'Pastor' Who Says He is Pro-Choice Rather Than Pro-Life Gets a Huge Backlash

Georgia minister and U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock sparked a cultural and social media debate this week about Christianity and the unborn when he called himself a “pro-choice pastor” and said he will fight to keep abortion legal.

Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, is the Democratic candidate in the Jan. 5 runoff against U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican.

“I’m a pro-choice pastor, and I believe that a hospital room is way too small for a woman, her doctor, and the United States government,” Warnock wrote in a social media post for Facebook and Twitter.

He also wrote on both platforms, “I will always fight for reproductive justice.”

The posts launched an impassioned debate on Facebook and Twitter about religion and abortion.

Lila Rose, president of the pro-life organization Live Action, quoted one of his posts and tweeted, “Murdering a child is the antithesis of justice. How dare you claim the name of Christ while you advocate for the ‘right’ to slaughter His children, made in His image. Your words are Satanic.”

Christian singer Danny Gokey tweeted in response to Warnock, “Killing boys & girls in the womb is not a brave or heroic act like the left loves to portray. Everyone of us needed someone to fend & fight for us when we couldn’t defend ourselves. Most confusingly – abortion has murdered millions of woman & blacks – The ones they say they fight for.”

Benjamin Watson, a pro-life advocate and a former NFL player, tweeted, “Pastor, Equal access to kill a son or daughter is NOT justice. JUSTICE is the equitable distribution of punishment AND protection. JUSTICE is rooted in the dignity of every human endowed by their Creator. One cannot truly fight for JUSTICE while simultaneously denying it.”

Loeffler, who is pro-life, retweeted Watson’s tweet. Loeffler wrote in her own tweet, “Your version of ‘justice’ is using the Bible to justify killing innocent babies. My version of justice is protecting innocent life and the most vulnerable among us.”

Some, though, supported Warnock’s comments.

“I am an Episcopalian and my spouse is an Episcopal priest,” one person tweeted. “We stand with you and are supporting your campaign with both prayer and funds. God bless you!”

It wasn’t the first time Warnock implied the Bible supports abortion. In August, he was asked by a radio host how the pro-choice views of the Democrat Party align with his faith.

“I believe unequivocally in a woman's right to choose, and that the decision is something that we don't want government engaged in – that's between her and her doctor and her minister,” Warnock answered. “... “I've been focused on women's health, women's choice, reproductive justice. That is consistent with my view as a Christian minister. And I will fight for it.”

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/pastor-says-he-is-pro-choice-rather-than-pro-life.html

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Major LGBT Group Implore Biden to Withdraw Accreditation of Christian Schools and Colleges

The nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group is urging the future Biden administration to help pull the accreditation of Christian colleges and schools if they don't have a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Human Rights Campaign posted its goals for the Biden administration in a Nov. 11 document, Blueprint for Positive Change. The 22-page brief includes dozens of objectives for the Biden White House, but its targeting of Christian institutions would have a major impact on religious schools.

Under a current law known as the Higher Education Opportunity Act, accrediting agencies are told to ensure their standards “respect the stated mission of the institution of higher education,” including a school’s “religious” mission.

HRC, in its blueprint, says the language “could be interpreted to require accrediting bodies to accredit religious institutions that discriminate or that do not meet science-based curricula standards.”

The Department of Education, HRC says in its blueprint, “should issue a regulation clarifying that this provision … does not require the accreditation of religious institutions that do not meet neutral accreditation standards including nondiscrimination policies and scientific curriculum requirements.”

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, calls such a recommendation “sinister.”

“I’ve not seen any document like this before – the Human Rights Campaign is effectively calling for religious colleges and schools to be coerced into the sexual revolution or stripped of accreditation,” Mohler said this week in a column and on his Briefing podcast. “... In terms of accreditation, that is an atomic bomb.

“In clear text, for all the world to see, the Human Rights Campaign summons the Biden administration to deny accreditation – or, at the very least, to facilitate the denial of accreditation – to Christian institutions, Christian colleges and universities, and, for that matter, any other religious institution or school that does not meet the demands of the LGBTQ orthodoxy. This would mean abandoning biblical standards for teaching, hiring, admissions, housing, and student life. It would mean that Christian schools are no longer Christian.”

