And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. – Luke 2: 1-20

Every day you faced the questions
Torn by the lot you had received
Every tear was a reminder
Of how I was conceived.

But in the middle of the confusion
You found strength to make it through
And now I can love and be loved
All because of you

The Man

Ryan Bomberger tears up when he recites the lyrics to “Meant to Be,” a song he wrote as a tribute to his birth mother—a woman he’s never met. The man behind the controversial pro-life billboard campaign, Too Many Aborted, was conceived in rape. His birth mother was white, and the rapist was black. Despite the circumstances of his conception, his mother allowed him to live.

Bomberger was born in Pennsylvania in 1971, two years before the U.S. Supreme Court declared a “right to privacy” to abort in Roe v. Wade. In the late 1960s, however, states began allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest, and health of the mother or fetus. Prior to Roe, some states even allowed abortion on demand, including neighboring state New York. If Bomberger’s birth mother had wanted an abortion, the option was available. But she chose life.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about how much life is a gift,” Bomberger said in a telephone interview. “I can’t help but think about my biological mother’s decision, the reverberation…that’s like a powerful, resurging thought in my mind every day, and that’s no exaggeration.”

The first child adopted by a white Christian family, Bomberger said he tried to find his birth mother in 2004 just to thank her, but was unable to locate her. “I still believe that some day, some way, she’ll be able to hear those words of gratitude. Her decision put me in a family. It’s a very different kind of family. An amazing, loving family.”

Bomberger called his parents “two of the most remarkable people in the world.” They had a heart for adoption even before they married. His adoptive mother’s parents were divorced, and her father was an alcoholic. “She was placed in an orphanage as a young child, and she made a promise to God at the age of five that she’d be a mommy to kids who didn’t have one.”

Ten adopted and three natural children later, the Bombergers were a multiracial assortment that made the Jolie-Pitt family look like amateurs, with American Indian, Vietnamese, black/white, white, and black children. “People look at us like we’re some kind of freak show,” he said, laughing. “‘What is this?’ This is family. This is what it looks like.”

While the media hype celebrities who adopt transracially, Bomberger said, there’s a different level of sacrifice when you don’t know where the next check or meal is going to come from. But his parents felt they were called to adopt.

“They could have had a life of convenience,” he said. “Our family owns a department store, and they could have had a cushy sort of life, but instead they have thirteen children. There were lots of hand-me-downs, handed down hand-me-downs…they really understood what sacrifice was…they knew that adoption was a way of unleashing purpose, and our family was transformed by that. It was transformed culturally and in so many other ways, because of the beautiful act of adoption.”

Bomberger and his wife share this calling. He adopted his wife’s daughter, and the couple gave birth to two children, adopted another, and are considering adding a fifth child to the family through adoption.

The Life-Affirming Work

Bomberger and his wife started a non-profit organization called the Radiance Foundation, which he said grew out of their desire to help people embrace their own God-given purpose. It also reflects their desire to help people understand they have an intrinsic value and worth that no one can define or take away.

“The reason why we felt so strongly about that is because both my wife, Bethany, and I had gone through some really radical, personal destructive episodes in our lives. We were basically pulled out of our own self-destruction by God’s love and the hope that can come only by truth.”

Bomberger said he went through periods of self-loathing that nearly took his life. “My radical transformations came by relying on the very, very frayed thread of hope because of the faith my parents instilled in me. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here today.”

A long-time adoption and pro-life advocate, Bomberger wanted to expand his part-time efforts into full time. He said there was something missing in other pro-life campaigns: abortion’s disparate impact on the black community. The former creative director for motion graphics broadcast media parlayed his skills and resources into starting a comprehensive organization that creates campaigns like the billboards. One of his billboards depicts a black child and the words Black Children Are An Endangered Species.

“We had no idea that our first billboard campaign would take hold the way it would and get the kind of media reaction it did,” he said. Some people asked why he focuses on abortion among blacks. “I always compare it to breast cancer awareness.”

Although men and women get breast cancer, the disease impacts women the most. Abortion kills unborn babies, regardless of race or sex, but it’s impossible to ignore or to gloss over the fact that black women have abortions at higher rates (between three and five times higher) than women of other races and ethnicities.

