Breakpoint

Last Wednesday, during a new segment on the BreakPoint Podcast in which Shane Morris and me field questions from listeners, we tackled the following question / lecture: “If abortion is so evil then why does God abort millions of fertilized eggs every day? With you folks, almost everything is black and white. No nuance. If a Fetus has deformities to prevent it from living a few hours after birth, then why put the mother through this trauma?”

Questions like this, especially in light of the incredibly strategic cultural moment we are in right now when it comes to defending innocent preborn life, is why we called an audible for the next Colson Center Short Course. Four Tuesday nights in a row, beginning September 8, you can be trained to be a pro-life advocate by the best. The course is called “Champion Life: How to Oppose Abortion and Defend the Unborn.” by Scott Klusendorf of the Life Training Institute, you will leave each week’s teaching prepared to do just what the subtitle says: oppose abortion and defend the unborn.

In fact, the first week’s class will enable you to navigate conversations we often find ourselves in, not dissimilar to what Shane and I heard from our listener: a flurry of questions mixed with an accusation or two. We have to start by defining exactly what abortion is.

My friend Greg Koukl often will use the following helpful scenario to do just that: Imagine your 10-year-old son walks up behind you, and asks, “Hey, Mom! Hey, Dad! Can I kill this?” Every parent knows that the only right response is a question: “What is this?” If it's a cockroach, sure. If he’s holding his little brother by the neck, he’s going to need counseling.

Medical science, embryology, and technologies like ultrasound have settled, beyond a doubt, that abortion takes a human life. Neither a male sperm cell nor a female egg cell are human beings, but once they unite, there is a different kind of entity: a distinct human life.

From this starting point, we can tackle our listener’s first question: why is abortion wrong when embryos naturally die by miscarriage every day? The answer is found by applying the same rules to these preborn humans as we would to humans outside the womb. Millions of people die every day, so why should we be so against murder?

The difference between millions of people dying every day by natural causes and those who die by murder is intent. It is wrong to take an innocent human life… any innocent human life. Fertilized eggs, embryos, fetuses, newborns, teenagers and adults are all human beings.

Assuming that different rules apply as long as the human is in utero is a category mistake.

On this same foundation, we can address the question of fetuses with life-threatening diseases or deformities. Suppose Grandpa is found to have a terminal illness and will die in weeks. He’s suffering and his medical expenses will place enormous financial burdens on his family. Should we kill him? Should we, as in the case of abortion, kill him without his consent?

Of course not. Why? Because it is always wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being.

Of course, when pro-abortion advocates offer this scenario, it’s often a red herring, a distraction that’s offered as an argument. Consider that about 70 percent of American children diagnosed before birth with the non-life-threatening condition Down Syndrome are killed in the womb. Even if we were to grant that it’s OK to abort babies in rare cases where deformities are life threatening (and I won’t grant that), would our listener be for protecting those babies with non-life threatening deformities?

Or consider those who argue abortion should be allowed in cases of rape and incest. Again, it is wrong to take any innocent human life, but ninety-eight percent of babies are not conceived this way. The extremely rare exceptions of rape, incest, and life-threatening deformities have nothing to do with taking the life of babies that are simply not wanted.

We shouldn’t be stumped by these kinds of questions. We must know how to define terms, how to ask the right questions back, and how to identify category errors. This is why the upcoming short course is so very important. Every Christian needs to be prepared to oppose abortion and defend the preborn.

If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned at the Supreme Court, the legal battle for life would shift to the states. So, I repeat, every Christian needs to be equipped to oppose abortion and defend the unborn. Please, sign up for our Champion Life Short Course at BreakPoint.org. And again, it starts Tuesday, September 8.

If you can’t join us on a particular week, we record each session, so you won’t miss a thing. Week 1 we will teach you how to defend life in one minute or less. Week 2 we will talk about the wrong ways to talk about abortion. Week 3 we will equip you to answer the common pro-abortion arguments. And week 4, we will enable you to launch a plan to join the pro-life movement.

Oh, and don’t forget to listen to our weekly question and answer session each week on the BreakPoint Podcast. You can listen in wherever you get your podcasts.

