New Stanek WND column, “Can pro-lifers ever support Democrats again?”
I’m proud to be a Republican, but I’m pro-life first.
After making a couple observations about 2 years ago, I decided to work harder at being a nonpartisan pro-lifer….
First, it seemed to me Republicans were taking our support for granted and had wasted political capital, particularly when they owned all 3 branches of government from 2000-2006 (save for the 17-month Jeffords Senate flip blip).
Second, I thought Rahm Emanuel gave us an opening in 2006 when forced to recruit pro-lifers to run in conservative districts so House Democrats might win back the majority. Could we germinate life in the Party of Death?
Thereafter I bolstered Democrat pro-lifers whenever I could in my writing. It was hard, but I tried to catch ’em being good.
Then health care happened, and the importance of Democrat pro-lifers became more apparent than ever before. We were on the brink of advancing abortion to an extent not seen since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The Supremes made it legal; socialized health care would make it much more available through regulations and much more affordable through public funding.
Republicans in the minority were basically helpless to stop it, but could the small Democratic pro-life band of brothers and sisters?
It was at this point I wrote two blog posts I now regret – “Remain calm about Nelson“ and “Remain calm about Stupak.” A proverb I knew but cast aside in hope: Never “remain calm” about any politician….
Continue reading my column today, “Can pro-lifers ever support Democrats?” at WorldNetDaily.com.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I’d like to have your faith, but even amongst friends who are Catholic, if they are Democrat, it seems they are Democrat first, and that every other social ill must be corrected before they will even give tacit acknowledgment that abortion is an evil, much less consider that it ought to be fought in all its forms at all times.
Well said, Jill. Unfortunately, betrayal can come from the left and from the right. We always have to be on our guard, but we must also not tie the fate of babies to the fate of the Republican Party. A delicate balancing act to be sure.
And, in fairness to the Republicans, they didn’t do entirely nothing during the 2002-2006 years. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was passed in 2003 and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act was passed in 2004.
Correction. The Born-Alive Infant Protection Act was passed in 2002. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act was passed in 2004. Sorry.
Keli… tsk, tsk, read my piece all the way through! :)
Even God’s patience is not without limits.
The ‘book’ is repleat with examples of individuals, communities and nations for which God washed HIS hands.
The ‘mighty’ have, do and will fall.
One our trolls claimed to be a survivor of the Jew hating muslim attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11.
To me this is another visable demonstration of the rain of God’s love and mercy falling on the ‘unjust’.
How could any of us have any hope if that were not eternally true?
God is not ‘slow’ as our delusional and deceived and deceptive troll believes, if he/she/it believes in god at all, but HE is ‘patient’, holding at bay the consequences of our indiviual and collective disobedience and rebellion with the ‘will’ that none of us stupid humans should suffer eternal death, but rather that in coming to know and being known by HIM we will experience abundant and eternal life now and forever more.
The ‘stupid’ humans for whom GOD seems to have
the least tolerance is the self serving hypocrite who claim to know and love HIM and HIS SON JESUS, yet will not lift a finger, much less sacrifice their own comfort or convienence to care for the least among us.
Do not be so foolish as to believe that the B.O. hellth scare scheme is about showing compassion.
It only a caculatingly shrewd scam to pander to the false compassion of stupid humans who believe they can satisfy Jesus’ commandment directetd at individuals to love and care for one another by stealing some one elses money and squandering most of it on their schemes to feather their own nests and devote just a fraction on a public display of self agrandizing ‘charity’.
These people are white washed tombs and bottomless pits of despair for whom enough is never enough.
yor bro ken
HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it ‘Barack Obama’.
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you: ‘Do you really want to get rid of ‘Barack Obama?’
6. Firmly Click ‘Yes.’
7. Feel better?
GOOD! – Tomorrow we’ll do Nancy Pelosi!
yor bro ken
@Jill: I did. I said that because I am recanting, at least a little bit. I’ve been very down on Republicans lately, and I’ll probably stay that way for some time to come. But I should give credit where it’s due, and–as you very correctly pointed out–they had to fight the Democrats for each of those acts.
…I had a train of thought going somewhere, but now I seem to have lost it. But anyway, I agree with you. :)
As I have said all along Jill, the only way to have peace is to completely destroy your enemy.
