If God has predestined the elect, why should we evangelize?
Because we GET to! Because we’re told to. Because preaching the Gospel proclaims God’s glory! That’s what we’re created and purposed to do!
We don’t know who will or won’t be saved, and it’s not our job to save [or convince, argue, etc.] people into the Kingdom. We’re just charged with sharing His story and glory! Doesn’t that take the pressure off? Doesn’t that put it on?!
People are annoyed with Christians who “shove Jesus down their throats”. Well let’s quit doing that and start introducing them to Him!
John 6:40 & 44
For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
… No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Charity Kay
In case you didn’t know, Kimmie and I announced a new pregnancy during the first week of July. We, along with family and many friends, were very thankful and excited to welcome a new baby. We immediately started dreaming and making plans for the new addition, stoked about Ella Jane becoming a big sister and being able to use the plural phrase, “our kids”. We imagined and welcomed the new challenges of driving, feeding, changing, teaching, and training two children at the same time. Ultimately, we realized that we were not only ready for a new baby, but we wanted one!
On Saturday, July 9th, Kim (about 4-5 weeks pregnant) called our midwives about some bleeding. She told us that it’s fairly common and could be something normal, but that we should go to the emergency room for peace of mind if it got worse (we wouldn’t be able to get an appointment to see a midwife until Monday when they re-opened). That it did, so we went to the Vanderbilt Emergency Room at about 4 p.m. that evening. We were there until 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. They ran various tests, but none were conclusive – it was too early to see the baby on the ultrasound and they’d have to compare lab work with more of the same conducted on Monday to diagnose what was going on. Painfully disappointed and deeply concerned, we went home to pray and sleep. That morning, we texted our pastor to let him know what was happening and we went to church for prayer. During that time, we felt very loved as our Conduit family rallied around us to share prayers, hugs, and encouragement. That afternoon, our housemates spent time with Ella Jane while we caught up on sleep. Later, we spent a few hours contacting a few friends and family members to beg for prayer. That night, we prayed very intensely and earnestly for quite some time before going to sleep. We prayed for healing. We prayed for survival. We told God that we trust His sovereignty, His wisdom, and His plan, but that we desperately wished to steward this life that belonged to Him. We closely felt the Father’s love and our faith was strengthened. I believed for this miracle without a doubt – I was “stepping out of the boat” as best I knew how, anointing Kim with oil, claiming the promises of the Lord, and speaking life over our baby. We even asked for a name, which we received: Charity Kay.
The next day we booked an appointment with the midwives at 1pm – though not without difficulty; the receptionist was not listening well and kept assuming Kim already had a confirmed miscarriage despite her repeated explanation to the contrary. We went in and they drew blood and told us that it “probably won’t go to the lab until 5 p.m.” and that they’d call us with results in the morning – or we could look up the results later that night online. How sensitive and compassionate. Well, that we did; sitting in our living room with our beloved housemates, we logged into Kim’s patient records and saw a steep fall in hormone levels. We had lost our precious baby Charity.
We are devastated not to be entrusted with her upbringing, but she brought us joy for several dreamy days and we fully trust the Lord and His plan. We’re crushed and we don’t understand, but we are confident that He knows what’s best for us and for our unborn daughter. We have no idea why He gave her to us for such a short time, nor do we know from what physical problems He might have been sparing her (perhaps that was the answer to our prayers for healing). We don’t know how He gets more glory by taking her than by letting us raise her – but we’re sure He does. We don’t know her purpose and legacy, but we’re sure her short life is not a waste and that we’ll learn something from this by which we can praise the Lord and comfort others. We are baffled about why He gave us such great faith for a miracle we didn’t get to see. We don’t know how we can miss someone so much who we’ve never met. What we do know is that GOD IS GOOD all the time! We just have to trust Him.
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the prayer, concern, love, comfort, encouragement, and support you’ve given to us. We couldn’t ask for better family or truer friends. The only further thing we ask from you is that you’ll continue to walk with us on our journey with an appreciation for Charity’s significance and a grateful heart toward our great God.
In Whom Is Your Trust? [part 2]
Well, I finally got a couple replies to my question, but still no answer. I received these replies via private message…I’m not sure if it’s fair to read into why they didn’t want to post their replies publicly, but I can’t help but wonder. Regardless, none actually addressed my question [How can you claim to know the heart of Yahweh and vote for someone as pro-abortion as Obama?] but gave arguments against John McCain’s moral qualifications or expressed laissez-faire attitudes toward the murder of innocent millions. That really bothers me, but it proves my preconception completely. Rebuttals were as such (please reply if you feel I have misrepresented your point):
- Donald Miller, author of emergent church best-seller Blue Like Jazz is campaigning for Obama.
