the gate

I was reading an LA Times article on personhood and abortion. (It’s a good article.)

In the middle of the article is this statement:

“I don’t believe that just because we will not get enough votes in an election that we should not do this. I don’t recall Martin Luther King checking the polls to see if he was right on civil rights.”
- Keith Mason

Yup. Majority opinion (on anything) is not God — nor is my opinion, or yours. Knowing who is Lord sure alleviates a lot of confusion.

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i’ve always thought that is we took the Law and Grace side by side and voted to see which life is harder, i would vote for grace.  i’m not referring to salvation necessarily, because fulfilling the Law to “earn” salvation is not just hard but impossible.  but in the sense of “lifestyle” for lack of better terms, i think grace is much harder.

see, with the Law, we had clearly drawn out rules and expectations that we could enumerate and follow.  for example:

• do not murder - pretty easy (for me at least)
• observe the sabbath - pull up your bark-o-lounger (sp?) and a coke and watch football all day.  what a sacrifice…
• give a tithe of your money to the Lord - grab your calculator and checkbook, not too hard

however, with grace, we have to listen to the Holy Spirit.  we have to consider our character and our values and what is truly important to us.  consider the opposite of the above passages:

• do not be angry at your brother - not so easy is it?
• live in community and fellowship with your brothers and sisters - that can get messy and difficult, right?
• give generously - i don’t necessarily consider 10% generous, it’s more like a calculated expenditure

in 2 corinthians chapter 8 paul teaches the Church about giving generously.  he uses the example of the macedonian churches that “in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality”.  they gave “according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord”.  and trip on this:  “…begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints”.

i’m pretty sure that the macedonian churches had moved on from the tithe at this point.  they were looking for ways to use their earthly resources to support the work of the Gospel and to support the saints.

paul uses a reference to the days in the wilderness where He fed His people with manna in v15 as if to remind them that the Lord will provide for them.

we shouldn’t be storing up our treasures here on this earth.  that stuff rots by morning.  but we should be living in a way that allows God to give us our daily bread, figuratively and literally.

i’m not speaking against all posessions necessarily, i own a house myself.  but our value to support the Gospel work and the saints is evident in how we choose to spend our money.

in v8 paul says “i am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also”.  how we use our money says alot about what is truly important to us.

giving according to the Law = not so hard.  giving generously according to grace = not so easy.

where are your treasures stored?

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what is the criteria for mercy?  do we need to ask for it?  do we need to deserve it?  do we need to have remorse for our offense?

last thursday, famed member of the “manson family” and cold blooded murderer of sharon tate and her unborn baby (among others) was denied parole yet again, close to 40 years after her conviction.  this time, her case was one of medical mercy as she is dying in a bed from brain cancer, a paralyzed amputee.  she will die very soon it seems.  all she wants to do is die somewhere other than prison.

lemme start off with a susan atkins quote.  speaking of sharone tate, atkins says:

“She asked me to let her baby live,” Atkins said. “I told her I didn’t have mercy for her.”

suffice to say that this woman is cold, evil, and showed no mercy to sharon tate and her baby.  so does she deserve mercy?

i think to begin with, we cannot speak the words “deserve” and “mercy” in the same sentence.  mercy is never deserved, it is granted.  it does not require us to even want or request it.  mercy lies solely in the giver.

the Bible tells us in the same breath to “do justly and love mercy” in micah 6:8 as a requirement from our God.  in the case of susan atkins, wouldn’t justice and mercy lie in opposition?

i believe that the entire message of the Scripture is like that verse, to do justly and love mercy.  as ecclesiastes says, there is a time for everything.

** my opinion ** is that we should send her home.  i just came to that conclusion mind you, i’ve been thinking about it since i read the article last week.  we can never love mercy if we do not, on occasion, put aside justice.  and in this case, she is no longer a threat to anyone.

it’s a hard lesson, and a very “grey area” matter.  if you think we should leave her in her cell to rot, i can respect that.

let’s just be grateful to our God that He is rich in mercy and lavished it upon us.  let’s be grateful that He set aside justice (I know, I know - He fulfilled justice on our behalf - go with me here) and chose mercy for us “while we were yet sinners” and “enemies of God”.

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another major christian denomination has chosen to set aside clear Biblical teaching on homosexuality and voted to allow openly homosexual people to be ordained and act as clergy.  this is a steady spiral and I don’t really see this being the last of it.  this quote sums up my thoughts pretty well.  it’s a sad day for God’s Church.

