Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

PLANNED UN-PARENTHOOD

“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” Proverbs 6:17-19.

Much has come to light in recent times that most every thinking person has known all along. It is sickening details of the business of Planned Parenthood which more properly should be called “Planned Un-parenthood.” As the grisly details are forced upon the general public via various media, those who value life are made sick to their stomach. But what did folks think was going on inside abortion clinics anyway, a picnic! Think about it!

To abort a human life growing in the womb is to forcibly stop the progress of that life, in other words, to kill him/her. That is accomplished in the most brutal fashion, and it is being done by the thousands each year in this country. Now it has escalated to the business of selling the body parts for stem cell value to the highest bidder. How could the children of the greatest generation of Americans plunge into the cesspool of the sorriest generation of selfish murderers? It has to do with abandonment of Judeo-Christian morals in preference for the ROOT of all evil. It is a stark reminder that Satan is still the god of this present, evil world.

The sinking of America into the quicksand of sin is part of a master plan that is far from simple. Some of its multiple facets may be easily identified by thinking people of faith. Following WWII, the industrial age hit big time. The offering was material progress for all. The base selfishness of the flesh wants all the luxury available, and it is willing to sell its soul to have it. The LOVE of materialism, equated to money, quickly took ascendency over spiritual values. Soon, it took both parents working outside the home to fulfill desires. Children which would have been better off left to themselves were abandoned to the anti-god forces of the world that taught them evolution, mocked spiritual things, and instilled in them via media that the really smart persons spent life in pursuit of material fulfillment. Moreover, the strongest God-given urge to mankind, that of reproduction was not subjugated to Christian morals, but to “If it feels good, do it! It can’t be wrong if it feels so right!” But the initiation of innocent, precious life became a major block to the pursuit of material well-being and sensual gratification, and it had to be eliminated even if it meant killing him/her. So the powers that be sought ways to ease the conscience of those so selfishly willing to do anything to not take responsibility for their own immorality. They changed the whole concept from murder to a “right” to control one’s own body. They called it simply clinical abortion. Tax dollars began to pour into the slaughter clinics via the rulings of the court system and evil lobbying efforts on a congress of base men, bent on protecting their own material gain and positions of power. It was not hard to do, but it is not over, yet.

So what about the ultimate end of this whole sordid affair? Millions of eternal lives are with Jesus whose parent (s) preferred murder to allowing them enjoyment in the banquet of life. Their dastardly action did not un-parent them, rather it made them the parent of a dead child whom they will meet in judgment when they stand before the Judge of all men. What then!?

FOR THOUGHT: “Selah!” (Just stop and think about this)!

PLEASE DON’T SHOOT ME!

As a child during WWII, living on the backside of Fort Chaffee, armored vehicles, tanks, convoy vehicles, bivouacking soldiers, guns, ammunition, and gunfire were all too familiar. So it happened. In the very first few days of school I was all decked out in my favorite, green, homemade overalls when, unknown to me, a photographer set up in a classroom to take individual pictures. This would be my first. However they used unfortunate terminology. They said, “We are going to shoot you!” Oh, I cried and tried to get away. The big, old camera was a giant, long box sitting on a tripod with a huge black cloth hiding the cameraman. The only thing I had ever seen resembling that was a machine gun. It took the photographer and two teachers to convince me I was not going to get shot, and to restore to me some semblance of order. Even then they had to demonstrate. It was a fearful time for many of us.

Even so, many unlearned Christians live in fear as well. They fear that something bad is going to happen to them when mention is made of the judgment as in Hebrews 9:27. But for God’s people, the day of judgment is not one to recoil from, but one to look forward to, and to rejoice over. If some of God’s people continue to live fearfully, even so carefully that they do not do many wrong things, they may still know the sorrow of losing reward having neglected so many right things; consequently, be saved so as by fire, I Cor. 3:9-15. But for those who press forward in life in accord with God’s marvelous Word, the judgment seat of Christ will be a time of unimaginable reward and of great goodness.

If I had not been persuaded that the big box sitting on a tripod was a good thing, I would not have my first grade picture, which, by the way, has provided more than its share of chuckles as it brings all those memories into focus. I remain glad that what appeared to be bad for me was really good for me! Say, does that make Romans 8:28 come to mind? “For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God: to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

FOR THOUGHT: Do you know that the Bible tells us that the goodness of God leads us to repentance? Repentance (turning away) from sin is acknowledging sin and evil in life. Do you see why some are reluctant to yield to this activity? Do you understand what Satan means to be your ultimate destruction, God convicts one of, and brings the repentant to goodness and life? Have you faced what is wrong in your life and repented of it?