Deserving to Die – Terrorists or Victims?

On 9/11/2001, terrorists flew the passengers on their flights into eternity. During the approximately one hour between the fall of the twin towers that claimed almost 3,000 lives, around the world another 7,800 lives went out to meet their Maker. Over the next 24 hours while America and the West struggled to understand the loss of almost 3,000 lives, approximately 256,200 more individuals crossed the line from life unto death. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”

More recently on November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Hasan, an officer in the US Army walked into a military service center, jumped on a table, yelled “Allah is great!” (in Arabic), pulled out semi-automatic pistols and pumped out more than 100 rounds and sent 13 more Americans into eternity. In the six days since that event approximately 1.3 million have taken their last breath. This is a number 100,000 times more than the 13 who died in the service of their country.

Did any of those almost 3,000 people deserve to die on 9/11? Did the 13 people who were shot at Fort Hood, Texas deserve to die? Ask the majority of Americans and the general consensus will be, “Those terrorists deserved to die and face God!” They would continue, “Men like Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Nidal Hasan, and Osama bin Laden deserve to die. Let’s kill them all!”

However, there is a greater question we need to ask ourselves. Do men like Hitler, Hussein, Hasan, and bin Laden deserve to die more than those who perished at their hands? What made the people who died on 9/11/2001 or on 11/05/2009 in the terrorist attacks any less deserving than the 7,800 or the 256,200 or even the 1.3 million to go and face the eternal Son of God and be judged for their sins?

This is by no means to demean the sacrifice demanded of those who did not ask to be killed! Nor, is this a support of any terrorist group. Nor, is this intended in any way to demean the loss of life and the sorrow of those families who were left to pick up the pieces.

The purpose of my writing is because I have been doing some serious searching of my heart, and sadly I find I have not been meeting the criteria required of me as a true believer. Let me explain further.

As Americans, we are very patriotic, almost at times to an extreme. It is a trait that many nations of the world fail to understand about us. It is a large part of what binds us together in the face of a common enemy. In very short order, for example, after 9/11, the vast majority of Americans were ready to take on the enemies of our country by whatever means possible. Hatred and anger ran cold and deep in the veins of millions who were upset that our country had been assaulted. We were ready to hunt down the infidels and murder them all and make them pay for what they did to us! Even many who claim the name of Christ were standing side-by-side in the call to arms and had no issues with our government spending billions of dollars to bomb and attack two foreign countries.

However, I wonder how many of those same Christians were praying that God would bring sorrow and godly repentance to those who would inflict evil upon America. How many spent time agonizing over the true loss of life – 7,800 or the 256,200 or the 1.3 million? How many mourned the fact that the vast, overwhelming majority of those individuals perished with no hope of ever knowing or even hearing the name of Jesus Christ?

Do we stop to think that every year since 9/11, an unbelievable sum of approximately 95 million (the equivalent of almost 1/3rd of the US population) go into eternity? Who mourns their loss? Why are they any more deserving to face a God of wrath than those we know and love, or than those who live on our streets? In the eight years since 9/11, almost 1 billion have exited this world, a number equivalent to a little less than the entire population of India!

Yet, we actually rejoiced when we watched the evening news from the comfort of our sofas and armchairs, and we saw the countless thousands being swept into eternity for their part in attacking our country. Oh, we were happy! Justice was being meted out by our brave men and women, and the judgment that was pronounced and executed was in our minds – “FAIR!”

However, does this stack up with the commands of Scripture that we who claim the name of Christ are called to obey? We as Christians are commanded to love our enemies. We are to share the good news of the gospel with those who have never heard. The apostle Paul loved his fellow countrymen of Israel so greatly that if it were possible, he was willing to be eternally accursed from God if only all Israel would place their faith in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ alone for their salvation!

During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ was asked what the greatest commandments were. He replied, “The first is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And, the second is very much like it – LOVE your neighbor as yourself.”

Do we bother to realize that only God can hate the wicked with the demand for perfect justice that hatred requires? Who are we to think that we can stand in the place of the Almighty and condemn others to eternity where they will be in the lake of fire forever? What hypocrisy that our churches are willing to spend millions on new edifices and on entertaining the sheep while 3 people every second go to stand in judgment before the Holy, Righteous God of the Universe! What hypocrisy and lack of true Christian character that we can say equally with the lost of America that we hate our enemies and wish their deaths in whatever manner it comes upon them!

