Alexis de Tocqueville states, "The jury is that portion of the nation to which the execution of the laws is entrusted, as the legislature is that part of the nation which makes the laws..." "When the jury is reserved for criminal offenses, the people witness only its occasional action in particular cases; they become accustomed to do without it in the ordinary course of life, and it is considered as a instrument, but not as the only instrument, of obtaining justice." "The jury contributes powerfully to form the judgment and to increase the natural intelligence of a people; and this, in my opinion, is its greatest advantage." "...the jury, which is the most energetic means of making the people rule, is also the most efficacious means of teaching it how to rule well." Section 1 of Amendment XIV also states, "...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Just this week I watched a documentary on Hitler's attitude toward the disabled and the euthanasia movement that took place in Germany. The whole of German society was already indoctrinated with the ideals that disabled people were blights and wastes on society. What got the ball rolling toward active state-sponsored killing of the disabled, was Hitler's personal involvement in a case where he pronounced a severely disabled child as an idiot and had him terminated. What was amazing about it was that he stated that any legal attempts to intervene would be null and void by fiat (an arbitrary order or decree). He then stated that euthanasia would be implemented in similar cases. Would a majority of people in America be shocked if what happened with Terri Shiavo became a government-mandated example to follow? It practically is already. One interesting observation from the documentary was that the killing of the mentally and physically disabled was careful to make sure that doctors were the ones carrying out the activity. Thus it gave a 'medical legitimacy' to what was going on. If anyone else besides a nurse removed Terri's feeding tube, it would be called murder. Medical murder is still murder. What does the Bible say about those whom society deems "useless-eaters"? Proverbs 31:8 "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction." (The word "dumb" in this passage means "unable to speak.") Matthew 4:24 "And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them." (lunatick usually means epileptic, as the Greeks did not know what caused the seizures, and attributed it to the phases of the moon, hence the luna derivation, palsy is suffering from the relaxing of the nerves of one’s side, disabled, weak of limb). John 5:6-8 "When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." Why did Jesus Christ spend so much time, energy, and effort on society's outcasts? Luke 9:56 "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them." Genesis 1:27 "...God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 9:6 "Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." Several times throughout the New Testament, Jesus healed people that had something as simple as 'feeding tubes'. They were people and friends who brought food and clothing to the leprous, epileptic, lame, crippled, paralyzed, etc. The people that Jesus healed were often the ones that depended on others to feed them when they were hungry, and to give them drink when they were thirsty. So simple. If you want to know what will happen to America if the Lord tarries, then become acquainted with the history of Germany and the Nazi influence. Nazism is not just about killing Jews, it was the idea of racial purity in all forms - health, race, intelligence, etc. Another observation from the documentary that I noticed was that Hitler used mass rallies to make the people feel united, work as a collective body, and to assume that the collective thought was correct. Today, we do not have rallies on the magnitude that Hitler did, but we have a modern substitute - television. Watching mainstream media news, their mantras and slanted perspectives, makes the populace think that the rest of the nation has reached a consensus on the given subject and that they must follow it - after all, it was on the news, so it must be true. The Bible, God's Word, is as relevant for our times as it was thousands of years ago. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" God Word reveals that man is a sinner and in need of a Saviour. Jesus Christ came to take our place and punishment for our sins. Sin is the problem in this world of all problems, regardless of what century you live in. The Bible addresses the problem, and has the solutions. As the days grow increasingly darker, do not fill your mind with the mantras from the mainstream, memorize God's Word. Become acquainted with God's Word. Get Bible audio cds, and play it in your home, and read it to learn. Always approach reading God's Word with the thought, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Psalms 119:18 Jeremiah 9:23-24 "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." Is your daily routine, your family life, your monetary expenditures delighting to the LORD? How is your heart toward the disabled or downtrodden? Do you support your local Christian mission for homeless and neglected? Does your church have a ministry that cares for the neglected? Does the world see that you are different because you care? It is one thing to talk about Terri Shiavo and the neglected in society at the office - it is another thing to put your money where your mouth is. Have you given your time for someone else recently? James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
REMINDERS & PRAYER REQUESTS
Pray for our President that if he is not saved, he will come to the true
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pray that he will work to the protection
of the American people, and the punishment of the wicked.
Pray for the requests in PrayerList, and also in iChurches.
May God richly bless, |