Our enemy is abortion and all that support it.
Until we have this mind set we will never defeat abortion.
The fence sitting is over, the compromise is over, this is war and the the time is now.
“Can pro-lifers ever support Democrats again?”
When asked if he would be supporting Walter Mondull in his attempt to unseat President Ronald Reagan, a well known democRAT retorted:
“There ain’t no educayshun in getting kicked by the same mule………twice,” [thrice, etc.}
Mark Twain once observed:
“If cat jumps up on a hot stove, he will never do it again.
He will never jump up on a cold stove either.”
Humans are stupid and tend to learn slow and forget quick but most humans will NOT soon forget how much it hurt the last time they slammed the car door on their thumb.
yor bro ken
Phil, what are you suggesting?
There is that scene from ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ where the evil Mahglay hold out his one hand to the young lady that is standing on the edge of the cliff while in his other hand behind his back is knife that is still wet with warm blood from the last fellow who tried to save her.
The lady rejected the offered hand and lept to her death, depriving Mahglay of his moment of perverted enjoyment at her expense.
She was going to die either way. At least she exercised her freedom to choose what manner of death she would die.
You just can’t trust liberal/progressive/humanists.
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice [after I have had the benefit of suffering your betrayal] shame on me.
yor bro ken
Posted by: Hal at March 24, 2010 5:37 PM
“Phil, what are you suggesting?”
—————————————————-
HAL,
Why do you ask?
yor bro ken
Ken, God love you!
What a sense of humor! ;)
I always balked at getting an answering machine until I discovered that I could erase my ex’s messages. It was so liberating!
In my state of New Mexico we have a huge Hispanic population that is predominately Catholic. Most attend church regularly, know the pro-life message, but continuously vote Democrat. Why? Because several generations in their families have always voted Democrat, and it’s as simple as that. Very frustrating. It’s the same with Democrats who proclaim they’re pro-life. They can’t be trusted because they are Democrats first.
I belonged to the “Democrats for Life” group which tried to promote support for pro-life initiative such as bill for health care for Pregnant Woman. They tried (without success) to incorporate language to tolerate pro-life language in the Democratic Party platform. The Executive Director wrote a book about how the pro-life vote tipped the balance for elections. However, I think all this did was give Obama the idea for his “faux” pro-life (and Catholic)statements.
I personally think the way to beat the Democrats is to call them out for their far left-wing abortion policy: they support abortion, anytime, any reason and preferably taxpayer funded. That is NOT the position of most Americans and the pro-abort Democrats should be hammered on it. None of the “respect women’s right” euphemisms.
Well, after walking around for a couple of days feeling like someone just punched me really hard in the gut, I was finally able to spend a little quality time in worship and prayer.
You know Jesus is one friend Who will never betray us. What a blessing to be able to go to Him and praise Him and worship Him as our Perfect Savior, full of Integrity and Truth, the Righteous One.
“Ain’t no character flaws in Jesus, NO WAY!
That is the hope of the redeemed:
“Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King…”
I think, Jill, speaking as an outsider, the obvious thing is to hold pro-life Dems to a stricter standard. The clear lesson from Nelson and Stupak is that if they show even the slightest sign of compromise at some point, in all likelihood, they will cave somehow.
It’s great that Lipinski stood strong, but unfortunately he is the exception that proves the rule.
“Posted by: kbhvac at March 24, 2010 4:56 PM”
Ken, ROFL!!
Believe or not there are still pro-life Democrats who stood by their principles, such as Heath Shuler (former qb of the UT Vols, back when he was nemesis of the UF Gators football team, which I am a big fan of).
Jill,
My dear lady, how long will it take you before you hear what your Biblically informed conscience is saying?
Why are you getting frustrated with this fight? Because you are fighting SYMPTOMS as a priority, when your priority must be what Jesus said it must be.
Jill Stanek, you are like an excellent Doctor prescribing over the counter ointment for the sores of your dieing patients. FIRST apply the cure to what is killing your patients, THEN prescribe the medicine needed for their sores.
Abortion, as awful and heinous as it is, is a SYMPTOM of the cause.
