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How Are We Tempted?
There are a lot of differing standpoints on the theology of sin. We’re going to start by looking at two of them.
The first viewpoint, stands firmly on the idea that since we are created in Gods image, and God doesn’t make evil things, we are born inherently good and without sin. According to this viewpoint, sin is something that we accumulate throughout our lives, and if we can just scrape it all off, we’ll get back to our original state of goodness.
A more common theological viewpoint is the theology of original sin. This viewpoint claims that ever since Adam and Eve sinned, every human being ever born has been born in sin, with an inherent sinful nature, and are doomed for destruction because of this sinful nature, apart from Christ.
Which argument is supported by scripture? Let’s take a look.
Psalm 51:3-5 – “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
We see here that we don’t even get to the part about thinking and living, before we are full of sin. Our birth and conception happen in sin. Our environment on this earth as a whole is fallen, and our sinful hearts swan dive into the quagmire of debauchery and disobedience the first chance we get, when our favorite toy is taken away or mommy says no.
In Niel T. Anderson’s book “Victory Over the Darkness”, Anderson says this. “According to Scripture, the center of the person is the heart. It is the “wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23) In our natural state, “The Heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jer. 17:9) It is deceitful because it has been conditioned from the time of birth by the deceitfulness of a fallen world, rather than by the truth of God’s Word.”
Jeremiah 17:5-9 – Thus says the Lord:“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
If you’ve ever watched a Disney movie, you know the mantra: Follow your heart! This is a lie straight from the pits of Hell and Disney. Our heart is DESPERATELY WICKED. In our natural state we are not only at a baseline of wickedness, but we’re desperate for it! We all are guilty of trusting our own flesh/heart.
Not only are we guilty of trusting our own flesh/heart, but are cursed for doing it! The wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23)
Romans 7:15-25 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
So we see here that even as redeemed christian saints; as sinners who have been redeemed by the cleansing blood of Christ, our flesh is still striving to serve the law of sin. We have the desire to carry out goodness, but cannot in our own power. Our sinful condition is so innate and strong, that even after we are indwelt by the holy spirit, it still wages war against the holiness of the Lord that now dwells inside us.
Matthew 15:18-19 – But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
Our condition doesn’t stop there; at some ambiguous “heart” that we can imagine is tucked away and hidden from the world. Our actions are the fruit of the condition of our hearts. Our words reveal the condition of our heart, and we can all agree that our words are often a mirror that we would rather not look into for fear of what it will reveal about our hearts.
Hang tight, because it gets worse! It doesn’t stop at our words either. Out of our sinful hearts come things I’m sure we’d all agree we would never be guilty of; Murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Surely none of us are guilty of sins as bad as that right?
Matthew 5:21-24 – “You have heard that it was said of those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matthew 5:27-28 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Jesus broadens the parameters for sin to include the things that don’t even come out of us. Even the thoughts we let ourselves linger on count as sin. The eyeroll and muttered insult about an annoying family member is sin. The spike of anger when someone posts something we don’t like, or a child doesn’t listen as fast as they should.
Basically, any reaction we have that comes from our Human Nature instead of the Spirit, most likely is sinful at least in its motivation, if not in its very nature.
Romans 8:1-11 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By Sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in face the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of CHrist does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised CHrist Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
Alright, so can we all agree that we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit? On our own, apart from him, we are helpless to do any good, and on our own we decay in sin. But we have a great hope that I’d like to explore with you next.
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death!”
We desire earnestly to do it rightly. To please our Heavenly father and walk the straight and narrow. But we just can’t seem to get out of the rut we’re in. Maybe it’s a chronic bad attitude, an over-reliance on alcohol, or a habbit you use to decompress after work that you know you’ve taken too far. Or maybe it’s something more serious. Maybe it’s an addiction to pornography, masturbation, same sex attraction that you aren’t fighting, or something that there isn’t even a label for, but that you know in your spirit is deeply sinful.
In Mark Comer’s “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”, he sums up the tension between our flesh and spirit like this.
“To be made in the image of God means that we’re rife with potential. We have the Divine’s capacity in our DNA. We’re like God. We were created to “Image” his behavior, to rule like he does, to gather up the raw materials of our planet and reshape them into a world for human beings to flourish and thrive. But that’s only half the story. We’re also made from the dirt, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”; we’re the original biodegradable containers. Which means we’re born with limitations. We’re not God. We’re mortal, not immortal. Finite, not infinite. Image and dust. Potential and limitations. One of the key tasks of our apprenticeship to Jesus is living into both our potential and our limitations.”
*Disclaimer* I do not recommend this book to an immature Christian who does not have a solid understanding of scripture and discernment. Comer has some bad Theology mixed in with some good ideas, but the reader needs to be able to weed through that.
So now that we’ve firmly established we are sinful beings from the start, and keep on sinning despite our deliverance, let’s turn the page. I love to make things tactical, guys. The first step in addressing a problem is to acknowledge it exists. The second, as we’ll look at next, is to look at how the issue comes to be. So let’s look at how we are tempted to sin.
So moving on to point two. How are we tempted?
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO BE TEMPTED AND GIVE IN TO SIN?
Genesis 3:1-7 – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,b she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
WHAT ARE THE STEPS THAT LED UP TO EVE SINNING?
Eve was tempted to:
- Question God’s word
- Question the consequence of breaking God’s word
- Will I really die? Surely not. Will it really hurt my kid if I yell at them? Will I really hurt my brain and damage my soul if I watch porn? Omitting truth isn’t really lying right?
- Trusting her own Judgment
- Lust of the eyes
- To be equal with God in standing and knowledge
- Legalism.
- We see here that Eve really was the first Pharasee. When asked by the serpent what God really said, Even adds onto Gods word. She claims that God said “Neither shall you touch it lest you die.” but there is no written record of God ever saying those words.
- Bert Spalding used the analogy once, that God gives us a highway, and we give ourselves guardrails. I think that’s very true in this case; she added onto God’s word, which was one of the steps along the way that led to her sin.
Eve wasn’t forced into sinning. Eve was deceived as she chose to lean on her own understanding rather than the words of the Lord. Now, this is going to be a big theme in this class, and really, the class all boils down to “Don’t listen to yourself, listen to God.” Class dismissed, we can all go home now.
