The Things We Fear

A couple months ago I bought a book for my six year old son called Phobiapedia.  The book teaches and illustrates the various phobias humans struggle with like arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and acrophobia (fear of heights).  My son and I were both fascinated as we read together about koniophobia (fear of dust) and xanthopobia (the fear of the color yellow).  We then had a discussion about our own fears.  Kameron fears sleeping alone…I don't really think so, I think this is his way of trying to con me into staying longer after story time.  I shared with him my fear of bees after having attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets when I was about nine years old.

Our short study on fears caused me to think more broadly about how fear affects our society.  Many, many people are trapped in lives of fear.  We demonstrate our fear of terrorists by refusing to use the airlines or if we do fly, we are subjected to the humility of going through airport security where fear of terrorism has driven TSA officials to insanity.  They don't look for people, they look for things.  They search us for tooth picks and aerosol cans.  They their fearful  irrationality by frisking 90 year old women and strip searching 9 year old children. 

We are fearful of the criminal element in our society.  Some live behind doors that have five or six dead locks installed in them.  Gun sales are skyrocketing because people are feeling insecure.  Fear is driving us to arm ourselves.

We have become obsessed with our health or our lack thereof.  Millions are preoccupied by one diet after another and millions more spend most of their non-working hours in gymnasiums trying to defy the aging process and delay that which is certain for all, death.  I'm sure you know a few hypochondriacs in your circle.  Many are disillusioned by their fear of disease.  They seek treatment for a disease when they actually suffer from an anxiety disorder.  More than 50% of Americans are taking a drug to treat some chronic condition. (Medco Health Solutions)  Fear can cause us to become dysfunctional or non-functional. 

In a recent decade (1994-2005) the U.S. population increased 9% while the number of medical prescriptions increased 71%.  At a time when American scientists and physicians are making tremendous advances in medical knowledge and technology, in a time when we are learning the latest treatments that have made us to be some of the healthiest people in history, in an age when we are being educated about what is harmful and unhealthy, ironically, we are addicted to prescription drugs.  What part is fear playing in all of this?

Let us be reminded that all fear is not bad.  I want to feel fear when I am walking on the peak of the roof or when I come face to face with a rattle snake.  Fear is a protective mechanism that may very well save our lives many times over.

But I believe destructive fear is a controlling spirit released from hell by the Father of Lies to torment us.  There are no boundaries to what we can be fearful of.  We can even be fearful of fear itself.  This is called phobophobia.  We fear darkness, we fear pain, and we fear vomiting.  Some people walking on the earth today are fearful of looking up so they walk with their heads downward.  We fear germs, dirt and dentists.  The fear of making decision is called decidophobia.  Many suffer from snakophobia and I have taught many high school students who have suffered from testophobia.  Some of our church pews will be empty next Sunday because some people suffer from ecclesiophobia, the fear of church.

We are a culture saturated by fear.  Fear has become a slave master to some of us, controlling our every thought and action.  The spirit of fear is nothing new for there is nothing new under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 1:9)  John addressed the issue over 2,000 years ago when he wrote, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…"  (1 John 4:1)  We can conquer our fears by recognizing the source of all destructive fear.  It is Satan himself.  This is no threat to those who are Christians because John also said, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

Fear cannot be overcome with fear.  It must be overcome with boldness.  It may be necessary to courageously confront our enemy.  We must first realize that Satan is not a fictional character, he is real.  Christians discover fearlessness when they realize that Satan is a defeated foe.  Christ assured us of his defeat:  "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:15)

We need not be paralyzed by our fear "for the battle is the LORD's" (1 Sam. 17:47)  When fear creeps in to haunt us there is a place for you to run where you will find protection and security.  "The name of the Lord is a strong tower.  The righteous runs into it and is safe." (Prov. 18:10)

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Destroy The Fear In Your Life

          

 Life was good for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  It was a true paradise until Satan slithered into their lives.  They went into hiding after they had offended their Creator.  "Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you?"  Its not like God didn't know where they were, it was a preparation question by which God was about to reveal himself to them.  Adam replied, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."  Adam and Eve then revealed the sin in their hearts by participating in a blame game.