How are we ANY different from those of the Islamic faith? They are willing to kill for the ideals of their faith so that they might enjoy eternity in the bliss of earthly pleasures. Yet, we are willing to kill simply because we hate what others have done to us. We hate and kill indiscriminately because they made our lives uncomfortable. We hate and demand death as they make our trips through airport security highly annoying at best. We hate because we somehow believe what is coming from our pulpits – our sins are not as bad as those of the terrorists. Here in America, we are civilized. We do not deserve death like they do. They deserve justice. They deserve the wrath of God to fall upon them. They deserve hell!

Wake up Christians before it is too late! The world should know us by our love for one another and by the fact that we are willing to sacrifice our very lives so that others will know the love of God, and more importantly, so they will know it is possible to escape from the wrath to come!

We want to ask God to bless America, yet we refuse to obey His commands. May God forgive us for our hatred! The Lord Jesus Christ said that hatred is the same as murder. May the Lord forgive us for our lack of compassion! May He help us to see that we ALL deserve to die, but for the grace of God – His mercy endures forever!

The Damning of the Sinner’s Prayer

HT: Defending Contending

No Sacrifice Too Great!

HT: gerinteed

Thailand – Who Will Go?

HT: Libertybird2006

Send Me, Lord!

HT: SemperMJB

Lest We Forget — THANK YOU!

Through almost 223 years of America’s history, boys (and in more recent years girls also) have said goodbye to parents and with heads held high have marched off to serve their country. Many of those years have actually been years of peace and a great number of those brave soldiers have never been required to potentially sacrifice their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honours for the sake of the freedoms we enjoy.

“When in the course of human events” was penned so long ago and the call to colours began to rally across the countryside, boys said, “We will give up all we have so that we might fight for a cause outside of ourselves. We will stand in the gap where others are not willing to do so. We will take up arms and fire at the enemy where necessary when some may condemn us for needlessly taking the life of a fellow human.”

Revolutionary War Dead & Wounded = 50,000

Almost one hundred years later, brothers and fathers fought each other in the battle for the right of states to be free from a government that was quickly becoming more and more oppressive and for a lesser degree the issue of slavery. One of the turning points of that very bloody war was the battle of Gettysburg which lasted for several days. At the end of that war, the stench of death hovered over the air still as President Lincoln stood and proclaimed, “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Civil War Dead & Wounded = 646,392

The next century would see the rise of dictatorial governments desiring to conquer some part if not all of the world and again Americans rose to the challenge issued by their government. They placed their faith in the cause for freedom that was given forth in the papers and over the airwaves via radios and television sets. Hundreds of boys set aside their bats and balls for the weapons of war while hundreds of girls set aside their dolls to serve far from the comforts of a mother’s side.

World War I Dead & Wounded = 320,518

As each war passed and each country was visited, America never asked for one piece of ground in any of the countries ever served in. They never demanded that the citizenry speak English! They never demanded that the US Dollar be the new and only acceptable trading currency. Often, soldiers holding US Dollars were at a disadvantage because of the trading values!

World War II Dead & Wounded = 1,076,245

They stormed ashore at the beaches of Normandy and flew the skies over Nazi Germany knowing many would not come home. They said goodbye to parents and lovers hoping it would not be the last kiss or hug, but knowing it might be! Yet as one staff officer once stated, the only thing America ever ASKED for from each country was a place where she could bury her dead. She ONLY ASKED for a place where she could return with the moms and dads to place flowers on the cold graves of their boys and girls who would never again play with bat and balls or dolls and prams.

Korean War Dead & Wounded = 128,650

The wars took a decided turn when the evil of communism entered the picture. Many felt and still do that we entered wars that we could not win or were not permitted to win. Either way, we found ourselves in a quagmire and through all the muck and mire and grime of blood-splattered fields of war, our troops sought to hold their ground. They stayed the course in the face of adversity and many never returned alive.

Vietnam War Dead & Wounded = 211,454

Afghanistan Dead & Wounded = 3,056 & Counting

Iraq Dead & Wounded = 50,432 & Counting

Many today still do not know why we ventured into the wars we have seen in the last half century. Some claim it is because of oil, while others say it is because of terrorism. Others say it is purely for the cause of freedom around the world while others are not exactly sure why. Still the call comes ringing just as loudly as it has done through 223 years of history and each week men and women march with firm purpose down to recruiting stations across America and say, “I wish to serve my country!”

