Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Governor, is going nuts on gun control. She is passionately pushing gun control as a response to our big crime problem in Albuquerque, NM. A major part of her re-election campaign was abortion or women's reproductive rights. But Genesis 9:6 says, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made he man." This was probably given more as a law, but it is interesting for today. Is it a coincidence that in a place where we have celebrated women's reproductive rights, we also have a high rate of homicide? Abortion certainly devalues life. Abortion implies that life is so cheap, that we can throw it away if it is not convenient. When a murderer is pointing his gun at the innocent, life has already been cheapened in his mind. Evolution further devalues life. It claims that we are unplanned accidents of time and chance. We are descendants of the animal kingdom. This does not make the gunman feel like he is aiming at anything valuable. The victim is perceived as an evolved animal, but who is to say that he should be allowed to keep evolving? Creationism, on the other hand, gives great value to people. We are designed by the greatest designer in the universe. This gives us great value! We are also made in the image of the most valuable being in the universe. This adds even more value to our life. The problem for Governor Grisham in New Mexico may not be guns. The problem may be that New Mexico does not value life.
Monday, January 15, 2024
Black Blood on My Hands
Black Blood on My Hands
"Maga is racist, Trump is racist, Republicans are racist" and anyone who disagrees is racist. This is the political mantra of our day. We have racism in American history. The Democrat party was pro-slavery. The Democrat party was home to the Ku Klux Klan. The Democrat party was against the civil rights movement and for segregation. Today, the situation for our black community is worse than ever. Abortion has been carefully leveraged against black people. The black baby has been 4 times as likely to be aborted than the white baby in America. We have white-washed it in the name of women's rights or reproductive rights. But we have probably aborted about 20 million black people in America. So in the last 50 years, we have reduced the black population by at least 40 million black people. Since abortion was legalized in 1973, the first aborted black babies may have been grandparents by now. In Genesis 4, Cain killed his brother Abel. God confronted Cain and said, "...What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."(Genesis 4:10) If the blood of Abel cried unto God from the ground, how much more so the blood of 20 million black souls. So, how does it concern me? I go to work and pay taxes. My taxes go toward decreasing the black population. Their blood is on my hands through my taxes. If you are voting for reproductive rights, you have their blood on your hands as well. God's eyes are certainly on the innocent.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Gift of Repentance and the Bad Neighbor
Some people are saying, "I am so thankful for the gift of repentance." Many are seeking to be worthy through their good own works, but the law requires perfection. When they cannot reach that perfection, some fall back on the "gift of repentance" idea.
It is similar to having a bad neighbor. Suppose your neighbor steals from you and a week later apologizes and returns your property. The next week he steals from you again and again apologizes. Every week you find him stealing and apologizing. Soon you would start to believe that your neighbor is insincere and his apologies mean nothing. If your neighbor declares, "I am so thankful for the gift of apologizing", you are not going to take him seriously.
On the other hand, you would believe your neighbor was sincere if he apologized for stealing from you, never stole from you again and was a great neighbor for the next 30 years. The need for daily repentance highlights a person's daily failure. True repentance involves forsaking the sin.
So where does real worthiness come from? 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Why do many ignore this truth? Romans 10:3 states, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
Here is the question: Are we focused on ourselves or on Christ? Are our eyes on our good works and many acts of repentance or are we focused on Christ and his work on our behalf. We all must repent, but are we looking to Christ for salvation or are we looking to ourselves for salvation? God saves in God's way which is through Christ Jesus. We cannot save ourselves with even our best efforts.