            Fear can be paralyzing.  The sound of God's movement in the garden was incapacitating.  It was heart stopping.  John Haggai said, "For many, fear has grown like a tree until it over shadows them from morning till night."  Fear is probably the most destructive force of mankind.  Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the sin of pride and then the assaulted them with fear. 

            Fear is a leading health problem among Americans.  Fear and depression are like destructive twin sisters.  They can spawn ulcers, heart problems, liver and kidney disease in their wake.  Fear and worry are probably responsible for more deaths than all the wars combined.  "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)  If fear doesn't come from God it must originate with Satan.  Satan unleashes fear upon us and then he "prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)  A.W. Tozer said, "Fear is of the flesh and panic is of the Devil." 

            I am a Kentucky basketball fan and I recently enjoyed watching Kentucky plow to a national championship.  I noticed their intensity increased dramatically as they neared the end of each game they played.  I think Satan's activity is increasing dramatically as the endgame draws near.  "But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!  He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."  (Revelation 12:12)

            There are numerous verses in the Bible that admonish us to fear God.  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Psalm 11:10)  There is not a single verse in the Bible that tells us to fear Satan.  When we have a reverential respect for the all-powerful God, our fear of Satan is erased like black marks on a dry erase board. 

            Fear is indelibly woven into the fabric of our culture.  We fear unemployment.  We fear poverty.  We fear an empty bank account.  We fear foreclosure.  Our anemic economy has generated a great fear that Medicare, Medicaid and our Social Security will one day be no longer available.  This spirit of fear is an evil spirit, it hounds us and torments us and it is born in hell.

            I was very discouraged when I looked at the bottom line on this year's tax return.   I owed the federal government a sizeable amount of money.  I owe money to the mortgage company but it doesn't give rise to any fear.  I owe money to the dentist, I owe money to the Medical Center but these debts stir in me no fear.  For some reason, owing money to the U.S. Government produced a dreadful fear in me.  I began to imagine people pulling up in my driveway in black limousines, jumping out in Colombo style overcoats to serve me papers with Barack Obama's name on them.  I painted a house during Spring Break to pay off our taxes and I'm relieved to say, "I don't owe the U.S. Government one red cent." 

            Ten years ago my wife and I left public schools to work in private Christian schools.  The move from public to private required we take a $20,000 to $30,000 combined pay cut.  We had no idea how we would pay our bills but we both felt strongly that God was calling us to teach in Christian schools where we could openly, daily proclaim the name of Christ.  I want to reveal, to the glory of God, that we have never missed a house payment, we have never missed a car payment and we've had more than enough food to eat since we decided to trust God for our needs.

            If God is asking you to do something but you just can't seem to crunch the numbers on it, don't be smothered by a spirit of fear.  I boldly and confidently write these words, "If you are doing the bidding of God who 'owns the cattle on a thousand hills', (Psalm 50:10) he will take care of you."

            Over a hundred years ago, while her husband was away for several weeks on a preaching assignment, Civilla Martin wrote these words: 

            "All you may need he will provide,

            God will take care of you;

            Nothing you ask will be denied,

            God will take care of you.

            No matter what may be the test,

            God will take care of you;

            Lean, weary one, upon His breast,

            God will take care of you."

            As a school teacher I really connected to a quote I read recently, "When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, remember, the teacher is always quiet during the test." 

            We often become arrogant about the things we have accumulated over the years.  We think we have earned those things.  We have what we have because God gave those things to us.  "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." (James 1:17)

            My brother, Dennis, has been a missionary to Japan for over thirty years.  He and his wife are packing their belongings and preparing to return to the states as I write these words.  They have experienced some severe health problems that forced them into early retirement from the mission field.  God spoke to Dennis' heart when he was but a teen-ager about dedicating his life to the Japanese people.  Dennis obediently served God for all those years, depending on God and the goodwill of others to support his ministry.