Today, there are many still wounded from the wars we have fought but they are still dying off. Each day, many more old troops pass off into eternity. We will never know their nightmares unless we have been in a trench, fought off an enemy at close quarters, screamed in agony as shrapnel pierced our body, wept uncontrollably while trying to staunch the blood of our buddy as their life flowed rapidly from them, and even sniffed that letter one more time trying to remember what life was like back home in America – the land of the free and the home of the brave!

“Thank you” is not really enough when I see an old vet with only one leg left wearing his US Navy baseball cap showing the ship he served on in Pearl Harbor.

“Thank you” is not really enough when I see another old vet stooped with age wearing a lot of buttons on his cap reminding nobody but himself of the battles he fought in over in Europe during WWII or Asia during WWII or Korea.

“Thank you” is not really enough when I pass by the Veteran’s Hospital filled with men and women who survived what most Americans will NEVER understand.

“Thank you” is not really enough when I pass by that old US Marine on his Harley Davidson with the right to wear his long hair and sporting his Vietnam Vet patches.

“Thank you” is not really enough when I get on another plane to take a business trip and see a small group of soldiers with packed duffle bags saying solemn goodbyes to their families as they head back over to their 3rd or 4th tour of Iraq or Afghanistan.
“Thank you” is NEVER enough when I drive by the Veteran’s Cemetery, the National Cemetery, the local cemeteries, or see the pictures of American flags dotting very small seemingly insignificant pieces of property where the remains of our boys and girls, and our moms and dads lie buried and who never got to come home to be held by those who loved them!

When I look at the fact that I live in a country where I have the freedom of speech, the freedom to worship God, the freedom to spend time with my family, the freedom to travel where I want to go, the freedom to sleep in my bed, the freedom to work where I want, the freedom to worship where I want, the freedom to live where I want, and many more freedoms —

I realize I AM AN AMERICAN and my “THANK YOU” is all I have to offer to those who gave their tomorrows so that I and my family and my fellow Americans could have our todays!

With a truly grateful heart,
The Desert Pastor

The Message of the Missionary

From Steven J Lawson’s book entitled Famine in the Land he gives this quote:

“Noah’s message from the steps going up to the Ark was not “Something good is going to happen to you!”  Amos was not confronted by the high priest of Israel for proclaiming, “Confession is possession!”  Jeremiah was not put into the pit for preaching, “I’m O.K., you’re O.K.”  Daniel was not put into the lion’s den for telling people, “Possibility thinking will move mountains!”  John the Baptist was not forced to preach in the wilderness and eventually beheaded because he preached, “Smile, God loves you!”  The two prophets of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world!”

The message of the true God-sent missionary will be like the message of Noah – “Repent from your sins, for judgment is coming!”  It will be like that of Jonah – “Repent from your sins, for judgment is coming!”  It will be like that of John the Baptist – “Repent from your sins, for judgment is coming!”

The message of the true God-sent missionary will resemble none of the fluff found in many of today’s pulpits, but will be hard-hitting and will point out the truth that the gospel message is trans-cultural!

The message of the true God-sent missionary will not seek to provide health, wealth or prosperity.  It will not provide for the stomachs or well-being of the heathen with no concern for their eternal destiny!

The Unsung Hero

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she nods her head in submission as to the Lord when her husband shares the news that he believes the gospel is to be shared with a tribe who live on another planet in a distant galaxy who speaks “Klingon” and who wear nothing but toothless grimaces and carry machetes — at least that is what it seems like in the early days.

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she packs the bags (that are falling apart again) to travel one more time with children (who are intimately familiar with every McDonald’s in the Eastern US Interstate system) with money (they don’t really have) to the next town (that they don’t want to visit) to hear her husband (who she loves but is starting to sound like a broken record) tell the story (that she’s heard 246 times but whose counting) one more time to one more church (now 247 – that seemingly doesn’t care) about a people (that she wonders whether they will actually ever see). In the midst of it, she asks the Lord for strength to persevere and finds His strength is sufficient.

