UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES
The Newsletter of Contend for the Faith, Inc

1 Chronicles 12:32

JANUARY 2002

Projecting Great Things in the Coming Year

UPCOMING EVENTS

I am currently teaching a new class at Calvary on Christian Apologetics on Wednesday nights from 7:00 – 8:15 pm each week. The class started January 9th and will continue through March 20, 2002. It is not too late to attend this class!! The class is open to everyone and there are notes available from earlier weeks so no one has to feel left behind. It is held in room 231.

One woman sent an e-mail after the first class, saying in part,

“I've taken Precepts and other wonderful Bible Studies at Calvary for the past two years, but if your first class is any indication of what's to come… Wow!”

Come and learn the basics of contending for the faith.

On January 27, 2001, I will have the privilege of teaching the Living Word Sunday School class at Calvary Church in Charlotte. I will be speaking on The Sanctity of Life, examining what God has to say about the value of human beings. The class meets at 9:15 – 10:30 am in the Banquet Room on the third floor.

PRAYER REQUESTS

It is my greatest desire to be able to serve the Lord through this ministry in a full-time capacity. We started Contend for the Faith less than a year ago and we have seen the Lord do many great things in that time.

We have a good start on the monthly support needed for me to work full time with CFTF, and we are so grateful to all who have given so faithfully and generously.

If we can raise just $700 more in monthly support, I can quit my tent-making job and devote all of my attention to equipping the saints to contend for the faith.

Many people give to this ministry from time to time rather than on a regular basis. It is wonderful to receive these gifts as well, but we can only set up a monthly budget (including monthly salary) based on the monthly giving pledged by individuals and churches.

It would be such a blessing to be able to:

Have more time for research and preparation of messages

Be able to take more speaking engagements, especially at college campuses (requiring hours of travel time)

Be able to attend and speak at more national conferences

Have more time to help local pastors and individuals by providing resources on cults and world religions

Write pamphlets and books that people can use to give an answer to those who question the Christian faith.

We covet your prayers that the Lord would provide through His people.

INFORMATION REQUESTS

If you need information to answer specific questions someone has posed to you concerning the faith, just send us an [1] e-mail and we will do our best to help you answer those questions. You too can be a Contender!

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

UNDERSTANDING THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

The United States of America, from its inception, has always stood for justice.

This nation separated itself from England because of the repeated injustices suffered by the colonies at the hands of the king who desired (according to the Declaration of Independence) “the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” The second reason listed in the Constitution for its establish-ment is to “establish Justice.”

A major war was fought within this country in large part concerning the injustice of some men owning other men, women, and children as slaves.

A few months ago this nation and the world was changed forever when a network of terrorists crashed jets into huge buildings, wreaking havoc and causing the deaths of some 4000 innocent people. America has responded to these attacks, as President Bush wisely explained, by seeking justice, not revenge.

And yet today in January 2002, as we mark the 29th anniversary of the infamous Roe vs. Wade decision which legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, there is no justice in this country for the 4000 babies killed each day by abortion. How can a people so incensed at the murder of 4000 innocent people by terrorists be so indifferent to the murder of 40 million innocent babies by “choice”?

LOST PERSPECTIVE

I believe the problem started with the loss of the perspective that the baby in the womb is from the moment of conception a human life, and that all human life is a sacred gift of the Creator.

The Founding Fathers of America, the vast majority of whom were fervent Christians, certainly held to the sanctity of life. They embraced a biblical worldview and did all they could to see the principles of Christianity instituted into the nation which they made. This country has abandoned the high ideals held by its founders to its shame and peril.

BIBLICAL BASIS

There are many passages of Scripture that are relevant to this sanctity of life:

Genesis 1:27 makes clear that man was created in the image of God and is thereby set apart from the rest of His creation. All people, whether inside the womb or fully-grown, are valued and prized by God and find their inherent worth because of their nature as human beings. Neither age, stage of life, mental or physical skills nor any other characteristic a person may or may not possess alters this fact.

There is no distinction of nature or value made in either the Old Testament or the New Testament between unborn children and born children. In Exodus 21:22-25, the Hebrew word for child in the womb can also refer to young children or even teenagers. In Luke 1:41 and 1:44 the Greek word describing John the Baptist while still in his mother’s womb is the same word used of Jesus after He was born (Luke 2:12, 16) and for children brought to Jesus to receive His blessing (Luke 18:15-17). In Acts 7:19 the same word is used for the newborn babies killed by Pharaoh. The point is that a baby is a baby whether inside or outside the womb.

Job speaks of God clothing him with skin and flesh and knitting him together in the womb (Job 10:8-12). David says much the same and states that God created His inmost being (Ps. 139:13-16). David also says that he was sinful by nature from the moment of his conception (Ps. 51:5). The Lord says He formed each person in the womb (Is. 44:2).

Rebekah’s “children” Jacob and Esau struggled together inside her womb and she was told by God that “the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:22-23). She was not carrying two “potential human beings” but two sons with great potential.

We just celebrated the birth of Christ a few weeks ago. But when did the incarnation of God the Son occur? It happened when the Word took on human flesh when He was conceived in the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-38; John 1:14).

PRACTICAL CONCERNS

Since it is God who has prerogatives over life and death (Deut. 32:39) and He hates the shedding of innocent blood (Exod. 20:13; Prov. 6:16:17), we, as Christians, need to live by the standard of the Word of God. As individuals, we should pray for the President as he is likely to nominate one or more judges to the Supreme Court, and pray for our legislators that they will implement laws that protect life in all stages, from the unborn to the aged. And we need to help others understand the sanctity of human life. This is truly just.

Jude 3,
Dave