Bomberger’s work has attracted support from such pro-life advocates as Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Rev. Walter Hoye, president of the Issues4Life Foundation; Arnold M. Culbreath, urban outreach director of Protecting Black Life; and Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union.

“I didn’t know anybody in the pro-life establishment,” he said. “That was pretty powerful to get that kind of positive feedback and reaction from people who believe not just the messaging but were willing, in what others were calling provocative and controversial…to put their faces and their words behind it to endorse it.”

Bomberger has received thousands of positive e-mail from everyday people of different races thanking him for his work in the pro-life and adoption movements. “We speak to several hundred thousand people a year at various events and conferences…and to get the incredible feedback is very encouraging, knowing that we’re connecting to people, that we’re moving people, that we’re inspiring people. It makes all of our efforts—and all the denunciations from liberal groups like the NAACP and ACLU—worthwhile.”

Bomberger v. NPR

Bomberger’s billboard campaign led to an NPR “debate” between him and Rev. Carlton Veazey, president and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, formerly known as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights. He said he’d approached several key pro-abortion leaders to debate, and they continually turned him down. He didn’t reach out to Veazey, however; NPR approached Bomberger.

After previously interviewing with NPR for thirty minutes to talk about one of his billboards, only to be completely cut out of the three-minute segment that aired, Bomberger was skeptical.

“It wasn’t about me being spotlighted, but how do you cut out the person who created the campaign and explained the reason behind the campaign?” Despite this experience, he agreed to another interview. “I should have known better.”

NPR called Bomberger fifteen times in three minutes about the validity of his conception story. “How do I know that my story is really true? Because according to the enlightened senior producers at NPR, when you’re adopted, the agencies don’t tell the adoptive parents any of those details. They’re all private.” Not true, Bomberger said. “Adoptive parents are given every detail they possibly can be given.”

Bomberger wanted the opportunity to debate Veazey, a man who “apparently loves to use religion to justify killing,” so he agreed to appear. His skepticism was warranted. He said NPR censored his portion of the debate on the broadcast. “Their heavy editing of only The Radiance Foundation’s perspective, while preserving every word spoken by Reverend Carlton Veazey, revealed NPR’s typical liberal bias and uninformed defense of Planned Parenthood,” he wrote on his blog. NPR officially denied favoring the pro-abortion side and so far has refused to release the unedited version of the debate.

Fatherhood and the Future

Bomberger has found his calling, and he’s committed to spreading the message. He and Rev. Walter Hoye of the Issues4Life Foundation launched a bicoastal billboard campaign on fatherhood.

In previous campaigns, they talked to pastors across the country and other leaders about the need to “step up to responsibility… and deal with the myriad of issues that are plaguing the inner city.”

Bomberger intends to highlight the hypocrisy among leftists on racial disparities. For example, health care disparities typically are characterized as a negative. “But abortion is the only one that apparently has a positive connotation,” he said. For organizations like the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood, racial disparities in abortion, illegitimacy, and fatherlessness don’t seem to be a pressing concern.

“This is the first time we’re making [fatherhood] the focal point…and it’s crucial for us to awaken men to return to their role as providers and defenders…to be the kind of man that steps up to responsibility,” whether married or not.

The new campaign also will touch on child abuse, which occurs more frequently in female-headed homes with live-in boyfriends. “Where are the protectors?” Bomberger said. “It’s hard to address the issue of abortion and not talk about the other half of the equation.”

With many irons in the proverbial fire, Bomberger will contend with accusations that pro-lifers don’t care about children once they’re born. He’s living proof to the contrary. A strong advocate for transracial adoption, Bomberger is frustrated by blacks who oppose it, even as black children languish in the system. He could have languished as well, but Christians rescued him. His adoptive mother’s father threatened to disown her, but she’d made her decision.

“Losing a father to gain a son. I’m glad she went with the right one.”

(Photos courtesy of Ryan Bomberger)

Originally published in the The Jerusalem Connection, January – February 2008

Blacks and Jews in the United States share a painful history.

As the descendants of slaves—Africans in the U.S. and Hebrews in Egypt — both groups faced persecution and prejudice. They fought alongside one another during the Civil Rights Movement, a struggle against oppression and for racial justice and dignity. Jews were members of and financially supported organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League, and some were beaten and killed with black Americans during that turbulent time.