Think of it this way:
Crime is a symptom. We work hard to stop people who commit crimes. But given the opportunity they will merely do it again, unless something changes.
What is the answer then? Keep arresting them? Incarcerate them? KILL them?
No matter if you make the price too high for them to actually carry out the act, they will still WANT to commit the crime.
No. Just like abortion, willful acts of crime can ONLY be stopped when the heart of the person CHANGES.
What changes desperately wicked people into Godly, moral people?
ONLY JESUS does.
I am NOT saying to stop fighting for Life Issues; CERTAINLY NOT saying that.
But what I am saying is that your life must have the correct primary goal: To SEE SOULS SAVED, to the Glory of God, the Father.
See the VERY GOOD task of stopping abortion for what it is: A platform to preach the Gospel – To go after what is CAUSING Abortions in the first place!
Stay strong Jill, but learn that your task is to USE the Pro-Life goal to preach the Gospel to each and every person you speak to. Go out on the street with Ambassadors Alliance (http://LivingWaters.com) people and learn how to share your faith rightly. THEN go back into the battle, renewed and directed to seek the Lost, as the Pro-Life advocate you are.
God bless you.
Patrick Burwell, OnlyJesusSaves.com
After Ben Nelson I had so pinned my hopes on Stupak and thought for sure he wouldn’t pull the rug out from under us as Ben had done. At this point I don’t know how our PAC will trust any Dems for federal office. However at the state level we have a number of Dem state senators who will probably vote for three pro-life bills this session. How can we hold them to a different standard than the Republican state senators who vote for the very same bills? We can’t if we are going to be honest. It’s easy to say never trust any Dem but what about the 34 Dems who voted with us on Sunday? Were they all doing it because they opposed Obamacare for other reasons or were there a handful (Lipinski?) who also have good pro-life convictions? That is what I struggle with, even after being very close to the Nelson betrayal.
Oops. I see now. You are a Roman Catholic.
Nevermind bout preaching the gospel, Jill.
Go here instead: http://NeedGod.com
It wasn’t Stupak acting alone on this. Lipinski was the lone hold-out while all of the others from the original Stupak group went along with the Stupak stupidity. Some Dems voted against the bill for various reasons other than life issues.
So on the question: Can we trust the Dems to be pro-life, the question should really be asked: Can we trust the Dems to be Dems? And of course we know that we can in that the Dems are the party of “no” when it comes to defending human life.
We have been taught a painful, though valuable lesson. Fool us again and even more babies will die because of it.
Patrick, apparently you don’t see very clearly. Jill isn’t Catholic.
Hey Patrick,
I hear what you’re saying but I’d like to clarify a few points.
First, we aren’t frustrated because we are “treating the symptoms”. I believe most of the Christians that read and comment here are earnestly praying and doing 2Chr 7.14, repenting and imploring God to heal our land.
And the good news is He is. Revival is breaking out all over and I believe it’s just the beginning of a new move of God that’s going to sweep across America. Ultimately, I’m convinced this is what will bring an end to legalized abortion in our country.
What frustrated us was that seeing all the negative aspects of the Health Care Bill including its provisions for tax-payer funded abortions, we were really hoping, praying and expecting Bart Stupak to stay the course. He ran well for 90 meters and then sold out at the finish line.
In fact, the way he betrayed our trust was downright sickening.
Jill however does a great job providing an inclusive platform for all Pro-Lifers to comment and encourage one another. There is plenty of preaching here and we occasionally share the Gospel. But that’a not the main purpose of this blog.
Jill keeps us up to date on the most relevant Pro-Life stories and issues so that our intercession is informed and targeted. Her blog is a major communications artery for the Pro-Life Army.
God has given each of us the ministry of reconciliation, but that doesn’t mean it’s the central theme of our jobs/blogs. It looks like it may be the central theme of yours, which is great.
Each of us is called to run our own race, by the Grace of God, to the Glory of God.
I’d be willing to bet if you asked Jesus, He’d say Jill is running her race very well.
Also Patrick,
If you hung out here a little more, you’d meet a lot of Catholics that exhibit more Christlikeness than a lot of Protestants I know.
We all need more of God.
