It Should Have Been Me

Abortionist George Tiller was shot to death around 10:00 am Sunday, May 31, while in his Wichita, Kansas church, Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was serving as an usher. Tiller was a lightning rod for both sides of the abortion issue as a symbol of death on one side and a symbol of civil liberties on the other. Pro-Life organizations had long decried Tiller's activities at the Women's Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas.

I wasn't going to comment on this, but I suppose I've changed my mind. I've notice a disturbing trend of Christian reveling in the fact that this man was murdered. I am happy that thousands of abortions will not take place that otherwise might have, but my glee stops right there.

First of all, Romans 12:19-21 teaches us that revenge does not belong to us. It belongs to God. The proper Christian response is not to murder murder enemy, it is to love your enemy, (Matthew 5:42-44.) Not only is this a biblical doctrine, but it's just plain common sense.

I've heard Christians making the argument that OT passages such as Numbers 35 speak about taking blood for blood. That is a valid point, however, slightly mis-applied. The commandments that God gave in the OT regarding taking a man's life for slaying another man's life were civil laws, given to the state of Israel. In other words, it is the governments responsibility to administer this justice. There is a difference between a justifiable killing and premeditated murder. The government does the former, Tiller's assailant did the latter.

All that being said, there is an even more important issue at play here. That is the pride of those who are glorying in this man's murder. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:15 that he is "the chief" of sinners. In other words, he considers himself to be the worst of sinners. In 1 Corinthians 15:9 he tells us that he is "least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle" and in Ephesians 3:8 he says that he is "the very least of all the saints."

What we can learn from the Apostle Paul is that we are no better than Tiller was. He murdered babies, but we murder people all the time in our hearts. We scoff at God when we disobey Him. We lust, steal, blaspheme, lie, covet, etc. We are nothing more than a filthy sinner who God has placed his Grace upon and saved. I am the chief of sinners. I am not worthy to be called a saint and I should have died in George Tillers place.

James 4:10 says to "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord." I suggest we follow James' advise and start to realize that we are sinners, just like George Tiller was. The fate of our souls should be the same as what I suspect the final fate of Mr. Tiller's soul is; eternal torment in the lake of fire. It is only by the Grace of God that we are saved, lest any man should boast.

Rebels for God

A few weeks ago, I had a great conversation with MikeT over at Code Monkey Ramblings about Romans 13 and how to apply it to our lives as Americans.

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."--Romans 13:1-2

Then I ran across this story this morning:

"Church leaders expressed shock and outrage on Friday at a police raid this week on the Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg, during which hundreds of immigrants were arrested.

Eddie Makue, general secretary of the SA Council of Churches, said for many years the Central Methodist Church had welcomed Zimbabweans and others who had been displaced by political conflict and economic turmoil in their own countries.

The police raid was an attack on the "ministry of radical hospitality" that had long been pursued by the Central Methodist Church.

"The leaders heard that roughly 50 police officers forced their way into the church in the middle of the night without a warrant or any prior discussion with the church's minister, Bishop Paul Verryn, or other church officials."

Let me first tell you that I am writing this under the assumption that these were illegal immigrants and not legal refugees. My initial thought was that of shock and outrage as well. Then when I really started thinking about it, I wondered if this church should really be housing and aiding illegal immigrants. Our Country has clear cut laws about immigration. Anyone who comes to our Country in a way that is contradictory to those laws is breaking our laws.

I also know that God would have us take care of the needy and the poor, but I'm wondering how these two ideas meet in the middle. If I house an illegal immigrant, am I rebelling against the authorities, thus bringing judgment on myself? Like wise, if I do not help these needy people, am I ignoring a clear call from God to help those less fortunate than myself?

I know the Apostles ignored the laws when they were spreading the gospel message in the first century, but it seems they had a clear calling from Jesus to do so. Where is the line in this scenario? Perhaps I should feed them, clothe them and turn them in.

Making Baptists Everywhere Look Bad

Something deep inside of me wishes that these guys weren't called Baptist:

"A radical Baptist church in Kansas known for picketing the funerals of soldiers who perished in Iraq said it intends to protest Heath Ledger's memorial service with signs claiming the actor died and is in Hell because he played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain."

“Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there,” the Westboro Baptist announcement says.