The passage does not say “When Eve heard these persuasive arguments, she ate the fruit.” or “When the serpent put her in a headlock and shoved fruit down her throat.” No, the passage says “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of it’s fruit and ate,”. Can you hear her reasoning it out? I can, and if I’m honest, it sounds much like how I try to reason out my own sin. On a fundamental level, the moment we choose to sin, we are simply saying that we know what is best for us in that moment, and the Lord does not. As hard as that is to hear, and as much as we might not want to believe it, that is what our actions say. Because we have victory in Christ and are no longer obligated to sin, every temptation is already won in Him, and we simply must choose to either walk in that victory, or to turn back to our sinful nature.
Now, I acknowledge that temptation is brutal. We talk about it in these simple terms, but I know that the reality often doesn’t feel quite so simple. It is not a simple and off-handed thing that we can choose to listen to or not as easily as if it were a podcast episode. But it is also true that we cannot nuance our way out of good theology. Sometimes we work ourselves into such knots over our sin, that we need blunt reminders over how ugly our sin is, and how ugly our decision to keep choosing sin also is. This is where it’s important to remember that two things can be true at the same time: One truth is that our sin is horribly pervasive, difficult and gutting. But an equal truth is that sinning reveals our trust in our own understanding rather than God’s.
Now, we cannot talk about the first sin without also acknowledging Adam’s role in it. Turn with me to Genesis 2.
Genesis 2:15-17 – “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Now seeing this, let’s look closer again at the account in Genesis three. When does the text say there yes were opened?
Their eyes were opened when Adam, the one God had directly spoken to, chose to sin…
Now, I’m not here to bash Adam and say it was really all his fault and Eve was some poor helpless woman. We can agree that both Adam and Eve sinned; it’s clear from the text that they did both know God’s word. But, at the end of the day, both sinned, and we’ve all been enjoying the not-so-great-fruits of that sin ever since, along with our own sin. In Adam, we see our own tendency to watch with rapt attention while someone else sins, and the temptation to join them in that sin when a bolt of lightning doesn’t immediately strike them.
Let’s look at another example.
1 Samuel 13:8-14 – And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” Samuel asked. And Saul replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”
What are the steps that led to Saul sinnin?
Again, we see Saul leaning on his own understanding. He knows what the Lord has commanded through Samuel. He has seen the Lord work to deliver enemies into their hands and give them victory. He has direct experience with the God of Abraham and Jacob, through his own personal prophet!
Yet, he sees the troops begin to leave, and in his human understanding, thinks he must act in order to lock in the support of God. If I place myself in his shoes I can easily understand what brought him to this point. In human reasoning, a burnt offering equals the Lord’s presence. The Lord’s presence will equal confidence in the men. Confidence in the men will mean more of them stay. However, less troops equals less chance of victory. In this moment, Saul removed the character of the Lord, and the proven support and deliverance he had personally experienced from the equation. Saul decided that God couldn’t act unless he had the men he needed. When God is removed from our equation, we act in our own understanding, and as we in this scenario, it ends in disaster.
John 18:10-11 – Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
Don’t we just love Peter? I mean, the man sees a problem, and doesn’t hesitate to just dive into handling it. There’s no mention of his taking time to wonder about the implications of his actions, fearing for his own safety…..or of him inquiring of the Lord what the Lord would have him do; the Lord that was standing right next to him.
There are many more examples in scripture that I could bring up, but I’m sure we all begin to see the trend here. Temptation increases our bent toward sin, when we lean on our own understanding instead of the Lord and His Word. The Enemy would be thrilled, if he could simply get every christian to rely on their own understanding, instead of inquiring of the Lord in every circumstance.
Even if, in leaning on our own understanding, we do all the “right things”, it will all be meaningless if it is not empowered and motivated by the holy spirit.
We see this in the example of Saul, right? Sacrificing was an objectively good thing to do. Seeking to please the Lord was an objectively good thing to do. But he did it in his own understanding, and motivated out of fear, and in doing so directly disobeyed the Lords commands.
Even if, in leaning on our own understanding, we do all the “right things”, it will all be meaningless if it is not empowered and motivated by the holy spirit.
Another factor that I am convinced plays a major role in our sin, is “hurry.” We’re all aware that we are more susceptible to temptation when we are tired, hungry, alone, etc., But what about when we are hurried? Often, when there’s too much on our plates, and we’re left rushing from appointment to appointment, we can grow deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This increases the bent of our hearts toward the cycle of relying on our own understanding. We’re in too much of a hurry to stop and pray; we need to rush rush rush. God begins to take a backseat to the next appointment we need to get to, the friend that needs our help, or the goal at work that we skip quiet time to go in early for.
Our souls don’t have time to catch up to our over-tired and over-taxed bodies.
To quote Comer’s writings again: “If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect – they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.”
Walter Adams, the spiritual director to C.S Lewis says this: “ To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work. It never advances it.”
Proverbs 21:5 says that the hasty person comes only to poverty, and Proverbs 19:2 tells us the hasty person misses their way.
God did not create you to rush through this life playing whack-a-mole with our sin as we juggle the other spinning plates in our lives. Our walk with him and our spiritual health is to be our priority. We cannot know our sin, know our temptation triggers, and take the time to invest in battling them if we are too preoccupied with the rest of life. We as a people, as a church, and as women need to learn to slow down and invest in knowing our spiritual battles fully. To do that, we at a baseline need to take time to be acquainted with our condition and struggles
I am not advocating that we need to cancel all commitments to sit at home and read our bibles all day, or that we should fail to meet the needs of others that we feel convicted to do. This is not an invitation to laziness disguised as spiritual advice. However, there is merit to the practice of slowing down, and even having spiritual retreat days; something I highly recommend. I make it a practice to at a minimum have one day a month where I read, journal, and make a practice of sitting quietly before the Lord. Whether a whole day, an afternoon, or even a few minutes here or there throughout your day, we need to build habits of slowing down, and allowing our spirits to catch up.
We are spiritual beings, and must not make a habit of existing and striving only as physical beings, which is what begins to happen when we neglect our spiritual care.
It is a fairly common occurrence in the Jewett household for a certain scenario to take place when there’s something that needs building. Usually, I will approach my husband with a request for say, a new nesting box for the chickens, or a shelf in the kitchen. I’ll sketch up my idea for him, and he without fail will have some improvement or additional idea, before agreeing to work on it. Being the perfectionist he is, he will take time to think over how the shelf will be used, if this design really fits the purpose, what kind of wood would be best, what kind of fasteners, etc.
