Is This The World We Want?

I had a dream the other night.  I was searching for something or someone in a hospital - I don't remember what.  As I rushed through rooms, I passed through a lab.  On a stainless steel topped bench lay a newborn baby - alone, clearly in pain, gasping for breath, lying in a little pool of blood.  On a nearby bench top lay the severed heads of other newborns.  Even as I rushed past, I comprehended the scene, but I still rushed past, leaving that living, dying baby alone on the bench in the hurry of my unknown errand.

I woke up horrified.  Would I really do that in my waking life?  Would I really think it was none of my business that someone else's baby had been left alone to die in that sterile room?  And this morning, lying awake in bed, I realised that God was telling me that it is time to stop doing just that.  It is time to stop rushing past the grim reality that is so awful I don't even want to talk about it.  I have written about it once before - quietly, where just one or two people would read it, but now I think it's time to go as public as I can.  So I'm asking you what I never ask - wherever you are, whoever you are, please share this with everyone you know, because we all need to ask ourselves if we're really accepting our world the way it is right now.  Go check the facts for yourself to make sure I'm not just being hysterical.  We need to ask if this is really OK with us.

Let me be clear - this is *not* about people power.  There's only one government I would vote for, and that's God's, so I'm not telling you who to vote for or not. I'm just asking YOU - are you OK with this?  Do you accept this?  God wants to know. Now I'll tell you where I stand.

While we want to know which politicians will put the most money in our pockets, and while abattoirs where pigs are mistreated are hastily shut down - while foreign policy walks on a knife edge over the live cattle trade, something much bigger is happening right here in the state of Victoria.

Right now, it is legal to rip a living baby of any age into pieces, provided he or she is a least partly in the womb. The word for this practise is so sanitised, we don't comprehend what it really means anymore.  We call this abortion.  We call it abortion when an unwanted baby is thrown in the bin (sometimes still alive) after being burned inside and out with a salt solution.  We call it abortion when a living baby is vacuumed out of the uterus.

You can read the bill passed in 2008 here.  You will see that, while anaesthetic must be administered to experimental animals (see here), there is no legal requirement for any pain relief for a baby that is being annihilated.  Importantly, in all that "Abortion reform" bill, there is no restriction on how a baby is killed or removed from the mother's womb, except that it must be by a "registered practitioner".  There is no mention of how the baby is disposed of after it leaves the mother's body, whether living or dead.

I AM NOT OK WITH THIS!

I wonder, when our children and children's children grow up - knowing that they were "chosen" to live, while many other babies died because they were sacrificed to the idols of money and convenience - will they make it legal to dispose of elderly people (who are an economic drain on society) by dismemberment? Or perhaps they will be "humanely" disposed of in a purpose-built gas chamber?  Will they make it legal to cut the living heart out of a disabled person (perhaps you or I after a stroke or serious car accident) to replace their own dying heart?  Why not - if we have taught them that a broken baby should be thrown away, just like a broken toy?  Why should a broken adult be any different?

How can we so vocal about animal rights and protecting the environment (for our children, supposedly) when the most vulnerable members of our society can be legally vacuumed out of existence??  Let me make this clear - an abortion (the killing, with no regard for pain or suffering) may be performed on a baby after 24 weeks, right up to the moment of birth if the medical practitioner:

reasonably believes that the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances; and has consulted at least one other registered medical practitioner who also reasonably believes that the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances.

Are you OK with this? All it takes (in the Australian state of Victoria) is two registered medical practitioners to decide that it is "appropriate" to kill an unborn baby right up to the point of birth. While there are pages of laws on the treatment of animals, I can't find any information about the protection of unborn children in Australia except statements such as this one on the Queensland government website:

If the unborn child is assessed as being in need of protection after birth, we will offer ongoing help and support to the pregnant women [sic] (emphasis mine).