Register now for our latest short course: “Champion Life: How to Oppose Abortion and Defend the Unborn,” beginning September 8.

After another tough week in a tough year--another police shooting, riots, hurricane--John Stonestreet and Shane Morris talk about something every American should be able to agree on: We are not OK as a nation. Not only that, but with campaign season now in full swing, we will be bombarded with how this candidate or that candidate, this party or that party, will save us. Won't happen. Politics, important as they are, won't save us. If anyone or any entity can become a catalyst for healing and reconciliation, it is the Church. If not the Church, then who?

Also on today's broadcast: Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s fall from grace--and its impact on Liberty University and on evangelicals; videotaped court depositions uncover yet more evil on the part of Planned Parenthood; and, as every week, John and Shane's recommendations for the week. One recommendation includes . . . a TV reality show?

National Prayer Webinar with Bishop Garland Hunt

Join us online every Wednesday for prayer. Register here.

Planned Parenthood Sworn Video Testimony Admits Using Partial-Birth Abortions to Sell Baby Parts, video, Center for Medical Progress

Upstream, podcast with Shane Morris

The Wingfeather Saga, Vols. 1-4, Andrew Peterson, available in the Colson Center Bookstore

Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, by Ellen Santilli Vaughn, available for pre-order at Amazon.com

“Alone” reality show, at Amazon Prime

Two years ago, when Jackie Hill-Perry, a talented writer, poet, and speaker, spoke at a Wilberforce Weekend, she had the entire room leaning forward in their chairs. A powerful speaker with a powerful testimony about following Christ out of a lesbian lifestyle--no one in the audience wanted to miss a word.

Recently, Perry shared her testimony on a YouTube interview with Christian comedian KevOnStage. After leaving a long-term relationship when she gave her life to Jesus and after years of discipleship and deep involvement in the Church, Jackie married Preston Perry, a poet and apologist. They have two daughters, with a third baby on the way.

When, in the YouTube interview, Jackie shared she still struggles with same-sex attraction, her host was noticeably surprised. So was his audience. Many commenters accused Jackie of “suppressing her true self” and “denying the humanity” of others with same-sex attraction. After days of social media pressure, KevOnStage decided to take down the video.

The anger directed at the Perrys reflects a sad fatalism that permeates both the LGBTQ movement and the so-called “gay-affirming” Christians. Their critique is rooted in a bad idea, that our sexual desires fundamentally define us. Therefore, anyone with same-sex attraction will be, ultimately, powerless against it. No other temptations or sins are thought of this way.

The Perry’s addressed this double standard on their own podcast. After all, they mused, no one asks Preston whether he’s still attracted to other women. He isn’t accused of “denying his true self” by his fidelity to Jackie.

The Perrys also addressed the accusation that for Jackie to marry a man and have children is a betrayal of “who she really is.” Her response reveals just how important worldview is when thinking about anything, especially those areas of culture so hotly contested:

Here is what Jackie said: 2:10 “If you don’t understand the reason you were created, and then you don’t understand how sin has corrupted that, then when we talk about denying self, you don’t understand that your self is broken. We were created for glory, we were created to love and honor God… When sin came into the mix, it perverted and twisted our affections and our desires where now, we desire things that go against God’s original intention for our body and our creation. So to say that we’re denying ourselves is to say that we are attempting, through the power of the Spirit, to restore our bodies and our minds back to its original intention, which is to honor God with it.”

The Perrys’ story offers a different and better narrative about humanity, sexuality, and marriage, one that makes no sense to a culture that has defined sex and marriage down to acts of pleasure and self-fulfillment. If however, sex and marriage offer something more, as part of a divinely orchestrated plan in which a lifelong union becomes a life-creating act, and if love extends us beyond merely seeking pleasure to living in friendship, fidelity, and self-giving for the good of another, then the Perrys’ marriage points to something remarkable.

C.S. Lewis said that “we are far too easily pleased. We are half-hearted creatures… like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

Anyone struggling daily against sin and temptation and attempting to live faithfully to another may not describe their life as holiday at the sea. Jackie describes her own road as difficult, but she’s accused all the time of denying herself the right to a happy life. Sadly, it’s her accusers and anyone who believes we are powerless against temptation, that settle for something less than God offers.