“Those who have been actively campaigning for a change of this sort in the other mainline denominations will see this as a sign that they should intensify their efforts,” Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, said in an e-mail. “For those of us who have opposed this on Biblical grounds, it is bound to reinforce the sense that we are no longer welcome in the mainline.”

check out the whole article in the l.a. times

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note: all blue text is a link you can click; however, I suggest you read this post all the way through before clicking the links

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OK everybody, glad you could make it here today. Our scripture passage today is Romans 13:1-6, so go ahead and open your Bibles. I’ll give you a moment to find it. Alright, Danielle will you read it for us?

¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. (ESV)

Who can tell us something about the Roman government?

This piece of scripture was written during the time of Roman government rule and they had recently crucified Jesus Christ. The Roman government was known for the viciousness of it’s soldiers, was not a democracy and was by no means pro-Christian.

Thanks CB.

You certainly wouldn’t say that Rome was an equitable and noble government. It was wonderful in many ways. They had brought peace because they had basically massacred all the rebels. They had advanced civilization in some places. But they could be extremely cruel. The Caesars, the story of the Caesars is a story of iniquity gone wild . . . It would be a Roman soldier one day under the authority of Rome who would pick up an axe and chop Paul’s head off, the very Paul who wrote those verses who said every government is instituted by God.

Thanks John. I can tell you’ve really studied this.

So if the Roman government persecuted Christians, how could it be instituted or appointed by God, and how could it have been a minister of God?

Even Satan’s authority comes from God and the story of Job demonstrates that. God did not morally approve of this persecution, but allowed it to occur, because it was in line with his divine plan. In other words, God “appointed” Satan to persecute Job. Throughout the Old Testament, there are many examples of where this theme is extended to human governments. Although these governments persecuted God’s people, often in brutal ways, they are described as God’s servant showing that they were appointed by God.

Well said CB. Anybody else?

The institution of government with all of its failures and abuses is designed by God for the protection of life and property, the repression of evil and the rewarding of virtue and good.

Good points John.

Verse 4 says, “But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.” What does “bear the sword” mean?

It is another part of the office of magistrates, that they ought forcibly to repress the waywardness of evil men, who do not willingly suffer themselves to be governed by laws, and to inflict such punishment on their offenses as God’s judgment requires; for he expressly declares, that they are armed with the sword, not for an empty show, but that they may smite evil-doers. And then he says, An avenger, to execute wrath, etc. This is the same as if it had been said, that he is an executioner of God’s wrath; and this he shows himself to be by having the sword, which the Lord has delivered into his hand. This is a remarkable passage for the purpose of proving the right of the sword; for if the Lord, by arming the magistrate, has also committed to him the use of the sword, whenever he visits the guilty with death, by executing God’s vengeance, he obeys his commands. Contend then do they with God who think it unlawful to shed the blood of wicked men.

So, Calvin, let me see if I understand you. You’re saying that God appoints human government to use force to subdue unruly and evil people — in fact that God establishes human government to dish out his wrath against these people, even to the point of killing them if warranted? And only if a government enforces the death penalty is it obeying God?

Yes.

That’s heavy! Anybody else have something to add? Yes Wesley?

The sword is the instrument of capital punishment, which God authorizes him to inflict.

Thanks Wesley. I know you and Calvin don’t always see eye to eye, but you certainly agree about this. Any other thoughts?

I have two problems with this piece of scripture:

Firstly, Paul is a douche-bag (Galatians 1:13.) Unlike the other Apostles, Paul had never even met Jesus. I dismiss him as a religious zealot merely cashing in on Christ’s name to spread a very dodgy interpretation of Jesus’ message (it’s not surprising that most of the anti-gay scripture in the Bible also comes from Paul’s suspicious contributions.)

Paul’s message in Romans is cynical scripture inspired to get lowly Christians to obey their patriarchal masters (the underpinnings of established religion for twenty decades.) It’s utterly worthless.

Secondly, even if it wasn’t bunk scripture, what kind of message does it give? That governing authority is always right? Does that mean that Hitler’s Nazi Regime was practicing ‘God’s will’ when they set out to exterminate the Jews? Or that Soviet Russia (which deemed religion the ‘opiate of the masses’) was doing God’s work when Stalin sent millions to die in the Gulags?

As far as I’m concerned, Jesus had a simple message. Man doesn’t have the right to judge whether another man is worthy to live or die. That’s God’s job, not ours.

Roland, thanks for letting us know what you think. Does anyone else have something to say?

Yes, if I may respond to Roland,

Capital punishment has been approved by God in every age of mankind’s history. In each of the three great ages of humanity’s existence, the Patriarchal Age [before the Law], Mosaic Age, and Christian Age, God has authorized the practice of the death penalty for criminals. After the world-wide flood in the days of Noah, God told Noah and his family (by telling these eight people, God was actually telling every person in the whole world, making it a world-wide decree), “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Genesis 9:6). Why was murder wrong? Because man was made in God’s image. And, what was to happen to one that killed (murdered) another? His blood was to be shed. This is nothing short of capital punishment, the death penalty for violators of law.

