Why was Drudge surprised?

"Shock" was the lead-in to the Drudge headline link to this news story about infanticide in North Korea. Why is this news a surprise? For a materialist/evolutionist, weeding out the weak is a mechanism of the great evolutionary "plan" being worked out over the eons. To be a consistent evolutionist, this would be a good thing.

On the other hand, there was Corrie tenBoom. After the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940, Miss tenBoom was ostracized by the Nazi occupiers for befriending disabled children and helping them learn, in their simple way, the love that God has for them. Her God requires consideration for the helpless... in fact, the prophets pronounced judgment for lack of it. Conversely, in the Nazi way of thinking, this was useless activity wasted on worthless people. See a pattern here?

What journalist/poet Steve Turner wrote in his poem "Chance" is fitting here:

Chance

If chance be
the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
and when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man
worshipping his maker.

Steve Turner,
from Up To Date (London: Hodder & Stoughton)

Elijah and the Prophets of Secularism

... or Dance With The One Who Brung Ya (Part 2)

There's trouble brewin' in South Dakota. Those uppity hicks exercised their choice... they went and chose life for the unborn instead of extermination. Now the abortion at any cost folks are up in arms.

We are reaching a collision point regarding many of our "values" and people must decide where they stand. I am reminded of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. He told the "folks" in Israel that decision time had arrived. They had to choose where their allegiance lay and by whom their values would be guided (determined, if you will.)

Elijah promptly challenged them, and the leaders of the competing worldview, to a showdown. It was kind of like, as Jesus said, "by their fruits your will know them." Elijah was forcing them to their endgame -- and doing the same for himself -- to see what each one would produce. As the story goes, his opponents wore themselves out trying to get results. Elijah sat by and watched and gave commentary. Then he set up the test challenge for himself and made it much more difficult for himself than it had been for them. With a single prayer, the God who answered with fire was the true God... Elijah's God.

It is time for the players in our modern cultural debate to come to epistemological self-consciousness... to face who they are and how they got here and what the outcome of those things taken to the extreme will produce. Like Jesus said, " Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers."

Looking Forward... a worthwhile habit

Have you ever driven by a half-finished building that has obviously been that way for quite a while... even to the point where the elements are starting to take a toll on the structure and it is starting to decay and fall apart?

Jesus from Luke 14:28-32:

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. "

Building projects require a lot of forethought and "foreaction". Builders don’t just show up one day and say “we’re ready.” It required making plans, checking codes and boundaries, determining materials and labor required, counting the cost, staking it out, preparing the foundations, ordering the materials, scheduling the work and much more. The bigger the project the more there is to do.

There is a great deal of debate about "the wall of separation" between church and state. Modern American Christians, unfortunately, have a habit creating a "wall of separation" between faith and life. The Bible in general, and Proverbs in particular, knows of no such separation. Examples:

Having a harvest requires working the ground and being persistent. Just thinking about it will leave you empty-handed.

Proverbs 12:11 He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.

Proverbs 20:4 A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

Proverbs 13:4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

Proverbs 28:19 He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

Titus 3:1 Remind them... to be ready for every good work...

God commends planning for the future - but he always has the last word.

Proverbes 16:1,9 To man belong the plans of the heart,but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

Prudent men see what is ahead and make preparation for it.

Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Proverbs 27:12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark...

Anticipating Gain

We do all this in view of the future benefit we expected to get from the work. We “plow in hope.”

Paul from 1 Corinthians 9:10, 24-27 …when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Nobody goes into business just to get by. Why run if not to win? Let’s look at more examples of Paul’s labors…

Thessalonica Acts 17:1-9 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

The testimony of those who opposed Paul was that he and his co-workers had “caused trouble all over the world…” and they recognized that the message Paul brought was not to bring “just one more god” to the mix, but rather that Jesus was greater than Caesar.

Ephesus Acts 19:8-10, 25-27 8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 23About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

Paul and his co-workers were able to communicate the Lordship of Christ throughout the whole region.

Population Statistics

We are praying for revival – that is good. If there was revival on the massive scale that the statistics require – what would be needed? How can we prepare? Pastors can’t handle it all. Revival wouldn’t bring in only the “upper crust.” It would bring in people who have needs and problems – marital, substance abuse, money, thievery, adultery, etc. How are we preparing to be involved in the training of others? Our commission is to be Jesus Christ’s learners and to teach others to be learners.