Smoky Mountain Reflections
April 2012
Happy
Easter!! As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
I find myself reflecting on the wonder of Life.
What a sweet gift from God! He created it, He redeemed it, and He
celebrates it with a burst of color every spring. Buds transition to full bloom and all the bright
colors burst into an full array of greens that will serve as our summer canopy,
shielding us from the sun while wisping sweet sounds on the breeze. Sadly,
while the beauty of this annual cycle of life plays out, we live in a time and
place where life and the most fragile and vulnerable are unsafe, sacrificed on
the altar of personal freedom.
In
this election year, you may find yourself saying, “Pastor—not another reflection
on politics.....” Dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, please trouble yourselves to read the whole article. I would
much prefer to wax eloquent on the virtues of a life lived in accord with God's
will, but innocent life is under attack. God’s Command to love our neighbor by not
murdering is under attack by our government. God’s Command to love our neighbor by keeping
sex in marriage is under attack by our government. And during an election year,
if we do not speak the truth in love, and we flip the lever in a way that doesn’t
reflect God's love for life and marriage, then one could honestly ask who our
God is.
Eric
Metaxas, the author of a recent book on Dietrich Bonheoffer and a previous book
on William Wilberforce, pointed out at the national prayer breakfast that in
Wilberforce's day, going with the flow meant to see Africans as less than human
and expendable. In Bonheoffer's day, going with the flow meant seeing Jews as
less than human. Today in the interest of personal freedom, we see the unborn and
the infirmed as less than human and a drain on our resources. Today in the
interest of personal freedom, we sacrifice the family unit while our loved ones
suffer.
It
does not matter if science supports the biblical view of marriage and life—the
truth is sacrificed as easily as are families and other forms of inconvenient
relationships and people. Here are just a few examples: Healthy marriages have
been shown to be better for children, men, women, and society in study after
study. Children are more likely to attend college, more likely to succeed
academically, physically healthier,
emotionally healthier, less likely
to abuse drugs or alcohol, less likely to commit delinquent behaviors,
less likely to be a victim of
physical or sexual abuse, have a better relationship with their parents which
decreases their chances of
divorcing when they get married, less likely to become pregnant as a teenager,
or impregnate someone, less likely to be sexually active as teenagers, less
likely to contract STD's, and less likely to be raised in poverty. Women and men are healthier, wealthier, less
likely to be victims, less likely to attempt or commit suicide, have decreased
risk of drug and alcohol abuse, less likely to contract STD's, less likely to
remain or end up in poverty, have better relationships with their children, live
longer, have an increase in the stability of employment and higher wages, less
likely to commit violent crimes. Communities benefit as well: higher rates of
healthy citizens, higher rates of educated citizens, lower domestic violence
rates, lower crime statistics, lower teenage pregnancy rates, lower rates of
juvenile delinquency, higher rates of home ownership, lower rates of migration,
higher property values, and decreased need for social services. That is what communities look like that have
higher rates of in tact traditional families, no matter what the social
engineers would have you believe.
Abortion
does not just murder children—it also hurts all whom it touches. Women who have
abortions are 81 percent more likely to experience subsequent mental health
problems. Where is the media outrage on that information? That is not just true
because I said it. This is from Britain
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