            I asked him the other day, "Dennis, what are you going to do now?  Your retirement plan is not enough to sustain you.  You are still buying a house.  Your wife has a mountain of medical bills to pay.  What are you going to do?"  His reply went something like this, "Kevin, God has taken care of us for over thirty years.  Do you think he will now forget about us now?"

            Then I began to consider why my brother was called of God to the mission field and I was not.  Perhaps it was because he was able to drown out his fears with faith in a trustworthy God.  While I was fearfully quizzing my brother concerning his next move, he was resting on the promises of a loving God.  There is no need to be fearful, was it not said of the Author of the Universe, the One who cannot lie or deceive, the One who has never broken a promise, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" ? (Philippians 4:9) 

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Watchman on the Wall (3): Awakening The Sleeping Church

John the Revelator warned the church at Laodicea, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  (Rev. 3:17)

While Christians in other parts of the world have been sharpened by much suffering and persecution, many Christians in America have been softened by lives full of comfort and ease.  Many devout Christians in other countries are willing to die for what they believe but here in America it’s hard to get people to even to live for what they believe.  Too many American churches are characterized by apathy and spiritual laziness.  “If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.” – (Ecc. 10:18)

As watchmen on the wall we must awaken those who are spiritually dead.  John used the word ‘wretched’ in his description of the church at Laodicea.  Is ‘wretched’ a word too strong to describe the church in America?  We are wretched because we have made acceptable what God has declared an abomination.  We are wretched because we have worshipped our own idols and we have twisted the word of God to suit ourselves.  We are wretched because we have been displeased with whom God says he is so we’ve created a God whose sovereignty is bound by his own love and who is incapable of demonstrating the wrath of his judgment.    

We have become enthralled by our own pleasure and we are obsessed by our own prosperity.  Many American churches have become shamefully man-centered.  When we ought to be solemnly enter the church to worship the great and mighty God in fear and trembling, the One who spoke us into existence and has the power to snuff our lives out like a candle, instead, we enter the church focused on ourselves.  The church has become like a psychic smorgasbord for those who are experiencing difficulty or for those who feel the need for more satisfaction in life.  We want recreation for our kids, we want financial and emotion counseling for ourselves and we want the services of the church to focus more on man-centered entertainment rather than God-centered worship.

God has said to us, “…I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)  But we have no interest in his plans for us.  We arrogantly submit our own agenda to God and expect him to accommodate us.  We have become a foolish and senseless people “who have eyes but do not see and who have ears but do not hear.”  (Jeremiah 5:21)

 

Death can come to a church in two ways.  It may simply cease to exist or it may die inwardly.  Many American churches are just empty shells, filled with spiritual zombies, walking dead men.  False teaching has crept into the church and smothered the truth.  Satan has perfected his deceptive skills.  Heresy comes in many ways.  It is often introduced by a big-name preacher whom the majority will follow like senseless sheep.  We must be awakened to the danger of ministers who are more focused on entertaining us rather than pointing us toward the Lamb that was slain to take away the sin of the world.  Paul gave Timothy a formula for a dying church:  “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

Many churches have spiritual life strangled from them because they have allowed immorality and materialism and worldliness to creep in like a slow- growing cancer.  The church is in deep trouble when more of its members are lusting after the flesh and after materialism rather than fostering a deep yearning for fellowship with the true God.

As watchman on the wall we must awaken a disillusioned church.  “Awake, awake!  Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger.”  (Isaiah 51:17) 

We have been drugged by an enemy who will steal away our souls if we don’t awaken.  We have been intoxicated by our own indifference.  When our pews are full of people who want to attend but don’t want to get involved we know it has become more about us than about God.  When we only pick up our Bibles on Sunday morning or when our only call to God is a 911 call then we have become apathetic about the most valuable thing anyone can experience on this earth;  a personal relationship with God Almighty!

