Abortion Part 1

I’ve been surprised lately by the tremendous amount of time and effort we have put into launching Frontline Arlington. The effort has certainly bore fruit but a few of my weekly obligations have suffered as a result. For those who read my blogs regularly you know that my blogging falls in this category. But, I’m back on track and ready to tackle our next topic from a biblical perspective.

I sincerely appreciated the lively dialogue that our last topic – suicide – created among my readers. Several of you thought a great deal about the issue from a biblical perspective and several others shared their own experiences with the topic. I’m hoping for a similar response to our next subject…abortion.

Before I dive into our new subject though, I want to share my understanding of the Bible and its ability to provide truth for all cultures, all individuals, and all circumstances for all time. I believe the Bible contains God’s Truth rather than the opinion of men. The Bible doesn’t need to be modernized or sanitized. It doesn’t need to be watered down, propped up, or apologized for. It cannot be improved upon. The Bible has been the rock of truth for millions of people for thousands of years. I find comfort knowing that I have the Bible as my guide in dealing with yet another difficult subject. Having the Bible as my guide means I don’t have to come up with my own opinion based on experience, education or what someone told me. Instead we can rely on the Truth of God’s Word.

A short historical perspective is also needed here as a primer to our discussion. The date – March 6, 1857. Just before the Civil War in a pronouncement that would become known as the “dread Scott Decision,” an American court declared that black people were not legal persons. A quote form the courts records states “A slave is the property therefore of his or her owner. A slave can be bought and sold, used and even killed at the owner’s discretion. After all they are his property.” Remember those words.

Eleven years later after the Civil War, in 1868, the people of the United States voted to correct that terribly wicked law by adopting the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. From that point on, legal protection is afforded all living beings. Therefore, the problem of legal protection for all living beings has been guaranteed for all time. Right? Wrong.

A century later on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court rules in Roe vs. Wade that unborn human beings are not legal persons. Therefore the unborn baby is the property of its human owner and thus can be killed at the owner request. Sound familiar?

To some of you this may sound a bit melodramatic. I could add that in the last 34 years since the court’s decision over 40 million babies have been aborted (that we know of) …1.5 million annually…4100 a day…180 an hour…12 since you started reading this blog.

Yet, none of these statistics mean anything if the court ruled correctly back in 1973 from a biblical perspective. If God’s Word agrees with the court’s perspective on unborn babies then anyone who calls himself or herself a follower of Christ must adjust his or her thinking and actions in life to be in line with biblical Truth. If, however, the Truth of the Bible stands in opposition to the law of the land then we are to submit to God’s Truth regardless of man’s perspective, governmental or personal.

So, here’s the question – regardless of what position you take on the issue of abortion, what Biblical defense do you have for your position? Remember – and this is essential – as a Christ-follower our sole guide for word and deed in the Bible. Our opinions, perspectives, likes and dislikes ultimately bow to the eternal Truth of Scripture. So, regardless of what we would choose if we were God, we must alter and mold our words and actions to the truth of God’s Word, not alter God’s Word to fit our opinions.

So, the stage is yours. I’ll be back in a few days to continue my series on this emotionally charged topic. Until then…

Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
www.frontline.to

Frontline and the Media

All I have to say is…Wow! (That’s not all I have to say…but, well…you know what I mean. Below is the other stuff I have to say.)

I haven’t had ANY time to blog over the past week because we just launched Frontline Arlington, a new campus of Frontline that meets every Monday night in Arlington. You can read about it at the following link – www.frontlinearlington.com.

Most of you know that we just finished a three part blog series on the topic of suicide. Many of you got involved in the discussion and provided some very valuable insight! I hope you will all consider engaging in our next blog series on abortion. I know this topic will be even more challenging for many than the topic of suicide. I’ll begin that blog series Wednesday of this week (2/7).

Today though, I want to make sure every one of you is able to read several articles that have come out in several local papers!

The first article came out on the FRONTPAGE of the Washington Times last Monday, January 29th, 2007! You can read the article by clicking on the following link – Washington Times Article.

The second article came out this morning (2/4) on the FRONTPAGE of the Washington Times. The article is available at the following link – Washington Post Article.

Both articles are relatively even-handed and, most importantly, expose us to more and more young adults in the D.C. area.

I have a suggestion: Send this blog to a few of your friends who you have invited to Frontline in the past and also to others who you’ve been thinking about inviting. This is a great way to get them more information about Frontline Arlington via the link at top. Through the articles they can also get some idea of what we are trying to accomplish in Washington, especially with young adults.

I say it all the time, but I’ll say it again – I’m honored and humbled to be serving along side each one of you in our mission to impact our generation in secular Washington with the message of Jesus!

Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
www.frontline.to
www.frotnlinearlington.com

Suicide Part Three

First, I know several of you have commented with very good questions regarding the topic of suicide. What I’ve decided to do is post my third and final blog on the topic and then delve into your questions via responses to your comments in the comment section…make sense?

Now, let’s review what we’ve learned so far:
1) God is in charge of life and death
2) Suicide is the most extreme act of UNBELIEF
3) Suicide is NOT the unpardonable sin

Then I wrote the obvious dilemma we face:
There are NO THEOLOGICAL GROUNDS to deny a Christian who commits suicide the effects of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ FOR SINNERS. And yet we CANNOT ENCOURAGE OR CONDONE SUICIDE in principle.

What does a reader do then if he or she is thinking about suicide or know of someone who is seriously contemplating suicide?

For the reader does not consider themselves a Christian and is having suicidal thoughts:
Give God a chance! Bottom line - if you have tried everything but God, try God! I know this might sound foolish in the midst of the despair and hopelessness you must feel to consider ending the life that God has given you, but God says Himself that He is the only source of true hope. God tells us in the Bible that as a Christ-follower you can live by faith that rests on “the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…” (Titus 1:2) If you don’t yet have a relationship in Jesus then you have been living without a hope that can sustain you through the worst of life’s circumstances! You can start a relationship with Jesus right now – really! One of the best explanations of how to start a relationship with God is found at the following link - http://www.bgea.com/SH_StepsToPeace.asp. I sincerely hope you’ll consider putting your faith in God through His Son, Jesus Christ. You were born into this world for one eternal purpose – to know God personally and enjoy Him forever.

For the reader who is a follower of Christ and is having suicidal thoughts:
You do not own your life! I beg you to understand that you are thinking of killing a life that now belongs to another, namely God. Satan wants you dead, don’t let him win. Tell someone your secret thoughts and tell them NOW! There are other Christ-followers whom you can speak to right now at the Christian Suicide Hotline - - (714) 639-4673 OR 1-800-SUICIDE.

For the reader who knows another person who has talked about committing suicide:
Write down the numbers I wrote above. If there is a very serious and immediate threat call 911. IT IS BETTER TO HAVE THAT PERSON ANGRY AT YOU FOR LIFE than for them to move forward with their plans to end their life.

I know this doesn’t answer some of the specific questions that many of you have left in the comments section. But, I hope this will provide direction for you regardless of your specific circumstances. Please look to the comments in the coming days for my responses to some of your specific questions!

Until then…
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
www.frontline.to

Suicide part Two

In this second post on suicide I want to review the first point I made from the Bible regarding suicide:

1) God is in charge of life and death

The Bible says - - -
1 Samuel 2:6
The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and he brings up.
Exodus 20:13
You shall not murder. (One of the BIG TEN)

If you want to read or reread the entire blog just go back to my post from January 14th.

The second point that I believe need to be addressed is:

2) Suicide is the most extreme act of UNBELIEF

Suicide is the most extreme expression of unbelief in the sense that the act betrays a lack of faith in God’s omniscience and omnipresence. God makes it clear to the believer that he is in control of everything that happens to us or around us. He expresses this in many areas of Scripture but a perfect example of this is Psalms 139. We find that God is everywhere and in charge of everything. He has been intimately involved in our lives since he knit each of us together in our mother’s womb. We learn that each and every day of our lives has been marked out for us before one of them came to be. He also reminds us that “…everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23b)

We are faced with the reality that the act of suicide (a fatal act of self-destruction undertaken with conscience intent) ignores God’s eternal and absolute authority over life and death and is arguably the most extreme act of unbelief available to man. This is, at least in part why the Roman Catholic Church categorically condemns suicide and further claims that the act of suicide rules out the possibility of repentance and therefore forgiveness.

Yet, the Catholic view of suicide as the unpardonable sin comes from an erroneous belief that a believer can somehow lose one’s salvation. Many times I will hear it explained this way, “If someone lies while driving a car and then dies in a car accident immediately after lying (sinning) then that person is condemned to Hell because they did not ask for forgiveness for lying. In the same way, the Catholic will argue, it is impossible for a person to commit suicide and then ask for forgiveness for the simple fact that they are dead and no longer able to repent. This line of reasoning is one of the most dangerous and faulty misrepresentations of biblical truth. This leads me to my third point:

3) Suicide is NOT the unpardonable sin

Our salvation rests not in our ability to repent for every sin throughout the day but solely on the finished work of Christ on the Cross. Jesus made clear that His work of redemption for all mankind was “finished” (John 19:30) and further that His “grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9) to cover ALL of our sins. We also know that our very salvation is actually not possessed by us at all but in fact it is kept in heaven for us until Christ comes again. Read this beautiful passage in 1 Peter:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

To everyone I ask – how can one loose something that is not in ones possession to begin with? I know there will be some who have great difficulty with the true extent of God’s grace through the atoning work of Christ on the Cross but their difficulty with this truth does not change its wonderful truthfulness.