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she agrees to take her precious children to the steaming jungles wondering whether they will be eaten by crocodiles, bitten by malaria-laced mosquitoes equipped with searchlights, chomped on by bugs yet unknown to scientists or carried off by pygmies for some nefarious purposes. In the midst of her fears, she smiles with a brave face telling friends, ladies in countless churches, and the grandparents that those kinds of things don’t really exist where THEY are going. IF they DO exist, then she knows God is bigger than any fears she will encounter.

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she wonders why she may deliver her next child or two in a place where the walls, sheets, floors, hospital gowns, and wards are not sterilized to American hospital standards. She wonders whether it is wrong to give consideration to coming back to the USA for an extended furlough in order to give birth when weighing all the additional expenses of flights and time away from the family against a potentially “safer” birth. In the midst of those times, she gives thanks for another gift from the Lord knowing that being where God wants them to be is always the safest place to be!

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she gives consideration to sending her children to missionary boarding school versus keeping them with her in what can be a primitive location and homeschooling them. She wonders how other mothers have been able to part with their children and knows she cannot do this. She also knows that if she homeschools her children that her time with the local women will be limited. In the midst of trying times though, she works with her children and seeks to prepare them for whatever life the Lord has in store for them through a godly education.

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she steps off the plane with her husband and in some cases watches the jungle pilot fly away leaving them alone with no vestige of modern civilization until the next monthly fly-in with their mail and grocery delivery. She is surrounded at times with groping hands trying to figure out whether the woman “from the sky is a god or just like us only a different color and ignorant who can’t speak our language!” In the midst of uncertainty, the missionary wife knows that God has a special purpose for them being where they are at that specific time for how shall they hear without a preacher?

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she realizes like her husband that letters from home will rarely arrive, visits from parents or grandparents will be minimal, and phone and email message boxes will often remain silent. She will be expected to make beans and rice stretch while trying to come up with interesting recipes that will entice her family to eat the same basic ingredients one more week until the support check hopefully arrives. In the midst of the gut-wrenching news that one more church has dropped their support in order to save money from the budget so they can continue building their huge new sanctuary, she realizes again that God is no man’s debtor and He will supply all their needs!

Often not knowing all the reasons why, she hears the wails of the women as the men clash in tribal warfare some of whom will not return home to eat dinner tonight. She hears more wails as the women give birth to babies only to turn them over to the gods or bury them short hours or days later. She hears more wails and realizes that it is her own voice as she cries in utter helplessness and frustration before the Lord and even her own husband does not always seem to understand her cares and concerns. She cannot speak the language. She cannot get to the hearts of the women. The love she proclaimed for these people while on “deputation” and the harsh reality of real life on the mission field is almost more than she can bear at times and she wonders whether she will truly love these people. In the midst of her tears, she remembers that her heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son so that people just like these might have eternal life. She remembers that she was privileged to hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ and that no price was too high for her own salvation. She remembers that she is to cast her care upon Him for He cares for her.

Who is this special person? She is the missionary wife. She is the oft unsung hero of missionary life. She often keeps her husband going and encouraged even when her own heart is breaking. Much, much more could and probably should be said of those special ladies who stand by their husbands in the harvest fields of the world. However, I believe that one thing is for certain and that is to each one who is faithful, you may not see your reward on this life. You may not see a lot of fruit in your part of the harvest. You may never be fluent in your tribe’s language. You may never stop struggling from month to month but one day this will be your reward –

“WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!”

Our Daily Bread Crumbles??

Few who personally know me realize I have concerns over the devotional publication entitled Our Daily Bread. This little publication gives a daily text reading from the Scripture accompanied by a little story of some kind designed to give encouragement as the reader travels the rat race of life for the day.

However, when the daily bread of the infallible, inerrant AND holy Word of God is watered down with the drivel of the world, it will at best become nothing more than a daily crumb and at worst will prove to be poison that will slowly (almost imperceptibly) destroy the soul of the one who is reading. This is especially true if the one who is reading is not grounded in the Word of God.

Before I continue, I want to ensure the reader that I do not necessarily discredit daily devotional books or booklets. I do give fair warning though that they can easily become a quick fix to the morning or evening period when one should be spending time with the Saviour of their soul reading the Scriptures He has provided through His Holy Spirit.

Our Daily Bread has been on a long slippery road for quite some time and until doing some research on another topic matter, I did not realize how slippery the slope has become.