What was God’s reaction to indifference in the church at Laodicea?  He said, because “you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am going to vomit you from my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16)  It is much less harmful for a church like that to cease to exist than to continue to spread a distorted gospel to a lifeless people. 

Our calling as watchmen on the wall is to bring sinful people to salvation through Jesus Christ.  We are to lovingly reach out to the lost.  Our first priority is to “open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. (Christ)”.  (Acts 26:18)

As watchmen we are too often hesitant to confront our culture.  We must do this, not in our own wisdom, but in the power of the word of God.  Watchmen are not glorified reformers of society.  Jesus didn’t come to start a social revolution.  He didn’t try to abolish the slavery that existed in his day.  He didn’t lead a march against Rome in protest of high taxes.  He didn’t campaign for the Democrat or Republican parties.  He never led a civil rights march.  His focus was not on this kingdom.  He came to awaken the sinful, sleeping hearts of men and women. 

As watchmen on the wall we must not lost ourselves in the task of trying to reform a sinful, earthly kingdom.  Many in our society believe the ultimate act of service to mankind is to plant another tree or save another whale.  This is but another deception.  The ultimate service any man can do for another is to point his darkened soul to the Light that can dispel all darkness.  The greatest service we can do for our fellow man is to love him with the love of Christ and invite him to live his eternity in the Kingdom of God. 

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

The Watchman on the Wall (2) - Three Lies Christians Are Being Taught

A watchman is someone who looks out for danger and sounds the alarm if he senses that a threat is approaching. 

When I was a small boy growing up in northwestern Pennsylvania, we didn't have an electrical alarm system in our rural home but that doesn't mean we weren't protected.  Our alarm system had a name.  It was Buster.  Buster was a large, full grown Collie and in all his years with us he never failed to warn us.  Buster once warned us of a bear roaming around in the ravine behind our home.  Buster provided security for my mother who was a nurse when she arrived home at 11:00 at night.  He was constantly on the lookout for danger and he never once failed to sound the alarm when a stranger approached.

Buster was a loner.  He didn't run with the neighborhood pack.  It's as if he knew he had a job and he was totally committed to doing that job well.  Those whom God has called to be watchmen often find themselves as loners.  They share an unpopular message with an unreceptive people.  God wants his people to be distinguished, he wants others to recognize a difference in those who call themselves Christians.

"Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." - 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.  For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities."  Revelation 18:4

We are to live in the world but we must allow the Spirit of God to distinguish us from the world.  Many modern Christians are more interested in blending than in distinguishing.  There is a deception common among Christians that says a Christian can act just like a non-Christian, they can use the same language, they can go to the same places and they can enjoy the same sins. 

Let me share with you three lies Christians are often taught:

a.   Christians are often taught  believe that prosperity is a fruit of the Spirit.

            If you have really given your heart to Jesus he will make you wealthy.  We are told that somewhere in the Bible Jesus said:  "If you believe in me:

•          You will be prosperous

•          You will be healthy

•          You will get a better job

•          You will find a spouse

•          You will be spared physical illness or pain.

There is no guarantee that God will bless you with any of these things. 

God never promised us a rose garden.  This health and wealth gospel is cotton candy theology that has replaced the real meat and potato gospel of Jesus Christ.  Christ never promised his disciples wealth and power.  He said,  "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)  Some ministers are more concerned about making people feel good so they will come back.  A real watchman on the wall will declare that Christ is the Messiah, he died on a cross, he arose from the dead.   "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) He came as a lamb to the slaughter so we might be saved and have a relationship with him.  A real watchman must say that when Jesus comes again, he will not come as a lamb, he will come on white steed with sword in his hand and he will administer a fiery judgment on all of the injustice and evil that reigns in this world.