Some of the most well-known black leaders of the movement were Christians. The Civil Rights Movement had its beginnings in an appeal to Christian love and the universal brotherhood of men. The black church, as a source of strength and education, played an important role during that era. Churches in the black community were and in some cases still are centers of political activity.

During the “black power” movement of the late 1960s, however, relations between blacks and Jews deteriorated as tension crept in. Even today, this tension is evident. But what about black Christians? Do they believe Israel maintains the promises and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant?

Eric Redmond, a black Reformed pastor in Maryland, says he’s not as pro-Israel as some evangelical Christians seem to be, but he believes “there is a future for ethnic Israel.” He added: “Presently, political state-Israel is simply another political state that needs to work with other nations to live with some sense of peace in the Mid East and the broader world community. Present political-state Israel needs to see Palestinians as people with (God-given) human dignity.”

Glenn Plummet, pastor, co-chair and CEO of the Fellowship of Israel and Black America (FTBA), and founder of the Christian Television Network, seeks to reestablish and strengthen the connection between black Christians and Jews. He urges the two groups to “join hands in fellowship and friendship.”

The shared history of slavery between blacks and Jews is clearly revealed in song. According to FTBAs web site, many Negro spirituals came from Hebrew scriptures. Black Americans used phrases like “Crossing over Jordan,” “Heading toward the Promised Land,” and “Go Down, Moses” to parallel their exodus from slavery and legalized racial discrimination with the Jewish exodus.

There are two schools of thought on Israel’s role in God’s redemption plan. According to “replacement theology,” the Christian church has replaced Israel in God’s plan because of Israel’s rejection of Christ. They believe God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled in the church. The other school holds that the church is separate and distinct from Israel. That is, the Jews are still considered God’s chosen people, and that Gentiles are spiritual heirs.

Romans 11 teaches that Gentiles are like ingrafted branches of an olive tree. The tree represents God’s covenants with Israel, and Gentiles share in the “nourishing sap” of the tree’s roots. But the Apostle Paul warns us not to boast.

“You do not support the root, but the root supports you… Do not be arrogant, but be afraid For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.” (Romans18, 20 & 21)

Black Christian blogger Darnell McGavock doesn’t believe the Bible teaches replacement theology. He adds, bluntly: “While every Jew [who] refuses to accept Christ today will go straight to hell with all others who refuse Christ, God has promised men that one day he will again call them to Himself, and they will embrace Christ. There are Messianic Jews [in Israel] fighting the good fight of faith, and they need more of our support.”

God promised he would restore the Jews as a nation and that a remnant would be saved. Part of the restoration has taken place. Israel was declared an independent Jewish state in 1948. But the spiritual restoration is yet to come.

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse,” God said to Abraham, “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) Black Christians, who once marched for freedom alongside Jews, ought to be at the forefront in blessing God’s chosen nation.

Whether physical slaves to human masters or spiritual slaves to sin, everyone needs to hear the Gospel to receive true freedom, found only in Christ. Black Christians, descendants of slaves and ingrafted branches on the olive tree, have a unique opportunity to bring this message to the Jews.

Originally published in Biblical Worldview Magazine, December 2005

In the Beginning…

Let there be light. – Genesis 1:3

On January 17, 1998, a 31-year-old CBS Studios gift shop manager in Hollywood, California, broke the biggest story of the decade. The president of the United States had been having an affair with a 23-year-old White House intern, and Newsweek, ready to run the story, spiked it at the last minute.

The gift shop manager was Matt Drudge. An ordinary citizen with a 486 computer had scooped a major news magazine, and journalism hasn’t been the same since. His web site, the Drudge Report, gets over 11 million hits a day and is read by journalists and politicians alike.

“We have entered an era vibrating with the din of small voices,” he told an audience at the National Press Club a few months later. “Every citizen can be a reporter…The Net gives as much voice to a…computer geek like me as to a CEO or speaker of the House. We all become equal.”

Drudge uttered those prescient words before the advent of web sites called weblogs, or “blogs.” Blogs have ushered in a new era, and that sentiment can’t be overstated. Traditional media’s monopoly on what is newsworthy is eroding. Citizen journalists – ordinary people collecting, analyzing, reporting, and disseminating information – are bypassing the gatekeepers.