Mohler called it an “open threat to the ability of Christian colleges and schools to operate by Christian conviction.”

“This is an outright attempt to eliminate religious freedom for Christian schools – or for any religious school that refuses to bow to the moral revolutionaries at the Human Rights Campaign,” he said. “... This is an undisguised attempt to shut down any semblance of a Christian college or university that would possess the audacity to operate from a Christian worldview.”

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/major-lgbt-group-want-biden-to-disaccredit-christian-schools-and-colleges.html

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Iranian Christian Convert Serving Jail Term Gets 80 Lashes for Taking Holy Communion Wine

An Iranian Christian convert, who is serving a six-year prison sentence, has received 80 lashes for drinking communion wine. He is the second convert to receive such a punishment in just over a month.

Article 18, a London-based nonprofit that exposes abuses against Christians in Muslim-majority Iran, reports that Zaman Fadaee (who goes by the name Saheb) was flogged on Sunday in connection to a 2016 conviction for drinking wine as part of communion.

In Iran, it is illegal for Muslims to drink alcohol but the practice is permitted for religious minorities. However, advocates warn that Iran does not recognize former Muslim converts as Christian.

Fadaee is serving a six-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison for the charge of organizing house churches and “promoting ‘Zionist’ Christianity,” according to Article 18.

The converts were each initially given 10-year prison sentences in 2017, which they began serving in 2018. But during a retrial earlier this year, their sentences were reduced.

While Fadaee and Nadarkhani’s sentences were reduced to six years in prison with two years of internal exile, Omidi’s sentence was reduced to two years. He was released from prison in August and began his two years of internal exile a month later.

Mossayebzadeh was also sentenced to 80 lashes. But Article 18 reports that he has not been summoned yet to receive the lashes.

“It had been assumed that both Saheb and Yasser would be flogged after their release from prison, as happened in Youhan’s case,” the Article 18 report states. “However, Saheb was summoned to the Shahid Moghadas Revolutionary Court next to Evin Prison yesterday, and told his sentence must be carried out then and there.”

News of Fadaee’s flogging was condemned by State Department official Gabriel Noronha.

“Now hearing from @articleeighteen that another Iranian Christian has been lashed 80 times for drinking communion wine — and is serving 6 years in prison for organizing house churches,” Noronha tweeted. “ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic Republic of Iran are birds of the same radical feather.”

In October, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus condemned the reported flogging of Omidi.

“Deeply disturbed by reports Iran lashed Mohammad Reza Omidi 80 times for drinking communion wine,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “He already served two years in prison for belonging to a house church. We condemn these unjust punishments and urge Iran to allow all Iranians the freedom to practice their beliefs.”

The U.S. government and international human rights activists have often criticized the Iranian government over human rights abuses against religious minorities. Governed by a theocratic regime and Islamic law, Iran is listed by the State Department as a “country of particular concern” for tolerating or engaging in systemic violations of religious freedom.

Open Doors USA, a persecution watchdog group that monitors human rights abuses in over 60 countries, ranks Iran as the ninth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution.

Among many restrictions on the Christian community, the government prohibits church services from being conducted in the Farsi language. The government also bans Muslims from leaving Islam.

Christian converts who participate in house churches do so in fear that they could be arrested for doing so.

During the 2020 reporting period — Nov. 1, 2018, to Oct. 31, 2019 — Open Doors reports that at least 169 Christians were arrested in Iran.

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/iranian-christian-convert-serving-6-year-jail-term-gets-80-lashes-for-taking-holy-communion.html

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The Lord’s Prayer by a Football Coach Sparks Complaint from Atheist Group

A tweet showing a football coach leading his team in the Lord’s Prayer has sparked a letter of complaint from a national atheist group.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation mailed a letter Oct. 30 to the Fannin County School superintendent after Fannin County’s football coach, Chad Cheatham, was seen on social media standing in the middle of his players as the group quickly recited the Lord’s Prayer. The 12-second prayer took place after his post-game speech and after Fannin County defeated Pepperell to remain unbeaten.