In other words, unborn children are considered to be of less value than animals (including unborn animals) in Australia. I'm not OK with this, and I will never be OK with this. It is time to stop tiptoeing around abortion as though it's just about choice. Abortion is about the choice to (often brutally) murder the most helpless and innocent of all human beings. If you are reading this and are considering abortion, please write a comment. I will do everything I can to help you not have an abortion. Or contact someone who can help you. Please.
Right now unborn children in Victoria have no legal protection that I know of. This is not the world I want. Is this the world you want? If we continue to ignore, and even mock, the most basic of moral laws, we will pay the price. Are you prepared for what this will cost?

The Question Is...

... What are you going to do?

The world's getting to be a nasty place.  That's a fact.  I know many people don't believe it, but that can only be because of the cosy little bubble they're living in.  There is a serious lack of loving care in this world we live in.

A friend told me about her little girl wandering off in a crowd...  not one person "rescued" the toddler clearly separated from her Mum.  She nearly made it out the door alone.  I've lost a child myself in a shopping centre and not one person even tried to help me find her.

I've heard about teachers eating nut bars in front of a little boy who keeps constant company with an epi-pen because of his severe allergies.

An early childhood teacher shared how other staff members at her centre ignored the regulations meant to protect children with serious allergies under their care.

These are matters of life and death, and we are living in a world so callous that many people don't care if their actions endanger the lives of innocent children.

In one instance that I know of personally (not just something I heard on the news), the lack of care in a person in authority did lead to a death.

These are not isolated incidents.  Elections are won and lost over the economy.  That's how much money I have to look after me. Meanwhile, abused children die in and out of state custody.  It is legal to brutally murder a baby while the mother is in labour. I kid you not.  Why do we care about money when children are dying?  Because we are a nation that doesn't care about children.  That is the stark and horrible truth.

I could go on and on about the lack of care and compassion in the world, evident by everything from the way people drive (ignoring road rules) to (lack of) customer service.  But that's not the point.  I could complain all day... And I would achieve... what?

The question is: what am I going to do?  What are you going to do?  Are we going to be like everyone else (while complaining about everyone else)?  Or are we going to be different?

Sorry, we can't change the world.  That's up to Jesus and God the Father - when they decide that it's time.

But we can choose not to be part of the world.  We can choose to be the person that grabs the runaway toddler (at the risk of being accused of child molestation).  We can choose to be the person who obeys the annoying rules (for the safety of others) that everyone else ignores.  We can stop complaining about the price of milk when there are children chained to carpet looms, paying off their parents "debts".

We can choose to be the people that care about children, and the elderly... and everyone else in between (whether they deserve it or not).  We can choose to be the people that see the people everywhere we go, not the dollar signs.  We can be the weirdos that actually stay home when we're sick - instead of "sharing" our germs because someone else "shared" their germs with us.  We can choose to be good.

There is just one way to be truly "good", and that is through God.

God is Love.

Not the "love" that gets advertised on Valentine's Day as being all about roses and warm and fuzzy feelings.  God is the Love that shows when no one is watching.  He is the Love that comes out in little actions, not just big ones.

It's in our tone of voice when we answer the phone for the 10th time in an hour and it's another survey.  It's in the expression on our face when we get stuck between two elderly ladies taking up the whole aisle while we're trying to zip through the supermarket.  It's in all the little ways we treat our husbands and children and parents and friends day after day, week after week, year after year.

You've seen the world for what it is - ugly and awful.  Now what are you going to do?

No More Excuses!

Are you a Christian?  Can people tell?  Do you ever say "it's impossible to keep God's laws"?

There is a half truth in that.  The other half of the sentence is: "with God all things are possible."  Why couldn't Israel keep God's laws?  What was missing?

There was nothing missing from God's laws - because they were (and are still!) God's laws - He doesn't make mistakes.  There was something missing from the people.  The Holy Spirit. 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Including honour God by keeping His commandments.  The whole lot of them.

Jesus said: "if you love me, keep My commandments."  Try looking up the word "commandments".  Jesus had a lot to say about them, and it was all about keeping them.