Somebody shoot me in the face [but miss]. Apparently you are not aware that many regard Don Miller as a heretic. I don’t think I’d call him that per se (where’s the love?), but he does have some shoddy doctrine and that is a discussion for another place.
- This is an important election and there are other issues to vote on other than abortion. Nobody in the current political circuit is doing anything about it, anyway.
Did you not get what I’m saying? The right to life is greatly (dare I say most) important to Yahweh! I believe it is greedy to care more about economic issues than human life. Read some Matthew 6. Submit to the Lord’s will and He’ll take care of the rest. We’ll be taken care of…so that we can take care of others. Welfare is the church’s job,not the government’s. Just because we’re not doing our job doesn’t mean you as a Christian should shift your trust from God to man. That’s idolatry. It means we need to get off our tails and call our government into account for their wickedness. It means that you need to personally be proactive about taking care of the poor. The system will not fix itself; Yeshua’s willing, active hands and feet in this world will. Do not support a man who supports abortion just because ‘nobody else is doing anything about it’. You will answer to God for your advocacy. Note: some will think I’m saying all government aid programs are bad. I’m not! I’m saying don’t vote for other people to help the poor if you are too lazy or selfish to do it yourself. However, on the other hand…the more money our federal government hands out, the more the deficit grows.
On another note: yes, there have been great strides made against abortion…by the incumbent administration, in fact. You don’t hear much good news about Bush in the media these days; you have to do your own homework to be informed. I’m not advocating him or McCain (it’s popular to say a vote for McCain is a vote for Bush), but under his rule, partial birth abortions were banned. Obama advocates late-term and post-birth abortion and seeks to turn that around. More on that later.
- Women who want abortions will get them. Be that with a clothes hanger, in a nasty illegal clinic or otherwise. It’s already legal anyway, so it can’t get worse.
Wow. So the legal status of an abomination makes it OK? Maybe Moses should have been killed, in accordance with the law at the time of his infancy. Maybe Mary should have submitted to the infanticide order of her king, Herod. What would have happened if the chief figures of Judaism and Christianity were aborted? It was legal.
Anything that is illegal is still going to happen in a society, but it is evil to legally endorse murder. What a flimsy argument.
Yes, it will get worse if Obama wins! He is the most pro-abortion candidate our nation has ever seen. He has a 0% approval rating from the NRLC. He has repeatedly voted against restriction of late-term and post-birth abortion. He believes unplanned babies are a “punishment”. That shows you where he stands on the value of a human life. He’s said the first thing he will do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would make any further regulation of abortion – federal or state (this is where you Constitutionalists & Federalists get angry) – illegal.
“How do you know that, Bucky? The website Pro-Life Pro-Obama [http://prolifeproobama.com/] says he will make great strides to reduce abortions in America! ‘Senator Obama’s grass-roots, faith-based approach of support for women and families will help them when they most need it, preventing abortions by supporting women and families to choose life.’”
I know this because I’ve heard it from his own lips: [http://tinyurl.com/obamabortion].
“Faith-based”? We’ve already seen the brand of faith this man possesses…should we trust such a statement?
- Pro-life education and contraceptive education is where it all has to start. I don’t believe that anyone is in favor of killing babies but the health of mothers must be taken into consideration too.
Obama is clearly in favor of killing unwanted babies!
Yes, we who believe in family and the value of human life need to get off our fannies (great word, huh?) and do something! But what I’ve seen from these arguments is mainly logic-driven. What happened to faith? I’m picking up the vibe that Obama-supporting evangelicals have essentially given up on the Body of Christ to fight for the right to life and are turning their trust instead to the (albeit corrupt) system. I would be thrilled about a vote spent to advocate ending legalized abortion in any way…I just do not believe Obama is serious about doing so, given the evidence.
Any successful society has favored a younger life over an older one in a mortal crisis, as children are the future. Murdering and letting die are two different things.
- John McCain met his current wife only a few months before they were married and when they met he was already married. You show me the Godliness in that.
Again, why does this turn automatically to John McCain? Anyway….you are again proving my point; clearly this is a misunderstanding of grace. John McCain has publicly expressed his regret over that decision. My Messiah forgives him. By your standard, David should never have been the greatest king of Israel by which all who followed after were measured, and through whom God’s messianic covenant and everlasting Kingdom would be established. Remember Bathsheba? This is an insult to the very blood of Yeshua.
- The current Republican administration has not made the environment a priority, which is in blatant disregard of God’s plan for man to be the caretaker of the earth.
