Is Satan better at lying than Christians are at speaking God’s truth?

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[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Have you noticed that the truth gets lost in our political debates?  

Those arguments can quickly become about the rights people have versus what is right. Sadly, a lot of people under the age of forty have grown up hearing more political dialogue than biblical truth. 

Christians can learn a lot from the rhetoric of the abortion debate, LGBTQ issues, and the gender debates. Currently, Satan seems to be better at lying than Christians are at speaking the truth. 

Many Christians grew quiet when the children they loved started having sex with their dates. 

Many Christians stayed quiet when the children they loved lived as married before they were married. 

Many churches rightly made room for sinners but quietly accepted their sins in the process. 

Many Christians redefined holy as “pious” instead of being “born again” or “Spirit-filled.” 

Many Christians were compassionate toward the life of the mom but quiet about the life of her baby. 

Many Christians are filled with anger at people’s sins rather than feeling compassionate grief for what is driving their sins. 

Biblical correctness requires caring about God’s truth more than opinions or feelings 

Let’s think about it. 

The issue of abortion

A man can be charged with murder for killing an unborn child in a car accident. A woman, however, has the right to take the life of her unborn child at any time if her state makes abortion legal. 

Where is the “gender neutrality” in that fact? If gender is neutral, then will the man soon be allowed to determine his child’s right to life too?  

Biblical truth is easily seen in the baby’s beating heart on the sonogram screen. It is a baby. It isn’t right to take the life of anyone just because you want to. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to carry a child to term who was created through violence. At the same time, I have known wonderful, happy children who were allowed to live and lead a rich life, even though they were created by violence.  

Think about it. 

The biblical truth is that this fallen world has a lot of “tribulation” and always will. Our troubles don’t change God’s truth. We don’t get a pass because something is painful. A baby is a baby, whether or not it is wanted. Abortion shouldn’t be anyone’s right because it isn’t right.  

The issue of gender

I honestly don’t understand why this is an issue. A person is born as a man or a woman. It is a rare medical emergency if the doctor can’t hold the newborn and instantly know the baby’s gender.  

Biblically, it is fine if a person doesn’t want to marry. It is just fine if a person enjoys the companionship of someone of the same sex. What isn’t fine is the idea that if you love someone or just enjoy their company, you should include lust or sex in the relationship. At what point did our culture begin to believe that love, fondness, or personal enjoyment make a sexual sin acceptable? 

Scripture does not permit sex with anyone who is of the same sex, or with anyone of the opposite sex, before being biblically joined in marriage. I’ve watched God’s truth on this subject become silent, even disdained, in my lifetime. God’s truth hasn’t changed, but the opinions, teaching, and preaching of God’s children have changed dramatically.  

Think about it. 

What would our culture look like if people accepted the biblical message about the sexual relationship? Could our schools be stronger? Could our hospitals provide better care? Could crime rates dwindle? Could we be a better, happier world if children were raised with biblical values and character instead of simply given life and the permission to live it any way they choose?  

Morality will not be inspired by political legislation. It is a matter of sanctification. People need the Lord and they deserve to know his truth. 

The issue of personal freedom

Personal freedom was at the heart of most of the controversy in the New Testament. Our struggles today are the same struggles the early church endured. How free are we in Christ? 

Most of the Hebrew people were appalled at the freedoms the Gentiles enjoyed. Some of the early Hebrew Christians began testing the waters of forgiveness. The New Covenant taught that, no matter what they did, a Christian had eternal life promised to them. 

So, did it really matter if they wanted to sin just a bit?  

Personal freedom was Paul’s daily debate in the first century. Paul clarified Christian freedom saying, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). 

Our current debates about personal freedoms don’t represent a new problem as much as they reveal the truth about sin. The first-century issues still remain in the church today. How did the early church work to get past their issues and thrive? 

They had Paul and the other apostles who preached the gospel truth. The leaders preached the need for repentance from sin, not just acceptance of sinners. God wants all people to understand how to be made right with him rather than feel right about their sins. A person’s personal freedom was not given a higher priority than their holiness. 

Think about it: If Paul struggled in the first century with personal freedoms, shouldn’t we expect to struggle with the same issues in the twenty-first century? Shouldn’t we also trust that if the early church could thrive amid all their sins, the church today can do the same? 

Paul’s teaching remains truth today. 

Paul wrote, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

The truth: God is faithful

It is never our right to do wrong. 

And, let’s face it, God would say the same thing to us that he said to the prophet Hosea: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).  