The idea that God's commandments are restrictive?  Utterly ridiculous.  What would you rather?  Live by ten simple, easy-to-understand rules that always benefit everyone?  Or live by books and books of increasingly obscure laws, many of which still have loopholes that hurt the helpless?

Did Jesus die so that you could lie to your children, mess around with your neighbours wife, and cheat on your taxes?  Hardly.  Let's start living a transformed life instead of talking about it.

No more excuses.

Rights or Responsibilities?

As a parent, I sometimes hear other parents say things like: "It's my right to raise my children whatever way I see fit." Or "no one has the right to tell me how to raise my kids."

Hmmm.  If I put myself in the children's shoes, I find these statements disturbing.  Really?  Do I have the right to fill "my" children up with several litres of coke per day?  Do I have the right to drag "my" sick children through the shopping centres with me because I need to do things for myself?  Do I have the right to farm "my" children out to the maximum possible of extracurricular activities until they are ready to keel over from exhaustion?  Do I have the right to scream at "my" children or refuse to talk to them because I am overwhelmed by life?

Legally, probably yes.  I've never heard of children being removed from their parents for any of the above reasons.

But what makes them "my" children anyway?  Do I own them as I do my car?  Did I earn the right to them as I did my driver's license?  Are they really "mine" to do with as I will?  Short of physical or emotional abuse, by law I guess I could say they are "my" children... But what can we expect for the future of our country and our world if we see children as objects that we own?

Isn't being a parent more about our responsibility than our rights?  God certainly says so.

Unfortunately, the only bit about parenting that some people read in the Bible is: "children, obey your parents" or "honour your father and mother".  But there are a lot of instructions to parents.  And a lot of instructions about life and love that apply as much to parents as to anyone else.  Unfortunately, instructions like:

He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

are sometimes read as a license to beat our children, but notice the mention of love.  The point is that if we love our children, we will take responsibility to teach them what is right.  That may involve inflicting temporary pain, but true love (see 1 Corinthians 13 for an explanation of love) would never, ever allow us to injure our children.  If we love our children, we will be concerned about our responsibilties, not our rights.  Nowhere does the Bible tell us that we own our children to do with them as we will - including before birth.  

The Bible speaks of God's fury when children were passed through fire. (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 17:31; 2 Chronicles 28:3; Ezekiel 16:21)  Such a practice seems barbaric today... and yet how many children are "passed through the fire" when they are sent out into a hostile world ill-equipped and unprepared for coping where they are not welcomed, but seen as a burden?  How many unborn children are "passed through the fire" because their existence is seen as being in some way "inconvenient" due to financial strain or career pressures, or disability.


Find me a  place where the Bible speaks about our rights as parents.  I haven't found one.


However, I have found this after a summary of God's commandments in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

God's way - the only way to true happiness and fullfilment - is a way of give.  As parents, our mission is to give to our children in a way that will prepare and equip them for that hostile world we will eventually throw them out into.  That's a tough love to give - it doesn't mean giving what they want, but what they need.  There is no easy way - you need try it only for a few days to know that with all of your being.

None of us are perfect - we will all make mistakes and let our children down.  I know that I do, and it's been really hard for me to swallow my pride and say "sorry" to my kids on those many occasions when I've been overcome by my own humanity.  But that's no excuse to give up and stop trying.


As parents, we have no "rights", only the responsibility to nurture our children and teach them what is Right - God's way.


If you are interested in what God has to say about parenting and marriage, you may be interested in the free booklet, Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

A Carbon Tax Solution?

Very soon, we'll be taxed for carbon dioxide in Australia.  Let's call it what it really is - a selfish tax.  The government has decided that the way to stop Australians from producing too much carbon dioxide and thus destroying the planet, is to make everyone pay for it.

Perhaps, amidst moans and groans, we will start being a little more "environmentally friendly", but history has shown over and over that making people pay for selfishness doesn't stop them from being selfish.