About two days into him putting thought into it, I get antsy, go out to the garage and find some scraps, and put the thing together myself. Bing, bam, boom, it’s done, I can move on with life, and onto my next hairbrained scheme.
There’s just one problem. I’m not an architect, and I don’t in fact know what I’m doing. Competency with a drill and hammer do not a carpenter make. I am, in my current state, ill suited to be making kitchen shelves. Usually my husband will graciously try to eke out some part of the project that I did well, and let it sit for a day or so before quietly taking it out to the garage to die and resurrecting it again as a better piece that actually suites our needs.
I am ill equipped for this role. I have no knowledge or authority over tools of the trade.
Not so for my battle with temptation.
But there is one thing that all christians, and everyone in this room, is equipped to do. I can say this without a hairsbreadth of doubt, backed up by scripture, and know that I am categorically correct.
Each and every one of us is equipped by God, through the Holy Spirit and Scripture, to battle temptation and be victorious. As Paul says in Ephesians, this is not of our own work that no one should boast; we have this power only as we lean on Christ for our every need and acknowledge our need for Him as our savior.
Next week, we will be looking at how we see that example lived out in the life of Jesus Christ. But for now, I want to leave you with some encouragement as we conclude.
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
Psalm 3:5-6 – “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of the many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, and against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of GOd, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day , and having done all, to stand firm.”
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M
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What Is Abortion?
In my last post, we looked at the statistics on abortion and some of the main arguments in the pro-choice movement. We looked at what the reality of rape and incest cases are in terms of abortion (only 0.4% of abortions). We looked at life of the mother and fetal abnormalities (1.4-2.2% of abortions).
We came to terms with the fact that 95.5% of abortions are elective, when there is no medical necessity and the life of the mother is not at risk. Now, let’s take a closer look at abortion. To do that, let’s look first at what abortion is not.
Abortion Is Not A Miscarriage.
An argument that has been rearing its head in the Pro-Choice movement is this; since miscarriages are medically termed “spontaneous abortion”, the body is then technically “murdering” it’s own baby. They say, you can’t call abortion murder without calling miscarriage murder.
A few things about miscarriages. They aren’t planned, medically induced, or controllable. Generally, most miscarriages happen before 20 weeks, according to the Medical Encyclopedia, and affect about 10-20% of women who conceive. Sometimes for reasons unknown the baby simply dies and is passed from the woman’s body. Other times it can be due to physical or emotional trauma experienced by the mother.
Abortion is not the same as a miscarriage, in that, miscarriage is a tragic but unfortunately normal part of what a woman can experience in her reproductive years. Most often, miscarriages are due to fetal abnormalities, hormonal imbalances or other physical issues in the mother that are not sufficient to support the pregnancy, infections, or trauma. In other words, something must be wrong for a miscarriage to take place. Miscarriages do not happen simply because the body decides it doesn’t want to be pregnant.
Abortion Is Not Safe.
Secondly, abortion is not easy and safe for the mother. In an article from Good Help Psychiatric Service, a study found that women who had abortions were 81% more likely to have mental health issues as a direct result of their abortions, and 37% more likely to experience post abortive depression, specifically. Consider the following excerpt from The National Library of Medicine on the psychological after affects of abortion.
“The results revealed that at least one third of the respondents have experienced psychological side effects. Depression, worrying about not being able to conceive again and abnormal eating behaviors were reported as dominant psychological consequences of abortion among the respondents. Decreased self-esteem, nightmares, guilt, and regret with 43.7%, 39.5% 37.5% and 33.3% prevalence rates have been placed in the lower status, respectively. Psychological consequences of abortion have considerably been neglected. Several barriers made findings limited. Different types of psychological side effects, however, experienced by the study population require more extensive attention because of chronic characteristic of psychological disorders, and women’s health impact on family and population health.“
That is just the psychological aspect. What about the physical health of the mother? After all, abortion is something that happens in and to the body. To talk about the complications, we now need to look at what abortion is and how it works.
Buckle in.
Abortion is the termination of a pre-born human life (fetus), either by poison, starvation, or dismemberment while the baby is still alive. Below I go into detail on abortion procedures, and exactly what they do. You might be tempted to skip this, especially if you’re a woman. I recommend you read anyway. As ugly as it is, this is the reality of abortion, and we need to acknowledge it.
The abortion pill: This type of abortion accounts for 53.0% of abortions to date, according to a study done by the Guttmacher Institute. Up until 10 weeks gestation, the abortion pill Misoprostol acts by first cutting off the food supply to the baby. This pill is taken usually in the abortion office, while the patient is sent home with the second set of pills. The second pill Mifipristone is taken, inducing a violently strong “period” that causes the mother to essentially give birth to her dead baby. Depending on her gestational age, she may see only blood clots, or she may see the fully formed baby lying dead on a pad or in the toilet bowl. The dosage of the pill Mifipristone given for an abortion is generally more than 4x the amount given to a full term pregnant woman to induce labor. This can often lead to hemorrhaging of the pregnant mother, retained fetal tissue, sepsis, and death. Because abortion pills can now be purchased online with no medical visit or proof of identity, this is a huge gateway for sexual traffickers, sexual abuse victims, and more. A man running a sex trafficking brothel out of his basement could order pills for the ones that got pregnant, and no one would ever be the wiser. Additionally, a woman could either be mistaken about or lie about the day of her last period, leading her to take pills that are not approved for a later gestational age of the baby. Add to that, there is no medical oversight on these abortion pill websites–have I mentioned there are over 70 of them? Now, if you google “complication rates after abortion pill” you’ll find a few studies saying that the rate is super low and the pills are super safe. These studies ignore one key factor.
If a woman goes to an ER because she is hemorrhaging, they won’t ask her (and she can lie) about if she took abortion pills. Thus her case won’t be recorded as an abortion related issue.
Another issue with this type of abortion is, because of the lack of medical oversight and thus no follow up care after the abortion, women can unknowingly retain fetal tissue (parts of the baby that don’t leave her body), leading to sepsis, and potential death for the mother.
Dismemberment Abortions (D&C): This is the next most common abortion, accounting for somewhere in the vicinity of 37.6% of abortions. During this abortion, the abortionist dilates the cervix (an incredibly painful process), before reaching into the womb with forceps. First, they find a limb and pull it off forcibly. They do this to all four limbs, before pulling out the torso and head. It is common on this procedure for the abortionist to have to crush the skull while the baby is in the death throws. The baby can also be seen on ultrasound shying away from the forceps and writhing in pain as it bleeds out and dies. The abortionist does nothing to attempt to numb the baby before hand. The child is completely alive and can feel everything.
