The First Issue
This past Tuesday we remembered and sometimes wept over the tragic terrorist assault on our blessed nation 11 years ago. Over 3000 precious, innocent people were destroyed. Families, futures, peace, and tranquility were torn apart, along with so many possibilities never to be realized. We should always remember and care for each person and family affected directly or indirectly by the aftershock which affected us all in indescribable ways. Every human being should resist with every fiber of their being all evil that discounts the value and potential of every precious life.
God blessed Betty and me with two beautiful daughters and one awesome son – the girls through our marriage union, and our boy through the supernatural miracle of prayer and adoption. We are forever grateful as we witness the significance of their lives and the 11 grandchildren they have given us. “Precious” seems to be an understatement as we continually see the impact and influence of each of their lives.
As most readers know, because of difficult circumstances leading to the pregnancy of my 41-year-old mother, she sought to have me aborted and was stopped only by the deep convictions of a medical doctor who refused. As a result. “baby James” was born, and thanks to the saving power of God I experienced as a young man, millions of people have received Christ as their Lord and Savior and millions of lives have been saved around the world through the mission outreaches of LIFE Today.
Our son Randy, a truly gifted writer, recently wrote an article emphasizing the value of every human life. This issue is so important, I want to share it with you today. -James
I am astounded by the number of people who claim to be Christians, yet directly or indirectly support abortion on demand. Even those who put their faith in science reject the simple truth revealed in a sonogram: life begins before birth. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart,” Jeremiah attributed to God. People may dismiss that as ancient poetry, but it takes a more aggressive betrayal of the intellect to willfully ignore modern science.
As a society, we call the termination of a one-hour-old infant “murder.” Yet one hour prior to delivery? That’s just a “woman’s right.” Does anyone really believe there is a magical transformation of the fetus during that two-hour period? Sure, there is a drastic change in the mother’s body as she amazingly delivers that life that she has nurtured for nine months or so and ushers the newborn child into the world, but the infant is remarkably the same. As the child gasps its first breath of air and shifts from umbilical cord nourishment to mother’s milk, he or she does not immediately sprout limbs, grow eyes and ears, or experience its first brain activity. These things were already there. As were other human phenomenon, such as hiccupping, dreaming, sucking the thumb, and feeling pain. Yet society consents to taking that life and many professing believers enable it by supporting politicians who advocate abortion and allowing their tax dollars to go to organizations that encourage and/or perform abortions.
And then comes the perplexing hypocrisy.
Many of these same “people of faith” pay lip service to hot-button issues like “human rights” or “women’s health” or “caring for the poor.” They use words like “responsibility” or “compassion” or even “freedom.” But there is none of this when the first issue is ignored, which is the right to life.
Our founding fathers ordered it correctly in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The first right, given by our Creator and evident to those with eyes to see, is “life.” After that, we are able to discuss “liberty.” Once those two things are settled, we can examine “the pursuit of happiness.” Without the foundation of life, no argument on behalf of the next two issues can be safely constructed.
When “pro-choice” proponents want to discuss health insurance, claiming compassion for those who are involuntarily (and even voluntarily) uninsured, their words are largely meaningless because they will not ensure the health of a life in the womb. While activists “of color” attempt to spotlight human rights violations, most cover up the fetal genocide going on in the African-American community. When feminists cry for equal pay in the workplace, some forget that an unborn girl cries for equality in the first place. When immigration activists demand the unfettered crossing of borders, many conveniently shut down the most innocent person’s passage of life.
Those who wish to discuss, promote, campaign on, fundraise with, or champion the cause of liberty or the pursuit of happiness cannot legitimately do so until they champion the cause of life. One cannot take the second or third step without taking the first.
People caught in this charade will mock those who bring it up as narrow-minded, unsophisticated, and “single issue.” But ask anyone who has faced a life-threatening situation: “Is there any issue more important than life?” I can promise you that those people scrambling to get out of the World Trade Center on 9/11 cared nothing about their work duties that day. Nobody bemoaned a missed meeting or an incomplete spreadsheet. They didn’t care anything about social, political, or religious matters. They cared about one thing: getting out alive. They weren’t narrow-minded, they were clear-headed. They knew what was important.
Too many people have lost that ability to think clearly. Their minds are muddled with side issues, good intentions, and false promises. They have fallen for the rhetoric and failed to see reality. A nation cannot continue killing its children and expect to escape the consequences. We need not tremble at the judgment of God as much as the fruit of our own savagery. God wants to save us from the effects of our hideous sin, but those who do not change their ways refuse His rescue.