There are laws against drug dealing, and hefty penalties for anyone who gets caught selling drugs - but dealers keep on dealing.  Most countries have laws against selling or mistreating children, and those who get caught can pay a very high price... but children are still bought and sold and abused the world over.

There are many other examples, but the point is, no law or tax will truly change anyone at heart.  As long as our hearts and minds are directed towards self-gratification, humanity will continue to destroy the planet and it's people.

I'm not interested in the politics of a carbon tax or arguing about one party being better than the other.  Recent sessions of parliament question time have shown that all politicians are driven by self interest, not the national interest.  And that's true because the majority of Australians voted out of self interest, not the national interest.

The carbon tax cannot be a real solution for any of the nation's - or the world's - problems because it misses the core of every problem we have.  Every problem we have comes from the belief that we don't need God.  The belief that humanity alone can create a world that works.

The truth is, the way that seems right to us ends in death.  No law or tax or treaty or plan or resolution or government can replace God.  The world will eventually learn that the hard way, but thankfully that won't be the end of the story.

To learn about how God plans to ultimately give all humanity the chance to turn to Him, trying watching the weekly Beyond Today program, now showing in Australia, on Sunday mornings on Channel 4ME - Digital 74 Metro, Digital 64 Regional at the following times: 6:30 AM (NSW, VIC, ACT); 6:00 AM (SA); 6:30 AM (QLD); 4:30 AM (WA). Or you can watch past episodes or Beyond Today Daily online at Beyond Today TV.

He Wasn't Speaking For Me

I just watched a recording of Q&A on the ABC with the Catholic cardinal George Pell and well-known atheist Richard Dawkins. I had read the comment that George Pell would be speaking for all Christians, not just catholics.

Well. George Pell wasn't speaking for me. I don't believe in a "christianity" that regards Greek philosophy above the Bible. I don't believe in a "christianity" that struggles to come to grips with the most basic truths about God such as why He allows suffering. And I certainly don't believe in a "christianity" that depends more on human reason to explain itself than it does on what the Bible actually says.

What's in a Name?

It's that time of year. My kids are offered easter eggs wherever we go. I have to ask - what do chocolate and eggs and buns and bunnies have to do with Jesus? What do they have to do with death or resurrection?

I grew up with the conviction that Easter has pagan origins. Recently, I have read an argument that suggests the word "Easter" actually had Christian origins. Maybe...

BUT, even someone with no knowledge of history can ask the question - what do chocolate and eggs and buns and bunnies have to do with Jesus? And, in fact, what do Friday and Sunday have to do with Jesus? Friday night to Sunday morning isn't three days and three nights however you carve it up. Seriously, just try it. If you read the Biblical account of Jesus death and resurrection you will find He died just before a Sabbath, yes, but not a weekly Sabbath - he died just before the High Sabbath at the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23 for more about these days).

Jesus told His disciples to observe the Passover evening (what many refer to as the Last Supper) as a memorial (a memorial is to be observed once a year, not once a week) to Him (see Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 13). So why Easter? The symbols that Jesus instituted were the (unleavened) bread and wine and foot washing, not eggs, bunnies and buns.

How does the self-indulgence of eating chocolate and cakes represent Jesus Christ's spirit of self-sacrifice? How does telling children (untrue) stories about Easter bunnies represent the Jesus who said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6)? Can these symbols possibly honour Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection?

I have often heard it said that anything can be used to God's glory. Really? Would any of us be happy to see a church decorated in swastikas (that had somehow been converted to a "Christian" symbol)?

The Bible does not command, or even suggest many of the symbols and traditions that have come to be associated with Easter. Why would we want to substitute human traditions for what Jesus did command ("...do this in remembrance of me...")?

For a more complete discussion on Easter and the festivals that God commanded, try watching The Easter Charade, Which Passover Should You Observe? and God's Holy Day Plan: Blueprint for Salvation on Beyond Today TV.