Saline Abortions: This type of abortion (as well as D&C abortions) account for 37.6% of abortions. During a Saline abortion, the abortionist punctures and drains the amniotic sack of all it’s fluid. This fluid is then replaced with a potent mixture of saline, which burns the baby alive. This can lead to critical complications for the mother, requiring an emergency C-Section and can result in live births of the unwanted child. There are numerous adults around the world who are survivors of this type of abortion, because it can be done so late in the pregnancy. On her Youtube channel, Lila Rose interviews two adult female survivors of this type of abortion, which I highly recommend you go watch.
During this type of abortion, the baby inhales, choking on the salt solution. This burns and poisons the lungs, esophagus, vocal cords, and other organs. It can often take an hour for the baby to die. The mother will then go into labor, usually within a day, and deliver a dead baby who is shriveled and looks visibly burnt. In a bombshell report in 2020, bodies of 5 late term abortion victims were found in the apartment of a Pro-Abortion activist. In images shared by LiveAction.Org (Read Here) one can clearly see that these babies were past the age of viability and fully formed. A few of these babies seem to be victims of saline or lethal injection abortions.
But the babies don’t always die right away, or at all during these abortions. Consider this excerpt from the Charlotte Lozier Institute on the subject of Saline and late term abortions:
The CDC estimates that between 2003 and 2014, at least 143 babies died after being born alive during abortions, and the CDC acknowledges it is very possible that this undercounts the actual number. Additionally, the CDC report counts only babies who were born alive during abortions and then later passed away – it does not include babies who survived attempted abortions and are still alive.
Lethal Injection Abortions: During this abortion, the poison compound used to euthanize inmates on death (potassium chloride) row is injected directly into the baby’s heart, guided by ultrasound imaging. It is common with these abortions for the baby to be seen writhing and squirming in pain on an ultrasound while it dies. After their death, they are then either dismembered and pulled from the womb, or the mother gives birth to the dead baby.
These abortions are more common in the latter term, since they are more guaranteed to result in a deceased baby, and not an accidental live birth.
Partial Birth Abortions: This abortion method is used as early as 20 weeks, and sometimes right up until full term. During this procedure the abortionist, guided by ultrasound, reaches into the womb and pulls the baby most of the way out through the vagina. The abortionist will leave the head inside the womb, since, if the head leaves the womb, the child is considered officially “born”. At this point, the abortionist will then puncture the back of the child’s skull with scissors or scaple, before inserting forceps or some other tool to widen the hole. Keep in mind the child is still alive at this point, and has likely started to aspirate amniotic fluid due to pain and shock of the procedure. Once the hole is wide enough, the abortionist inserts a suction tool and sucks out the child’s brain. The child is now considered “brain dead”, and the collapsed head is then pulled from the body of the mother. The abortion is complete.
If you feeling like throwing up, crying, or punching a hole in the wall after reading the reality of what abortion is…good. We should feel grieved and angry that innocent life is being taken at all, let alone in such a hostile, violent, and evil way. We should be concerned for the moral state a woman must be in to contemplate killing her own child. We should be outraged on behalf of these murdered children that abortion is championed as a “fundamental right”, and as “healthcare”.
But the method of the baby’s death should not be by itself our reason for opposing abortion. If the method alone was our reason, then we would also have to oppose every method used to stop terrorists, serial killers on death row, or an attacker killed during a self defense situation. Death, in and of itself, is not the issue.
The issue is that all human life has inherent value from the moment of conception and the extermination of that life is an abomination to both the human soul that perpetrates that extermination, and to the life being snuffed out with prejudice. The issue is that pre-born babies are innocent image bearers of God, with the same rights to life, love, and the pursuit of happiness as you and I.
What about that child’s fundamental rights?
We should feel righteous anger at that life being snuffed out. We should be moved to act, to educate ourselves on this issue, and to stand boldly for the unborn. It is a reality that unborn children are being killed in the millions each year, while many stand by in silence.
I had the pleasure of listening to Samuel Sey speak on the issue of abortion a few weeks ago, and he said something on the topic that has stuck with me.
When speaking on how pervasive and widespread the issue of abortion is, Samuel said: “Silence and neutrality are no longer an option for Christians.”
This should upset us more than poverty. This should upset us more than childhood abuse. This should upset us more than who got into presidential office or whatever minor detail you didn’t like in the pastors sermon last Sunday.
Poverty, social justice issues, presidents and pastors are none of them final.
Abortion is.
Death is.
We, as people who are enjoying our right to life, need to fight for those whose rights are in jeopardy of being ripped away with violence and prejudice.
Will you stay silent? Will you bow and let the hordes of culture trample over their unborn for the sake of not rocking the boat too much in your circle of infulence?
Or will you stand in the middle of the road, feet firmly planted, and say no…even if that means standing alone?
I know one of those paths is a lot scarier and unknown. But I also know which path Jesus would take, and I’m choosing to follow His lead.
You?
Stay tuned, and stay informed.
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M
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Should Christians Be Pro-Life?
If you’ve been Youtube at all recently, driven past a sign on the highway, or been getting those pesky presidential campaign texts, you know that the issue of abortion is astronomically huge in our society.
I’m pro-life, I always have been, and I always will be.
I’m mainly directing this post toward the Church, because I see that most Churches under-discuss this topic, and I want to inspire change in that. I think many Christians honestly don’t know many of the realities of abortion, and would have different views if they really knew. This is a complex topic, and as such, I will be splitting it up into a few weeks. In today’s post, we’re going to be looking at some statistics on why women are getting abortions. Next week, we’ll look at what abortion is, and the following week we’ll look at ways to be involved and better educated.
In a study done by the Pew Research Center, around 33% of Evangelical Protestant think Abortion should be legal in the United States. In general, only 18% of adults in the United States who thought abortion should be legal didn’t believe in God.
This means that 79% of adults who think abortion should be legal are those who have some margin for God in their lives, or believe in Him.
Of those who think abortion should be legal in most/all cases, 22% attended church weekly, and 37% attended church at least monthly.