“Is Christian Morality Harmful to Sexual Minorities?” a Wilberforce Weekend Presentation by Jackie Hill-Perry

Most public schools across the country are either attempting to hold school remotely or, in some hybrid way, brings kids back in the classroom in a limited way, keeping the numbers low. And that’s just for now. The plan has already changed in many districts and will likely change again before all said and done. The only sure thing, when it comes to this school year is that it is not going to be a normal.

For a group of churches and ministries in Ohio, this is an opportunity to, in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, seek the welfare of the city. A few months ago, public school districts in Columbus asked local churches to provide additional space for students who have working parents, and whose school would not be opening for in-person instruction. Looking for places where students could access tech devices and the internet, be under adult supervision, where food could be provided, churches in Columbus opened their doors.

Spearheaded by a faith-based group called Catalyst For Columbus, churches are opening “Learning Extension Centers”, where kids can do their online schoolwork with help from tutors. Dozens of churches have signed up, all on their own dime. One local ministry called The Dream Center plans to open 20 Learning Extension Centers across Columbus.

A friend of mine was helping a local pastor think through the logistics of setting up a center, including volunteer tutors, food, supplies, maybe transportation. At the end of their conversation they just laughed. “Pastor,” my friend said, “I think we’ve just invented school!”

What makes all of this more interesting is that in Ohio, the relationship between public schools and the church has not always been cordial. Two months ago, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill clarifying the rights of students to express their religious faith at school. Sponsors of the bill said schools were treating Christian clubs differently than other clubs, not allowing them to meet in school buildings, and students were being told they couldn’t express their Christian beliefs in school assignments or projects.

The fact that this bill, which the governor quickly signed into law, was even necessary is cause for concern. And frankly, there’s frustration that, after such hostility, the schools would now turn to churches for help. The churches, however, set all that aside to seize an opportunity to offer Christian generosity as a powerful witness to the City of Columbus.

The Church should help like this, wherever and whenever it can, whether or not it’s getting paid, and whether or not it’s ever thanked. Families scrambling to figure out what to do about school and work are our neighbors. School administrators and teachers are our neighbors. “Love your neighbor,” Jesus said, and “Give to the one who asks you.”

What these Ohio churches are doing is an example of something Rick Warren encouraged all of us to think about during our first Wednesday prayer call. Like God asked Moses, Rick encouraged us to ask ourselves, “What’s in our hand?” Moses had a staff, and through it, God freed His people and accomplished great wonders.

These Ohio churches took inventory and are offering what they have: space, technology, volunteers, and internet. Suddenly, the state isn’t fighting about whether Christian groups should be allowed to be meet in their secular space, or whether some imaginary interpretation of the Establishment Clause is being violated. Rather, they are asking if students can be allowed on a property dedicated to Christ and served by volunteers dedicated to Christ.  Sounds like a win to me.

Now these churches will not only be able to provide extension learning centers, they will be able to show families, teachers, and school districts the love of Christ. Maybe some of these churches will discover they have what they need to start their own school long-term. Maybe this tenuous relationship between church and school districts will outlast the pandemic.

Throughout history the church has been known for innovation, especially when it comes to education. The church has also been known for prayer, and I hope you will join the Colson Center family each Wednesday morning, at 10:30 eastern, as we pray together for the church and the nation. 4:15 So far, the theme each Wednesday has been that this opportunity for the church  is greater than what is happening in the government. It’s time for the church to be the church. May God bless these churches in Ohio as they show us what that can look like.

Join us in prayer for the Church and for our nation every Wednesday. Register here.

“Community groups help Columbus schools offer students safe place to study,” by Danae King, Columbus Dispatch

One listener writes in and asks: “If abortion is so evil then why does God abort millions of fertilized eggs every day? With you folks, almost everything is black and white. No nuance. If a Fetus has deformities to prevent it from living a few hours after birth, then why put the mother through this trauma?”

