Where Does It End?

A report out today states that in the UK, a premature baby was left to die after doctors refused to resuscitate a child born at 21 weeks. UK guidelines state that only after 22 weeks does a child's life warrant the expensive measures required to save him/her.

I have said for some time that if life is not sacred from beginning to end, then the question must then follow, "When does a human life become worthy of protection?" The groundwork has been laid in England that a life is worthy only if it will not pose too much of a burden upon the rest of society.

Eventually, this reasoning will be taken to its logical conclusion. If a child born at 21 weeks should not receive medical care because the costs (along with the possibility of disability) will be great, then what about the four year old child with cerebral palsy? Why should government spend money that could go to entitlements on someone who will never be able to "give back?" Next, we must ask, just how disabled do you have to be before we decide that you are not doing your part and should be eliminated at worst, or denied medical treatments at best?

What Do We Do?

Comedian Larry David is getting heat for a recent episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which he urinated on a picture of Jesus. What do we do when the Savior we love is maligned in such a way?

1) Pray for Larry David and remember that we are commanded to love our enemies.

2) Communicate clearly that such behavior legitimizes harassment, prejudice and persecution against Christians.

3) Rethink your subscription to HBO, if you are silly enough to have one. Not because we should "punish" the lost world for being, well...lost. Do it because you don't need that garbage in your home.

4) Remember that the best response is to simply keep loving Jesus. The world will notice that Christians, unlike Muslims, do not issue death threats or riot in the streets when Jesus is treated in such a derogatory way. I pray that believers will not use this episode to embarrass the cause of Christ by retaliating with cheap insults or a complete lack of grace.

Not All of Us

Benny Hinn was recently interviewed by ABC's Nightline. During the interview, it was acknowledged that his ministry receives over $100 million per year in gifts. He has a mansion on the Pacific Ocean and he admitted to a salary of over a half million per year. Oh yeah, and he has a private plane. When asked to defend his lifestyle, here is what he said:

"I mean look, every man of God that I know today has a nice house...And they drive cars, and they have BlackBerrys or iPhones or whatever. It's what we need today to simply exist. ... Absolutely I need a private plane."

How far we have gone from "Silver and gold have I none!" (Acts 3:6) While the Bible, and the apostle Paul in particular, clearly defends the ministry workman receiving wages, it is also true that a pastor must be "free from the love of money" (1 Timothy 3:3). I think it's safe to say that Benny Hinn fails to meet this requirement.

I haven't heard Hinn preach in some time, but back when I had cable and would see him on tv, I always listened to hear a clear gospel presentation. I never heard one. Hinn is an example of the kind of false teachers we are warned to avoid. Titus speaks of them when he says, "They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain." (emphasis mine)

Here We Go Again

Another health care reform bill has passed the Senate Finance Committee. Once again, it includes taxpayer funds for abortions, contrary to Obama's promise to the nation in September.

According to Baptist Press, the bill...

-- allows tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies for lower-income people to be used to purchase private insurance plans that cover elective abortions. The bill requires the insurance companies to segregate their internal funds and not use federal dollars to pay for the abortions. Critics call it an accounting gimmick.

-- requires that each area of the country provide at least one plan that pays for elective abortions and one plan that does not pay for them.

We need to keep the pressure on congress to strike these provisions. The time to do it is now, not after the final version arrives for a vote.

Needed: A Revival of Stewardship

Southern Baptists recently reduced the size of their international missionary workforce, falling from 5,400 to roughly 5,000 missionaries. There has been much discussion about the cause of this decline and what we must do to fix it. Currently, a task force is working to answer these questions with a focus on how our conventions can be more efficient. However, I think I've got this problem figured out.

Twenty-five years ago, SBC churches gave an average of 10.6% of all receipts to missions through the Cooperative Program. Today, we give a meager 6.08%. Think about that for a moment. If in 2008, Southern Baptists did not receive a single penny more than what was given, but if our churches were as missions-minded and selfless as we were a quarter century ago, the result would be 4.52% more to the Cooperative Program!

Think about it this way: In 2008, Southern Baptist churches received over nine billion dollars($9,013,807,646). If Southern Baptists gave 10.6% to missions in 2008 like we did in 1984, we would have contributed an additional $407 million to missions. This is enough to add almost 10,000 more IMB missionaries!

As a pastor, I know what I would tell a church member who said they could not tithe because they could not afford to live off of 10% of their income. I would say that God can do more with 90% than they can do with 100%. That is also true for churches. Too many churches think that they must sacrifice giving to missions in order to pay for staff salaries and/or programs. This is simply not true. God will always provide for His people as they are faithful with what He has given them.

I pray that our churches will return to previous levels of generosity. I expect that when we do, we will see God bless faithful stewardship.

Isn't It Amazng?

The supreme court will hear arguments today regarding the long standing cross upon the Mojave Desert National Preserve. The ACLU claims that it represents an endorsement of religion to the exclusion of others. Of particular importance is the fact that a Buddhist monument was denied on the same property. This cross has been covered, as this picture demonstrates, for the past few years of litigation.

This cross was erected to honor World War 1 veterans, none of whom, by the way, seemed to mind. It is a cross, not a wheel of dharma, because our nation was not founded upon Buddhist principles, but Judeo-Christian ones. It is a cross, not a bodhi tree, because our constitution was not based upon the eight-fold path, but the ten commandments.

Founding Father Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." If the ACLU can demonstrate evidence that our fouding fathers were influenced by Buddhism or any other religion, let them present it in a court of law. But we should pray that our supreme court will not play politics with our nation's history.

It's time to uncover the cross.

What Is Your Integrity Worth?

Something pretty big happened yesterday in the news, but I think it was lost behind the president's pitch to the International Olympic Committee and talks with Iran over its new nuclear facility. A key senate committee voted 13-10 to advance a health reform bill that would provide government funding for abortions. Keep in mind that president Obama promised that health reform would be abortion neutral. He made this promise in a special address to congress that was broadcast live to the nation.

To be exact..."Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place." See the story HERE.

This means that if this health reform bill comes before the president's desk as is, the president will have two options: 1) Veto his own party's health care bill for which he has worked all this time or 2) Break a promise that he made to America. How much is a man's integrity worth? Let's pray that the president will make the right decision. Our tax dollars should not support the unconstitutional destruction of innocent, human, pre-born life.

Ring of Desperation

I was having lunch at an area grill yesterday and could not help but notice the beautiful engagement ring the waitress wore as she served our table. So I asked her, "When is the big day?"

"What day?" she asked.

"Your wedding day," I replied. "That is an engagement ring, right?"

"Uh...yes, actually it is. But there's no date. I bought it because it makes me feel good."

I thought to myself, how desperate for love and acceptance does someone have to be to buy for themselves and wear an engagement ring? This, of course, turned into an opportunity to talk to her about where real love and acceptance is found...in Jesus Christ.