           

b.   Christians are often taught that a solitary, simple prayer one time spoken is all that is necessary to get to heaven.

            Are you a Christian? The reply is often; "Yes, I walked the aisle when I was seven years old."  "Yes, I said the Sinner's Prayer at age ten".

             Jesus never taught such easy believism.  There was nothing easy about Christ's purchase of our salvation:  “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Is 53:5-6)

            Jesus was a watchman and his message was:  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  (Matthew 4:17)

            Jesus shared an unpopular message with an unreceptive people:  "But unless you repent, you too will all perish."  (Luke 13:3)

            Jesus said this, even though he knew it would hasten his own death, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except though Me."  (John 14:6)

            He didn't die to provide us an escape from all suffering.  He died so that we might draw on his grace when given the privilege of suffering with him.

            The true message of salvation is that the cleansing blood of Christ is transformative.  "…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  Becoming a Christian is not just saying a simple prayer and continuing in your old ways, rather, it is a radical transformation described by the watchman Paul who said, "…sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."  (Romans 6:14)

c.         Christians are often taught that a nation can be spiritually transformed through politics.  

            Christians often confuse the power and authority of American government with the power and authority of Christ.  We must not confuse the two kingdoms.  One kingdom is worldly and it will surely pass away.  The other kingdom is far more important because he who rules the eternal kingdom is Christ himself!  He is pure and incorruptible.  The government of that kingdom is "upon his shoulders and he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

            Jesus was not opposed to Christians influencing earthy governments.  He said we were to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's".   (Luke 20:25)  But let us not confuse the two kingdoms.  Because the world is corrupted by sin God will continue to work through those who "bear the sword" (Romans 13:4) 

            This truth is captured in the old Negro spiritual, Wayfaring Stranger;

            "I am a poor wayfaring stranger,

            While traveling through this world of woe.

            Yet there’s no sickness, toil nor danger

            In that bright world to which I go.

            I’m going there to see my Father;

            I’m going there no more to roam."

            Let us not confuse the temporary purpose of the American government with the eternal purpose of the kingdom of God.  Let us fight to make America a better country.  Let us be found on the front lines fighting for the lives of the unborn, for the sanctity of marriage and for the purity of our youth.  But let us not lose sight of the fact that as watchmen on the wall our primary responsibility is to point lost wanderers to the King of Kings!

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

America's Watchmen on the Wall

Ezekiel was 30 years old and living among the Israelites in Tel Aviv during the Babylonian captivity.  God called him to preach, to be a prophet, to share a message.  "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them." - Ez. 3:4 

God was telling Ezekiel, "This isn't going to be easy."  "…the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted."  (Ez. 3:7)  Ezekiel was so overwhelmed at the calling of God he went to Tel Aviv and sat among his people for seven days (Ez 3:15), trying to comprehend what had just happened to him.

During those seven days, Ezekiel was bitter and in much turmoil.  He was being asked to share an unpopular message with an unreceptive people.  He was feeling trepidation, but God's callings are without repentance.  (Romans 11:29)  So, he set out to obey God. 

"At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, I have made  you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.  When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.  But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself."   (Ezekiel 3:16-19)

What did it mean to be a "watchman"?  A watchman was a sentry, someone who would stand on the wall of the city, looking for any danger or threat.  If the watchman saw an invading army on the horizon or if he observed a riot or a fire within the city, his job was to sound the alarm, to warn the people.

We have an awesome responsibility to be watchmen for America.  We have an unpopular message that God wants us to deliver to an unreceptive people.  For those whom deny the existence of God, we declare the reality of a living God.  To those who would deny that Christ is the Son of God, we declare him to be not just the Son of God, he is the great 'I am', he is one with God Almighty.  For those who want to live in their sin and reject the salvation of God, we declare to them that he sacrificed his very son that we might be saved to the uttermost. 

As servants of the living God, as watchmen on the wall, what message does God want us to share with America today?