Cheatham that night posted the same video on his own Twitter account, writing, “We battle on and off the field! There is so much adversity in today’s world! We all feel the pressure and anxiety! We have to quiet the noise! Stay focused on the vision and mission! Love to All!”

But the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which represents atheists, agnostics and skeptics, said in its letter that the prayer is unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent. The letter cited the social media post.

“It is illegal for public school athletic coaches to lead their teams in prayer. The Supreme Court has continually struck down school-sponsored prayer in public schools,” the letter said. “... We ask that the District commence an investigation into the complaint alleged and take immediate action to stop any and all school-sponsored prayers occurring within any District athletic programs. Please inform us in writing of the steps you are taking to remedy this serious and flagrant violation of the First Amendment.”

On Nov. 3, a law firm representing the school district responded to the Freedom From Religion Foundation and said the complaint had been addressed.

“The Superintendent has met with the high school principal, and a plan is in progress to meet with all coaches this week to discuss issues related to the First Amendment, including the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause,” the letter said. “The District is confident that all of its schools make good faith efforts to fully comply with the requirements of the Constitution and protect the rights of all parties.”

The U.S. Supreme Court most recently issued a ruling on school prayer in 2000, when it struck down a Texas school’s policy that allowed student-led, student-initiated prayer over the public address system at football games. The decision was 6-3. Since then, seven of the nine justices have either retired or died. It is not known how the current court – which is more conservative than the one in 2000 – would rule on such a case.

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/the-Lords-prayer-sparks-complaint-from-atheist-group.html

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Finding the Courage to Remain Steadfast in One's Beliefs

The governor of Mississippi made a remarkable statement on his Facebook page this week. Tate Reeves wrote: “It is fair to say that this last week and a half has been—personally for me—the most difficult of 2020—a year we can all agree has by its very nature been tough on all of us.”

He explains: “My two oldest girls have been by themselves in self-isolation since the Wednesday after Halloween. My youngest tested positive (along with many of her precious friends and classmates).” His family’s difficulties, along with all that he faces as a governor in these hard days, have obviously been painful for him.

As a result, he admits, “I wanted to feel sorry for myself. I wanted to focus on the challenges. Honestly, I wanted to focus on all of the negatives. But then I prayed.”

When he did, he shared, “God put the book of Isaiah on my heart. Specifically, Isaiah 41:10—’Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'”

As a result, Gov. Reeves wrote, “We are going to get through these tough times. We are going to persevere. We are going to come out even stronger on the other side. Why? Because God is with us and because God is our ‘strength and refuge’ (Psalm 46).”

I am grateful to live in a nation where the governor of a state has the freedom to express his personal faith so powerfully and persuasively. And I pray for the courage to do the same, despite the growing chorus of opposition to such freedom today.

HAMLET'S MISGUIDED MOTTO

Yesterday we focused on the escalating threats to religious liberty in a culture where so many consider biblical morality to be bigoted discrimination. Today, let’s ask: Why is this such an issue in our day? Biblical truth with regard to abortion, homosexuality, and marriage has not changed. What has?

In what could be the motto for our day, Hamlet claimed, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” For decades now, we have been taught that “truth” is the result of our subjective interpretation of our subjective experiences. Your mind processes your senses differently than my mind processes mine. As a result, there can be no such thing as objective truth, only “your” truth and “my” truth.

The fallacy of this reasoning becomes apparent the moment we recognize that those who reject absolute truth do so absolutely. “There can be no such thing as objective truth, and we’re sure of it,” is their claim. It also fails the practical test: If all truth is personal and subjective, what objective basis do we have for rejecting al Qaeda’s version of 9/11 or Hitler’s beliefs regarding the Jews?

Nonetheless, it is conventional wisdom today that says because truth is personal and subjective, all truth claims must be tolerated without judgment. This is the approach our culture takes to abortion, homosexual acts, marriage, and other divisive moral issues. It’s commonplace to hear someone say, “I would never have an abortion, but it’s not my place to tell others what to do with their bodies.” Or “I would never marry someone of my sex, but I have no right to tell others who they can love.”

OPPOSING THE WORSHIP OF MOLECH

If you and I reject these claims on religious grounds, our religion is branded by definition as discriminatory and bigoted.