I’m not sure where John McCain or Barack Obama stand on environmental issues, really. They both talk jive which differs from their voting records, but in the debates both do seem to push for alternative fuels. Both believe in man-made global warming and finding solutions immediately, if that’s important to you. I can identify with this frustration, though. I’m a little bit hippie, and I am serious about proper stewardship of the earth along with everything else we’re entrusted with. Look at the signs of the times, though…it’s all going to burn up soon, anyway (if you read the same Bible I do). It will be destroyed and recreated again,” as in the days of Noah” (Matthew 27:34).
I really have yet to see a blatantly stated reason why voting for Barack Obama would please the Lord. Seeing this apathy toward innocent human life despite the heartbreak of Yahweh reminds me of Revelation 3:16-19:
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy, and need nothing,’ and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed and repent.
God is literally sick with grief.
Next, please.
NOTE: This is imported from Facebook. If you’d like to join the discussion, the original post & comments can be found here.
In Whom Is Your Trust?
Well, it’s been over 5 hours today since I posted this open question in my status and have not yet gotten a response:
“Bucky is straight up asking liberal Christians: how can you claim to know the heart of Yahweh and vote for someone as pro-abortion as Obama?”
I also posted a link to this video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md2bf9DNVB4], wherein Barack Obama candidly reveals the brand of “Christianity” he believes in. In brief, he makes it very apparent that he disbelieves in absolute truth, he clearly does not understand the fundamental gospel doctrine of grace and salvation, and he does not think that his religious beliefs should have any influence on his decisions as President. Argue the latter if you’d like – with your BS ‘separation of church and state’ rhetoric – but the fact of the matter is that ethics are grounded in morality, and those beliefs have to be rooted in something. Our founding fathers chose the Judeo-Christian values from the Bible. If you disagree with this, you have some homework to do. I will set that debate aside now, however, as it’s not the central topic of this note.
I also asked in the comment of that posted item for my Obama-supporting Christian friends to respond to his statements:
“Enlighten me. I really want to know how this works…I’m going to be honest and say that I assume that – evidenced by your support for Barack Obama – you care more about monetary issues than Truth or human life. Please prove me closed-minded and ignorant; if you can”
I am not motivated by arrogance in asking these questions. I really, seriously, honestly DO NOT GET IT, and would like to figure out what I’m missing. I must be transparent and reveal that I most certainly do have an agenda for these questions and this note, though. I believe what’s stirring me to speak against Barack Obama’s presidency is not political, but prophetic. Call me radical if you will…call me closed-minded if you will…but I believe in something Barack Obama does not; absolute truth.
Since I have yet to receive an answer to those questions, I decided to do a little research to find out why Obama supporters as a whole have decided to give him their loyalty. Here are the top reasons I found (in perceived ranking order):
- They believe in his promise of change.
- He’s young and educated.
- He’s black [I'm not even going to touch that civil rights contradiction this go-round].
- They’re tired of the current Republican administration [many prefer the term 'regime'].
Unfortunately, the truth in this case is that no man (Obama, McCain, Ron Paul…anyone) can turn this country around, fix this economy, or put into effect the ‘change we need’. It is easy to see from our recent history – the economic crisis, corruption in Congress, the war, etc. – that at a point, politics fail and faith must take over. What I mean is; political legislation has so far not fixed these problems, but made them worse. We The People are no longer being represented in such legislation, as our representatives and senators just do what they want. Congress has a lower public approval rating than President George W. Bush. If politics can’t fix it, who can?
Not Barack Obama; he’s NOT some sort of messiah. He is just another politician. So is John McCain.
Shall we as a nation give faith a desperate shot since nothing else appears to work? I know our forefathers would approve of such. This – if you haven’t figured it out yet – is my agenda for this post. I am, with many other like-hearted friends, trying to call the attention of American Christians (and hopefully the whole nation if they will listen) to the heart of the Father. If you think He has no interest in our political or economic situation, consider this promise from 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Abortion – the murder of over 50 million innocents – is the wickedness I believe grieves the Lord’s heart most. I’m not sure how realistic a scenario like nation-wide repentance from abortion is for this country…. but there we have it straight from the mouth of God that if we were to do that, HE will restore our economic well-being.
As ready as I am for Messianic rule (by the true Messiah, Yeshua!), we’ve got to elect another president. I am not telling anyone for whom to vote, but asking that you bear these things in mind as you do. As a brother I would ask my evangelical friends not to vote for Obama (it would not please the Lord), but as a patriot I fully support their freedom of decision. Please, please vote and do it responsibly as an educated voter. Do your homework and know forwhomyou’re voting and for what they stand.
God bless America…please, Father, do.
NOTE: This is imported from Facebook. If you’d like to join the discussion, the original post & comments can be found here.