I will not advocate any politician who advocates abortion. His or her party affiliation does not matter one bit. His or her abilities on second and third issues do not count if he or she has missed the first one. Any Christian who supports such politicians, even with a single vote, must ask whether this is ever acceptable in the eyes of God. Would God really say, “I know he approves of children being killed the day before I was going to bring them into the world, but have you heard his speech on healthcare?” Not a chance. People who put more faith in science and logic must ask, “Since life clearly begins prior to birth, should we not fight for their human rights?” Obviously we should.
This election, and indeed every election, is not just about abortion. There are many other important issues. Many good and smart people have different views on the various challenges we face individually and as a nation. But do not take the second step with any politician until they have taken the first step and vowed to protect innocent human life.
This article was written by Randy Robison
8 comments:
I have to say AMEN to this article due to the fact we can make all the excuses we like in order to put someone in office but if that person is not following the word of GOD in preserving human life, everything else is null and void.
A breeder of cattle gives more protection to bull semen and cow embryos under the Uniform Commercial Code than we give to unborn humans.
As a father and grandfather, I know that James is indeed proud of his son Randy. This article is well proportioned and logical in it’s thrust, and stays on message throughout. May the Lord bless Randy Robinson, and use him for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
How long will God bless a nation that allows unborn children to be murdered, allows its young to show no respect for their parents or for God Himself? A country that allows homosexuals to pass out propaganda in the public schools but does not allow any mention of God? A country that no longer treats human life with dignity? America will never be able to claim they did not know what was right. We were created as a nation by God fearing men. We were a God worshiping nation. But we have turned our backs on God, by our actions.
We have legalized the killing of babies. First we legalized the killing of babies in the first few weeks of their lives. That was horrible, but it has gotten worse, now a doctor can deliver a full term baby feet first and as long as he keeps the head inside the womb he can kill the full term baby minutes before birth. What is next?
Record companies put out Satanic music and promote Satanic bands. The President legitimizes homosexuals by speaking at their conference. Homosexuals are proudly performing in prime time. Most major cities sponsor Gay pride days. Kids who have never been taught morals kill for any reason that comes to their minds and show no remorse for their actions. What makes us better than Sodom and Gomorrah? What makes us think that we will escape the same fate?
Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities and also the vegetation in the land. Genesis 19:24-25
Could we be judged even more sternly than Sodom and Gomorrah because of the blessings that we have received and yet we turned our backs on God? The perversion we allow in our society is our fault and we will answer for it. It is our responsibility to speak out against sin. Whether it is adultery or homosexuality on television or homosexuals in our government, or the legalized killing of babies, it falls squarely on our shoulders. Don’t ever believe that Satan’s followers are not organized and don’t understand fully what they are doing. Don’t go see their vile movies, or watch television programs that promote sin. Let the people who make these movies and television programs and their sponsors, know why you are not watching.
Vote for Godly men. Encourage Godly men to run for office. Write your elected officials and let them know that you are a Christian and that you want them to take a stand for Christian values.
Is it too late? No
Joel 2:12-13 “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
In response to the murder and/or abortion issue, it is important to remember that we are “not to be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” The seeds of murder by abortion and every other seed of sin and transgression will reap a consequence of punishment and vengeance if Jesus Christ, who is the manifestation of the revelation of the Word, is ignored. I would like to draw our attention to a scene out of the book of Luke chapter 4:
“And Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.”
This verse of scripture has been expounded on more times than the human mind could ever comprehend. The gracious words that Jesus read that day from the prophet Isaiah has been used by an untold number of ministers to bring comfort and salvation to millions times millions times millions of people of the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ. Those words are infallibly true and the power of those words has been manifested in the lives of individuals since the moment Jesus emphatically stated “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
The fulfillment of those scriptures is without contention and debate. However, it is imperative that we look closely at verse 19. As Jesus was reading that portion of the prophecy from Isaiah, he stopped in the middle of the sentence and only read the first part “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” The remaining portion of the sentence continues, but Jesus never quoted “and the day of vengeance of our God…” Why? It was not the season yet for vengeance.
The “acceptable year of the Lord” was the day of grace to mankind. This was the day or season of Jubilee when every debt of man was cancelled. Moses wrote in Leviticus 25 “Then you will cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement you will make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye will hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it will be a jubilee unto you.”
When Jesus stood in the synagogue, in Nazareth, on the tenth day of the seventh month Tishrei, the season of grace and liberty was being proclaimed to Israel, every sin was cancelled, and 3 ½ years later the season of Jubilee would spread from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth including America in the year of 2012. Through Jesus Christ, who is our Jubilee, every man’s debt (gender neutral) has been cancelled by the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the day of salvation says the scripture “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
The writer of Hebrews vindicates the message of grace, liberty and Jubilee when he admonished us by stating “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, (in Luke 4) was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”
Solomon wrote “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” This is what the Hebrew writer cautioned above in reference to the season of salvation and the time of punishment. The unrepented sin of every individual, including our political and religious leaders, will not go unpunished. There is coming a time and a season when the grace of Jesus Christ will become the day of vengeance. The Spirit of God by Jeremiah prophesied of that season when the day of grace and liberty has been scorned away. “Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.”