John Stonestreet and Shane Morris tackle this one as well as a question about the differences between worldview, philosophies, and ideologies and a question about the history behind slavery and Christianity.

Register for our Short Course: “Champion Life: How to Oppose Abortion and Defend the Unborn

“How Americans Think about Abortion, and What Pro-Lifers Must Learn,” by John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, BreakPoint

For the Glory of God, by Rodney Stark, available in the Colson Center online bookstore

Though Americans remain a morally serious people, at least in our quickness to condemn each other as “Hitlers” for various misdeeds, we are clearly not concerned with moral consistency. We demand churches close to stop the spread of COVID, but not Wal-marts, bars or casinos. We protest police violence with acts of violence. We celebrate Hugh Hefner as some great liberator of women, and weeks after his death, condemn Harvey Weinstein. We say “character counts” when it’s their guy in office, but not when it’s our guy.

Then, last week, after three plus years of the #MeToo movement protesting the objectification and abuse of women, the most objectifying song in history, one that reduces women to nothing more their private parts, hit #1 on the charts. I couldn’t possibly share with the lyrics of this song… any of them. Please, do not look them up. The two women rappers who perform this song repeatedly call themselves prostitutes, although not using that word, and beg men to treat them as such.

By any definition, legal or otherwise, America’s most popular song and its accompanying video are best called pornography, and available everywhere to anyone of any age.

Also last week, Netflix announced that a new film to be carried on its platform called “Cuties,” a French film about an 11-year-old Muslim girl who liberates herself from the oppressive morality of her family and her religion by joining an all-girl dance crew. The image Netflix used to advertise the film on social media featured a group of pre-teen girls in sexually suggestive poses. The trailer featured the dance crew of young girls twerking, among other sexually suggestive dance moves.

In 1964 Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said that though he could not give a precise definition of pornography, “I know it when I see it.” Thankfully, the public outcry to the movie poster was loud, consistent, and incredulous. What the public saw was child pornography. In response, Netflix apologized and pulled the ad but, so far, not the movie itself.

As one Facebook meme put it, if conspiracy theorists needed ammo that government and media elites are behind international pedophile rings, Netflix just gave it to them.

As morally monstrous as both of these cultural artifacts are, they reveal a great deal about the society that produced them, one that considers self-determination, self-actualization, and absolute freedom from any restraint as the highest human goods. This sort of view emerges only by rejecting the idea that the universe is created and ordered for some determined purposes. In turn, such a society embraces a profoundly tragic misunderstanding not only about what’s right and wrong, but also of what it means to be human, and of what freedom truly is.

To teach this important foundational truth, I’ve long used an analogy with students.  Imagine I’m an airplane pilot and, feeling quite free one day, I decide I don’t want to fly my plane, I want to drive it. So, I get to the end of the runway and turn left. Who’s going to stop me? I’m in a 747.

 I’m cruising down the road, and then I decide I want to see Pike’s Peak. So, I start up the curvy, windy drive and get stuck. My expression of freedom actually limited my freedom. If I want to see Pikes Peak in a plane, I should fly it. A plane is most free not when I drive it, but when I fly it. That’s what is designed for.

The same is true of human sexuality. We are not most free when we do whatever we want, but only when we are what God created us to be. A view of freedom that denies accountability or consequences will only, always, enslave us to our own passions. As St. Paul wrote in Romans 6, “Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

From the very beginning, the Sexual Revolution promised the wrong kind of freedom. What it delivered instead, reimagining not only sexual morality but who we fundamentally are as human beings, was slavery. Women and children are disproportionally victims of these bad ideas.  Our two most recent cultural artifacts retell these lies. It’s no accident that one is aimed at women, and the other is aimed at children.

A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World, by John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle, available at the Colson Center online bookstore.

According to recent report from the Centers for Disease Control, “40 percent of American adults have reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse” during the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third reported feelings of anxiety and/or depression, and one-quarter said that they were struggling with trauma-related issues. One in eight reported either developing or increasing substance-abuse problems.