Clearly, being religious, attending church, or affiliated with a church does not equate being pro-life. This means, that there are very likely people in every church who support abortion. In my specific church, we have about 1000 people in attendance each Sunday, I believe. If this data from Pew is correct, that means an average of 220 of those weekly attendees likely support abortion. I surely hope that number is lower in my church, but reality is likely more in line with these statistics.
So why are Christians aligning with the Pro-Choice movement so much? I think I have an answer: empathy and compassion.
Culture also makes the argument that women need access to abortion because it’s only used for health of the mother, rape, and incest. They shout that abortion is not being used as birth control, but as a last resort. This is the drum they beat, no matter how off-tune it is, or how blatantly contradictory it is to the prior argument.
“Would you force a twelve year old who got pregnant from rape to carry that child?”
“Would you force a woman who was raped to carry another man’s baby?”
“I guess men can just choose women to carry their babies now, and rape whoever they want.”
These are some of the main arguments we are hearing from culture.
Unfortunately, the statistics disagree, and disagree sharply that these cases are common. Take a look at these numbers from the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
In the year 2023, there were an estimated 1,037,000 abortions carried out in the United States. This included abortion pills, surgical, and saline abortions.
Cases of incest or rape account for only 0.4% of abortions, nationwide, accounting for only 4,148 of abortions. This is the demographic that culture is saying need access to abortion. They hold this demographic up as the reason abortion needs to be legalized, and inflate what percentage of cases come from this demographic.
Health of the Mother risks account for only 0.3%-2.2% of abortions, accounting for between 3000-22,814 abortions. These numbers are also likely inflated, due to recent changes in what is considered “health” of the mother. Mental health, or her quality of life taking a hit can now be considered “Health of the Mother Risks” in many states. A woman could say that she wasn’t mentally prepared for a baby, and have that pregnancy terminated for that reason alone.
Fetal Abnormalities account for only 1.2% of abortions, accounting for 12,444 abortions. It is also common that babies that are believed to be abnormally formed in many cases turn out to be just fine. There are large percentages of women who are told to abort their child due to abnormalities, but the child is later born totally fine or with the abnormality not being as fatal or obvious as originally thought.
A staggering 95.5% of abortions are elective abortions for unspecified reasons, accounting for the remaining majority of 990,335 abortions. This statistic, unfortunately, is likely under reported. Due to recent restrictions on the abortion pill being removed, women (or men) can now access the abortion pill online with no required doctor visit, or proving their identity to another human being.
The statistics are clear, abortions are not being used in 95.5% of cases to save abuse victims. As such, that minority is not a sufficient data pool to attempt justification of what abortion is really being used for.
We cannot say that abortion must be legal because 0.4-2.2% out of over a million women needed them.
In fact, I would offer that these cases of Incest and Rape are proffered by culture as a reason for abortion to be legal, with the sole intent of empathy shaming those who stand against abortion. These arguments, while especially compelling to female compassion, do not stand up to logic.
“You force a teenager who’s been raped to carry a baby? How could you!”
“You would force a girl pregnant by her brother to carry that baby?! You’re just pro-birth, not pro-life.”
These types of arguments make it seem as if Pro-Lifers are the ones responsible for the hardships that arise in these types of situations. It also pulls the focus away from reality. Remember, only 0.4% of abortion cases are actually due to incest or rape.
95.5% of the time, abortion is not being used to spare abuse victims. In the 95.5% of cases, it is being used electively, when not medically necessary, to allow a woman to get out of an unwanted pregnancy.
We as Christians should have immense compassion for the minority of women who find themselves in situations of rape or incest. We should seek justice for those who abused them, and do all we can to help those women/children heal from the abuse they have endured. But we must acknowledge, as the statistics tell us, that they account for a sliver of a fraction of abortions carried out. So these cases cannot be used to justify abortion as a whole.
If a death is necessary to right the wrong of rape or incest, I would offer that it is the rapist or abuser who should face the death penalty as a form of justice. Killing an innocent life, and putting the mother through the trauma of abortion does nothing to punish the abuser, and only traumatizes the victim further.
The argument that women who are victims of rape or incest should be the reason for abortion to be legal also ignores another huge set of data. The NIH did a study on women who conceived after rape or incest, and found that 32.4% of those women carried the pregnancies to term, 5.9% put those infants up for adoption after birth, 11.8% had miscarriages, with just 50% choosing the abortion option.
Abortion is not the only option for women in these circumstances. Many choose to keep their babies, because they recognize that the child conceived from that abuse is not at fault for that abuse. Instead of passing the trauma of abortion down onto an innocent life, they choose to allow that life to flourish in spite of the circumstances it was created in.
As we begin to unpack this issue, the point I want you to take away is this; abortion is not being used simply for abuse victims. As the statistics clearly show, abortion is elective 95.5% of the time.
That is 990,000 babies dead in a year for no medically necessary reason.
Next week we will begin to look at abortion procedures, and unpack the reality of what happens during an abortion, both to the unborn, and the mother. But for now, let me answer the question I asked at the beginning of this post.
Should Christian’s be Pro-Life?
Yes.
Stay tuned, and stay informed.
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M
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To The Christian Holding Their Breath
God is still in control.
The Lord is sovereign over you and your circumstances, over this election, and over the decisions and policies of whatever candidate gets into office. The Lord was sovereign over the primary election, over every debate, breaking news article, and disappointment we’ve had since then.
Scripture tells us in Romans that no political leader or ruler is in power, except those who the Lord has put there.
Romans 13:1 – “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”
If a candidate that grieves us and we didn’t vote for is voted into the Presidency, then that will be part of the Lord’s perfect plan. That President and everything he/she does will part of the perfect plan that the Lord has instituted to bring about His good will for humanity, and the second coming of our Savior.
“But what if there is election fraud, and the candidate isn’t really who belongs in power?”
God is still in control.
Human scheming and sin cannot, never have, and never will overcome the perfect will of God. If God sees fit to allow deception and dishonesty in our election process, then He is using that to accomplish something that is Good. If that happens, He has allowed it for a reason, and we must not allow it to cause us to question Him or to fear.
“But what if the candidate that gets in re-instates abortion protections and millions more babies die?”
God is still in control.
In that case, which I pray does not come to be, we will grieve. We will continue to fight for what is right, keep praying for changed hearts, and for women who are abortion-vulnerable to receive salvation. We must continue to do what we can to champion the cause of Life and un-born image bearers — all of which we should be doing already.
