Blog
12 Million Black Babies…Dead
Someone said the following to me today, "I can’t be black and live with myself if I didn’t vote for a black man to become my president." Hmmmm. I was doing some blog reading and came across a video that John Piper made where he is talking about the election. Here is a quote from the video
"Abortion is an evil the scope of which and depths of which very few people in our culture feel. The magnitude of it’s just horrific. . . . 12 million black babies dead since 1973. I don’t think Barack Obama will touch that with a ten foot pole. And he should. . . . He’s the most radical abortion proponent in the United States Congress, and that’s tragic."
I don’t know for sure if that number is accurate or not. Regardless, a lot of black babies are dead today. And that’s a shame. So I say,
I can’t be black and live with myself if I voted for a black man who wants to kill off my community before it has a chance to live.
There. I said it. The video of Piper can be seen here.
To White People: If You Do Not Vote for Obama, You are Racist
At least that is what I heard on the radio the other day. I was listening to the Scott Wilder show on 100.7 and a black man called in to convince the host that there was nothing wrong with voting for Obama. The caller went on to say that there was no way Obama could be for abortion since he himself has two kids. He also said that there was no way Obama could be "for" homosexual marriage since Obama is married, thus proving he is not gay. Scott was baffled and tried to convinced the caller of his flawed logic. He was not successful. The caller got so frustrated with Scott trying to help him realize the flaw in his logic that he told Scott that he needed to, "Man up and admit that you are not voting for Obama because he is racist."
I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself. But there was also a sense of frustration. I am sick and tired of blacks assuming that just because a white person is against Obama, that person is racist. It’s ridiculous and it is a sin. How is it a sin? Unless a person gives you or me crystal clear evidence of being racist, we have no right to pass that level of judgment on them. It’s okay to judge others, but it is not okay to judge their motives. Many believe that we are never to judge. But this is simply not true.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-6 Paul rebukes the Corinthians for allowing a man who was having sex with his step mother to remain in the church. Notice his words in 5:3, "I … have already judged him." There is a form of judging that as Christians we are obligated to do and there is a form that we are not obligated to do. We are obligated to judge our brothers and sisters in Christ who are visibly engaging in sinful activities. However, we are not to judge when it is not clear any wrong doing is actually happening. We cannot judge someone’s motives. It seems to me that the caller was judging the motives of the host. Calling him racist because he will not vote for someone when there was no visible sinful racist act that the host was engaging in is not how Christians are to treat one another.
If one of the conditions that determine if someone is racist is whether or not they will vote for a particular candidate then I guess I hate all white people because I did not vote for Kerry during the last election.
The Most Important Thing You Will EVER Do
Someone sent me a link to this article where the author expresses concern over the fact that many who have been called to missionary service never end up there because they enter into relationship with someone who does not share their passion.
They have every opportunity, gifting, skill set, resource, encouragement, even completed training for the field, yet they never enter service. Instead, what they do enter is a relationship with another godly man or woman who does not have that same commitment to cross cultural service as they do. Sometimes the decision to not further pursue missionary service is direct and obvious and sometimes the decision is gradual and subtle, but either way a once fervent potential missionary never leaves home, but rather sets up home with a less-than-enthusiastic, non-missions spouse.
You can read the rest here.
I was surprised when I saw this article because it was the first time I had ever seen anyone address this issue publicly. I am sure it has been addressed, I just have not noticed it. This is an area of concern for me. I too have experienced people who never get involved in the Great Commission but for some reason they seem to find the time to "hunt" for the love of their lives. The Great Commission is the most important thing a Christian is to do (Matt. 28:19-20). But most of us either don’t know this or we don’t care. Instead, we live as though finding the love of our lives is the most important thing we are to do. Whenever there is a choice between missions and romance, from my experience missions always loses. I call this Theoromanticism. It is the state at which romance becomes god and everything else (i.e. The Great Commission) takes a back seat.
Romance is powerful. The desire to be loved and made much of is one of the most effective ways the enemy can keep Christians from participating in missionary service. Romance will make you do some crazy things as is evidenced by the need for the above article. Someone was telling me that it can be God’s will for a person who is set to go on the field, to find someone and never go. For some reason (Matt. 28:19-20), I have a hard time believing that.