The blogging explosion is often compared to the Protestant Reformation. With the invention of the printing press, an individual suddenly had the power to communicate with the masses without interference from institutional elites. With the emergence of blogging, we’ve all become potential Martin Luthers in the midst of our own modern day reformation.

What is a blog?

A blog is a frequently updated web site with “posts” arranged in chronological order. Although blogs have certain common features, such as comments, trackbacks, and categories, what makes a web site a blog is the presence of a “permalink,” which is a link to an individual post.

The first blogs appeared around 1999, and the growth of the blog universe, called the “blogosphere,” has exploded since then. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 11 percent of Internet users read blogs in 2003. In February 2004, the figure was 17 percent. It jumped to 27 percent by November 2004. That is a growth of 58 percent. Less than five years old, the blogosphere has grown exponentially. Technorati, a real-time blog search engine, presently tracks over 21 million blogs.

For every imaginable political persuasion, religion, hobby, profession – and perversion – there are blogs. At least one child molester, currently behind bars, kept a blog. But what man uses to accomplish evil, God can and does use for good.

The Believing Blogger

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. – Mark 16:15

God has given us many ways to evangelize the lost, and blogs are the latest tools. As more people go online and discover the blogosphere, there is no shortage of opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission.

Christian blogs come in a wide variety, including devotionals, online journals of mission trips, draft sermons and Sunday School lessons. Others are devoted to raising awareness of persecution around the world, while many focus on politics or doctrinal issues. I blog mostly on politics from a Christian perspective, but I never realized how much I actually knew about the Bible until recently. Thanks to a certain Democratic politician’s penchant for attending black churches during the election season, I’ve had ample opportunities to blog about the Bible.

Last year, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry implied that if George Bush were a good Christian, he’d spend more money on social programs as a show of  “good works.”

“The scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion,” Kerry preached.

Any Christian worth his salt knows Kerry was misinterpreting, misapplying, and politicizing James 2:14-17. The apostle was giving guidance to individual believers, not governments, on how to evaluate their faith to determine whether it is living or dead. A believing political leader does not demonstrate his personal faith by taking more money from taxpayers to give to the “poor.” Giving his own money to feed and clothe the less fortunate may be a work of faith.

Correcting misinterpretation of Scripture is a given, but should Christians entangle themselves in political debates?

Christians and Politics

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. – Matthew 10:16

America is bitterly divided politically, and partisan bickering has reached a new level. The most popular Christian bloggers tend to focus on politics and often weave their faith into the discussion. Although I sometimes struggle with mixing faith and politics, I know my faith impacts every area of my life, including which party and policies I favor.

Some insist that Christians should not be involved in politics at all, but there is no biblical basis for this assertion. If our system is truly a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, Christians have an obligation to participate in the governing, whether they do so indirectly by voting or directly by campaigning or running for office.

Public policy shapes society, and Christians ought to be engaged in shaping public policy. For example, if Christians believe abortion is murder, they should try to protect the unborn by influencing the people who write the laws. Religious freedom is another public policy issue important to believers. We know religious oppression exists around the world, and if Christians in the United States don’t want to suffer the same fate, we should always be aware of what elected representatives are advocating. Christians must be informed voters.

Though we are not forbidden to be involved in politics, our involvement must be informed by our faith. Just as voting citizens hold political leaders accountable for their actions, Christians must hold each other biblically accountable and remember that we are one in Christ.

God Blog Convention

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. – Ephesians 4:3

In mid-October, about 135 Christian bloggers gathered at the first God Blog Convention (“GodBlogCon”), a three-day conference held at Biola University in La Mirada, California. Topics included pastor blogging, business blogging, Christian philosophy, Intelligent Design, Christian bloggers with non-Christian readers, etc.

Christian bloggers from around the country who knew each only through blogs and e-mail had a chance to meet face-to-face and talk about issues in the Christian blogosphere. I led a session at GodBlogCon called Christian Blogging 101, and we talked about what it mean to be a Christian blogger. Simply being around other bloggers who go through similar trials was edifying.