No matter what you fear may happen after this election, God already knows the outcome and it will be for your good, even if it doesn’t feel or seem good. While we live in this material world, our ultimate authority and hope is in the Lord. He alone is the king who can save, redeem, and restore us to perfect unity with the Father. Every earthly ruler will fail us and fall short, because every earthly ruler is not Jesus.
Jesus Christ alone is our King.
Jesus Christ alone is the one in whom we must put our hope.
Jesus Christ alone is our Savior.
Ephesians 1:21-22 – “Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.”
No matter what happens tomorrow, God is most certainly not surprised, and most certainly is still Sovereign.
Keep praying, and put your hope in no earthly ruler.
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M
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Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
“I’m glad that at least one night a year, Christian parents let their children celebrate the Devil.”
This is a quote from Anton LaVae, the author of “The Bible of Satan” and the founder of the Satanist Church.
Now, I’m going to level with you. I’m a Christian, I never have celebrated Halloween, and I never will. I am firmly convicted that Christians should not engage in this practice, and I hope that by the end of this blog post, you will have that conviction as well, if you don’t already. I do not hold this conviction for legalistic or ‘holier than thou’ reasons, but firmly rooted on scripture and conviction from the Holy Spirit.
In a poll done in 2015, 59% of Christians polled said that had no issue with Halloween and that it was “all in good fun”. 14% avoided only the outright pagan elements, 21% avoided it completely, and 6% said they weren’t sure.
The History and background of Halloween is often debated in Christendom, but by and large you will hear two different theories. The first is that it used to be “All Saints day”, but later was corrupted by culture. I have not so far been able to find any evidence that supports this theory.
The second theory is that it is based off a pagan holiday in Ireland, that is still celebrated to this day. This Irish holiday is called Samhain, and the majority of Ireland recognizes their holiday as what inspired the American observance of “All Hallows Eve”. In any research I’ve done, the secular world and all of history agrees that the American holiday of Halloween has a direct line back to Samhain.
When confronted with the reality of the Halloween background, most Christians have the following argument.
“Well, we don’t observe it that way now. We aren’t trying to commune with spirits or any of that.”
While this may be the case, and I believe that Christians generally don’t have malintent with their observance of Halloween, I challenge this belief. The belief that you can be involved with and directly associated with a holiday characterized by darkness and evil, and be justified simply because you think about it differently or ignore certain elements, is flawed and unbiblical.
The main argument I have against Halloween is not actually my own, but scripture.
Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
What is Halloween characterized by, again?
Death, decay, jump-scares, horror, monsters, zombies, skeletons, ghosts, vampires, blood, potions, etc. Lawns are decorated with skeletons crawling out of the ground, ghosts hanging from trees, creepy dolls waving from a porch swing, bloody knives, spiders with massive webs, etc.
Tell me which part of Halloween is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy? Would Jesus be go to a haunted house for fun? Would Jesus wear a costume covered in fake blood and wear bruise makeup?
So what are Christians to do? It’s a major holiday celebrated in a massive way by the entire country. Are we to sit it out? Ignore it? Do nothing? Deprive our children of a fun time?
Yes.
We are called by the Lord to be a holy people! (meaning: set apart). We are called to be not of this world! We are called to be the representation of Christ in this world, and – I don’t know about you – but I cannot for the life of me conjure up a world in which Jesus would be hanging skeletons on His home or dressing up in a witch costume.
Ephesians 5:11 says: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
Leviticus 19:31, “‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritisms, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.”
Galatians 5:19-20, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,”
The question also must be raised, are all parts of Halloween wrong? One thinks of candy, fun costumes for children, pumpkin pie and cider. To this question I would say one thing.
If it is unique to the observance of Halloween, then yes, it is evil and should be avoided.
There is nothing biblically wrong with costumes. There is nothing biblically wrong with handing out candy. There is nothing wrong with getting together with friends, with cider, or other harvest time activities/decorations.
Now, this is a personal conviction, but if I were asked to attend or host a harvest party on Halloween, I would say no. My reason for this is simple; dressing up a pagan holiday to be more acceptable to Christians or less evil looking is a slippery slope, and would reveal that the condition of my heart was being allured far too much by the world.
Christians must not be deceived into compromising, and allowing ourselves to be directly associated with evil practices and imagery.
1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Avoid every appearance of evil.”
This post has barely scratched the surface of this issue, and is leaving much unsaid. This is purposeful, because my goal here isn’t to tell you to what to do on Halloween. My goal here is to present to you reality as I see it and as laid out in scripture, and to challenge you in making sure that your practices and observances of any day are firmly rooted in and motivated solely by scripture.
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M
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Can Christians Get It Right?
I had a conversation with a friend today that wandered into talking about Legalism. The idea that we can follow certain rules, and by doing so, we follow God.
We as human beings really want to “get it right”. We want a formula and steps that we can be assured will lead to our desired outcome. This idea isn’t contained to religion alone; we want to know which grades we need to get into which school, so we can get the job that will provide for and get us the house and spouse and dog and kids, and ensure we have a comfy retirement home.
We want to know which diet is the best to get us the best body.
We want to know which laptop will best suit our needs.
We want to know exactly how much money we need saved up and what kind of credit we need to get a house.
We want to know what rules to follow and what practices to engrain in our daily lives to please the Lord. We want to know exactly how much skin is okay to show at the beach, how much time to read our bibles each day, which prayers to pray, which person to vote for…the list goes on and on.
Is this ideal of perfection even achievable? I would argue that it is not, and here’s why. The goal of walking with the Lord is not to “Get it Right”.
The goal of walking with the Lord….is walking with the Lord.
We see this clearly displayed in the life of the religious leaders in the days of Jesus. If it were possible to please God by following rules and regulations, they would have been the ones to do it! But instead, Jesus refers to them as a brood of vipers (Matthew 3:7, 12:34), empty white-washed tombs (Matthew 23:27-28).
They had lost the relational and spiritual parts of relationship with the Father, for over-zealousness of rules and regulations.
They got lost in the weeds of trying to “Get it right”.
So what’s my alternative direction to point you in? It is surely not to spurn all rules, practices, boundaries or regulations. To the contrary, it is a commonly acknowledge believe among the body of Christ that it is wise and good to have regular practices such as quiet time, corporate worship and church attendance, prayer time, etc.
Sounds like I’m arguing you back into rules and practices, doesn’t it? I know, I know, it’s taking me a hot second to get to the point. We ADHD people tend to have these issues–SQUIRREL!!