Later, in the Law of Moses God instructed Israel to carry out the death penalty in certain cases. Jehovah declared that some people committed a sin that was “worthy of death” (Deuteronomy 21:22) . . . In the Law of Moses, God not only authorized the death penalty, He actually commanded that it be carried out in some cases.

What about during the Christian Age, when the law of the Christ is in force? When the apostle Paul stood before Roman authorities, he stated, “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die . . . ” (Acts 25:10,11). Paul basically said that if he had committed a crime that was worthy of death, he was prepared to receive his due punishment, which was death. The language that Paul employed by the Spirit of God made it plain that he did not oppose capital punishment in cases where there was evidence to show that one had violated the law.

You make a very good point, Roger. Paul was willing to live and die by what he taught — if he had committed a capital crime, he believed he should receive capital punishment. Thank you also for noting that God gave human government the right and responsibility of capital punishment before he instituted the Mosaic, or Old Covenant, Law. So Paul was not just some douche-bag or wacko religious zealot; rather what he teaches is right in line with what God has said all along.

Steve, if I may add,

The powers that be are ordained of God and it says that they are ministers of God who do not bear the sword for nothing. They bear it for something and the something they bear it for is the taking of life.

Short and succinct; that’s good John.

How ‘bout the rest of you; do you have any insight’s regarding Romans 13:1-6 or any questions? Anything here that stands out to you?

UPDATE (6-4-09): To those who say that before they use force (“the sword”), our leaders need to hear the voice of God like the Old Testament leaders, I would answer that God has already spoken. He has spoken clearly in Romans 13. He spells out the circumstances precipitating the use of force (when wrongdoers refuse to submit to the governing authorities). Law enforcement officers are serving God by obeying God’s instruction here in Romans 13 (they are his servants). We also have international bodies that determine when a tyrant is out-of-bounds and needs to be restrained or perhaps removed. For example, if Kim Jong-il uses a nuclear weapon against another nation, I’m certain the international community will rule that he has done wrong, and needs to be stopped.
- end update -

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most of you have probably heard by now that george tiller, one of the few doctors in the U.S. that would perform late-term abortions, was shot and killed yesterday.  and in a church of all places!

it is clearly ironic, isn’t it?

i suppose one could argue that killing him would save the lives of numerous unborn children that he would one day abort.  i don’t think that most God fearing people would accept that.  however, i also don’t know if it would be dismissed on principle.

most people would not view a few hundred (i made that number up, i have no idea how many abortions this guy has performed) late term abortions as significant enough to warrant a shotgun blast to the chest.  but what if he was aborting 100 children daily over the length of his career?  i would argue that many of the God fearing would begin to contemplate his assasination.

this has been the pattern of humanity for as long as we have existed.  “enough is enough” seems to overcome reasoning and the principles of the Scripture at some point.

so i’m just thinking today, at what point does someone become worthy of being assasinated?  1 thousand unborn children?  100,000+ kurds?  10 million jews?  1 annoying wife or husband?

if you actually just read that question and started to think numerically, check yourself.  you aren’t thinking in principle, you logic is based on your own fluid and flawed criteria, not the Scripture.

– p

p.s. don’t get me wrong, i think there is an extra warm place in hell for this dude.  i’m just sayin’…..

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planned parenthood makes me wanna cuss.  scoundrels.

check out liveaction.org for more info.

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seriously though, what is “fair minded“???

i’m not typically a hard liner but when it comes to abortion there is only one answer.  if i met obama, this is what i’d choose to say to him (see video below).  well, it’s what i would want to say at least.  it would more likely be “hello mr. president” followed by ”you don’t have to be the lap dog of those around you” muttered under my breath inaudibly.   LOL

preach on piper.

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Craigslist has responded to the pressure to change their erotic services section. I had posted about this previously here and here.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said, “Craigslist’s erotic services section had become nothing more than an Internet brothel.”

Attorney Daniel Gallagher and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal are skeptical as to whether this promise is real or only a ploy to reduce the pressure.

Read the article here.

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Craigslist facilitates slavery and other crimes . . . brazenly!!

Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark, refuses to close the erotic section despite the fact that it is one of the primary U.S. hubs of slavery, pedophilia, trafficking and prostitution.

Greg Collier, CEO of craigslist alternative Geebo.com, says:

On a daily basis “erotic services” posts are published and responded to via Craigslist. Posts go live on Craigslist within 15 minutes, leaving zero room for Craigslist management to review and revoke possible illegal or dangerous postings. This oversight, or rather laziness, is largely to blame for gross amounts of child pornography, prostitution, human trafficking, drug sales, stolen merchandise, identity theft, real estate scams and murder taking place across the United States.