It’s important to note that most evangelical Christians would agree if the issues in question were different. I would never countenance the claim that the Bible justifies racial prejudice or forbids interracial marriage. I would obviously oppose someone who champions child sacrifice to Molech, the deity worshipped in this horrific way by the ancient Canaanites. Or a Jehovah’s Witness physician who refused to give my wife a blood transfusion on religious grounds.

This is how many feel about evangelicals who oppose abortion and same-sex marriage today. As a result, we can expect battles with regard to religious freedom to continue and even escalate in coming years.

The reason this is especially challenging in the United States goes back to the First Amendment of our Constitution, which states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion [the “establishment clause”] or prohibiting the free exercise [the “free exercise clause”] thereof.”

An article in NPR raises the foundational questions being asked today: Does the free exercise clause mean that believers can act on their religious objections to abortion, same-sex marriage, and accommodation policies for transgender persons? Or does the establishment clause mean that religion-based arguments should not be used to justify so-called discrimination or the denial of civil rights and basic human services? (For more, see my latest video, “What does the Bible say about freedom?“)

"HE MAKES ME TREAD ON MY HIGH PLACES"

We can expect this issue to be litigated in the courts on a case-by-case basis for years. My focus today is more personal: How can you and I find the courage to testify publicly to our faith in our Lord despite the opposition of our culture?

Habakkuk was God’s prophet in a day when “the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted” (Habakkuk 1:4).

Nonetheless, he foresaw a day when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (2:14).

And he could close his book with one of my favorite faith statements: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (3:17–18).

As a result, Habakkuk could testify, “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places” (v. 19).

Can you say the same today?

Will you?

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/the-courage-to-stand-fast-for-ones-beliefs.html

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Evangelicals and Muslims Collaborate to Fight Religious Extremism

Last November, when the General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) took Sunday off for worship and relaxation near Jakarta, Indonesia, a group of top leaders did something different. We got in a van and traveled to the offices of an Indonesian Muslim youth organization.

There we spent several hours in stimulating conversation with a group of Muslim intellectuals. Afterwards, at dinner, we were joined by Indonesia’s ambassador to the United States.

Why would WEA leaders pay so much attention to a group of Indonesian Muslims? And why would our hosts and even a high government official be so interested in welcoming us? Two reasons.

First, both we and our Muslim counterparts are idealists. We share a vision of a world in which people are free to choose their religious belief without risking their lives.

And second, we think a high-level alliance between one of the world’s largest evangelical organizations and one of the world’s largest Muslim organizations can uniquely move humanity in that direction.

Not just any Muslims

Our conversation partners were not just any Muslims. The most prominent figure among our hosts was Yahya Cholil Staquf (Pak Yahya), who served 20 years ago as press secretary to Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid. Pak Yahya is now the general secretary of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a 94-year-old Muslim organization that claims 90 million adherents worldwide.

NU formed as a reaction to the rising influence of Wahhabism, the more puritanical version of Islam that had come to dominate what is now Saudi Arabia. Many Indonesian Islamic leaders received training in Saudi territory, so Wahhabi repression and persecution of more broad-minded Muslims had a direct effect on them.

Over decades of seeking to counter Islamic extremism in Indonesia, NU leaders realized that to achieve their goals, they had to directly challenge the radical versions of Arab Islam. As Pak Yahya puts it, “Whenever we defeat the threat in Indonesia, they get outside reinforcements.

Over the past five years, NU leaders have crafted a series of documents of great intellectual depth that challenge, from a well-established Muslim perspective, the tenets of Islamic extremism. They contend that from its founding up to the 15th century, Islam evolved to deal with constantly shifting cultural circumstances through ijtihad, or independent legal reasoning, but that the faith then became ossified and resistant to change.

This is why, as their 2018 Nusantara Manifesto states, “A wide discrepancy now exists between the structure of Islamic orthodoxy and the context of Muslims’ actual (lived) reality.” Specifically, Islamists in many countries are trying to restore a caliphate, exterminate “infidels”—including followers of less extreme versions of Islam—and impose sharia law on a globalized, pluralistic world.