Dealing with unbelievers can be daunting. One session at GodBlogCon that I didn’t have the chance to attend was called, “When Non-Christians Read Your Blog,” led by Biola University professor Timothy Muehlhoff. He discussed how to blog about faith without alienating nonbelievers.

“We need to write in such a way that people can see themselves presented as…complex people who aren’t monsters,” Muehlhoff said. “As Christians today, we are embroiled in the argument culture and we have forgotten this one thing: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” he said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could say we brought a level of civility back to the conversation?”

Yes, it would be nice. Otherwise, we’re only clanging cymbals.

In, But Not Of…

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. – 1 John 2:15

There is nothing new under the sun. Although blogs are a new medium, their purpose is as old as time: to communicate. The ultimate purpose of the Christian blogger is to communicate the message of the cross, and we must do so in truth and love. It is difficult at times, but we can find comfort in each other. The Bible tells us to confess our sins and pray for one another and be salt and light in a corrupt world as Christ’s witnesses.

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ has set us free from the penalty of sin, and we must stay focused on sharing this message. We have a Savior who knows our struggles. Just before he was arrested, Jesus prayed for himself and all believers. His words still bring comfort:

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:14-19)

I didn’t think it was possible to forget the anniversary of my sobriety. Totally forgot about it! I didn’t even record it in my journal.

What was I doing on March 18 that was so important? Can’t remember. Anyway, with the exception of this year, every year on March 18, I acknowledge in some way the day I stopped an 11-year drinking habit.

Every day during those years I was on a mission to acquire alcohol and to get drunk. Although I drank to get drunk (I wanted to be “mellow”), I fancied myself a different kind of alcoholic who could control consumption. Inevitably, I’d stop only when I was too drunk to know what the heck was going on. Bad memories, man.

Whenever I tell the story of how I got sober around age 30, I usually mention a “vision” I had of myself at age 50 and still getting drunk. Did I really want to continue my obsession with booze for the next 20 years? That image was unbearably sad. Now, I’m closer to 50 than I am to 30 and so glad I chose not to be a half-century-old lush!

Sometimes I think it would be okay to have a glass of wine with dinner or a beer while watching the game. Then I remember how far I’ve come. Knowing myself as well as I do, it would probably take two weeks to fall back in to the hole I climbed out of 14 years ago. No booze for me! I can’t have any. Not a drop. It’s not worth the risk.

If you drink alone, you might have a problem. If boozing it up is negatively affecting your relationships and you refuse to stop, you definitely have a problem. Trust me…trust me, you have a problem. If you habitually drink enough to black out, you’ve got a serious problem.

The thing is, no matter how unmanageable your life has become, no one can talk you into getting sober. When you get to the point that you’re disgusted enough with yourself, you might stop, or you might continue drinking to drown out the disgust. For me, it was the former. I got tired of avoiding looking at myself in the mirror and the can-they-smell-alcohol-on-me paranoia.

Prayers for You

As I did on my 13th sobriety anniversary, I offer prayers and words of encouragement to you, the addicted, whether physically or mentally. You don’t need to take an “Are you an alcoholic?” quiz or even ask family and friends. You know the truth.

And I’m living proof there’s happy, sober living after such lousy living. I became a Christian a couple years after I got sober. In retrospect, I see the journey as a necessary path toward the living God and reconciling myself with my very own personal Savior, Jesus Christ.

E-mail me at lashawn [at] lashawnbarber.com, and I will pray for you. Your e-mail is confidential and will not be posted on this blog.

Originally published on April 2, 2010. No need to reinvent the microchip!

Adrian Warnock and I go way back.

A pastor and an M.D. in London, Adrian started the Blogdom of God a long time ago in web years – maybe 2003. His aggregator raised my profile, and my blog consistently ranked near the top.

In his new book, Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything, Adrian says Christians need to talk more about the Resurrection. It is, after all, the cornerstone of our faith. If Christ didn’t rise bodily from the dead, we’re still in our sins.

“The church sometimes attempts to tell the gospel story without any reference to the resurrection of Jesus,” Adrian writes. “In a relatively recent development, some in the liberal movement of the last century or so have even denied the resurrection, making them the first significant group in history to claim to be Christians without believing Jesus rose from the dead.”

