Grant Swank
Black Christian, how can you be pro-life & pro-Obama?
By Grant Swank
I thought my black pastor friend was genuinely biblical — theologically and politically.
He told me of his evangelical position. He related how he, a biblical student, faced theologically liberal professors in a liberal seminary in the Canadian Maritimes.
I commended him on his fight for right.
Then I worshiped in his church on a Sunday morning. There were the typical black church "Amens" as assents to his upbeat sermonic accents. The hymns were the typical conservative ones I've grown up with since coming out of my mother's womb.
After the service, he and his wife joined my wife and I at a local restaurant for noontime eats. There was the camaraderie. At least that the way I sized up the give-and-take.
But then in the months that followed, as he and I communicated about the Obama campaign, slowly I came to realize that the black preacher I had thought shared a common frequency with me was not there at all.
He had fooled me. He knew the language. He knew the stance. And he played it well. However, when it came down to the Obama support for abortion and sodomy, he emailed that that was okay with him.
That shook me to my boots.
How can a biblical believer endorse killing-womb-babies B. Hussein, let alone support the latter's sodomy pat-on-the-whatever?
I emailed back my black preacher to explain that I concluded it was time for us to part ways. I had nothing finally in common with this fellow. If he were honest, he would admit the same regarding me.
Abortion is murder.
Homosexual practice is abhorrent to the biblical God.
Both can never fit with the scriptural ethic. Never. Therefore, I cannot ever reason that it is legitimate for a person to testify to being a biblical Christian while at the same time openly confirming abortion and sodomy as acceptable.
This B. Hussein personage will cause many to quake at the Judgment Seat of Christ when their times come. To stand alongside a B. Hussein immoral base is to sin, to fight God's truth, and to put one's soul in eternal danger.
FOOTNOTE: THE BIBLE AND ABORTION
It is alarming to realize the nonchalance on the part of many concerning abortion. But it is not new. A popular newsmagazine quoted one medical opinion: "Abortion is finding its place as a perfectly acceptable and valid health measure. We no longer think of it as a crime."
There are those who say that every woman has a right to control her own body. That is true. Then, having control over her own body, she should not become pregnant if she does not want children. That is control! When she becomes pregnant, then she has lost her control over that situation.
But more importantly, only God has final rights to any person's body. He brought that body into life and someday will take that body out of life. In the meantime He provides the very sustaining power for the body's life to continue.
The Bible speaks of a fetus as a person, not simply tissue that can be discarded if found to be a bother or nuisance. Since the fetus is a person from the moment of conception, then the destroying of the fetus is killing a person.
"In the past, some people have mistakenly speculated that perhaps the body might be in the process of formation for some time, and then 'God breathes a soul into it.' They had it backward. The life that is present forms matter into a body for itself'" (Joseph Breig, "Life Forms Matter," The Catholic News, Jan. 24, 1974, p. 8).
"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk ... and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit" (Job 10:8-12 NIV).
"Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name...and now the LORD says — he who formed me in the womb to be his servant..." (Isaiah 49:1, 5).
"The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations'" (Jeremiah 1:4-5).
In the following passages we note that personality is ascribed to the unborn.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:13-16).
"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him" (Psalm 127:3).
Exodus 21:22-25 relates how Israel was to judge a circumstance relating to the death of the unborn:
"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows.. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."
All of the latter deals with unintentional hurt that comes to a pregnant woman; how much more will divine penalty come upon those who intentionally discard the fetus? The Gospel of Luke ascribes personality to the fetus within Elizabeth:
"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit... As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy" (1:41, 44).
Mere tissue does not leap for joy; only personhood leaps for joy. The Bible regards the fetus as having personality. In Galatians, Paul speaks of himself as a person while still in his mother's womb, but more a person consecrated by God for a holy mission (compare Jeremiah 1:5 for the same accent):
"But when God, who set me apart from birth, and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles..." (Gal. 1: 15-16).
Since the Bible regards the fetus as personality, then the aborting of the fetus is murdering personality.
Some verses from Scripture dealing with murder are then appropriate for study, such as Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Also, read Exodus 23:7: "Have nothing to do with a false charge, and do not
put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." Note I Peter 4:15: "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer..."
If the Republic returned to the biblical definition of personhood, we would defend every womb child.
John Adams said the following:
"Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
Andrew Jackson said the following:
"The BIBLE is the rock on which our Republic rests."
Daniel Webster:
"If we abide by the principles taught in the BIBLE, our country will go on prospering."
"For all the talk of freedom and self-determination, the abortion movement is at its heart a movement denying rights to a silent segment of humanity and soliciting public sanction, support and subsidy to its own cause" (Donald P. Shoemaker, ABORTION, THE BIBLE AND THE CHRISTIAN, Hayes Publishing Co., 1976, p. iv).
ANTI-HOMOSEXUAL PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE
Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
Leviticus 20:13: "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them."
Romans 1:18-32: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. . .For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. . .
"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. . .