“God hates fags,” [said Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.] “The wrath of God has been revealed before the eyes of this nation with the death of Heath Ledger. … This nation worships the dead almost as much as they worship their filthy sex acts. America is doomed.”

Read the full article here.

Ok, I will be the first to admit, while it is certainly not our place to judge ones salvation, you can get a pretty good idea from their fruits. These people, however, don't claim to have "an idea." They are claiming absolute knowledge of the state of Heath Ledgers, along with thousands of U.S. troops souls.

I firmly believe that we can always take some comfort in the fact that only God knows the state of any ones soul. That is to say that even if someone has never lived their lives in a way that would lead you and I to believe they are soundly saved; We don't know. Perhaps they experienced Spirit led repentance and faith in their dying days, or even dying moments. Perhaps they had repented and put their faith in Jesus at some point, but were rather quite about it, (this scenario seems impossible to me, but who knows?)

The point is that only God knows. It is not, in any way shape or form, Westboro Baptist Church's place to proclaim the state of Heath Ledger's soul. Judging is a difficult topic, and a difficult act. Lets always be careful to make sure that we are not judging things that we have no business judging. Some things should simply be left to God.

The Presbytery is "Stepping Up"

For nearly 23 years, Lisa Larges has sought to become a Presbyterian minister, but she has twice been formally rejected because of a long-standing ban on gay ordination by the Presbyterian Church USA.

But in what appears to be the first national test of a 2006 policy change by the church, Larges, of San Francisco, has moved a step closer to joining the clergy.

After a debate that lasted deep into the night Tuesday, the San Francisco Presbytery, a regional governing body of the national church, voted 167 to 151 to support Larges' application for ministry, despite opponents' warnings that the action violated the church's constitution and would immediately be appealed.

"I'm in shock," Larges, 44, said Wednesday. "I still feel stunned, honestly, and deeply grateful both to the folks who supported me and to the presbytery for stepping up."

Read the full article here.

Let's consult the bible on this one.

Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
--1 Timothy 3:1-7 (emphasis added)

So what do you think?

God Told Him to Kill Her (and Cook Her?)

A Texas man is suspected of Killing his Ex-wife and cooking her body parts. He also apparently stabbed her new boyfriend. Thedisturbing part; he claims that God told him to do it.

"Authorities said McCuin's comments in a 911 call that alerted them to the hideous discovery led them to believe he may have intended to eat his girlfriend's remains, but said it is unclear whether McCuin consumed any part of her body."

"When he said God told him to do it, one of the investigators looked at him and just said, 'What did you say?'"

Read the full story here.

Of course, our natural instinct is to say that God did not tell this man to kill, fillet and boil his ex-wife. This was not a revelation from God, given especially to Christopher Lee McCuin. Why then, are people so quick to accept the Mormons revelations from God? The Catholics? The Jehovah's Witnesses? The Pentecostals?

Joel Osteen on Mormonism

On December 23, 2007, reporter Chris Wallace interviewed Pastor Joel Osteen on the Fox Television Network’s “Fox News Sunday” program. Osteen, whose own television program is broadcast worldwide each week and who pastors what is touted as the largest church in the United States (Lakewood Church of Houston, Texas), was quizzed on a number of issues during the interview.

Chris Wallace introduced Joel Osteen as a teacher of “Personal growth and positive thinking” – buzzwords that make biblical thinkers wary but exploring that must wait for another time. Before long, the discussion turned to presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and the controversy concerning Romney’s Mormon beliefs. It was then that the supposedly Evangelical pastor of America’s largest congregation declared that Mormons are Christians and that Mitt Romney is himself a “Christian.”

Wallace: “Is a Mormon a true Christian?”

Osteen: “Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior and that’s what I believe. So, you know I’m not the one to judge the little details of it. So, I believe they are. And so I, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me and, ah, I don’t think anything would stop me from voting for him if that’s what I felt like.”

Wallace: “So, so for instance when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church and the golden tablets in upstate New York and ah, God assumes the shape of a man; do you not get hung up in those theological issues?”

Osteen: “I probably don’t get hung up in ‘em because I haven’t really studied ‘em or thought about ‘em. And ah, you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don’t know, I certainly can’t say that I agree with everything I’ve heard about it. But, from what I’ve heard from Mitt when he says that Christ is his savior to me that’s a common bond."

What do you think?
Read the full article here.