Christian Data Resources

During the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, Dan Rather reported that it was “a disaster comparable to Hiroshima.”  Really?  Yeah, it was a sticky mess; it injured and killed some wildlife; and, it hurt the economy.  But are our priorities so distorted that we can somehow relate this to the 60,000 human deaths and 70,000 injuries of Hiroshima?

When President Ford took office following President Nixon’s resignation in 1974, Ford said that the Watergate scandal had been “more painful and more poisonous than any foreign war.”  Again, can you give me a break?  Adolf Hitler was responsible for 10 to 20 million deaths during World War II, and Joseph Stalin killed 10 to 20 million more.  How can you compare a political scandal to this?

However, in the United States, there is indeed something worse than war.  It’s worse because:

– It has probably killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined.
– These were not just deaths.  They were murders.
– Its victims have not even been enemies.
– Its victims were not from some far-off land.  They were Americans.
– Its victims were not even adults.  They were defenseless children.
– Its victims were not guilty of anything.  Rather, they were as innocent as one can be.

Legalized abortion in the U. S. has murdered over 40 million innocent American children since 1973.

Furthermore, consider the “pain” and “poison” of foreign wars that President Ford spoke of.  What is more painful than a scalpel in the womb that destroys an unborn baby?  What is more poisonous than chemicals administered in the womb to choke the life out of an innocent child?

This is worse than all the concentration camps that have ever existed, and we have all stood by and let it happen–even applauding it for the sake of women’s rights.  Yes, our priorities are that distorted–confusing the sanctity of life with oil spills and politics.

2 Chronicles 32:30 tells us that Hezekiah “… succeeded in everything he undertook,” and 2 Kings 18:7 says that “wherever he went he prospered.”  Wouldn’t you like for that to be true of you?  Could it be?  Well, the Bible doesn’t specifically tell us his secret to success and prosperity, but we can learn from what it does tell us.

– Hezekiah was a man of integrity who did not compromise on God’s Word.  2 Kings 18:7 and 22 says that he rebelled against his enemies who violated the principles of God’s Word.

– Hezekiah was a man of prayer, and God answered him because he prayed (2 Kings 19:15-20, 2 Kings 20:1-6).

– Hezekiah was a man truth, honor and righteousness.  In his prayer in 2 Kings 20:3, he says, “… O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.”

Recently, Donald Trump indicated that if abortion were illegal, mothers should somehow be punished for having their children aborted.  Although he quickly took back his statement (and cited the mother as the victim), it’s an interesting issue.

Suppose that a doctor delivers a baby and places the baby on the mother’s belly.  Then she asks the doctor to kill the crying baby.  He takes a scalpel and kills the baby.  This is murder, and both the mother and the doctor are accomplices.

Now suppose that a few days or months earlier, the mother goes to the doctor and asks him to kill the baby in her womb.  He takes a scalpel (or a chemical) and kills the baby.  This is still murder, and both the mother and the doctor are accomplices.  How is the mother the victim here?

1 Corinthians 13:45 tells us that love keeps no record of wrongs.

Godly love is a mental attitude that causes us to want to pursue the welfare of others, with no bitterness or ill will for any sacrifices we might need to make in this endeavor.  In summary, if you love someone, you are willing to pursue the welfare of that person, meaning that you unselfishly want what’s best for them, to the extent that you’re willing to make significant sacrifices so that person can indeed have what’s best for them.

The key to this Godly mental attitude love is the characteristic of being unselfish. If a husband truly loves his wife, he doesn’t find faults in her where she has failed to live up to his expectations. Instead, he unselfishly wants her to have the best things, even if he has to make sacrifices to acquire those things for her.

Love keeps no record of wrongs–like in a marriage.

I just had the most amazing conversation with the guy who came out to exterminate my house for bugs–Robert.  I asked him about his tattoos, and he felt like sharing (later saying that he was glad to get stuff off of his chest).

His child life was terrible.  His mom and dad were druggies.  His dad committed suicide when Robert was 17 years old, and his mom committed suicide 17 days later.  He started drinking heavily, with no hope in sight.  However, he said that his life changed on December 17th, 2008.  A stranger made friends with him, bought him dinner, let him move in with him and his wife, and started taking him to church.  This eventually (August, 2008) led to a point where he believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ–that he was guilty of sin and that Christ died for his sins.

Now he’s one of the most confident believers I’ve ever met.  He hasn’t taken a drink since 2009.  He has a wife who is a strong believer, a young daughter who will soon be baptized, and a young son who he has started taking to church.  He has started a prison ministry, and he sees everything as a blessing from God.  How powerful is the gospel?