"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire towards one another, men with men committed indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
"God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. . .without understanding. . . and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
I Corinthians 6:9: "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
© Grant Swank
January 18, 2009
I thought my black pastor friend was genuinely biblical — theologically and politically.
He told me of his evangelical position. He related how he, a biblical student, faced theologically liberal professors in a liberal seminary in the Canadian Maritimes.
I commended him on his fight for right.
Then I worshiped in his church on a Sunday morning. There were the typical black church "Amens" as assents to his upbeat sermonic accents. The hymns were the typical conservative ones I've grown up with since coming out of my mother's womb.
After the service, he and his wife joined my wife and I at a local restaurant for noontime eats. There was the camaraderie. At least that the way I sized up the give-and-take.
But then in the months that followed, as he and I communicated about the Obama campaign, slowly I came to realize that the black preacher I had thought shared a common frequency with me was not there at all.
He had fooled me. He knew the language. He knew the stance. And he played it well. However, when it came down to the Obama support for abortion and sodomy, he emailed that that was okay with him.
That shook me to my boots.
How can a biblical believer endorse killing-womb-babies B. Hussein, let alone support the latter's sodomy pat-on-the-whatever?
I emailed back my black preacher to explain that I concluded it was time for us to part ways. I had nothing finally in common with this fellow. If he were honest, he would admit the same regarding me.
Abortion is murder.
Homosexual practice is abhorrent to the biblical God.
Both can never fit with the scriptural ethic. Never. Therefore, I cannot ever reason that it is legitimate for a person to testify to being a biblical Christian while at the same time openly confirming abortion and sodomy as acceptable.
This B. Hussein personage will cause many to quake at the Judgment Seat of Christ when their times come. To stand alongside a B. Hussein immoral base is to sin, to fight God's truth, and to put one's soul in eternal danger.
FOOTNOTE: THE BIBLE AND ABORTION
It is alarming to realize the nonchalance on the part of many concerning abortion. But it is not new. A popular newsmagazine quoted one medical opinion: "Abortion is finding its place as a perfectly acceptable and valid health measure. We no longer think of it as a crime."
There are those who say that every woman has a right to control her own body. That is true. Then, having control over her own body, she should not become pregnant if she does not want children. That is control! When she becomes pregnant, then she has lost her control over that situation.
But more importantly, only God has final rights to any person's body. He brought that body into life and someday will take that body out of life. In the meantime He provides the very sustaining power for the body's life to continue.
The Bible speaks of a fetus as a person, not simply tissue that can be discarded if found to be a bother or nuisance. Since the fetus is a person from the moment of conception, then the destroying of the fetus is killing a person.
"In the past, some people have mistakenly speculated that perhaps the body might be in the process of formation for some time, and then 'God breathes a soul into it.' They had it backward. The life that is present forms matter into a body for itself'" (Joseph Breig, "Life Forms Matter," The Catholic News, Jan. 24, 1974, p. 8).
"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk ... and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit" (Job 10:8-12 NIV).
"Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name...and now the LORD says — he who formed me in the womb to be his servant..." (Isaiah 49:1, 5).
"The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations'" (Jeremiah 1:4-5).
In the following passages we note that personality is ascribed to the unborn.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:13-16).
"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him" (Psalm 127:3).
Exodus 21:22-25 relates how Israel was to judge a circumstance relating to the death of the unborn:
"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows.. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."
All of the latter deals with unintentional hurt that comes to a pregnant woman; how much more will divine penalty come upon those who intentionally discard the fetus? The Gospel of Luke ascribes personality to the fetus within Elizabeth:
"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit... As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy" (1:41, 44).
Mere tissue does not leap for joy; only personhood leaps for joy. The Bible regards the fetus as having personality. In Galatians, Paul speaks of himself as a person while still in his mother's womb, but more a person consecrated by God for a holy mission (compare Jeremiah 1:5 for the same accent):
"But when God, who set me apart from birth, and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles..." (Gal. 1: 15-16).
Since the Bible regards the fetus as personality, then the aborting of the fetus is murdering personality.
Some verses from Scripture dealing with murder are then appropriate for study, such as Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Also, read Exodus 23:7: "Have nothing to do with a false charge, and do not
put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." Note I Peter 4:15: "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer..."
If the Republic returned to the biblical definition of personhood, we would defend every womb child.
John Adams said the following:
"Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
Andrew Jackson said the following:
"The BIBLE is the rock on which our Republic rests."
Daniel Webster:
"If we abide by the principles taught in the BIBLE, our country will go on prospering."
"For all the talk of freedom and self-determination, the abortion movement is at its heart a movement denying rights to a silent segment of humanity and soliciting public sanction, support and subsidy to its own cause" (Donald P. Shoemaker, ABORTION, THE BIBLE AND THE CHRISTIAN, Hayes Publishing Co., 1976, p. iv).
ANTI-HOMOSEXUAL PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE
Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
Leviticus 20:13: "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them."
Romans 1:18-32: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. . .For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. . .
"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. . .
"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire towards one another, men with men committed indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
"God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. . .without understanding. . . and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
I Corinthians 6:9: "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
© Grant Swank
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