UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES: 2003/02
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The Newsletter of Contend for the Faith, Inc
1 Chronicles 12:32
February 2003
The Gospel is Preached at Temple Beth El
A BUSY MONTH
This has been an extremely busy year for us. We praise God for opening so many doors and giving so many opportunities for speaking and teaching. Let me give you the highlights.
The retreat for high school students at which I spoke in Pennsylvania went very well. The students learned a lot about how to think well. The best comment I heard on the weekend was by one student who said to one of the adult chaperons, "You're learning right along with us, aren't you."
I also had the joy and privilege of preaching the evening service for three Sunday nights at Calvary Church. I did a series that I called "Exclusive Faith in an Inclusive World," and I received many good comments in response.
The panel discussion hosted by Leadership Charlotte was very interesting, and it was a privilege to be involved in it. On the panel there was a Muslim imam, a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest, an atheist, a Buddhist monk, and me as a representative of evangelical Christianity.
We discussed various questions of local and national importance such as the looming war with Iraq, whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God, whether the words "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, and whether homosexuality should be accepted in our society.
I really enjoyed being able to address these issues from a Christian worldview, and I was able to give the gospel message twice in the context of my answers. However, I did manage to seem to be the odd man out on most issues as I contended for biblical principles of morality. When discussing homosexuality, the Catholic priest said basically he has no problem with it, then, almost as an afterthought, he gave the position of the Catholic church that such behavior is sinful.
Several people thanked me afterwards for upholding Christian morality. One man, a Catholic, said he appreciated my comments greatly since "that priest did not represent my beliefs at all."
I had another wonderful opportunity by being invited to speak at Temple Beth El to explain the basic beliefs of Christianity as part of their Comparative Religion Series. I gave my message the title "Why I Am A Christian," and I spoke to about 60 people at this Jewish synagogue.
Temple Beth El is really a beautiful building, and it was a thrill to be able to contend for the Christian faith in front of several Jews in their own house of worship. I thought of how the apostle Paul made it a practice of going into the synagogues wherever he traveled, reasoning with and persuading his Jewish contemporaries that Jesus is the Messiah.
I was told that an inscription in Hebrew on the marble wall behind the podium said "Remember before whom you are standing." I did my best to faithfully proclaim and defend the gospel of Jesus the Messiah before God and in front of many who need to receive Him as their Savior for the forgiveness of sins.
Please pray that the Lord will use the seeds planted on that evening to bring many into the Kingdom of Christ.
MINISTRY NEEDS
We currently have three important needs that I want to share with you and for which I request your prayers.
We need to buy a new laptop computer with more memory and speed to be able to handle everything that I need it to do. This will likely cost about $2000.
If anyone has a functioning desktop copier machine that they would like to donate to the ministry, we can give you a receipt to use as a tax reduction.
Because I am focusing all of my attention on the ministry now, we need significantly more in monthly donations. Please pray that the Lord would provide $1000 in new monthly support. Thank you.
SPEAKING SCHEDULE 2003
Mar. 12-13
Worldview Seminars for High School Seniors, Charlotte Christian
Apr. 4-5
Baptist Student Union, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC: Intelligent Design vs. Evolution & Countering the Campus Clichés
www.ContendfortheFaith.org
CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
UNDERSTANDING THE ATTACK OF THE CLONES
Cloning has been in the news very much this year, ever since a company run by members of a UFO cult claimed to have produced the first successful human clone at the end of December 2002.
A company called Clonaid made headlines worldwide when they announced on December 27th the birth of a baby they nicknamed "Eve" who is allegedly a clone of her 31-year-old American mother. Brigitte Boisselier, CEO of Clonaid, failed to produce any evidence of the existence of this baby but she promised to provide DNA proof that Eve is a true clone.
Since that time, Boisselier said the parents of Eve decided to go into seclusion in order to avoid the media circus that would have plagued them. Clonaid has also claimed to have produced two more cloned babies, one to a Dutch lesbian "couple" and one to parents in Japan. No proof has been provided concerning any of these children.
The reason anyone thinks human cloning is even possible is because of the breakthrough achieved by a group of scientists in Edinburgh, Scotland, who successfully cloned an adult sheep. The cloned sheep, named Dolly, was born in July 1996 and was the first clone of an adult mammal.
Cloning is the process of creating a new organism by copying genetic information from a single "parent" organism, producing a genetic copy of the donor who provides the DNA.
The process by which this has been successfully done is called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer and results in the creation of a new organism by way of fusion rather than by fertilization.
It works in a two-step process:
First, scientists do what they call enucleation which consists of removing the nucleus of an unfertilized egg. Second, a cell transfer is done, which means the nucleus of a somatic cell from the donor to be cloned is placed into the egg. A somatic cell, such as a skin or white blood cell, contains the donor's DNA. Then a small electric pulse is applied to stimulate the newly constructed cell into the division process, thus beginning the development of the newly cloned human being.
Congress debated cloning in the 2002 session, making a distinction between two kinds of cloning.
Therapeutic cloning, also known as "stem cell" cloning, creates a human embryo using a medical patient's DNA. Scientists then use the embryo's stem cells to grow personalized replacement cells and tissue for treating, and hopefully curing, the patient. The embryo is destroyed in the process.
Reproductive cloning involves creating a human embryo using a donor's DNA with the intention of implanting the embryo in a woman's womb and delivering a baby.
While conservatives want a ban on both kinds of cloning, most liberals want only want reproductive cloning prohibited. Ironically liberals oppose cloning for reproduction because of the harm that may come to cloned babies, yet they are in favor of these same babies being destroyed in therapeutic cloning for the potential benefit of patients suffering from a variety of diseases.
Why would anyone want a cloned baby in the first place? Several reasons: Some parents see cloning as a way to "bring back to life" a child who died prematurely. Those who live a homosexual lifestyle see cloning as a way they can reproduce and have their own children.
The Raelians (the UFO cultists who spawned Clonaid) believe that the key to eternal life is through cloning. Since they do not believe that God exists, they see cloning as the way to extend an individual's life indefinitely. Rael, the leader of the cult, says their goal is "to transfer the memories and personality" of an old man into his clone so the same person can live forever in a series of new bodies which are copies of the original.
PROBLEMS WITH CLONING
Human cloning is a very bad idea for several reasons.
First, it would be dangerous not only for the babies but also for the mothers. The doctors who cloned Dolly the sheep said it took them 277 tries to be successful. That means 276 failures. They said sometimes the baby sheep would be terribly deformed and grow abnormally large in the womb, thereby threatening the mother's life. These men are totally opposed to human cloning because of these problems and risks.
Second, cloning devalues human life. God bestows pricelessness and uniqueness to each human being at conception, but cloning reduces reproduction to a manufacturing production line in a factory. Cloning treats human beings as property to be used, manipulated and experimented on. Human life should never be sacrificed for scientific gain.
Third, cloning is man's attempt at playing God. One doctor working on cloning, Dr. Richard Seed, said, "We are going to have almost as much knowledge and almost as much power as God."
The Lord is the one who knits us together in the womb (Job 10:8-12; Psalm 139:13-16) and He has the power over life and death (Deut. 32:39). Let's keep it that way.
Dave.
Jude 3