Worst of all, 11 percent reported that they seriously considered suicide in the last few months.  Two years ago, by comparison, that number was just one in twenty-five. And, the CDC study revealed that certain segments of the population have struggled more than others. For example, one in five “essential workers” reported suicidal ideation, as have one in three unpaid caregivers for adults, and one in four 18- to 24-year-olds. And of course, there are others who don’t fit into categories like these, but who were already struggling with mental health issues before the pandemic.

As one mental health counselor told Business Insider, “When you think about the building blocks of stress, it fits . . . helplessness and hopelessness is what shows up in all of these categories, and that’s what leads to [suicidal] ideation . . . anxiety and depression.” Think of those who, for months, ran to provide care and help for others while risking infection themselves. Or think about those already dealing with the stress of caring for loved ones who have significant physical or mental disability, only having to do so without the typical public services that have been suspended?

These are just a few of the “pre-existing conditions” exacerbated by COVID-19. Like the pre-existing physical conditions triggered and complicated by COVID, this CDC report is suggesting that there are psychological conditions of co-morbidity as well.

For years now, experts have warned of the so-called “deaths from despair,” describing the increased rates of mental illness, depression, and addictions among many population segments in our country. In addition to these, however, there’s another pre-existing condition that often goes unmentioned: American hyper-individualism.

A particularly poignant meme going around aptly describes what happens when these complicating conditions converge. In the image, the word “I’m” is followed by other words that are crossed out, such as “depressed,” “unloved,” “broken,” and “dying inside.” The only descriptive word not crossed out is “Fine.”

This CDC report confirms what were already knew. Americans are far too quick to give and to accept “fine” as an answer to the question, “How are you doing?”  Prior to COVID-19, this was tragic. Mixed with the stress and isolation of COVD-19, it’s potentially lethal.

If ever there was a time for the Church to be the Church, this is it. Not only is the church able to identify, reach out, and help those who are struggling, but every other institution we’ve become used to relying on is not able. We are truly in a situation that if not the Church, then who?

Of course, this requires that churches become communities where people feel free to share struggles. While Christians have come a long way in their attitudes towards mental illness, too many of us still view depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide as weaknesses, or even sin.

Of course, we cannot wait for others to admit struggles. Christians must become proactive in seeking out others, checking on them, and when necessary, asking the follow-up questions when we hear the answer, “fine.”

For example, unpaid caregivers for adults shouldn’t have to tell us that they face enormous struggle and stresses that have only been made worse during COVID. It should be obvious to us. Young people who are struggling to find work or who are fearful because of the pandemic shouldn’t be mocked. We need to encourage them, reach out, and help them.

And, we should reach out first. That’s the church being the church. In fact, maybe the most important and practical lesson to take from this pandemic is to stop asking, “How are you doing?” and instead ask, “How can I help?”

“Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 24–30, 2020,” Centers for Disease Control

“Covid-19, Depression, and Suicide,” by John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, BreakPoint

According to the United States Institute of Peace, Nigeria, “as Africa’s most populous country, largest economy, and biggest democracy,” is a “bellwether for the continent.”  In fact, by 2050, Nigeria will likely have the fourth largest population in the world, behind India, China, and the United States. According to former Representative Frank Wolf, as “goes Nigeria so goes western Africa.”

The persecution of religious minorities anywhere is a terrible thing, but Nigeria’s growing status in the world makes the ongoing persecution of Christians there even more troubling.

For years now, Boko Haram and Muslim Fulani militants have killed, raped, kidnapped, and sought to cleanse parts of northern Nigeria of its Christian population. All the while, the government of Nigeria has embraced a policy of indifference, if not complicity, in what is rightly called “genocide” by observers both inside and outside the country.

Still, tragically, what the world continues to hear about Nigeria hasn’t been enough for alarm to become action. That makes the “Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter” campaign, a project of the International Committee on Nigeria, so very important. The International Committee’s report, “Genocide in Nigeria” is the most comprehensive account available of the atrocities there. Please, if only to better pray for your brothers and sisters in Nigeria, read it. It’s available at SilentSlaughterNigeria.com.