M. Scott Peck, Henri Nouwen, Larry Crabb, Brother Lawrence, Brennan Manning and others are (or were) either New Age proponents or hugely influential in what is known as contemplative mysticism. The latter is making huge inroads into evangelical churches, and I would go so far as to say it actually taking the church by storm! The connection that these individuals have is that they are all quoted favorably and extensively on a regular basis by Radio Bible Class and Our Daily Bread publication.

Henri Nouwen as an example was a Roman Catholic heretic who privately held to the sinful belief that he was also a homosexual and believed that men could be saved apart from Jesus Christ. Radio Bible Class has no problems endorsing this man as a fine example of a “Christian!”

Brennan Manning, who is also a Roman Catholic, has his salvation experience thus on his website, “In February 1956, while Brennan was meditating on the Stations of the Cross, a powerful experience of the personal love of Jesus Christ sealed the call of God on his life.”

I would encourage the reader to go to the Radio Bible Class website and in their search engine type any of the above names and see what articles and books show up. I have no doubt that you will be as surprised as I was to find a so-called evangelical publication and publishing house openly endorsing contemplative mysticism as well as Roman Catholic homosexual heretics!

Dr. M.R. De Haan would be appalled at what this organization has come to today. His goal to maintain and present biblical purity through the spoken and written Word has been put to the wayside. The meat of the Word has been laid aside for the sake of doctrinal inclusiveness and the crumbs of worldly philosophy have been injected into the morsels being provided daily to unsuspecting believers.

2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Hungering for the Meat of the Word,

The Desert Pastor

Have You Considered?

I have edited this posted to make it distinct from the video I posted on African baptisms. The question to ask as you read is – Have you considered the life of a missionary? May this encourage you to pray more fervently for those who serve the Lord of the Harvest!

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A missionary’s life is never dull, but full of constant change. He leaves his home, moves to another land, learns a different language, wonders whether he will ever speak the language enough for the natives to understand the gospel message, eats unmentionable food, consoles his family when they want to see the grandparents, gets frustrated when the local government red tape tells him to come back with the same paperwork 1 more time in 3 weeks and he knows they only want a bribe, cries at night as he listens to the sounds of heathen going into eternity around him and he knows he is only one person trying to reach an unstoppable tide.

A missionary holds his wife again as she wonders whether having this next baby in a foreign land will be safe and whether the next stick the children pick up to play with will be a snake and whether eating monkey meat is actually sanitary, wipes her tears when she vents her frustration at not being able to homeschool the children AND learn the language AND field all the unending questions from the native women, wipes more tears when she can’t just get on the phone to call her parents to say hi.

A missionary writes home knowing that he will rarely get a phone call, an email, or even a letter from folks back in the home country, and prays fervently that they will just remember them in the work of reaching the lost. He goes to the mailbox hoping for something that will bring them encouragement, that will bring them a sense of the familiar.

A missionary spends time raising funds to get to the field that few seem to really care about, preaches about missions one more time knowing that complacency and apathy are more prevalent in many places than a love for the lost, answers one more questionnaire with meaningless questions about what he is going to do on the field written by somebody who has NEVER been there and who in some cases is only looking for a way to trim the missions budget for this next year, prays for more laborers knowing that few will respond and can’t understand why others do not see what he sees as a great need!

A missionary cries through their tears as they board a plane and wonder whether they will see family and friends alive again when (and if) they return, comforts the children through the long nights of bad dreams, tries to adjust to temperature or language or culture knowing they stand out like sore thumbs.

A missionary hugs his children one more time on behalf of the grandparents and aunts and uncles knowing his children would like to see them again RIGHT NOW, helps them through one more round of homeschooling, rejoices when they make friends with the natives while wondering WHAT they are actually speaking about because you can’t understand the language the children speak fluently in less than 3 months!

A missionary through another set of tears says good-bye to the congregation of new believers who can’t understand why their spiritual leader is leaving them, and boards the plane that will take them back to what they hope will be home for a few short months but knowing that home is where they just left their hearts and praying they will be back sooner rather than later.

But a missionary also has the privilege of writing home of the first soul coming to know Christ, knows the eternal rewards are ALL worth the effort, continues to pray for the lost while doing something about it, through another blur of tears baptizes the first handful (or even single) convert, and one day has the privilege of writing home to tell of the formation of one more New Testament church.

A missionary’s life is never dull! Truly he (and his wife and children) can say – TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!