Craigslist lacks a system of checks and balances that provides users with the degree of safety they deserve. Flagging, Craigslist’s joke of content monitoring, is nothing more than a feel-good tool for the site’s management to claim that they are taking precautionary measures. Obviously, they have failed. More times than not user complaints are answered by an auto-responder, not a staff member. Conversely, those posts truly in need of flagging and removal go undisturbed. (link)

Thursday, April 23, a major East Coast newspaper quoted Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster (pictured here) as saying:

“I would not describe any section of our site as ‘sex related,’” Buckmaster wrote in response to a series of e-mailed questions from the [newspaper].

He acknowledged that Craigslist offers an “erotic services” section that should not include more than “legitimate escort services, sensual massage, exotic dancers, etc.,” but said that offers to exchange sexual favors for money are “strictly prohibited” and removed from the site.

No section sex related?!?! What? The article reports that, “There is no official monitoring of the site other than peer reviewers who can flag posts for illegal or improper content.” Moreover, in that city, the day before the article was published there were more than 150 erotic ads, many of which made openly sex-related offers. I’m not giving the link to the article because of the content of some of those ads that were reported — I refuse to give the link for you to read the smut taken from Craigslist.

The article goes on to state:

Complaints about the site and how it is used for criminal activity had been growing even before the arrest of Markoff. Organizations dedicated to combating child trafficking - selling children for sex - and prostitution, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, had contacted Craigslist with their concerns. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating child trafficking and enslavement, said it viewed Craigslist as one of the largest purveyors of such illegal activities worldwide.

Police efforts to stop illegal activity on Craigslist are “outweighed by the enabling environment,” said Mark P. Lagon, executive director of the Polaris Project and a former ambassador to combat human trafficking for the US State Department.

“We follow people who have been victimized in sex trafficking, and one of the major platforms for sex traffickers these days is Craigslist,” he said.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is calling for the company to take stronger actions to combat pornography, prostitution, and child trafficking in its online classifieds.

In response to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster denying that the site offers anything sex-related, Blumenthal said:

“The fact is, there are prostitution ads and some very flagrant and blatant pornography on that site. I have trouble believing they can say there are no sex-for-hire ads,” he said.

For years, newspapers across the country have been documenting how Craigslist is a hub of slavery, pedophilia, trafficking and prostitution.

For example, Underage Prostitutes Marketed On Internet - The Sacramento Bee (link)

From an article in the Los Angeles Daily News:

The approach comes as pimps are getting increasingly sophisticated and harder to bust. They run loose networks across states lines that distribute girls like drugs and set up Internet sex operations that are tough to infiltrate. The result: Teen prostitution has spread to towns across the country, said Michael Langeman, who heads the FBI’s Crimes Against Children unit.

[. . .]

The boyfriend took her to Arizona, made her pose for photos in lingerie and have sex with men who responded to Craigslist ads.

[. . .]

Gladys, a 17-year-old from a Miami suburb, found herself there after she ran away from home to be with a boyfriend. The boyfriend advertised her as a prostitute on Craigslist and threatened to kill her if she didn’t comply. She was shuffled around motels over a two-month period until one of his other “girlfriends” got arrested.

Check out the Craigslist Crime Blotter (click here).

_____________________________________________________________________
Tonight

(CBS) 48 Hours Mystery will broadcast “Craigslist: Classified for Murder?,” a primetime special devoted to the Craigslist murder investigation on Saturday, April 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. In addition to examining the crimes and evidence, the program will probe the psyche of accused killer, Philip Markoff.
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(click the green tab)

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UPDATE (4/27/09): Should YOU boycott Craigslist? I don’t know. How else do you suggest we fight against the slavery, trafficking, child abuse, rape, and other sex crime that is facilitated there? Do you want to give your time to “policing” the ads placed there? Should you have to?

And . . . if you say you’ll police Craigslist, what about the women and children that are bought and sold, raped, abused, and tortured because you didn’t catch all the adds? You can’t cover all the cities Craigslist covers. All the law enforcement personnel plus all the staff and volunteers working for all the anti-trafficking organizations can’t stop it as long as Craigslist keeps advertising women and children for sale.

Regarding the community policing policy of Craigslist, Trench Reynolds says,

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s like the inmates running the asylum . . . People who are going into Craigslist for illegal activity are not gonna flag ads, because that’s what they are going into there for. And the people looking at Craigslist to, say, buy a couch aren’t going into the erotic services section so they can flag illegal ads.”

I think he’s right. I also think Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster know that.

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Related posts:
Pray Against Sex Trafficking/Slavery
sex + money
Wow . . . Just, Wow!
Freedom Day 2009
Sex Trafficking In America
Human Trafficking: Modern-Day Slavery

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