We as watchmen on the wall need to fight for the soul of America.

America auctioned its soul in back in the 1960's. 

Napoleon said, "In order to establish the revolution you have to destroy the past."

Bob Dylan wrote a song that captured the sense of revolution:  The Times They Are A  Changin'

"Come Senators, Congressman,

Please head the call.

Don't block the doorway,

Don't block up the hall.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

Don't criticize what you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command

Your old road is rapidly agin'

Please get out of the new one,

If you can't lend a hand

For your times, they are a changin'.

The cultural or sexual revolution of the '60's changed our lives forever. 

Those still traveling the old road are despised and rejected.  The rebels have built a new road thereby attempting to change America's destiny:

·        It is no longer about us, it is now about 'me'.

·        We are no longer citizens of America, we are citizens of the world

·        Sex is no longer pro-creational, it is now simply recreational.

·        Marriage has been replaced by cohabitation

·        Faithfulness in marriage is scorned and divorce is expected

·        We hand our children condoms rather than teach them abstinence.

·        Woman as bread-winners are admired while women as mothers are scorned.

·        Gay marriage is morally accepted while sodomy is not longer a moral outrage.

·        The people no longer determine their own government, the courts now decide how we are governed.

·        Free speech is now replaced by politically correct speech and self-appointed speech police enforce their unwritten laws.

·        The irrational has replaced common sense.

·        Animals are given more rights than humans, especially the unborn.

·        Eastern religion is replacing western spirituality

·        The true and only God is replaced by the Force.

·        "I am the way" has been replaced by "There are many ways to heaven"

·        Easter has been replaced by Earth Day

·        Merry Christmas has been replaced by Happy Holidays

·    

It took 2,000 years to mold the building blocks that would be used to establish a great country like America.  It only took one generation for those blocks to crumble to dust.

As watchmen on a crumbling wall we must rise up like our forefathers and with similar courage and boldness we must declare that God is still sovereign, he still hears the voices of millions of Christians living in a pagan culture.  His power has not been diminished one iota!  We are blessed if he chooses to smile on us and we are cursed if he chooses to frown on our rebellion.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Choose Life

There has been good news recently regarding abortions in America.  Surgical abortions have slightly decreased in number since the 1990’s.  The bad news is that the morning-after pill is now used five times more frequently than surgical abortion.  The general consensus is that a morning after pill taken 24 hours after intercourse is effective in preventing a pregnancy.  A newer ‘contraceptive’, ellaOne, is affective up to five days after intercourse.  (ABC News Medical Unit, 2/1/2010)  If this pill is affective for five days, is it not preventing an already fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus?  For those who believe life begins at conception, this is not contraception, this is abortion.

Americans have committed over 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade in 1973.  Many believe strongly that abortion is the murder of innocent children, deprived of their unalienable right to pursue life, liberty and happiness in this life. It is a grievous fact that 1/6 of the U.S. population has fallen victim to mass murder.

The greatest violator in this murder of innocents is Planned Parenthood.  When Americans want to understand their roots, they study the hearts and minds of the founding fathers.  When people are curious about Christianity, they study the life of its founder, Jesus Christ.  Likewise, if one wants to understand Planned Parenthood, it is necessary to study the life and ideas of its originator.

Margaret Sanger established Planned Parenthood for the purpose of promoting birth control as a tool for “racial purification".  Both Sanger and Adolph Hitler embraced Darwin’s theory of ‘survival of the fittest’ and used eugenics to apply his theory to the human race.  Sanger believed birth control would produce a “race of thoroughbreds”.  (The Birth Control Review, 1921, p.2)

The founder of Planned Parenthood addressed blacks and poor immigrants in Pivot of Civilization, referring to them as “…human weeds,’ ‘reckless breeders’, ‘spawning…human beings who never should have been born.’  She believed that couples should have to submit an application to have a child.  Poverty could only be eliminated by reducing or eliminating reproduction among the poor.  “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it,” Sanger concluded.  (Women and the New Race, Eugenics Publication Co., 1920, 1923)

