Friday, August 05, 2016

Abortion, Sodomy, and Economics Tract Updated

Part of the Christian's responsibility as salt and light (Matthew 5:13ff.) is to take a stand against the abominations done in the world.  That is certainly something seen in the Old Testament prophets; in John the Baptist's warning to King Herod; in the preaching of the Lord Jesus; and elsewhere in both Testaments.  Consider Ezekiel 9:4:

 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Are you among those who sign and cry for the abominations done in our land, or are you merely intellectually opposed, but in actual practice you do nothing?  Certainly it is right--and very important--to cry out to the Lord in prayer about these things, but does that fulfill our responsibility? 

If we are to do more, though, what ought we to do--should we violate principles of Biblical separation to join with enemies of the cross who believe a false gospel to advance, say, a commendable pro-life goal?  Certainly not.  Should we vote for pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-liberty, pro-Constitution candidates? Yes, certainly, every time.  Can we do more?  Yes. What else can we do?

One thing that can be done is to preach against societal abominations while also proclaiming the solution--the gospel--at the same time.  With that end in view, I wrote, a number of years ago, a tract entitled "The Role of Government: Has God Spoken?"  I am not going to reproduce the entire text of that tract below; it preaches against abortion, sodomy, and unbiblical governmental economic policy (e. g., stealing),  gives a graphic illustration of abortion, summarizes the positions of the Democrat and Republican party platforms on this subject, and then preaches the gospel.  The tract fits on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper folded once in the middle--our church copier can even do the folding part automatically--so copies come out ready to go and folder.  (Perhaps yours can do the same thing.)  I have passed out thousands of copies personally and other brethren have passed out many copies also.  I believe if enough copies were passed out it could, under God's sovereign control, swing close elections. For example, I have passed out copies in overwhelmingly Democrat, minority neighborhoods filled with people that are anti-abortion and anti-sodomy who thought that, e. g., in 2012 Obama was pro-life and pro-marriage but Romney was pro-abortion and anti-marriage.  A little enlightenment might influence voting patterns in such a situation.  Even in areas with convinced leftists, such people ought to be warned about what God thinks about what they are supporting.  Whatever way elections go, God is still glorified as the truth gets out.  Furthermore, the lost can be brought under deep conviction of sin when they come to realize the wickedness they have been supporting.

Anyway, I mention all of the above because I recently updated the tract to fit the 2016 Republican and Democratic party platforms.  The Democratic platform is chillingly more extremist than it was in 2012, and thus I modified the tract so that the comparison of the two parties is now as follows:

The Republican Party plat­form is pro-life from conception until natural death. Furthermore, it specifies that people should not be punished if they cannot in good conscience assist in the murder of little babies. The Democratic Party platform believes a baby should be able to be legally killed, even if the entire baby is no longer in the womb except for his/her head. It does not condemn infanticide. It claims the government should force American taxpayers to pay for abortions in the USA and in foreign countries. The 2016 platform dropped the protection for the consciences of those who are against abortion found in the 2012 platform—help kill the babies or lose your job, or have your religious hospital shut down. The Republi­can Party likewise supports marriage between men and women and opposes punishing those who reject sexual perversion. The Democratic Party rejects true marriage and believes businesses, Christian institutions, and others who are against immorality should lose their jobs, businesses, and livelihoods if they oppose letting men who say they are women shower with real women and little girls. They believe boys who think they are girls should be encouraged in school to practice such a harmful lie even if their parents are strongly opposed. The Republican Party also.favors more economic liberty than does the Democratic Party. Sources: https://www.demconvention.com/platform/; https://www.gop.com/the-2016-republican-party-platform/. No candidate or political party has endorsed or contributed to this composition.

I would encourage your churches to consider using this tract and suggest that you also consider sharing its web address with others.  You can view this Biblical tract on abortion, sodomy, and economics by clicking here for the purpose of sharing it with others, and you can also download a Word document of the tract here so that you can personalize it for use in your own church.  (There is a lot on that latter page; search for "abortion" and then use the "MS Word" link to find it quickly.)  I gladly give permission to other churches to personalize the tract and distribute it.  I also do not mind if you tweak its content a bit (for example, you could add the names of the Republican and Democrat senators who are on your ballot in your state), as long as you do not change the content of its message (e. g., take repentance out of the gospel presentation or in some other way corrupt the message).

May the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit get the glory as we preach the gospel and act as salt and light for His name's sake.

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