Dignity and the Unborn

Recently I stood with about 250 other people on Sunrise Boulevard in Roseville, CA.  We were there to protest Planned Parenthood.  Over the last few months a series of videos have been released by the Center for Medical Progress documenting what the organization has been doing with aborted babies.  The videos are appalling and watching them physically made me sick.  The main reason why I was so appalled was the attitude hidden behind the work.  One leader sipped her wine and ate her salad and was totally unphased by what she was describing (which I will not share here, but would encourage you to watch the videos yourself).  It was frightening to watch and it deeply concerned me.  Have we become so callous and hard hearted in our country that such things no longer bother us?     

The Bible says we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6), thus all human life is valued and comes with an inherited dignity.  Dignity being “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”, we have this quality because we are a reflection of God.  No other creature on earth or in heaven is made in the image of God.  We hold a special place in creation and this goes for all human beings—born or unborn.   At the fall we also know sin entered the world and has corrupted what once was perfect and God is working to restore what was lost.  Thus we now live in the already and not yet.  We know God will restore everything to himself through Jesus Christ and we long for the day when we will spend eternity in his presence.   Until that time we are to be share Christ with the world—to build his kingdom and we are do this until Christ returns or we are called home.    

Because of the value of human life and the obligation we have as citizens of the kingdom we have the scared duty to defend and protect, provide for and care for those who are defenseless, broken and in need.  The orphan and the widow are to hold a special place in our hearts, we are commanded to love one another and we are to share that love with the world.  These are not just buzz words for the follower of Christ to banter around on Sunday morning to make us feel better about what we are not doing.  They are descriptive and are to define in essence who we are.  This is because they are the reflective attributes of God himself—who is in us. 

Who will stand up for the one who cannot speak on their own behalf?  Who will be the voice that pushes back the darkness and holds up the light for other to see?  I’m reminded of Paul’s words to the church in Philippi “Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. Hold firmly to the message of life.” (Php 2:14-16a)  We are to shine like stars in the culture, holding firmly to the message of life that is found in Jesus Christ alone.  We shine so that those who are lost may be guided back to the source of hope and peace, grace and mercy, love and forgiveness.  Let us encourage each other to stand for truth, to expose evil and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Pray for God to close Planned Parenthood.  Pray for those who work in the clinics.  Pray for the young ladies who visit and pray for the unborn.  May God have mercy upon us all.    

        

Waves

I was sitting on the beach watching the waves come in.  Children and young adults were playing in the surf and enjoying the water.  The older crowd stood further back only dipping their toes in to cool off or were standing on the wet sand.  The waves though never stopped, there was never a moment when the waves took a break, they were relentless.  The only different was the size of the waves some were larger than others, but they don’t stop coming.  I couldn’t help but to look at the waves at the way life plays out in front of us.  Life comes in waves and they never stop.  Overtime you become stronger in the waves but eventually you just get tired of them all together and you’re ready to go home.   Life is like that and one of the reason I love scripture is God is always with us and he reminds us.  The nation of Israel was going through trials and judgement and God speaks through his prophet Isaiah these encouraging words. 

Now this is what the LORD says—the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel—“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. (Isa 43:1-2)

I hope when you read these two inspiring verses you noticed something…God never says he would remove you from what you’re facing, he says, “I will be with you”.  He says they will not overwhelm you, but he never says I will remove them all together.  He says there a reason for this, he says, “I have redeemed you and have called you by my name; you are mine.”  We are not our own, we were bought and paid for. (1 Cor. 6:10; 7:23)  Christ paid the debt of you sin and you were called by name to bring glory to his name. (Phil. 2:9-11)  You belong to God and that is a good thing!  He didn’t look down and see something special in you and thus he choose you on merit. No, you were his from the very beginning of time, before he spoke the worlds into existence, before he placed the stars and gave them their names (Psalm 147:4), you were loved and he has placed his name on you. (Eph. 1: 4-6)  

Knowing who you are makes all the difference, the waves can keep coming and I know God is with me.  I can face tomorrow because I know Jesus has paid the price for my sin, he has redeemed me and I am his.  He died and was buried and on the third day he rose again and because he lives I will live (Romans 6:4-8).  This life has no hold on me!  I belong to the King of kings and to the Lord of lords.  We need to keep this in our minds at all times as we watch the world around us rapidly change.  Jesus tells the disciples of what is to come in John chapter 16 and reminds them of who he is and who they are.  He tells them, “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world." (Joh 16:33)  Be encouraged brothers and sisters, we serve a great God who is building his kingdom.  Now is the time to join him and to trust in HIM!

 

Why I Am a Baptist

In a world where standing alongside a denomination is slowly becoming unfashionable, I chose to retain my label as a “Baptist”.  When I tell other pastors I’m a Baptist there always seems to be a pause.  Maybe I’m self-conscience and have heard all the “when I was a Baptist” jokes.  I even had one person tell me how they grew up Baptist and how his pastor now always asks him where a verse is located in the bible--because he knows he was raised a Baptist.  The sad part of that story is he was laughing about it, I on the other hand was saddened.  Baptist have from the very beginning been about “The Book”.  They were called “people of The Book”.  Baptist have always taken the Word of God seriously and it was Scripture that moved them away from “paedobaptism” (baptizing infants) towards believers baptism.  They were convinced from scriptures that one had to have a personal belief in Christ that was visible and life changing before being baptized. 

Why am I a Baptist?  I’m a Baptist by choice first and foremost.  Three common threads bind Baptist together.  The first is the Word of God, all of it, God breathed without error.  The Baptist believe the Bible is the primary source for everything we need for living a holy life.  If we don’t believe the Bible is true in its entirety--then we can also pick and choose what we want from the Bible.  Baptist believe you must accept all of Scripture or none of it.

