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Facing Judgment - A Call to Action
Posted by
James P. McGarvey
,
09 August 2010
·
1004 views
Will America go bankrupt? According to Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H), “If we continue to spend much more than we take in we'll double our debt in five years and triple it in 10 years and essentially be where Greece is [bankrupt] in about seven years.” (Jane McGrath, CNSNews.com – see below) I don't know whether God will strike at America's Achilles' heel, her economy or not, but God will judge America for its ritual killing of the unborn, over 3,300 a day, through legalized abortion. You can count on that. Look down the halls of history - every nation/empire/civilization that practiced infanticide, abortion, human sacrifice no longer exists. There is a reason for that. God has promised to judge those who shed innocent blood. If He judged Israel, His own people,(read about it in Jeremiah 19)why would we be exempt from similar treatment?
The 21st century American pulpit is at risk of abandoning its responsibility to speak to the sins of the nation. We have ceded our Constitutional right and Biblical mandate to speak prophetically to our body politic. Therefore our government, now largely in the hands of secular humanists, shape laws and public policy based on moral relativism, routinely legislating wickedness with impunity – with little opposition from an apparently intimidated clergy. In contrast, our forefathers recognized the relationship between Biblical truth and government. They believed the former shaped the latter. In an address to the Massachusetts Bible Society in 1849, U. S. Congressman Robert C. Winthrop said, "All societies of men must be governed in some way or other…Men in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is Religion which must support the State."
It was Alexis de Tocqueville the French historian who visited America and said, "I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America...Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
I believe abortion is a satanic enterprise (see John 8:44) and that the Church is the only institution spiritually equipped to engage the satanic forces behind abortion. (See my online message link below.) Therefore the Church must take the lead in the effort to end abortion with a comprehensive strategy based on a Biblical worldview. It must inform the believer and the culture of the sanctity of the unborn as well as support and promote compassionate ministry (e.g. pregnancy resource clinics) to those facing crisis pregnancies in their communities. Most churches are largely uninvolved in practical efforts to help prevent abortion and pastors are reluctant to address the subject in their churches.
There are exceptions. In March of 2009, African American pastor Rev. Walter Hoye (President and Founder of the Issues4Life Foundation http://www.issues4life.org/) wrote the following words to pastors from his cell in the Santa Rita jail in Dublin California, where he was serving a sentence for sharing the Gospel outside of a local abortion clinic. "First and foremost we must speak regularly and boldly from our Sunday morning pulpits, from our mid-week Bible studies and from our small group meetings on the weekend against abortion. We must inform, educate and activate God's people to take public stands against the sin of legalized murder in America today. Secondly, we must install Post/Abortion Counseling Education (PACE) Programs in our churches…We must clearly communicate the love, mercy and grace of God, in tangible ways, to the men, women and families that are horribly scarred and burdened by the guilt and shame of participating in the murder of their own child…Third we must break all denominational barriers and stand together against every attack on our constitutional rights. We must not be afraid to face the consequences of our peaceful, non-violent resistance to evil."
Dr. Herb Lusk, an African American pastor of an inner city church in Philadelphia, is another pastor who has responded to the culture of death in his community. Surrounded by abortion clinics, he and his church built a pregnancy resource center in their neighborhood. I'll never forget his words, “If you don’t do anything about the horrors of abortion you’re not part of the solution, which means that you’re part of the problem…as long as a baby is in danger we’re in war. As long as the life of one infant is threatened, the war rages on.” We are warned by the author of Proverbs to:
"Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; Don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God knows all hearts, and he sees you. He keeps watch over your soul, and he knows you knew! And he will judge all people according to what they have done." Proverbs 24:11-12 (NLT)
(More of Jane McGrath at: http://www.cnsnews.c...x?RsrcID=67183. Listen to my message, "Abortion, the Devil & the Church - Exposing the Satanic Forces Behind Abortion" given at Riverside Christian Fellowship, October 4, 2009, online at http://www.rcfonline...and-the-church/ PowerPoint slides of the message can be seen by clicking the words “Abortion, the Devil and the Church” next to the words “Notes.”)
The 21st century American pulpit is at risk of abandoning its responsibility to speak to the sins of the nation. We have ceded our Constitutional right and Biblical mandate to speak prophetically to our body politic. Therefore our government, now largely in the hands of secular humanists, shape laws and public policy based on moral relativism, routinely legislating wickedness with impunity – with little opposition from an apparently intimidated clergy. In contrast, our forefathers recognized the relationship between Biblical truth and government. They believed the former shaped the latter. In an address to the Massachusetts Bible Society in 1849, U. S. Congressman Robert C. Winthrop said, "All societies of men must be governed in some way or other…Men in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is Religion which must support the State."
It was Alexis de Tocqueville the French historian who visited America and said, "I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America...Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
I believe abortion is a satanic enterprise (see John 8:44) and that the Church is the only institution spiritually equipped to engage the satanic forces behind abortion. (See my online message link below.) Therefore the Church must take the lead in the effort to end abortion with a comprehensive strategy based on a Biblical worldview. It must inform the believer and the culture of the sanctity of the unborn as well as support and promote compassionate ministry (e.g. pregnancy resource clinics) to those facing crisis pregnancies in their communities. Most churches are largely uninvolved in practical efforts to help prevent abortion and pastors are reluctant to address the subject in their churches.
There are exceptions. In March of 2009, African American pastor Rev. Walter Hoye (President and Founder of the Issues4Life Foundation http://www.issues4life.org/) wrote the following words to pastors from his cell in the Santa Rita jail in Dublin California, where he was serving a sentence for sharing the Gospel outside of a local abortion clinic. "First and foremost we must speak regularly and boldly from our Sunday morning pulpits, from our mid-week Bible studies and from our small group meetings on the weekend against abortion. We must inform, educate and activate God's people to take public stands against the sin of legalized murder in America today. Secondly, we must install Post/Abortion Counseling Education (PACE) Programs in our churches…We must clearly communicate the love, mercy and grace of God, in tangible ways, to the men, women and families that are horribly scarred and burdened by the guilt and shame of participating in the murder of their own child…Third we must break all denominational barriers and stand together against every attack on our constitutional rights. We must not be afraid to face the consequences of our peaceful, non-violent resistance to evil."
Dr. Herb Lusk, an African American pastor of an inner city church in Philadelphia, is another pastor who has responded to the culture of death in his community. Surrounded by abortion clinics, he and his church built a pregnancy resource center in their neighborhood. I'll never forget his words, “If you don’t do anything about the horrors of abortion you’re not part of the solution, which means that you’re part of the problem…as long as a baby is in danger we’re in war. As long as the life of one infant is threatened, the war rages on.” We are warned by the author of Proverbs to:
"Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; Don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God knows all hearts, and he sees you. He keeps watch over your soul, and he knows you knew! And he will judge all people according to what they have done." Proverbs 24:11-12 (NLT)
(More of Jane McGrath at: http://www.cnsnews.c...x?RsrcID=67183. Listen to my message, "Abortion, the Devil & the Church - Exposing the Satanic Forces Behind Abortion" given at Riverside Christian Fellowship, October 4, 2009, online at http://www.rcfonline...and-the-church/ PowerPoint slides of the message can be seen by clicking the words “Abortion, the Devil and the Church” next to the words “Notes.”)