Mr. Burwell:
This is not a blog about ecumenism, so I’m not getting into a struggle over which denomination is best. I WILL say though, that when you seem to insinuate that the Catholic Church needs help understanding the Gospel message (in terms of revealed Truth) or that a group of Protestants know better than anyone else regarding saving one’s soul, you lose a great deal of credibility with me (and perhaps others too).
I believe in the Catholic faith because I’ve questioned my own faith many times. I’ve learned the basic tenets of a few Protestant churches too, but I have yet to discover even one that explains faith in Christ so well or lives it so thoroughly.
I understand that’s a bit tough to swallow, especially considering the proclaimed faiths of several politicians.
Keep in mind though, Christ Himself told us that there’d be chaff mixed in with the wheat.
A few bad eggs are almost inevitable until He comes again.
In the meantime, let’s focus on the real goal: Challenging each other in faith, while also ensuring we each have an opportunity to live.
From conception to natural death.
you lose a great deal of credibility with me (and perhaps others too).
Posted by: John at March 25, 2010 1:54 AM
Yep, the site in his sig describes Catholics as heretics. My “biblically informed conscience” urges me to resist the temptation to say anything further.
Fed Up:
I’m not certain what you’re getting at, but I stand by my comments. I reviewed the Living Waters web site again to make certain I hadn’t missed something critical. I hadn’t.
The site doesn’t openly criticize Catholic faith certainly, but neither does it celebrate the same faith. Given that Mr. Kirk Cameron appears to be one of the founders, I wouldn’t expect Catholic doctrine here.
Mr. Burwell’s comments struck me as being aimed at persuading Ms. Stanek to convert away from Catholic faith due to some failing within the Church or the Church’s doctrine.
Keep in mind, I’m trying to avoid a denominational battle here, while also defending my own Church. If that’s creating a problem for you..I don’t know what to tell you.
Again, let’s keep focused on the goal here:
Defend life, build a culture OF life, and challenge each other to live our faith all the more fully with each coming day.
Fed Up:
I’m not certain what you’re getting at, but I stand by my comments. I reviewed the Living Waters web site again to make certain I hadn’t missed something critical. I hadn’t.
The site doesn’t openly criticize Catholic faith certainly, but neither does it celebrate the same faith.
Mr. Burwell’s comments seemed aimed at persuading Ms. Stanek to leave Catholic faith, apparently due to some failing within the Church or the Church’s doctrine. (Odd, since she’s not Catholic in the first place.) I’m not interested in a denominational battle, but I AM interested in defending my Church against misrepresentation.
If that’s creating a problem for you…I don’t know what to tell you.
Again, let’s keep focused on the goal here:
Defend life, build a culture OF life, and challenge each other to live our faith all the more fully with each coming day.
Botheration!
My apologies for the appearance of spam. The internet appears to be having difficulty communicating with my computer tonight.
Hi John. I am sorry if I offended you! I was trying to restrain myself from responding further to Mr Burwell. I was referring to the site he linked to in his signature, where I found one of his articles: onlyjesussaves.com/blog/archives/743
I don’t think ecumenism is his strong suit. I’m Catholic too, and I was saying in contrast to his view of Catholicism as non-biblical, that my very biblically formed conscience prevents me from saying to him what I’m sorely tempted to say.
Like you, I don’t want a denominational battle or a sola scriptura holy war. His anti-Catholic bigotry gives him zero credibility with me.
Jill;, et al,
You are correct, Catholicism is heresy; Luther was right; Ecumenism is an attempt at untiy with heresy.
In Ephesians God shows clearly we are saved by faith in Jesus ALONE and not in any other religion, person or rite.
If you claim to be catholic we have no issue. If you claim to be Catholic (as in Roman Catholic) then no we are not brothers. Roman Catholicism is heresy and will not provide the Righteousness you must have to face God.
Jill may not be Catholic, but her pro-Catholic ads show she believes they are another “denomination” of Christianity, which is false.
My point is that Abortion is a symptom of the real problem of Sin. No one is guiltless; We have all violated God’s Law. Only by a repentant faith in the atonement Jesus provided on the Cross at Calvary can we be considered before a Just and Holy God.