Sanger’s evil goal was embodied in her Negro Project.   “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.”  (Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon)  Margaret Sanger not only blasphemed the sanctity of life but also the sanctity of marriage.  “The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order.” (Birth Control in America, p. 23)  Sanger's belief is contrary to the teaching of God’s Word, "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4)

Would someone in leadership at Planned Parenthood please explain to the American people when and how Sanger’s Negro Project was abandoned? Can't you see a black man walking up out of a typical,  American inner city crying for an answer to his question, “Why are all these abortion clinics in my neighborhood but they are not in your neighborhoods?”

Atlanta’s Center for Disease Control released these alarming statistics.  Since 1973, the third leading cause of death among African Americans was cancer (1,638,350).  The second leading cause of death was heart disease (2,266,789).  And the number one leading cause of death was abortion (13 million).  Black women comprise 13% of the U.S. female population (age 15-44) but they have undergone 36% of all U.S. abortions.  Black women are more than five times more likely than white women to have an abortion (Alan Guttmacher Institute).  No wonder Clenard Childress says,  “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb.”

Were Margaret Sanger alive today she  would be very pleased to know that some have estimated nearly 16 million black women have had abortions since 1973.  On average, 1,876 black babies are aborted every day in the United States.  “Since the number of current living blacks (in the U.S.) is 36 million, the missing 16 million represents an enormous loss, for without abortion, America’s Black community would now number 52 million persons.  It would be 36 % larger than it is.  Abortion has swept through the Black community like a scythe, cutting down every fourth member.”  (Michael Novak, noted theologian and author quoted by Mychal Massie in his article Congressional Black Caucus Sold Their Souls)

The unborn Black babies had an advocate in Jesse Jackson back in the 1970’s during the Roe v. Wade debate.  “If it is growing, it is living,” Jackson said,  “…What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person, and what kind of a society will we have 20 years hence if life can be taken so casually?”  But by 1988, perhaps after the checks started coming in from Planned Parenthood, Reverend Jackson was no longer an advocate for life, “It is not right to impose private, religious and moral positions on public policy,” he declared.

Do thirteen million murders constitute genocide?  The U.S. Supreme Court approved a social system set up by the U.S .Government that is doubtlessly destroying families.  What the government funds the government controls.   Ironically, poverty has only increased since LBJ declared his war on poverty back in the 1960's.  Billions of dollars have been delegated to social welfare programs enabling the government control over the masses, a fact supported by Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams, two black philosophers and professors.  Both declare that blacks will experience genocide if they cannot be freed from the welfare plantations the government has put them on. 

Is it fair to call it genocide?  The decision to abort still rests with the young black females who have been taught a worldview that diminishes the value of human life.  Sadly, many have embraced the idea that abortion is a viable way to avoid the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy and many have never read the words in Deuteronomy 30:19  “…I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”

Profiling: We All Do It

Profiling?  We all do it.  Don't deny it.  If you are breathing, you are profiling.  No one would deny that profiling can sometimes be very hurtful.  It is unpleasant when you are the book that is being judged by its cover.  It is certainly wrong to assign guilt based on color or certain character traits before gathering facts and  providing for a fair trial.  We tend to think of profiling in racial terms only.  We also profile by gender.  We profile by faith.  We profile by age.  We profile geographically, philosophically, economically and socially. 

Profiling is the process of using specific characteristics or traits to make a generalization about a person.  When I was dating the woman who would become my wife I did some serious profiling.  There were certain traits and characteristics I was looking for.  She was also profiling me.  When my wife and I started looking for a church for our family to attend we did some serious profiling.  We were looking for certain theological and ministerial traits that we could agree with and devote to.