It is our children who suffer when we don’t speak God’s truth. Some of our children in church today don’t hear God’s word taught, and others might believe God’s truth doesn’t apply to their generation. But the truth matters for everyone, and it will matter eternally.  

Has Satan been better at lying to our kids than we have been about teaching them the truth?  

The answers are in our statistics and discussed as political rhetoric in our news. God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If we reject God’s truth, he will reject our ministries. Our kids and grandkids will be “forgotten by God on that day” if we don’t teach them the truth. 

Take a minute and see the faces that have come to your mind as you read. Picture them at the gate of heaven as they hear Jesus say, “I never knew you.” Christians will find it difficult to stay silent if they understand and believe that what Hosea wrote is God’s eternal and unchanging biblical truth.  

Is Satan better at lying than we are at speaking God’s truth?  

The early church fought their culture wars and won many people to faith in Christ. So can we. 

Remember that “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Satan will continue to be successful at lying until we get better at sharing the truth. Let’s start by caring as much about speaking the truth as Satan cares about telling his lies.

Who will you speak with that needs to hear God’s truth today? Will you pray for the strength and wisdom to share that truth with God’s love?  

People need the Lord.

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Even Rated R, “Unplanned” is a must-see movie

Why would I recommend that you and your sixth graders see Unplanned, an R-rated movie?

I have to admit, this is a first. But, I think anyone who is twelve years old or older should go see Unplanned.

The movie opens this weekend. And it will change the way you think and improve the way you speak about abortion.

Why is a faith-based movie rated R?

One scene caused the R rating, and the producers chose to leave that scene in the movie. Why?

Because that one scene tells the truth that Hollywood and a lot of our politicians would rather we not be aware of. It isn’t graphic truth; it is touching truth.

I saw a preview of this movie, and I can picture the moment right now. I hope I always will.

The “buzz” calls this movie controversial. I call this movie effective.

Cathy Schiffer, a Catholic blogger, put it well: “The Motion Picture Association of America gave the film an ‘R’ rating. That means that a 15-year-old girl can, without her parents’ consent, choose to have an abortion—but that same girl cannot see this film about abortion.”  

The reason I think you and your older children should see this movie is that it accurately and honestly reveals the truth about abortion, with grace for everyone involved.  

Abortion is the decision to take a child’s life. It is legal because the law assumes the mother of that baby has the right to make that decision. There are times when the decision to abort is about the life of the baby or the life of the mother. At other times, a woman becomes pregnant because of incest or rape.

Abortion is a horrible choice to have to make, but sometimes life presents us with horrible choices. But those abortion choices amount to a minuscule, almost imperceptible percentage of abortions that actually take place in this country.

Most of the time, when a mother chooses to take the life of her child, the decision to abort is about convenience or cover-up. For many, abortion is seen as another form of birth control rather than a homicide.

Why do I want you to take your kids to Unplanned?

If your kids see that one scene, they will probably never consider abortion an option for their lives. This movie may just make our kids more responsible with their dating lives and more likely to understand— and strongly consider making—a biblical choice about sex and marriage.

It will, at the very least, offer parents the chance to talk about some really important topics.  

That is why I want people, especially Christians, to see this movie.

We need to restart our conversations about abortion, and we need to present the truth to the world as this movie does. This movie slams those who shout at and shame people about abortion. This movie presents the power of the other side, who use temporary compassion to convince a desperate, scared woman that abortion is her right to choose. This movie also presents the compassionate appeal that includes forgiveness from those who stand for the sanctity of life.

Ultimately, Unplanned teaches that compassion wins and that real compassion is always grounded in truth. There is power in compassionate truth. That is the theme of this movie, and it has a powerful influence.

The big-screen power of compassionate truth

Compassionate truth should be the theme of our lives as well.  

Paul taught the early church, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). It is time for Christians to “grow up” in our conversations about abortion. Seeing Unplanned will help. I know it helped my thinking.

Those of us who write for Denison Ministries understand that our mission field is quite literally the hearts and minds of God’s people. If Christians will witness from a biblical understanding with biblical compassion, we can have the same impact on the culture that Paul’s disciples had.

The early Christians changed their world. So can we.

Of course, it wasn’t really the people who changed their culture. Only God can change people’s hearts. But God has chosen to work through us. Spirit-led Christians are God’s plan to reach the world.  

There are people reading this blog post today who’ve had an abortion. Some of the people you attend church with have had an abortion. They deserve compassionate truth. This movie will cause hurt to them—and then offer healing for that hurt.

They need to experience both.