Don’t wash the oputside of the cup ith rites, confessipons and idol sacrifice. You must be born again.
THEN, and only then, can you make any progress against those who desire to murder children wantonly.
THEN, and only then, wuill you be able to see souls saved, solving the Abortion issue one perosn at a time.
Patrick Burwell, OnlyJesusSaves.com
Wow. IO REALLY need some coffeee. Sorry for all the spelling errors. Guess I should have put on my glasses. :)
Posted by: Patrick Burwell at March 24, 2010 10:04 PM
“But what I am saying is that your life must have the correct primary goal: To SEE SOULS SAVED, to the Glory of God, the Father.”
—————————————————-
Patrick,
I appreciate your passion for sharing Christ, but if my child is drowning please do not take the time to throw him/her a ‘tract’ before you toss her/him a life preserver.
If I am choking and turning blue, please do not recite John 3:16 to me before you perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Could give us chapter and verse from the ‘book’ to support your assertion that ‘Saving souls is our PRIMARY goal.’
yor bro ken
No, I could never be a Democrat.
But I would never be a Republican, either.
That’s why I’m an Independent. Unfortuantely, my stupid state has a closed primary. That needs to be changed!
Patrick,
You are deceived brother. I myself came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and was born again in a Catholic Church.
No Christian denomination is perfect, but I guarantee you there will be many Roman Catholics in Heaven enjoying the rewards of their faithful service for the sake of Christ.
Somewhere along the way you’ve gotten into some bad theology my friend.
I’m sure many Catholic brothers and sisters will be praying for you.
Folks, in the battle for life, does it really matter if someone is Catholic, Protestant, atheist, or what? We should put our differences aside and agree to disagree, at least for the time being.
Patrick Burwell wrote:
Roman Catholicism is heresy and will not provide the Righteousness you must have to face God.
Whoops, wrong place for that! The pro-life community includes Catholics, evangelical Christians, conservative Jews, and even some atheists. Pro-lifers are not “denominationally pure” and have no need to be. We are united by our belief that human lives should not be discarded in medical waste bags.
You don’t think Catholics are Christian. Fine, you’re entitled to that belief. I know a few Catholics who believe that we Protestants (I’m an evangelical Christian myself) are seriously flawed. Fine, they’re entitled to that belief. And atheists think we’re all nuts!
That said, I implore you to leave your denominational disputes “at the door” before you join the pro-life movement. Frankly, there aren’t enough dedicated pro-lifers — nor do we have enough resources — for us to waste our time in fighting each other. The abortion lobby cackles with wicked delight to see pro-lifers taking shots at other pro-lifers. To put the battle in spiritual terms, the evil one delights when we do his work for him….
Burwell further wrote:
My point is that Abortion is a symptom of the real problem of Sin.
You’re not going far enough. All of our problems are a results of Sin. All of our various problems — abortion, racism, pornography, poverty, homosexuality, hatred, and more — are really just symptoms of human sinfulness. And the only cure is in the Cross of Christ, just as you indicated. All Christians have a calling to live as apostles and spread the Good News.
So I submit to you: Which is the better way to be an apostle?
A) To answer every question with “You need Jesus,” and refuse to discuss anything else until the person accepts Christ as Lord, or
B) To work for social justice — such as the cause of Life — and always be ready to tell others about the Gospel within the context of that work?
Well, if you are going to say that you are not trying to advocate Roman Catholicism on this site, then take the RosaryoftheUnborn.com ad off.
But, just so you understand, my original post makes the point you have yet to address: Abortion is a symptom. When one is Born again (not infused righteousness but imputed righteousness) then any thought of murdering a child is RESOLVED.
My encouragement to Jill is her platform for pro-life advocacy would be better served to address what is the CAUSE of Abortion, a desperately wicked heart from sin.
Christians should make winning souls their priority AS they go about their other, admirable, tasks.
And, just so you know, when you know how to share your faith it only takes 30 seconds.
I learned how to share my faith quickly because I have been in situations where only moments would pass before someone died. TWICE I have watched the life fail from a stranger’s eyes as they died after a horrendous accident (once I held a man’s head together as he died on 6th avenue in NY City). THREE times people I have known and cared for died suddenly, without warning. Don’t TELL me the preaching of the Gospel is not important.