Can someone be saved and not believe the Resurrection? It is a central tenet of the faith, along with such others as Christ is the Son of God who condescended to become a man to save men from the Father’s wrath. If a “Christian” denies the Resurrection, what hope does he have that he’s actually saved?

Adrian examines why the Resurrection is important, how it can change us, and how it can affect our thinking and daily living. He dissects and debunks claims that Christ rising from the dead was a myth, that the disciples lied about it, that the disciples stole Jesus’ corpse, that authorities hid the body, and so on.

Adrian says that in his experience, Christians tend to place more emphasis on Christ’s death when sharing the Gospel than on his Resurrection. The cross is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Christianity, but “only the resurrection transforms the cross from a symbol of despair to a symbol of hope.” The empty tomb “underlines that the work of Jesus is complete.”

Why might there be an emphasis on Christ’s death, while emphasis on his resurrection is neglected? One of the reasons Adrian cites is Satan himself.

Satan’s first approach to undermining truths essential to our faith is to “assault biblical truth directly by encouraging us to doubt it or to form wrong conclusions about it…Satan’s other strategies might well be to encourage us to neglect a doctrine by merely assuming it.”

The Bible indeed reveals that Satan goes “to and fro on the earth…walking back and forth on it,” and that our battles with evil are not against flesh and blood, but against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

What are the Resurrection’s consequences in our lives? We know that Christ’s physical resurrection is a sign pointing to a spiritual truth. It points to what Christ has done, will do, and is doing to and for us. For example, just as Lazarus was dead in his tomb and rose from physical death when Christ called him, we, dead in our sins, rose from spiritual death when Christ called us. But when Christ returns, he will raise us from physical death, and we literally will rise from our graves.

Christ’s resurrection saved us, and it symbolizes Christ’s power over death. “Oh death, where is thy sting?” We don’t worship a dead god; we worship The Living God. As part of God’s glorious decree, Christ had to die for those he came to save, but he didn’t remain dead. His rising from the dead sets loose a power in the lives of believers and frees us from the bondage of sin. It is, for lack of a more powerful word, awesome.

And he is building his Kingdom day by day, moment by moment.

For Christians, every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, and we should not only preach the Resurrection as part of the Gospel message, but strive to live out its implications every day. How? In Raised with Christ, Adrian calls for a widespread revival in the body of Christ. As seen in the Book of Acts and throughout church history, revival is “an escalation of the usual work of the Spirit to connect us directly with the life-giving power of the resurrected Christ.” By focusing on prayer and the Word of God, we individuals can bring about revival in our lives and in the church.

How often do you pray for widespread revival in the church? I’m guilty of focusing only on the things close to me: my family, myself, and people I care about. I don’t know if I’ve ever prayed for God to light a fire under the collective body of Christ. After reading Raised with Christ, I’ve had a change of heart.

To Adrian I say, Well done.

To all believers I say, May the Lord bless and strengthen us as we set about his work.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. What’s so remarkable about this version of the Bible? Read all about it in a book review I wrote back in October 2003:

God’s Secretaries

Most secularists believe that life is just a series of random events, though some are bold enough to believe in a “higher power” who once set it all in motion. In contrast, Christians believe the world unfolds according to the divine plan of a personal God. Throughout God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible, such a plan is evident.

In a beautifully written book, Adam Nicolson explores the efforts of a group of fallible human beings–clergymen, power-brokers, drunkards and even a few rogues–who produced a divine work of art that was to become a standard for generations. A committee of 54 men translated the King James Bible, a book that has inspired the world and influenced the work of countless great writers and thinkers, including William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, William Faulkner, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy.

In God’s Secretaries, Nicolson draws the reader into a world of political, religious, social and cultural change. Crowned in 1603, the impoverished King James VI of Scotland had ascended to the throne of England as King James I, inheriting great wealth and a country divided by religious and political turmoil.

Nicolson writes, “The period was held in the grip of an immense struggle: between the demands for freedom of the individual conscience and the need for order and an imposed inheritance; between monarchy and democracy; between extremism and tolerance.” The reign of King James marked the beginning of a united England and Scotland.