In contrast, NU leaders’ vision of “Humanitarian Islam” proposes a clear distinction between eternal or universal religious norms and contingent, temporary norms. In their view, the obligation to show universal love and compassion is unchanging; the obligation to compel obedience to Islam by military force or to execute apostates is contingent and no longer relevant to the modern context. (It’s a parallel to Christians’ belief that the Ten Commandments are universal but Old Testament penal law no longer applies.)

If you’ve never heard of NU, you should read Christianity Today more closely. This magazine reported on Pak Yahya’s meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in May 2018, after which Pence promptly tweeted a photo and the message, “Trump’s admin stands with NU in its fight for religious freedom and against jihad.”

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/evangelicals-and-muslims-partner-to-fight-religious-extremism.html

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There is No Weakness in Forgiving Your Oppressor

I just read the controversial column penned by well-loved American syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts entitled, "America repeatedly sold out blacks to appease whites."

I read this column as a black man and a black father while visions of George Floyd crying out for his mama and a disfigured corpse of Emmett Till, lying still in his casket, dance around in my head.

Every bone in my body, every vessel in my heart, every part of my – soul cry out to endorse everything I have just read.

I thoroughly understand it is beyond human capability to forgive people who have committed egregious acts against you, who also engaged in a protracted effort to deny your basic humanity. They were people who questioned your legitimacy to occupy or aspire to certain offices. We acutely remember the long standing "birtherism" claims. Indeed some still hold on to that long ago debunked belief.

I am asking myself, are they deserving of such a generous, altruistic gesture? History has shown us that we – the victims – are always being asked to give way and extend the hand of compassion, while those now on the wrong side of the equation never exhibit the same kindness when they are on top.

It is so natural, so human, so reasonable, so deliciously tempting to return back in spades that which you received.

Indeed that is the attitude of some today.

They firmly believe in an eye for an eye and that people who take it on the chin without fighting back are losers and suckers.

To reach out and forgive an oppressor is a stupid, unreasonable idea reserved for weak people.

They fully subscribe to the notion, "never apologize, it is a sign of weakness."

Oh! how I yearn to say, "Yes, I agree, that is the right thing to do."

Pitts is fed up and you can feel it reverberate through each line of his spotlessly written prose.

He writes:

“I view this moment through the prism of an African-American man who is a student of history. And one thing that prism has impressed on me is how often this country has sold out Black people in the name of some supposedly greater good….Now in 2020, this great-grandson of slaves is expected, in the name of a supposedly greater good, to seek reconciliation with followers of one of the most flagrantly racist — not to mention misogynistic xenophobic and Islamophobic — presidents in history? In a word: No. In another word: Enough.”

I identified with Pitts. So much of what has happened in the last four years has left me with a feeling of disdain for those in leadership and for those who follow blindly.

Then I was jolted into remembering, it does not matter how I feel. It does not matter how unfair the situation. It does not matter how inconvenient, unpleasant and difficult, I regard the circumstances. It is required of me to trust and obey Him. I was keenly reminded that the business of the cross that He handled for me was a really big deal and demands a similar response.

He has commanded me to forgive, not seven times, which in itself an unheard of, absurd notion — not humanly possible or practical — but seventy times seven. Moreover, He has warned me that if I do not forgive men their trespasses, He will not forgive mine.

That tooth for tooth business is definitely more appealing.

Who can and should do that?

The annoying, simple answer is — I should.

It does not matter if Trump and his supporters do not reach out, I am obligated to do so whether I like it or not. Furthermore, at the risk of sounding unduly harsh, my opinion, feeling, pain, hurt or emotion or those of Mr. Pitts and the supporters of Mr. Trump have no bearing on this transaction.

I am not expected to live down to their standards. I am expected to live up to His.

He is the one who loved me and gave his life for me, when I did not deserve it or demonstrated that I merited any kind of compassion or consideration.

That kind of love and sacrifice constrains me and prevents me from doing anything that shows disregard for such devotion and commitment.

It is my prayer that Mr. Pitts, Mr. Trump and his supporters will someday arrive at the same conclusion.

Nevertheless, if they do not, I will not be deterred, because in the final analysis, it is a matter between He and I.

https://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/forgiving-your-oppressor-is-no-weakness.html

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