Your eternal destiny, whether you will be in Hell forever, is MORE important than whether you die, MORE important, even, than the murder of a child.
Get the urgency, learn how to share your faith Biblically, the Way Jesus did.
Take the http://theGoodPersonTest.com
Gospel Preaching, Pro-life, Constitutional Conservative.
Patrick Burwell, OnlyJesusSaves.com
Patrick Burwell wrote:
But, just so you understand, my original post makes the point you have yet to address: Abortion is a symptom.
Actually, I thought I addressed that point. Did you read my comment?
He also wrote:
When one is Born again (not infused righteousness but imputed righteousness) then any thought of murdering a child is RESOLVED.
Sadly, your assumption is incorrect. I know many Christians who are pro-abortion-choice. Even Christians who meet many of the “classic” criteria for an evangelical faith:
1) believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant Word of God,
2) believe in the necessity of a personal faith in Jesus Christ,
3) believe in a literal Heaven and a literal Hell.
Even many of these people are (somehow) pro-abortion-choice. There’s a woman in my church who leads our praise team … and who is also pro-abortion-choice, pro-Obama, and a supporter of same-sex marriage. And my church is pretty conservative!
I wish it were as easy as “Jesus makes you pro-life,” but that doesn’t seem to be the case for all people, at least not immediately. Or, to put it another way, our sanctification can take a very long time indeed….
Patrick: Let’s try to focus here on our common effort to save innocent lives. Our Savior will bring us all together in due time.
” I know many Christians who are pro-abortion-choice.”
Then they are NOT Christians, as you know full well.
Christians do not advocate murder for ANY reason.
“sanctification can take a very long time indeed….” though I do agree with, I will always point Pro_choice professing Christians to
http://TrueAndFalseConversion.com
Patrick Burwell, OnlyJesusSaves.coim
I wrote:
I know many Christians who are pro-abortion-choice.
To which Patrick Burwell responded:
Then they are NOT Christians, as you know full well.
Christians do not advocate murder for ANY reason.
Actually, I don’t know that my pro-abortion-choice Christian friends aren’t really Christian. That’s why I wrote that they were Christian. They have professed faith in the Lord Jesus. They have placed their trust in Him for salvation. As far as I can tell, they’re Christian. Closer analysis will have to be performed by the Lord Himself.
See, I’ve read all of those Scriptures about wheat and tares, sheep and goats, true and false believers. And I read your “True and False Conversion” website, too. Here’s what Scripture tells us that your website seems to lack: The Lord knows His own. Not me. The Lord.
Discipleship is vitally important to a Christian’s life. Repentance and the fruits of the Spirit are all essential qualities for Christians to possess. Am I repentant for my sins? Am I filled with the Holy Spirit and displaying His fruit? If so, great … keep going! If not, then I need to re-examine my walk with Jesus to see where I’ve gone wrong. I need to get back on track!
The problems appear when I start trying to judge other people’s walk with the Lord. How do I really know who is repentant? How do I know what’s in someone else’s heart? I can’t know that.
I can judge behaviors. I can admonish fellow believers for ungodly behavior, and I can encourage fellow believers for godly behavior. But that’s the limit of what I can do. I can’t know whether or not someone is “truly” Christian, so I’ll just take his word for it. Then I’ll encourage him toward discipleship … just as I would with any other Christian.
Your “True and False Conversion” website would be more accurately a “True and False Discipleship” website. If someone claims to be saved, and yet he’s living like Hell, then that doesn’t necessarily mean that he isn’t really saved. It could just mean he’s a poor disciple. Or it could mean that he’s having a very bad time, and I need to encourage him. So I’ll assume the best, pray with him, and encourage him toward the better way. And I hope that he would do the same for me when I stray!
The main problem with making discipleship into a condition for salvation is that discipleship is a work. And our salvation doesn’t come through works. Salvation is entirely the grace of God through His Son. If we attempt to add anything to Christ’s finished work on the Cross, then we’re insulting the Gospel. We’re saying that Christ isn’t good enough, and we need to help Him. I won’t say that.