Secondly I’m a Baptist because of missions.  Because we believe in the Bible we believe the Great Commission is a command from Jesus Christ to go and baptize and to teach all that Christ command.  Jesus didn’t give the church the “Great Suggestion” but commissioned us to go.  Baptist have grasped this from the very beginning.  It was the drive to spread the gospel that Southern Baptist formed a convention in 1845, of like-minded churches to stand together.  It was the growth of missions that drove the Southern Baptist Convention in 1924 to pool their resources together in the “Co-Operative” program.  Today the cooperative program of the SBC raises money for the purpose of sending missionaries all over the world. We at FBC Rocklin contribute 8% of all monies we receive to this effort. 

Thirdly I’m a Baptist because each Baptist church is its own entity.  We do not answer to higher governing authority, we answer to Christ alone.  Each Baptist church ordains its own ministers, established its own form of government and is led by the congregation of baptized believers.  There isn’t such thing as a second Baptist church, or a third, there is only one Baptist church, each church stands on its own. We choose who we will work with according to the Scriptures and to Christ’s leading, there are absolutely no strings on a Baptist church. 

I am a Baptist for many other reasons as well, but when it’s all said in done I’m a Baptist by choice.  I also recognize Baptist have earned some of the negativity they rightly receive. But I stand with many others who through the years have suffered and stood by the Scriptures when others would not.  Baptist have historically stood firm in the face of intense persecution because of what they believed and have been uncompromising in the pursuit of liberty to follow those beliefs.  As our culture continues to shift we will find ourselves at the battle front and we will have to make a choice.  I’m convinced the world needs more Baptist!  Come join me!                       

Today I visited Alice

Today I visited Alice, she is in a convalescent home recovering from a broken leg. She was out feeding the birds in front of her home when she stepped off the sidewalk and tumbled over breaking her leg. She is use to moving and so being stuck in recovery away from home is really tough on her. She was telling how it felt like she was serving a jail sentence and she has served two month's time. She has been battling depression and has felt abandoned by God. She looked at me and said, “Pastor why doesn't God answer my prayers and let me out of this place, I feel like he has abandoned me here.” As she was talking I started to look around the room. On the bathroom door hung a reef, covered with colorful spring flowers. A table in the corner had three empty vases on it. Her desk was covered in cards and several church bulletins were visible. As we were talking another couple came to visit and we all sat around her bed.

I asked her about the reef she told me how a friend Joyce from the church had made it for her, it was beautiful and she explained her love for spring and the flowers. She was getting visibly excited as she looked towards the vases and told about how different people had brought her roses and other flowers. She looked at the cards and told me about the cards and how different people had brought her bulletins from church. She told us how her daughter has made sure she had clean cloths and how Charlotte who leads the hymns in our church came by and they sang together. She named all the people who had come to visit her and how great it was to see them.

After she was done I looked around and asked her if she still felt abandoned by God? She looked around and said, “No, he is with me”. I also handed her a card signed by the men in our prayer group and told her we had prayed for her this morning. She was overjoyed and asked me to thank each person on the card. I share this story to remind you to pray for those who are older and struggling to heal in homes, facilities and feel alone. Alice is bless to have so many care for her, many seniors have nobody. Secondly, when you feel abandoned by God, pause for a moment and take an inventory, I bet he is closer than you thought.

Decisions, Decisions

We have to make a decision.  You and I have to decide what we believe about the Bible.  Every day as Christians we are faced with a growing tide of pressure to conform the Bible to the world around us.  We live in very interesting time in where we are constantly being hard-pressed to conform into the mold of thinking that is contrary to Biblical truth.  You will make a decision, either you will be conformed to the world or you will decide the Bible is going to conform you. 

Not too long ago I found myself in a conversation with several youth leaders at seminary and they brought to light a thought I hadn't had before.  The youth today are pressured in ways we never were.  Their friends and peers expect them to think like they do and when they don’t there is enormous pressure exerted on them to conform.  They are told they hate the other person because they don’t agree, plus they are bombarded by a social media message 24/7.  It never ends and the challenge for them to live out their faith is almost impossible. 

Even adults are faced with this pressure to conform to new social standards.  Now when we look out our window there is a different world out there, right now riots are happening in Baltimore, there are Christians being killed in the Middle East and no one seems all too concerned.  How are going to live out our faith in this changing world?  We have to make a decision.  We are being forced out from the shadow of ambiguity and are being forced to make a stand.  Now isn't the time to sit on the fence, our children need us, the world needs Christ now. 

Scripture tells us “Not to be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Romans 12:2).  Where you stand with scripture is going to determine how you are going to live out your life now.  If you believe the Bible is a book to be interrupted by person experience, in light cultural standards you are going to fit into the age just fine and should find it easy going, church will be optional.  But if you make a stand that the Bible is absolute truth, and believe it’s the Word of God and hold to the Bible as being the standard for all moral good, you are going to find the world unwelcoming.  You will make a decision. 

Our children need us to make a decision, our grandchildren need us to make a decision.  Our young adults need us to make a decision, our country needs us to make a decision.  The world needs to see us stand for Jesus Christ and His glory and that will only happen if we stand with the Bible.  For it is through the Word of God we know God, we know His Son, and know the Holy Spirit.  How you view the Bible matters, you will make a decision if you haven’t already.  My prayer is you will stand on the truth of scripture.  That you will humble yourself and not conform the Bible to your own standard, but that you would be shaped by scripture.