Abortion, Homosexuality and Evangelicals
Early in the last century, the body of Christ in our country, His bride the church, threw off His headship over yet another facet of life. The church, in its humanity, is often willing to shut out the sweet influences of the Holy Spirit, and to reserve yet another area of decision to personal discretion.
The area was the receiving of children. Whether you wanted to bear a child early or late in life, or not at all, or whether you would have two or three, or several, spaced deliberately a few years apart, became a matter of choice, in the eyes of the Protestant Church.
Many reasons were given, from the health of the mother to the health of the pocketbook. A new consciousness of the environment and the limit of natural resources seeped into Christian congregations by way of the Sierra Club. And couples were counseled to prevent children until they got to know each other better.
I wonder if anyone asked the Lord.
His Word has some thought-provoking references to children. "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me." (Matthew 5:18) "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16) "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion ...'" (Genesis 1:28, 9:1,7) "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." (Psalm 127:3-5)
There are others, for instance, Deuteronomy 28 speaks of the blessings God promises to those that put Him first in their lives, "Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep" (vs. 4), and the curses God will bring on His people when they trample His covenant under foot, "Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep" (vs. 18). Check out Deuteronomy 7:13-14: "And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle."
Can any human being come into the world without being created by God?
What is abortion, but a reflection of the heart of the church? If it is okay to thwart God's intentions before or during conception, then why should we judge those who try to thwart His will later on?
And what is homosexuality but a gross attempt to have pleasure without having children? It's merely an extension of a lifestyle embraced by the evangelical church.
When our culture embraced the use of contraception, the woman was cheapened. Prior to this time, a man was required to restrain his passion, or find someone willing to carry his baby. Eliminating the baby encouraged unrestrained immorality. Millions of girls were willing to be used, who would not otherwise have been. Men were no longer obligated to restrain themselves by anything more than their own conscience. And a generation that had free roam of the streets as second-graders, knows that it is not appropriate to let their children out of sight for more than a minute.
Through the popularization of contraceptives, a pandora's box has opened, which may require the fire and brimstone of Sodom and Gomorrha to shut again.
The area was the receiving of children. Whether you wanted to bear a child early or late in life, or not at all, or whether you would have two or three, or several, spaced deliberately a few years apart, became a matter of choice, in the eyes of the Protestant Church.
Many reasons were given, from the health of the mother to the health of the pocketbook. A new consciousness of the environment and the limit of natural resources seeped into Christian congregations by way of the Sierra Club. And couples were counseled to prevent children until they got to know each other better.
I wonder if anyone asked the Lord.
His Word has some thought-provoking references to children. "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me." (Matthew 5:18) "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16) "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion ...'" (Genesis 1:28, 9:1,7) "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." (Psalm 127:3-5)
There are others, for instance, Deuteronomy 28 speaks of the blessings God promises to those that put Him first in their lives, "Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep" (vs. 4), and the curses God will bring on His people when they trample His covenant under foot, "Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep" (vs. 18). Check out Deuteronomy 7:13-14: "And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle."
Can any human being come into the world without being created by God?
What is abortion, but a reflection of the heart of the church? If it is okay to thwart God's intentions before or during conception, then why should we judge those who try to thwart His will later on?
And what is homosexuality but a gross attempt to have pleasure without having children? It's merely an extension of a lifestyle embraced by the evangelical church.
When our culture embraced the use of contraception, the woman was cheapened. Prior to this time, a man was required to restrain his passion, or find someone willing to carry his baby. Eliminating the baby encouraged unrestrained immorality. Millions of girls were willing to be used, who would not otherwise have been. Men were no longer obligated to restrain themselves by anything more than their own conscience. And a generation that had free roam of the streets as second-graders, knows that it is not appropriate to let their children out of sight for more than a minute.
Through the popularization of contraceptives, a pandora's box has opened, which may require the fire and brimstone of Sodom and Gomorrha to shut again.
posted by 1of14 | 10:16 PM
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