Points to Ponder—A Legacy of Sin and Shame

It was recently noted that in the past forty-six years, sixty million abortions have taken place around the globe. The numbers are staggering, and in many places the church has remained silent, oblivious to the genocide that is taking place in our communities. There appears to be some evidence that the tide is shifting among believers and non-believers who are becoming aware of the atrocities of abortion. May the Lord graciously remember us and our leaders and grant that we may come to see the wickedness in both the performing and perpetuating of this sinful practice.

The continued marginalization of Christianity is increasing exponentially. A recent claim by Rep. Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman from Minnesota, repeated the statement which has been promulgated by Palestinian activists and Muslim leaders that Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian. This story was quickly published as fact by the New York Times. It was subsequently retracted but only after an article by Michel Brown of Townhall showed the fallacy of this claim. It is well known that the term Palestinian was not used until one hundred years after Jesus’ death and resurrection and was used by the Romans to mock the Jews.

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The recent increase in the number of cases of measles which have been diagnosed this year in the United States has led to more than one hundred bills being introduced in thirty states to expand, restrict, or eliminate vaccine informed consent rights. The future may prove to make it more difficult for those who have conscientious objections to vaccination to exercise their biblically-based beliefs.

—NVIC Vaccine News

Persecution against believers in China was front and center as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its 20th annual report. “They go after anybody of any faith that might compete with the communist, atheistic government of China.… It is deeply disturbing to see that…China is an expanding power—a country getting more and more powerful by the year. To have a country with these ideas and this degree of persecution ought to be something that scares everyone.” Chinese authorities closed or raided hundreds of Protestant house churches in 2018 and continue to do so in 2019. Other religions are persecuted, too, Muslim and Buddhists included. With the U.S. and China on the cusp of a major trade deal, religious freedom and related human rights diplomacy should be integrated into the ongoing trade negotiations.

—ChristianPost.com

Christians in Burkina Faso are mourning a deadly attack on a Protestant church as “a new turning point in terrorism” in the West African nation. The church was one of the oldest Protestant congregations in the region, which borders Mali to the north. After two hundred attacks over the past three years, the government considers Sunday’s shooting to be the first at a house of worship, a sign that the violence could be shifting from indiscriminate to targeted attacks. Burkina Faso is about 60 percent Muslim and approximately 25 percent Christian (around 20 percent Catholic and 5 percent Protestant). The country, where peaceful coexistence between the different religions has always been the bedrock of social cohesion, has faced a growing threat of terrorist violence ever since 2016 when al-Qaeda affiliates took hostages and went on a shooting spree in the capital city of Ouagadougou.

—ChristianityToday.com

Two religious congregations, about twelve miles apart—one Jewish and the other Christian—were bound by tragedy in April. One was a synagogue ripped apart by gunfire; the other was a church where the suspected shooter’s family regularly attended. Both groups shared an overwhelming sense of grief as worshippers grappled to make sense of the senseless. The shooter, from a Christian family, proves that terrorism is not practiced only by Muslim extremists. These shootings also show the role modern media and technology play in motivating such persons who carry out these terrorist acts. The suspect, in a manifesto he published before the crime, did not blame his Christian family for his radicalization, saying it was based on writings he encountered online.

—USAToday.com

The Easter bombings, where three Christian churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels were targeted, were a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bombings. The teaching director of “Youth for Christ” in a Sri Lanka church wrote a response to these terrorist Easter Bombings. “Whenever a tragedy hits a nation, Christians need to ask how to think biblically in response to the situation.” He posits six necessary responses: 1) Lament Loss, 2) Condemn Evil, 3) Alleviate Suffering, 4) Leave Vengeance to the Lord, 5) Don’t Bear False Witness, and 6) Pray.

—ChristianityToday.com

“We will answer to the good Lord one day—for unborn babies,” declared Mississippi governor Phil Bryan as he signed a bill outlawing abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy. In signing one of the strictest laws regulating abortion, the governor stated that he anticipates legal challenges to the legislation. He is hopeful, however, it will get to the Supreme Court and that they will uphold this bill.

—AP News

The Trump administration issued a new rule on Thursday, May 2, 2019, granting health care workers leeway to refuse to provide services like abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide, if they cite a religious or conscientious objection. The rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services is designed to protect the religious rights of health care providers and religious institutions.

—NPR.org

Conformity to Christ is the best cure of conformity to the world.

— Augustus Toplady

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