Don’t confuse justification with sanctification. When you put your faith in Christ, your sins are forgiven and you are declared righteous before God. That’s justification. The Holy Spirit fills you and transforms you — day by day, bit by bit — into the image of Christ. That’s sanctification. Justification is a one-time, once-for-all-time deal. God declares you righteous, and He won’t change His mind. Sanctification is an ongoing process. Some days are better than others, and some people seem to “get it” more quickly than the rest of us. No matter how quickly (or not) your sanctification proceeds, you will eventually get there. God’s Word promises that.
…
Summary for the TL;DR folks: Faith in Christ makes you a Christian. Anything else is part of discipleship and/or sanctification, which is an ongoing process. Also, Christ will judge who is a Christian or not, and we shouldn’t try to take His job.
I never did and never will.
Posted by: Naaman at March 25, 2010 11:18 AM
“There’s a woman in my church who leads our praise team … and who is also pro-abortion-choice, pro-Obama, and a supporter of same-sex marriage.”
—————————————————-
Welllllllllllll I be!
With enough lubrication and a big enough hammer you can pound square peg into a round hole.
Light can have fellowship with darkness and you can serve two masters.
You can join a member of the body of Christ to a whore and not effect the whole.
It is a pity Jesus never had the opportunity to dialog with people like this lady. She could have enlightened HIM.
Who knows she might have persuaded Jesus to become a ‘christian’.
yor bro ken
Hmmm. Maybe next time I’ll simply keep my big mouth SHUT!
Mr. Burwell et al:
I think it’s safe to say that, while we might agree to some extent that abortion is a symptom, we don’t always agree about the best way to confront the current culture of death. Eventually, our churches may sort through all the theological, intellectual, and spiritual brouhaha. In the meantime, can we focus again on doing SOMETHING to save our unborn brothers’ and sisters’ lives?
In particular, what do we, the faithful people of America, intend to DO about this healthcare debacle?
Posted by: Julie Schmit-Albin at March 24, 2010 10:05 PM
Julie,
If they needed another 34 votes the rest would have folded too. My suggestion is to look at wether or not they would fund Planned Parenthod. If they VOTE no in a vote that actually defunds Planned Parenthood then you can probably trust them. You certainly cannot trust what ANY of them say.
And just so there is no misunderstanding. The vote has to actually defund Planned Parenthood. If they vote to defund Planned Parenthood and the bill fails, then it may just be calculated political cover.
In particular, what do we, the faithful people of America, intend to DO about this healthcare debacle? Posted by: John at March 25, 2010 10:07 PM
Hi, John. One thing we can do is hold our Obamacare dissenters in Congress accountable to monitor the activities of HHS to the fullest extent they can. I want them alert to the steps HHS is taking toward program development, their implementation strategies, and which anti-life groups they are consulting with. I’m not inclined to vote for any incumbent who voted against Obamacare but refuses to fight for as much HHS transparency as possible. HHS now has free reign to design and regulate 100+ new bureaucracies and programs. Who is naive enough to think the anti-life agenda won’t work its way into some of them?
Burwell, God love you, your enthusiasm to preach to the lost and dying and save them is commendable and good.
Others feel the calling of God on their hearts just as strongly to protect and speak for the unborn and “hold back those stumbling towards the slaughter.”
Trust me, the Gospel has been laid out in the comments of this site many times.
And here, among other places, I have seen Catholics who are clearly just as redeemed as I am, living for Jesus just as I am. I am not a Catholic and I have a couple problems with Catholic theology. But I go to a Baptist church and I have some serious problems with some of the theology there as well. But for now I stay where God has planted me. Catholic doctrine is sound, but their believers seem too often to ignore it and continue in sin–yes, preach to these Catholics. And on the issues of theology and practice you disagree with, yes, preach even to the faithful Catholics, but do not think them hellbound.
A lot of issues of Catholic doctrine that people think they disagree with, they just don’t understand. Catholics do not believe that Mary can answer prayers, for instance. And they’re right on some things that most other denominations get wrong, like birth control. And they have held firmer and stronger and done more on issues like life and charity than most other denominations.
So go ahead and talk to them–and see that you listen too.
Again, may God bless you, and I am sure that He is pleased you are following your calling to reach out and preach His Word.