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

1 Chronicles 12:32

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2003

Essential Ethics for the Christian Life

CONFERENCE REPORT

The annual National Conference on Apologetics, held this year at Northside Baptist Church , was once again a great event where Christians became equipped to deal with a variety of ethical issues in daily life.

I taught on the ethics of cloning, and Deborah did an excellent workshop on nursing ethics.

One beautiful young lady who is a nursing student came up to Deborah after the presentation in tears because she so appreciated receiving biblical instruction on how she, as a believer, needs to handle issues of life and death in nursing.

EVERYDAY ETHICS

Two significant recent events have demonstrated how important it is for believers to be a) informed on moral issues of our day, and b) be actively engaged in the cultural debate on these issues.

For one thing, Congress passed and President Bush signed a federal ban on brutal partial-birth abortions.

The other happening was concerning the young woman in Florida , Terri Shiavo , who suffered brain damage years ago and has to rely on tubes for food and water. Her husband Michael sought and won a court order to have her feeding and hydration tubes removed because he says Terri would want to die.

Despite the repeated offers from Terri's parents to take over all responsibility for the care of Terri, Michael had the tubes removed so that she would slowly die from lack of food and water.

This outraged the pro-life community. Thousands of people called on the Florida Legislature and Governor Jeb Bush to intervene in the situation. The lawmakers responded to the flood of calls and emails on behalf of Terri Shiavo and they passed “Terri's Bill,” giving Governor Bush the power to order reinsertion of the tubes. Bush gave the order, and on October 21 st , after six days without food and water, Terri started to again receive the simple necessities to keep her alive.

Michael Schiavo was “angered and saddened” that the governor intervened in the case. He wanted her forced starvation to continue. Just as pro-abortion women believe they have a “fundamental right” to a dead baby, Mr. Schiavo seems to believe he has a right to a dead wife.

Consider the depths to which our society has sunk that this case would even be taken seriously in a court of law. Here is a woman who gave no explicit written instructions that if she ever became incapacitated she would want to die. Terri is not being kept alive by heroic means. She is not dependent on a ventilator for her every breath. She simply needs food and water, as every human being does, in order to stay alive.

Her husband finds her inconvenient, so he wants her to die slowly, painfully, horribly through dehydration and starvation. I would have more respect for this man if he asked the judge to allow him to shoot his wife and end her life quickly.

Note the response of Mr. Schiavo's attorney, George Felos , after Terri again began to receive food and water: “It is simply inhumane and barbaric to interrupt her death process.”

The response by Terri's father, Bob Schindler, was much more civilized: “We are just ecstatic. It's restored my belief in God.”

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

UNDERSTANDING THANKSGIVING

Giving thanks to the Lord for all He has done for us is a thoroughly biblical idea. With the official Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching in America , let me offer some Scripture which supports this observance.

One of the best passages in the Old Testament is found in Deuteronomy 8:10-20. Here Moses is giving the children of Israel instructions on how they should behave after God lets them enter into the Promised Land:

10“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

11“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12“lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13“and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14“when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15“who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16“who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17“then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' 18“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19“Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20“As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”

Clearly when we consider all that we have been blessed with, we need to acknowledge that even our ability to work and earn a living is a gift from God.

Several passages in the New Testament encourage believers to always be thankful to God:

Colossians 3:15 -17 – And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Philippians 1:3-5 – I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Let me suggest three reasons we should be thankful, no matter what our circumstances are.

First, we should be thankful because God has told us to do so.

Second, having a grateful heart gives us a proper sense of perspective. It reminds us of all the good things we have, the blessings both material and immaterial. Have you have ever given your time and effort to do something for someone, and after you were finished they did not even say “Thank you”? If so, you were probably either hurt or angry or both. We should much more readily and happily thank God for His incredible gifts to us, especially for the gift of eternal life through trusting in His Son.

Third, thankfulness improves our attitude. It increases our joy when we remember the God who cares for us so much that He provides not only for our temporal needs but also for our eternal needs through Christ. It takes our focus off of ourselves and places it on the One who provides all things for us.

This Thanksgiving, consider all of the blessings for which we have to be thankful. We have life. We have liberty. We have (for the most part) the freedom in this country to worship God as we choose to. We have the right and the ability to share our faith in Christ with others. And we have family and friends who love us.

As much as possible this season, develop an attitude of gratitude.

Psalm 105:1-3 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!