Long before James’s ascension, after King Henry VIII had broken from the Roman Catholic church in 1534, the Church of England was created with the king as its head. By the time James became king, England was a crucible of Catholic loyalists, royalists, Puritans and Presbyterians, all of whom were in disagreement over how God’s word should be translated. Several translations were in existence, but King James wanted one Bible for everyone. Drawing on existing translations, including the Reformation-era Geneva Bible, the king’s men labored for seven years to create the King James Bible. Not surprisingly, King James wasn’t overly concerned with proper biblical interpretation; he wanted to maintain the order of his kingdom and preserve the “divine right of kings.” While James was open to examination of the theological basis of the Church of England itself, he wouldn’t tolerate the questioning of his own authority.

Nicolson does an excellent job illuminating a world now ancient to modern eyes as he takes the reader into the conflicted society of Jacobean England. A great admirer of the literature of the Bible, Nicolson’s own prose is magnificent. Rarely does one come across an engrossing book that elevates the ordinary, banal language often heard and spoken today. Nicolson further draws out the beauty and musicality of the language as he compares select passages from other translations to the King James Bible to show the linguistic superiority of the latter.

Readers will also learn interesting facts. For instance, the English in the King James Bible was already archaic in 1611, and the Puritans — opponents of the Church of England and future pilgrims to the New World — did not bring the King James Bible with them. The KJV didn’t become popular in America until after the Civil War.

God’s Secretaries is definitely not a Bible study, so Christian readers shouldn’t expect an exposition of Biblical truth. Regardless, this book is an enjoyable excursion into an age that produced the greatest work of English prose. For those readers who believe the Bible is the infallible word of God, Nicolson’s book offers an intriguing snapshot of a brief time in history guided by the very hand of God.

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’” – Luke 2: 1-12
***

The rain in Southern California has ceased (for now), and I’ve never been so glad to see the sun. Merry Christmas, readers.

I’m thankful for:

• A loving God whose grace is abundant. He is exceedingly merciful, and I’ll be eternally grateful;
• A loving family, without whom I’d be lost in this indifferent world;
• Having been born in America, land of the free, home of the brave.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations. – Psalm 100

(By the way, I forgot my 7th blogiversary this year. I started the first week of November in 2003. I wanted to post my articles online to see how they’d look on news web sites, and I had no plan to do more than that. Between articles, I began to comment on news stories and rant against John Kerry, and the rest is bloghistory.)

I’m surprised this hasn’t received widespread play: Missouri now requires child killing “clinics” to put these words on brochures:

The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being. (Source)

Missouri lawmakers didn’t decide this was so. God made it so. Missouri simply has restated it, and the state’s child killing industry must remind women seeking to kill their unborn babies that what’s growing inside them is a living human being, which in turn will remind them that the act of abortion results in a dead human being.

Read this woman’s comment on Planned Parenthood’s lies about fetal development:

“I had an abortion in 1975. It seemed like the only option for me at the time. In response to my first question, the nurse at Planned Parenthood assured me that it wasn’t a baby. It was ‘only a blob of tissue.’ I wasn’t informed about or offered any of the information the new Missouri law provides for the benefit of the mothers and fathers of these tiny, pre-born babies. If I had seen an ultrasound of my baby, heard its heartbeat, or knew that it would feel pain while being burned alive or dismembered I wouldn’t have had the abortion. Since then, my uninformed ‘choice’ negatively affected my life in countless ways. When I found out the truth I was furious at Planned Parenthood for deceiving me. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I found out my depression, self-hatred, sorrow, and more were all directly related to that choice I made decades ago. I am so grateful to hear that Missouri is taking big strides in favor of women’s rights. Women have the right to be informed, know exactly what their choice entails, and the consequences to them and all who will be impacted by their choice (including the father and the grandparents of their pre-born son or daughter). I live in Southern California. In terms of women’s rights, it is obvious we are way behind Missouri. I am proud of you, Missouri.”

If only people cared half as much about killing babies in utero as they do about someone burning a frakin’ Koran…

And they miss the point entirely. Burn an Islamic holy book, and Muslims kill in retaliation. Burn the Bible, and Christians pray for the one who lights the match and for the crowd cheering.

Burn a Koran, and people get killed. Burn a Bible, and people get saved.

What makes a movie “Christian?”

