The Lost

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Christianity, Compassion, Jesus Christ, Mercy, Repentance, Salvation

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10, NIV).

These words are spoken by Jesus after He pronounces the salvation of a greedy tax collector who repented of his ways.  A miserly government stooge is just the kind of person that people love to hate; but God has compassion on them, just as He has upon the poor.  The greedy, too, are lost.  Christ came to save them.

In all of our disagreements and our (often legitimate) criticisms over social issues, we must never forget the compassion of Christ, the compassion we are to carry if we would be Christlike.  Jesus came to save the poor and needy; He also came to save the rich and greedy.  He came to save the lost.  The gospel is offered to all people: repent and believe.  Repentance will look different for different people–for Zacchaeus, it involved giving away (and giving back) a large amount of money.  But the core is the same: repent and believe, and receive the gift of eternal life from the crucified and risen Savior.

He came to seek and save the lost.

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The Massacre of Innocents

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Abortion, America, Humanity, Planned Parenthood, Repentance, Truth

King Herod Gov. Cuomo has recently signed into law legislation that makes it legal in the Empire State to put to death babies in the womb, at any time prior to birth, and for (effectively) any reason.  With much fanfare, the pro-abortion state legislators advanced this assault on the life of the most vulnerable.  The blood of the innocents is on those clapping hands, who have enabled this unspeakable evil.

We are reminded that America today tolerates an evil as great as any in our nation’s history.  Powerful forces promote the killing of babies, most notably Planned Parenthood; as their president, Leana Wen, recently said, “our core mission is providing, protecting and expanding access to abortion and reproductive healthcare.”  The key lie that abets this vicious crime is the idea that abortion is healthcare, rather than the destruction of an innocent and vulnerable human life.  This is what Planned Parenthood has recently tried to reinforce in a billboard campaign, where one of the images features a woman with the quote “I had an abortion, & it was just healthcare.”  It wasn’t.  It was the murder of a baby.  Other messages begin the same way, but end “and I am not ashamed” or “and I am not apologizing.”  But shame is appropriate in this case, and apologizing would not be nearly enough.  Repentance is necessary, before the throne of God.  Only there can healing and forgiveness be found.

Worst of all, this widespread wickedness is given cover by some who claim to serve God.  The priests of Molech liberal clergy also have made news in their support for this evil.  The rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, and other supposedly Christian leaders, should perhaps have sensed something was amiss with their theology when they found themselves teaming up with the minister from the First Unitarian Universal Church.  All pretensions of Christianity aside, nothing is so pagan as child sacrifice.

The child in the womb is a human being, made in the image of God.  Their lives are sacred, and abortion is a hideous evil.

Yet remember also that Christ died to save a world of sinners; that when we turn to Him with repentance and faith, He forgives all our sins.  And God may yet give us the grace of national repentance, and have mercy on us, and turn our nation from this evil.  For this we should pray.

 

Going Back

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Repentance

I saw an advertisement for New Orleans, a celebration of LGBTQ+ gains, where the message was something like “we’re never going back.”  There probably wasn’t any connection to the fact that Bermuda has just gone back (sort of), but the timing was interesting.

In any case, it was a statement of defiance against those with more traditional views, intended to promote tourism–thus, monetarily motivated.  This will probably be the case more and more, as LGBTQ+ groups lobby for economic rewards to cities and states that are outspoken in support of their agenda, and punishments for places that oppose it–tolerance at its finest, if you will.

But there is something especially tragic about the defiance displayed in New Orleans’ advertisement.  You can make it as colorful as you will, but persistence in hard-heartedness only leads to broken lives.  When we have turned away from God and gone our own way, there is one merciful hope left: we can go back.

In Christianity, we call it repentance.  Going back, when you have strayed into sin.  Returning from idols to the Lord of Life.  Stumbling out of the darkness and into His light.  We might even say, going home.

When you determine to never go back, you cut yourself off from hope and life and light.  If you never go back, you will never get home.