I REALLY LIKED YOUR MESSAGE.WE HAVE CALLED PEOPLE LIKE ADOLPH HITLER AND MUSSOLINI TERRIBLE LEADERS WHO DO NOT ‘VALUE LIFE’ AND WANTONLY SHED THE INNOCENT BLOOD OF OTHERS BUT, WHAT ABOUT US?
ARE WE NOT MORE BARBARIC THAN THEY WHEN WE ” ALLOW ” THE MURDER OF 52 MILLION CHILDREN ??!!! HOW DO WE DO IT ?
YOU POINTED IT OUT SO CLEARLY: LIFE COMES FIRST, THEN LIBERTY AND LASTLY THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
WHEN WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM OF THESE THREE: LIFE, WE BECOME MURDERERS BY CONSENT. OUR SOCIETY IS RELEGATED TO A CULTURE OF DEATH AND, GOD IS WATCHING US!!!
The above article should be read and re-read many times. The truth of its content is without debate. The following statement taken from the beginning of the second paragraph certainly sets the tone for every American and specifically every professing Christian, to take time for some deep soul searching regarding the choice of life or death. Randy writes “As a society, we call the termination of a one-hour-old infant “murder.” Yet one hour prior to delivery? That’s just a “woman’s right.”” The battleground has been chosen. The weapons have been selected. Life and death choices are being determined. The battleground is politics vs. the Word of God. The weapons are human rights vs. the Creators sovereignty. The choices are eternal life through Jesus Christ or face the consequences of the wages of sin, which is death.
When Jesus was here in flesh he stood on the same battleground we stand upon today. In John chapter 8 Jesus stood face to face with the same spirit of murder and death we are facing in this generation. In this chapter, the Scribes and Pharisees who were professing believers, desired to murder the woman caught in adultery and attempted to murder Jesus because he told them the truth. His reply to their thoughts and actions was uncompromising as he said “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
In his statement, Jesus revealed what spiritual nature they had, the origin of murder and death, and the root cause of why death occurs. The Scribes and Pharisees thought they were believers and children of Jehovah, but Jesus identified their father as the devil. The religious leaders believed they were interpreting the righteousness of the law by stoning the adulterous woman and Jesus the blasphemer, but Christ traced their murderous nature back to the beginning in the Garden of Eden where Cain murdered his brother Abel. The leaders believed they were the ones ordained to teach the truth of the law and the prophets to the people, but Jesus exposed the root cause of their murderous spirit which came from the father of lies, the devil, through the serpent who lied to Eve. Jesus said “there is no truth in him.” We are facing the same spirit today.
Many sincere Christians, both behind the pulpit and in the pews, and many non-Christians on political platforms believe their support of abortion is an act of compassion and women have the freedom to make the choice. Of course many unregenerate women believe it is their right to become impregnated and then choose whether to allow the embryo of life to maturate in the womb or kill it. The choice to murder the life in the womb violates the very essence and sovereignty of the Creator, Jesus Christ. The scripture reveals to us in John 1 his sovereignty when “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men…He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”
The sovereignty of creation, which is the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ, has been blasphemed and the murderous antichrist spirit of the devil has exalted itself above the Creator. There is only one message for this generation, “Repent of the lie of the devil. The political doctrine of abortion is Satan’s lie. Ask the Lord Jesus to deliver you from the spirit of murder, and allow the Holy Spirit of Life to change your nature to the nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus said “He that is of God hears God’s words: you therefore hear them not, because you are not of God.” Do not be found in the last group of that scripture.
Remember, the battleground is comprised of politics vs. the Word of God. The weapons are human rights vs. the Creators sovereignty. The choices are the grace and truth through Jesus Christ or face the consequences of the wages of sin, which is death. Choose Jesus Christ and his word and live.
I am so excited to read an article that is addressing the issue of some Christians and their decisions to be “pro-choice”when it comes to the fate of the most innocent and fragile of human lives. I recently struck up an email conversation with a Christian friend of mine I have known since high school. He had been upset and shamed me for putting a rather graphic picture of the truth of abortion on my facebook page. In exchange for taking it down I asked him to explain to me how he can be a pro-choice Christian. All I came away with honestly was this idea that being “compassionate” was not judging these women that choose abortion. It was as though he were the compassionate one to look the other way while they have their baby destroyed, an event I think will ultimately lead to years if not a life time of regret and pain for the woman emotionally. So in the name of compassion and Christian love this man seemed to be saying it was right to support a woman in killing her baby. I am frustrated about this.