But I digress.
The issue of legalism in my view, hinges on one thing: where the believers confidence in their salvation lies.
If I believed that praying every day, keeping the Sabbath, or listening only to certain kinds of music held sway over my salvation, you bet your last dollar I would never miss prayer time, make sure I didn’t violate the sabbath, and put strict perimeters on my Spotify playlists.
So we come to the issue of the Gospel. What does the Gospel have to say about where out security lies and what part we have to play in it?
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)
What I think is so interesting about this passage, is the use of legal/financial terms used to describe our inheritance of salvation. Two things can be true at once, and I think we see this at work here; it is true that at the moment we accept Christ, we are sanctified and restored to relationship with the Father. It is also true that we will never be fully sanctified (without sin) until we reach glory. And at that time we will have possession of our ultimate inheritance in Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord that I’m not the one responsible for holding that!
“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Romans 4:4-5
This verse I’ve always thought was a little more scary that it was comforting, and I’ll tell you why. If I get caught up in legalism/works…I will only get from God exactly what I deserve. This passage says it plainly, to the one who tries to work out his own righteousness, his wages are his due. But to the one who believes, his faith alone is counted as righteousness, just like Abraham.
So again, what’s my point? Clearly, we need to believe first and foremost in Jesus Christ, the son of the one true God, as our Lord and Savior. We cannot trust in works, other doctrines, or our own righteousness (lol) to save us.
…but we still live in this world and need to make decisions about what to do. I get it. Trust me.
I would argue that the solution to getting it right is this.
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
That my seem like an over-simplification, but scripture spells it out clearly. There are numerous other areas over the new Testament where Paul and other authors spell out simply walking with and trusting in the Lord as the fundamental most important practice we can have.
To think that we can reverse this process with success is, put bluntly, wrong. We cannot know the will of the Father and what pleases Him, if we are not first walking closely with Him, and deeply saturated in His word. It then follows that if we are in alignment with Him, we will be shown what is His good and perfect will (Romans 12:2).
As a downstream of that alignment, we may very well be shown by the Father habits and practices that are good for our souls and pleasing to Him. But it is crucial that we start first with relationship and alignment with the Father through His word, before seeking to develop habits. It is even more crucial that we do not view the habits or practices that we develop as contributing to our salvation in any way.
Habits and practices may, and should, have an affect on our continued sanctification–that is, making us look more like the Christ–but our salvation is a separate issue that is sealed and held by Him. If we have come to saving faith and are sealed with Christ, His seal on us and blood over us is so complete so as to make any effort we put forth to make it more-so, laughable.
The point is relationship-motivated obedience, and Holy Spirit led action, not action that leads to relationship and security.
So to answer the question this post asks…yes, Christians can “Get it Right”. If, by “Get it Right”, you mean walking with the Lord.
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M
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Who’s Watching You?
Lately, as anyone who follows me on Facebook knows, I’ve been swimming a lot. While I would love to say that my goal is the 2028 olympics, realistically, I am seeking to walk in obedient stewardship of my body, and tend to my mental health; swimming brings me great joy. Today, I was hard after a goal. After unsuccessfully trying to work on flip turns, I began swimming laps and getting in the zone. Pretty sure if I had tried one more floundering flip turn, the lovely old lady in the lane next to me would have called someone to rescue the girl who was clearly drowning herself!
When I finally stroked to the finish line of my 1500 meter goal, an imaginary sports commentator in my head yelled at the top of his lungs that Jewett was making her olympic debut by clenching a spot in the final and breaking a world record. No, none of that is remotely likely, and yes, you can cringe on my behalf. As I stood panting at the end of my lane, I became aware that someone was talking to me. A gentlemen a few lanes over had pushed up his goggles, the trademark sign that someone wants to talk to you. Apparently swimmers can’t use their mouths if their goggles are on. Trust me, it’s science.
Anyway.
This gentlemen went on to thank me for “finally taking a break”, because he’d been using me for motivation. He told me that he was struggling to get his laps in, and when he saw I was churning out laps, decided that he would keep going as long as I kept going. Little did he know I was going for a mile! In my breathless and I’m-about-to-pass-out-if-I-don’t-start-taking-deep-breaths state, I thanked him for the compliment, offered a tip on breaking up the monotony of laps, then swam a few extra laps once my breath had returned.
So what’s the goal of this story? It’s certainly not to talk about swimming, though I recognize I spent a chunk doing that. Can you tell I like the sport?
The point of this story is to talk about the influence we are on people without evening knowing it. I was an unintended influence to a complete stranger while, literally, staying in my own lane. There were no motivational Instagram posts involved, no medals won, no class taught, or sermon preached. The way I huffed and puffed back and forth through some water was a motivation to someone.
In this day and age, especially in the church, I think there is pressure to feel like we need to be a teacher, preacher, or some other title to be able to influence people for Christ. We see speakers, teachers, authors and christian social media influencers and wish we had their platform and ability to to teach the word and reach people for Christ.
Well, I argue that we have all we need already.
The early church didn’t have instagram. The early church didn’t have mass produced theology books. The early church (and Jesus, for that matter) had their voices, whatever letters they could right to each-other, and whatever teachers spoke at their local temple or synagog. Most importantly, they had the Holy Spirit. And the gospel spread like wildfire! People’s lives were completely transformed without ever once reading a Jen Wilkin book, or streaming a MacArthur sermon on Youtube.
As I think back on my life, I was most influenced by doing life with other Christians, and seeing them endure. Their faith and Holy Spirit empowered way of living helped me see that living this life was possible and if God helped them, He was probably able to help me too. I wonder what would change in the church if we stopped feeling like we had to attain a title before we started mentoring or discipling. I am in no way saying that we shouldn’t take advantage of good teaching, good books, and resources that may be available.
However.
We already have all we need through the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and our relationship with Jesus. Our lives are already a witness and example, whether that be a christ honoring or self honoring example. You already have an effect on those around you whether intended or not.
Thank you for attending my ted talk.
-M
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A Painful Process
I was having a conversation with someone this week (ranting, really) about some things that were frustrating me, specifically about a relationship that I was having issues with. I was expressing how I didn’t understand why I was feeling so much pain, why the situation had to be so hard, etc. The dear sister I was talking to made a comment in passing that I don’t think she realized had a nuclear impact on my soul.
“You’re really just being iron sharpening iron right now. And the thing is that’s not a gentle process. There’s fire and friction and slamming pieces together.”