Most profiling is based on the analysis of statistics.  Proponents of school choice profile certain schools by looking at graduation rates, attendance rates and test scores.  If the school is performing poorly they want to be free to choose another school where there children may have a greater opportunity to be successful. 

When my six year old son is old enough to date, his mother and I will be doing some serious profiling.  We will want to know what traits characterize the girl who has captured his interest.  We will expect her to have some spiritual qualities, some intellectual capabilities and some domestic talents and I would expect her father and mother to profile my son in the same way we will be profiling their daughter. 

Not too many years ago, it was not so uncommon for fathers here in the south to sit on their porches and profile, not so subtly, the young men who wanted to date their daughters.  They did that forcefully with a certain instrument in their hands.  If the boy of interest were a thug, a useless, lazy slug who had no direction or ambition in your life, if he was self-obsessed and out to exploit the daughter simply to satisfy his own sexual lusts…he was quickly profiled and told to get lost, emphatically.

When my wife and I adopted our son six years ago, we were asked to create a profile of ourselves, our family and our home.  We put together the best project we could come up with.  We were told by our case-worker that we should downplay the "Christian thing".  "Mothers, especially young mothers, are put off if it appears you are too religious."  Shannon and I discussed that and decided we wanted to be totally honest about who we are.  We made religion a central part of our profile because it is a central part of our home.  A few months later we got a call from Lacey, the birth mother of our son, Kameron.  She profiled us.  She chose us to be the parents of her son because of what she saw in our profile.

Again, profiles are based on statistics.  We profile certain neighborhoods in our city.  There are places we won't go as a family or when we are alone because the crime-rate in these specific places deemed them unsafe.  It is not because they are white, black, Hispanic or Asian…it is because the statistics show they are dangerous places. 

Crime investigators have been extremely successful in using psychological profiling to assist them in tracking down criminals.  They have discovered that many people who have been abused as children display abnormal behaviors as adults.  It they were involved in petty crimes in their youth they are more likely to be participate in serious crimes as adults. 

Local pastors in my community have learned to profile couples who seem to be safe from divorce.  When a couple comes in for counseling they ask them the following questions:  Do you attend church together?  Do you read your Bibles together?  Do you pray together?  If the answers to these questions are affirmative the chance this couple will divorce is nearly non-existent.

As a teacher I often profile my students.  Years of experience have taught me to look for certain traits that will indicate whether my students will experience academic success or not.  A twenty-year veteran teacher can tell after just the first few days of school which students will excel and which students will struggle academically. 

As a parent, I profile what television programs my six-year old can watch.  I profile what music he can listen to and what computer games he can play.  He is not always excited about my choices but until I consider him old enough to make those decisions for himself, I am the profiler-in-chief. 

We are so opposed to profiling here in the United States that the system we have developed to provide security from terrorists is insanely inefficient and offensive.  Trained agents groin grope and strip search ninety year old grandmothers and nine year old children.  They look for things instead of profile people.  Why have the Israelis been so successful in preventing terrorist attacks on their airlines?  They unabashedly profile those boarding Israeli flights.  They are highly trained and if you fit a certain profile you are pulled aside for some rapid fire questioning that is designed to make it impossible for you to pull the wool over their eyes.

Americans are accustomed to the inconsistent reaction to profiling in America.  The recent incident involving Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman perfectly demonstrates our inconsistencies.  Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan were all very eager to ride their steeds into Sanford, Florida, to save the day.  They framed this crime as white on black even though Zimmerman is Hispanic.  They successfully stirred up racial animosity in the community while blatantly ignoring the innumerable black on black crimes that are common throughout the nation.  It is statistically proven that black on black crimes are much more common than white on black crimes or black on white crimes.  Why is this acceptable?  Why do these black leaders turn their heads on crime in black neighborhoods as if those living there are of less value than those living in a gated community?

Profiling is not always a bad thing.  Profiling is not always racism.  When one properly interprets the statistics, profiling can be a life-saving procedure and it can improve the security of our communities and our nation.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.