Weekly Roundup: January 27, 2019 (Why the "Pro-Life" movement stinks; Ask Doug; Reformed Experiential Preaching)
At Broad Oak Piety This Week:
Examine Thyself and Go to Christ
Theological Curiosity for the Sake of Knowing God
The Authority of Jesus and Disciple Making
Resources Elsewhere:
I wanted to provide you with two important resources on the issue of abortion. One is an article and the other is an organization. I think you'll find both very enlightening and challenging given what happened in NYC this past week.
My wife and I are very supportive of our local pregnancy center (my wife served on staff at ours for several years) and our local church is engaged with this same local pregnancy center. I believe, we must be a part of the solution and pregnancy centers are a part of the solution, but they aren't the only part. There is a legislative component to all of this and there is an eternal component to all of this. Sadly the current state of politics and abortion for conservatives is one big dumpster fire and we lack crispness on speaking of abortion and eternity.
I have a very big issue with Republican and so called-conservatives who are pro-life. My issue is they never do anything. They never make any real progress and frankly, I don't trust or believe them when they speak on the issue. We even had two conservative Supreme Court Justices appointed by President Trump recently that believe Roe V Wade is 'settled law'.
We have legislators that are content with making incremental, nominal changes. The bottom line is most Republicans and conservatives really don't care about abortion. It's a good debate topic to garner votes and that's it.
I am also weary of those pro-life organizations that are afraid to use the word 'murder' when referring to abortion. If we want abortion laws to change in our country, we must start speaking biblically about abortion. It is in fact murder. Doctors who perform them should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Women who knowingly get them should be prosecuted as well. Even more so as Christians, how do we evangelize those who've had abortions if we don't use the word, 'murder'? What sin are we asking them to mourn over? What sin are they repenting of? How can they be reconciled to Christ? We must rethink our strategy or we are going to lose this cultural battle.
Youtube Channel Recommendation:
Excellent, funny youtube channel where Doug Wilson answers questions folks submit.
Book Recommendation:
Reformed Experiential Preaching by Joel Beeke
Best book on preaching I've ever read. You can read my review of this important work in the link above. Happy reading!