Does a story with no explicit reference(s) to Christ qualify? What if it contained a redemptive and/or sacrificial message, or focused on atonement?

Perhaps the question isn’t whether a piece of art is “Christian” or even Christian-themed, but whether we can “take joy in God’s material creation, in the colors and sounds and textures and tastes of all the good things he has created,” as Brett McCracken writes in the recently published Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide (which I reviewed for the Christian Research Journal.)

God’s handiwork is part of general revelation, God revealed in nature (as opposed to special revelation, God revealed through his word and through Christ), and there’s beauty and truth in secular pursuits. Christians can and should discuss with unbelievers spiritual and transcendent messages that may be found in secular films.

While I’d like to see more Christian entertainment in Hollywood, as Christians should be salt and light in the world, even in Hollywood, the message doesn’t have to be explicit. The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity author C.S. Lewis talked about smuggling the Gospel past “watchful dragons” in his fiction. That’s what I’m attempting to do as I work on novel revisions (which is why draft #3 is essentially a rewrite). I’d intended to be explicit, but decided to be subtle, as I have embarrassingly high hopes of seeing the book published by a mainstream house and read by secular readers.

Movies like The Matrix and Atonement don’t qualify as Christian movies, but they contain a shadow of the Gospel, one might argue. In the third movie of The Matrix series, a man’s sacrifice saves a city of survivors from physical death, as opposed to the Son of God’s sacrifice saving the forgiven from spiritual death. In Atonement, an old woman tries to make amends for telling a lie that kept her sister and the man she loved apart by creating a happy ending in fictional form. For the Christian, Christ has done the substitutionary, atoning work for us, once and forever, on the cross.

I’ve written reams on the issue of homosexual “marriage.” Check out the archives. In light of yesterday’s decision to nullify over seven million votes and declare California’s ban on homosexual “marriage” unconstitutional, I offer these:

• More on the Depravity of Western Culture
• The Amazing Hubris of the Ruling Class Judiciary

One thing has changed since I last blogged about this issue. I’m even more disgusted when people equate skin color with deviant sexual behavior, comparing the crusade for racial equality with trying to force people into accepting homosexual behavior as normal.

Considering that we’re all sinners, even us forgiven ones (including me), I offer you Romans 1: 18-21:

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. — Romans 12: 9-21

I’ve blogged about immigration enforcement from a Christian perspective several times. In fact, I was working on an article I planned to submit to Christianity Today in response to this article. About an hour ago, someone pointed me to this article, similar to my own. If I finish the piece, I may submit elsewhere or post it on the blog.

An excerpt of “Immigration Reform: Another Christian View”:

“With so many Christian leaders on one side of immigration reform, how could there be any doubt? But there is doubt. Polls show church members with deeply divided opinions. The issue is far more complicated than the rhetoric used by many who favor liberalizing current immigration law.

“Here are some of the complexities:

“1. The United States is not analogous to ancient Israel. Biblical “sojourners” are not easily comparable to modern-era illegal immigrants. The “foreigners” in ancient Israel were non-Israelites who were permitted to pass through or reside in Israel. They were required to comply with Israel’s laws and respect its customs.

“2. The oft-quoted command in Leviticus 19 that “you shall not oppress the alien” should indeed inform our attitudes. But this passage provides no clear guidance on how the United States should set limitations on immigration. It does not indicate whether 1 million “green cards” granted every year are too few, too many, or just the right number.

“3. Alongside the biblical teachings about hospitality to strangers also stand the teachings about the rule of law. The Christian point of view on immigration reform should also look at passages such as Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. They stress a clear responsibility to obey properly constituted human authorities when their demands do not violate conscience. U.S. authorities are well within their proper powers in controlling immigration. Christians on all sides acknowledge that power, but the question is how to balance justice against mercy toward those who have broken the law.

“4. It is important to distinguish the callings of church and state. The church is called by God to welcome all with the grace of Jesus Christ. It does not make distinctions according to nationality or immigration status. The state is called by God to enforce justice. It properly makes distinctions between those who obey and those who break the laws. It properly looks first to the interests of the citizens for whom God holds it responsible.”

Related posts:

• Illegal Immigration From A Biblical Point of View
• This Christian Isn’t “Torn” Over Illegals