While you are on that site, click on the interactive Calendar, which tracks the number of Nigerian Christians killed, injured, or abducted day by day over the last 10 months. Seeing the numbers listed, day after day, visually transforms these tragedies from isolated headlines to ongoing and systemic persecution.

For instance, on 4 July 2020, five Nigerian Christians were killed and another six were abducted. That was, relatively-speaking, a good day for Nigerian Christians. One week later, 29 were killed and 90 were driven from their homes. But worst day in July was the 19th, when 44 were killed, 31 were injured, and 1 person was abducted.

Though the extent of violence directed at Nigerian Christians can seem unreal, it is, to borrow a line from the movie “Armageddon,” “…as real as it gets.” The resources available at silentslaughterNigeria.com should convince anyone of that words like “genocide” or “crimes against humanity” are not being used for mere effect, but are, rather, the only appropriate terms that can be used. Even more, I pray these resources convince all of us to stand up for our Nigerian brothers and sisters.

First, direct your friends, family members and pastors to the interactive calendar at silentslaughterNigeria.com. We’ll also link to it at BreakPoint.org. From this calendar pray for the Christians at risk there.

Second, let your elected leaders know that what is going on in Nigeria is very much “our problem.” At minimum, countries like the United States must be willing to admit refugees from genocidal violence. This is something that the Trump administration has promised, but now refuses to consider. On the contrary. As WORLD Magazine’s Mindy Belz has pointed out, the flow of refugees, including Christian ones which both the President and vice-President vowed to help, has come to an almost complete halt.

Another thing we need to do is stand for religious freedom. The plight of our brothers and sisters in Nigeria is not the only reason, but all the reason we need, for American Christians to care about religious freedom in our country. You see, we have the capacity to care for the persecuted around the world and the ability to pressure to countries that persecute religious minorities. As Stephen Enada, Director of the International Committee on Nigeria told me on today’s BreakPoint Podcast, its precisely our commitment to religious freedom that gives the United States a distinct “edge” over other nations. 

You can hear my conversation with Stephen Enada at breakpoint.org. Born in Nigeria himself, Stephen offers a full picture of what I’ve introduced by this commentary.

And finally Each Wednesday morning between now and the day after the election, at 10:30 eastern time, we are praying for our nation, for the revival of the church, and for the most vulnerable among us, which includes the persecuted Christians of Nigeria. This week, we will be led by Pastor Garland Hunt. Please join us. You can register at BreakPoint.org. Again come to BreakPoint.org

As the International Committee on Nigeria says, Break the silence. Stop the slaughter.

It’s the genocide no one is talking about. Across Northern Nigeria Boko Haram terrorist and Islamist Fulani herdsman are killing, raping, and kidnapping thousands of Nigerian Christians, while the Nigerian government is doing precious little to stop the carnage.

John Stonestreet interviews Stephen Enada, director of the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) about ICON’s dramatic new campaign “Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter” to raise awareness and bring pressure to bear on the Nigerian government.

Enada and Stonestreet implore American Christians in particular to go to the ICON website (linked below), to pray, and to spread the word for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Nigeria.

Resources:

Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter Incident Tracker

The International Committee on Nigeria, website

“Genocide in Nigeria,” by John Stonestreet and Shane Morris, BreakPoint

With the conclusion of the Democratic national convention, John Stonestreet and Shane Morris discuss just how much Americans look to politics and political solutions to solve our societal problems--and the certainty of left and right that should the other side win the election, it's game over for America. Where are we placing our trust?

They also discuss the QAnon conspiracy theory, along with Americans' (and perhaps especially American Christians') predilection to fall for conspiracy theories in general.

Also on today's broadcast: Netflix's disgusting sexualization of young girls, the Colson Center's upcoming short course on making the case for life, and John and Shane's recommendations for the week.

Register for “Champion Life: How to Oppose Abortion and Defend the Unborn,” a Colson Center Short Course with Scott Klusendorf

Register to Join the Colson Center in Prayer Every Wednesday morning

“How Americans Think about Abortion, and What Pro-Lifers Must Learn,” by John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, BreakPoint

The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture, by Scott Klusendorf, available in the Colson Center online bookstore.

International Commission on Nigeria, website