I realized in that moment that I’ve heard that phrase from Proverbs thousands of times, but never really got to thinking what it means in a practical sense. I’ve always pictured it just being a christian “ism” that people use to mean “you’re making each other better.”
That got me googling the process of sharpening iron. Usually, you use something like a whetstone and gradually wear down the iron until you’re left with a sharp, thin, edge. If you’re trying to use another piece of iron to sharpen the piece you have, that process get’s tricky. It takes much longer, and can often result in sparks and fire because of the friction generated by the two pieces and all the repetitive motion. For this reason, using iron to sharpen iron is not common.
This is not to say that every situation where this is conflict is a sharping (sanctifying) experience, but I begin to wonder how many times I have shied away from certain situations when, really, the conflict I was seeing was just the beginning sparks of a sharpening experience.
When I looked up the meaning of the Hebrew word used in the famous Proverbs passage, the meaning is tied to sharpening swords, making ready for battle, or preparing for a slaughter. This got me very excited, and my mind instantly jumped toPsalm 144:1.“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.”
Through the process of iron sharpening iron, we are better prepared to fight the spiritual battles and good works that the Lord has laid out for us in advance! (Ephesians 2:10)
I don’t know about you, but I think I’m carrying this confidence and this new thought into my week and walking a little bolder in my interactions with the people around me.
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M -
Nothing But The Blood
If you’ve been following along this blog of any amount of time, you likely know that I struggle with legalism. It is quite common for me to feel like I’m backsliding if I don’t do my quiet time, don’t pray a certain way, or do certain spiritual practices.
One day last week I was driving to work. It had been a morning. I got up too late, didn’t have time to pack myself a lunch, my hair wasn’t really done, and I hadn’t had time to read my bible. The vague thoughts and fears of condemnation started to spring up.
By the grace of God, I recognised the “fiery darts” and verbally reminded myself that quiet time is not what has sanctified me.
Then something pretty cool happened. I started to sing. This isn’t an oddity (I’m the queen of commuter karaoke), but the cool thing is what I started to sing. It’s an old song that I haven’t really thought of or sun for years.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow! No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus!
I do believe that, in that moment, the holy spirit worked through the lyrics of an old song to remind me of something profound.
No. other. thing. can. wash. me. clean. Period!
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.” – Romans 8:1-3a
No other thing – no quiet time, religious practice, or “works” can wash us clean. Our full and final washing was done on through the sinless life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While our faith-driven works are part of our continual sanctification with the Father, they are not the sum of our sanctification.
He who is mighty has done a great thing!
-M -
Greif? A Rambling Lament
The past few weeks haven’t been sparking joy.
The first thing that hit the fan, was that my Father had some issues that caused him to go into the ER on Tuesday. Some cognitive issues he’s had since the brain infection in May had gotten worse, and through some different tests it was discovered that the early signs of Dementia that were found in the spring have progressed rapidly. We’re now knee deep in Dementia and continuing to sink. What exactly this means is still being processed, discussed, and realized, but for me, this means that he will almost assuredly not be around by the time I turn 30.
When asked how I’m doing, I honestly don’t know how to answer. I’ve had so much experience with grief, yet I feel as if I do it worst each time it comes into my life. Each time it seeps in, I feel more and more numb to it’s touch and more detached from whatever life it is destroying. I know there are choppy waters ahead, and the proceeding decline of my father’s health will be easy for no one. I know the loss of relationship as his brain shuts down will be hard, and there will come a day when we’ve exchanged our last adult conversation. Yet…I’m not really phased. My husband hovers near me after conversations about the upcoming years, staying handy in case I crumbled. I see his concern and know he’s wondering why I am so stoic. I feel as if I should be crumbling, yet I don’t, and that bothers me. Shouldn’t I be more emotional? Shouldn’t I cry and want to be at my father’s side every minute? I feel everything else in life very deeply, so why not this? I don’t have an answer.
Second, I had a moment this week, in the quiet of my head at work that made a part of my heart just shatter.
I observed two ladies walking into a pregnancy center together. They looked so much alike, they could be sisters. They look very alike in appearance and have children of similar ages. In a split second I thought washed in to my mind that made me pause.
I won’t ever have that. Before getting married and my consequent infertility diagnosis, I always vaguely thought that my sister and I would have babies together. We got married not that far apart, and it would be fun to be discovering motherhood and all that at once. Comparing birth stories and sharing what we’d been learning. I realized the time that has passed; we’re more than just a little misaligned. She is blessedly knee-deep in the trenches of motherhood, wading through with excellence. If we ever are blessed with biological children, my nieces and nephews will likely be babysitters, not same-aged friends and partners in crime. I stand on the shore, waiting to dip my toes into the surf, stranded on the dry sand.
So now that we’re all thoroughly depressed, where am I going with all this? Like all of my posts, I don’t write this to be a sob story. But rather because I know I’m not the only one out there who struggles with these things, and I know how much it helps me to see others share and write about the things I struggle with.
As I’m writing and processing this, the question floats to the surface of my mind, where is my faith in all this? What is the truth I need to remember? Are these things I’m allowed to be upset about? I hear the voices of condemnation that I know will be there from certain people reading this, that I’m just complaining or choosing to wallow, and a part of me wonders if that is true. Is this appropriate grief? Ought I to linger here? Shouldn’t I simply remind myself of truth and “trudge on, Christian soldier!” ?
Jesus comes to mind; more specifically, Jesus in the garden before his crucifixion, as well as a few other passages.
“Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.” (Matthew 26:36-56)
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)
“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
My savior grieved. My savior grieved and felt deep sorrow, anxiety and even anguish. He exampled that these heavy emotions are okay to feel. He exampled that we can pray for impossible things, even when we know that what is happening is God’s will.
I find immense comfort in the truth that He has felt the feelings I am muddling through now. That He is acquainted with this grief, that I am not alone in it. In my mind’s eye I can see Him sitting beside me, His arm draped over my shoulders, tears falling down his face as He hears and sees my pain.
Maybe, just a little while, I will sit with Him here, feeling these things and letting His light illumine the dark places. It isn’t comfortable, but if I only know one thing with full confidence, it is that Jesus leaves the dark places lighter when He passes by. If only two things I know for sure, it is that I am in desperate need of His light, His comfort. And I’ll do most anything to get it.
He who is mighty has done a great thing.
-M
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MaryLyn Writes 