So, here we are with a horrible and perplexing dilemma:
We have no biblical grounds for denying the grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ to a believer who commits suicide anymore than we can deny God’s grace to a believer who commits adultery. Yet, we clearly cannot condone or encourage suicide in principle. Where does this leave us?

Your thoughts over the past few days have been extremely insightful to me and other readers and many of you have decided to join in the discussion. I applaud your involvement. Some of you have chosen to email me privately about your views or questions as well. For those who have chosen to do so, please consider responding publicly via comments posted directly to the blog. Your private emails will be a valuable addition to the public discourse and we’ll all be the better for your involvement!

I’ll post my final blog on this topic in the next few days.

Until then…
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)

Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
www.frontline.to
www.frotnlinearlington.com

Suicide Part One

For those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to start posting my series on difficult subjects that I introduced under the post “Politics and Theology,” the time has come! I’m going to start with a topic that isn’t considered a political hotbed topic directly – suicide. Of course, if you take into account the infamous Terri Schiavo Case, the issue presents itself indirectly as a political issue. I want to remind my readers that I’m only going to delve into these issues from a biblical worldview, using the Bible as my source of information and insight. Conversely, I’m NOT going to debate the ramifications of the biblical perspective on these issues. For those of us who follow Christ, we are obligated to submit our own perspectives, ideologies, and philosophies to the eternal truth of the Bible. The Bible, then, molds our worldview, not politics, family, or culture.

One other note – as we delve into these different topics, it’s become clear that I’ll have to post several blogs on each subject in order to give them the attention they deserve. So, if you get to the end of a post and think you know where I’m going with my next post – think again. I think it’s only fair to make you all aware that I may end a post on a proverbial cliffhanger in order to make us all think more critically about a given topic.

With that said…here we go!

First, let’s define suicide so that we are all on the same page:
Suicide – A fatal act of self-destruction undertaken with conscience intent.

Thirty eight thousand such acts happen each year in the United States. Interestingly, most of them are elderly although teens and young adults who take their own life get the most press.

Now, what suicide in NOT:
1. A man who dies in a hurricane because he ignored a radio warning.
2. Careless person who overdoses on a medication.
3. Woman who jumps from a burning building.
4. A motorcyclist who dies from head injuries who was not wearing a helmet.

There are many reasons for suicide such as:
1. Depression caused by the death of a loved one (some religious people believe that they will be reunited with their loved one if they take their own lives).
2. Clinical depression
3. Loosing out on the corporate “rat” race – real or imagined.
4. Some elderly commit suicide so they can have “death with dignity.”
There are countless other reasons and/or a combination of reasons for people to take their own lives.

What makes this issue more difficult to discuss from an evangelical (biblically conservative) point of view is that there is debate among conservative theological leaders about this topic. Here are just a few quotes from evangelicals regarding suicide:
- “You could lose your soul by committing suicide, so it's better to simply play it safe and trust God to make you happier. I lean to the idea that most, if not all, cases of suicide lead to damnation. I wouldn't bet on anyone going to heaven who committed suicide. I think the odds are against the person.” (Tom Brown, pastor)
- “Even if a person’s earthly life has become a torment to him, he must commit it intact into God’s hand, from which it came.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, famous German theologian)
- “Suicide is wrong, nut it is not the unpardonable sin.” (William Hendricks)
- “Suicide denies that our life is dependent on God for its sustenance and survival.” (Ray Anderson)

Now that we have the preliminary information out of the way, I want to end this post by putting forth my first point:

1) God is in charge of life and death

The Bible says - - -
1 Samuel 2:6
The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and he brings up.
Exodus 20:13
You shall not murder. (One of the BIG TEN)

These are just a few of the many passages that make certain the truth that God alone is in charge of life and of death. He gives life and is the only one who has the right to take it away. Each and every human being is made in God’s image and God sees any act of murder or suicide (murder of self) to be an affront to His very image.

I don’t think there will be any surprise at the following statement:
Suicide is a sin.

But, some of the biggest questions that come from the mouths of Christ-followers are:
“Is suicide the unpardonable sin?”
“Do people who commit suicide go to Hell even if they are Christians?”
“Is it even possible for a Christian to commit suicide?”

We’ll look at these questions and others in my next post.
In the meantime – for my more involved readers – I’d like to have some of you post passages that speak to the issue of God’s utter authority over life and death.

Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
www.frontline.to
www.frontlinearlington.com