My Theological Challenge
Some people assume that just because I am black and am passionate about racial diversity/harmony/reconciliation, I am voting for Obama this upcoming election. But I’m not. Life with God can be challenging and this election season has proven to be just that for me. I am excited that for the first time in our country we have a black man who has a great chance to become president. A friend of mine says I should support him just because he is black. But for theological reasons, I can’t. Here is an excerpt from a blog post on Desiring God that explains,
Because over the last 35 years, as 2,000+ pregnancy help centers got established, mostly in white, suburban and small towns of America, the abortion business has consolidated into our nation’s cities. Over 90% of abortion facilities are now in urban neighborhoods. Black and Hispanic women suffer 56% of all abortions while representing only 25% of the female population. This means the abortion business is gorging itself on the blood of minority children all the while appearing as compassionate servants of the poor. It also means that the business of abortion cannot survive without the silent approval of the Black and Latino neighborhoods and the churches and pastors that lead them.
Two things:
- Democrats want to throw social assistance at minority communities without accountability and without any attempt to change the way people think about their situation. George Bush’s faith-based social initiative wants to put the responsibility on the churches and other religious organizations with the goal that they would ultimately help people change their mindsets. The democrats plan does not bode well for minority communities and I have yet to hear anything from Obama on this subject. If you want to see what a good faith-based social initiative looks like, go visit Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in South Dallas. This ministry was the inspiration behind President Bush’s faith-based plan. While I was a member of that church I saw people enter the program who literally had just gotten out of prison. Years later, they had housing, transportation and a job providing steady income. This is completely the opposite of a system that just wants to give handouts.
- To say that women have a right to decide what they can do with their body, to me, seems that there is no effort towards reducing the number of abortion clinics in minority communities. Therefore, the democratic plan is in my eyes a death certificate. To say you support minority communities while supporting a procedure that kills them off makes absolutely no sense to me and is just one more reason why I cannot cast a vote for the democratic ticket.
What do you think?
Don’t Waste Your Singleness
A few years ago Piper was diagnosed with cancer. He wrote an article titled, "Don’t Waste Your Cancer". As I was reading the his list of points I could not help think about how each of them were true for the season of life most people hate called "singleness". So I decided to convert his points into my own list geared for this audience (with one addition of my own, #11). Enjoy.
- You will waste your singleness if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
- You will waste your singleness if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
- You will waste your singleness if you seek comfort from your odds of getting married rather than from God.
- You will waste your singleness if you refuse to think about death (the fact that you may never be married).
- You will waste your singleness if you think "getting married" is better than treasuring Christ in your singleness.
- You will waste your singleness if you spend too much time focusing on the fact that you are not married rather than on God.
- You will waste your singleness if you let it drive you to loneliness instead of appreciating the relationships you currently have.
- You will waste your singleness if you grieve your singleness as one who has no hope of ever getting married.
- You will waste your singleness if you treat sin casually.
- You will waste your singleness if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
- You will waste your singleness if you see it as a state to get out of rather than utilizing it for how it maximizes your potential to do great things for Christ.
Singleness is a season of life that is wasted by so many. I know some single people who spend more time seeking and searching for "the one" instead of living mission-centered lives. When you consider the fact that singles are not bound by family restrictions, and many have disposable income, you can see how big a waste it is to focus on everything but The Great Commission.
I’m a PC!
I made it into Times Square! I usually do not get involved in advertising campaigns that solicit viewer involvement, but I could not resist on this one. Apparently Microsoft allows normal people like myself the ability to upload their own "I’m a PC" video to their website at http://imapc.lifewithoutwalls.com/. If your video gets approved, they put you in Times Square then send you an email with a picture of your video in it. Click the image to the left to see a bigger version.
You also get a link to send to friend and family. When they click this link, wherever they go on the web that has a Microsoft I’m a PC ad in it, they will see your picture. Here’s my link.
Oh yeah, and welcome to my new website.