We have to keep speaking about the topic, even knowing it will hurt and offend some people around us.

We have to keep speaking because, if we don’t, babies are going to die. They matter just as much as the people sitting next to us in the pew.

In some ways, they matter more: they don’t have a voice yet.

We do.

Plan to see Unplanned

Consider these two commitments:

  1. See this movie and encourage others to do the same. Pray before you go and ask God to speak his truth to everyone in the theatre.
  2. Be brave and speak God’s truth with love. So many in the Christian world have gone silent on the subject because it is just too controversial. Sadly, that gives the wrong voices—on both sides—greater power to influence. Women who have had an abortion only heal naturally from the procedure. Their souls get ripped up as well. They need forgiveness to heal spiritually, and so few ever receive that truth.

I hope you will choose to see Unplanned. You will have a stronger, godlier witness on abortion if you do.

Life really is about the choices we make, especially the tough choices. God knows all about tough choices. He loved us so much he chose to give us his Son. Let’s honor God with what we choose to give back.

Who is Kermit Gosnell?

A note from Janet: This isn’t a typical blog post this week—it will be difficult to read. But I felt a strong conviction to write this. I hope you will read this prayerfully, with understanding.

Who is Kermit Gosnell, and why doesn’t everyone know that answer? There is a movie out that I would encourage all of you to see. Sometimes we don’t go to a movie to be entertained but because we need to be reminded or informed. Gosnell: The Movie is that. We recognize Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy as serial killers, but I had never heard of Kermit Gosnell. Why?

In 2013, Gosnell was found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and felony late-term abortions. Today, he is in prison serving three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Gosnell ran a filthy, inner-city abortion clinic. When the FBI raided the clinic for prescription drug crimes, they found a horrific situation that led to Gosnell’s trial. The movie is based on eyewitness courtroom testimonies and FBI reports. The atrocities portrayed in the movie happened. But, most of us barely heard about this news. Why?

Dr. Gosnell was an African American inner-city doctor. He performed affordable abortions for women whom the culture had decided should be viewed with sympathy more than integrity. Government health agencies had ignored repeated complaints about the clinic for sixteen years because it was easier to avoid what was happening than fight those who would have called their actions racist, religious, or politically motivated. The result: Dr. Gosnell performed tens of thousands of these abortions over a period of thirty years.

His employees estimated that more than forty percent of those abortions were over the legal 24.5-week gestational period. Many of the babies were alive at birth, and Gosnell murdered them after delivery. He went to jail, not because he performed abortions, but because it was proven he had taken the lives of babies born alive and had been responsible for the death of a woman who had come to his clinic.

When abortion became a political issue, many people stopped thinking about it as a moral issue. There is no way to see the factual events portrayed in this movie and leave unmoved. Could that be why so few people have ever heard of Dr. Kermit Gosnell? He was a serial killer whose story went largely unreported because of his race and because those he murdered were supposed to have been aborted.

Why does Dr. Gosnell’s story matter today? First, abortion is not a political issue; it is a moral issue. Why were those babies’ deaths considered murder simply because they were born alive? Now, legally, those babies die every day without criminal prosecution simply because the babies are killed in utero. God, forgive us, for growing silent or political about this issue.

I don’t know what else to say, and I’ve got so many tears running down my face I can’t see my computer screen anymore. I don’t know how to stop the genocide that has become a political hot button instead of a moral and spiritual crisis. The world can call it a fetus, an unwanted baby, or a pre-term pregnancy. God calls that baby his child.

This is the abortion statistic website I would encourage each of you all to look at. I could quote numbers, but this website is profound. The next link I will give you comes with a word of caution. Some of you may not want to see this, and it wasn’t shown in the movie, but I thought it was important to include in this post.

One of the moments in the movie that affected me the most was a portrayal of the turning point in Gosnell’s trial. One of his nurses had used her cell phone to take a picture of a baby boy that had been born alive, and that Gosnell had joked about before snipping its spinal cord. The jury was shown this picture, and it resulted in one of his murder convictions. Be prayerful if you view it. Thankfully, this baby has joined millions of others in heaven, where he is loved by his Creator.

But, that baby should have been loved here on earth as well. That is why I chose to write this blog post. Pray. We have to keep speaking, fighting, caring, and witnessing to those who think abortion is an acceptable form of birth control. It is not!

See this movie—not because it is entertaining, but because it is important. And join me in asking God what more we can do to serve him and serve these babies and their moms, remembering Mary’s words: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 ESV).

God help us. Amen.