Ever feel like the phrase "Go to Hell." is a bit overused in our culture? If you saw what I saw tonight, I am confident that even if you're not a "church person", you'd eliminate that from your vocabulary. I have seen Hell, or at least enough of a glimpse of it to break my heart.
Tonight, I attended "do.justice", a "stylish singles event to celebrate freedom". In a converted industrial building in downtown Atlanta, several hundred of us were ushered in groups of 30 into a long, dark hallway filled with huge movie screens. On the first screen, we saw the story of a young boy named "Patrick". At age 12 soldiers came into his Ugandan village with AK-47s and machetes and unleashed an indescriminate attack on all in their way. They beat him and handed him a gun, telling him to shoot the man and woman in front of him or he would be shot instead.
Heads up: this gets a little graphic.
After he shot them, they did spare his life, only to force him to carry the severed head of the man he shot and wear the intestines of the woman around his neck as they marched him 20 miles that day. When asked why he would carry them he said, "because they were my parents."
The next story was about a child named Srey. She was given away by her parents for money, then sold to a brothel in Southeast Asia, where she was "employed" and beaten daily. Once, the police came in and shut down the brothel, freeing her, until the appropriate bribes were paid. Then, the proprietor moved them all across the street and resumed business as usual.
There are roughly 27 million people in the modern day slave trade. No, that's not the people running the trade, those are the actual slaves. Yes, in 2007, there are enough people enslaved worldwide today to populate the state of New York one and one half times.
In the midst of all the "where is God?" talk following the horrid shootings at Virginia Tech, comes an echo of the wake up call "God is watching. And I don't think He's impressed." In fact, when I left the event tonight, I thought I was heartbroken, but I'm sure God's heart is broken even more. The Bible teaches that He is not a God who employs mindless puppets, that our every move should be decided for us on our behalf, stripping us of free will. On the contrary, He has given us a will of our own, and starting with Adam, we've made some of the worst choices that could be made.
Further, the Bible teaches that sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, that is, we live in a broken world ruled by God's enemy. In this fallen world, trials, disease, and unspeakable terrors coexist with the Biblical promise of redemption. There is a Heaven. There is a Hell. Sadly, millions of children are forced to live in Hell even today. The church, the government, and the secular movement, for their own unique and divergent reasons must leverage every ounce of power they can to expose and stop this sadistic industry. (Yes, if you brought in $5 billion a year globally, I'd call you an industry, too.)
Below are a list of websites that you may choose to visit. I urge you to visit them, even if you don't have the time to. Put them in your favorites bar and refer to them as often as it takes to get you to do something on behalf of these tortured souls.
Go to Hell.
Once you have a glimpse of it burned indelibly into your mind's eye, come back, and do something about it.
Not For Sale Campaign
Sam Childers: Saving the Invisible Children
Addressing sexual exploitation in Atlanta, Ga
May you never be the same again. May you live a life unfettered. May you take action today that echoes through eternity and impacts the life of a child fettered by the evil in the hearts of sinful men. May you show a hellbound human being a glimpse of the light of heaven in what you do and fall in love with the God who redeems you both. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Reprint - Weaker Than WHO?!
In light of a few debates I've been sucked into lately, I've decided to republish an old post I wrote last summer. Enjoy.
"In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard." 1 Peter 3.7 NLT
I think the NLT gets the Greek word "time" right here - it is often translated "respect" or "value". But, "honor" is a word often used reciprocally in reference to the relationship husbands and wives should have. But, there is no need for offense. This is not a "barefoot and pregnant" command. This is not in any way meant to be misogynistic. Hard to believe?
Let's give credit where due - we men, as a whole, tend to be rough, brash, more focused on logic and solutions than women. Oops. Just lost credibility... Am I painting with broad strokes? So was the apostle Peter in this verse. Does he leave room for exceptions? Clearly. However, as a general rule, if you were God for a moment and you knew how stubborn men were on the whole, and you had seen them screw up this relationship thing over and over, wouldn't you give them a clear and clamorous caveat about their bumbling approach to relationships?
Boys, what do we do when carrying an object of great value? I'm thinking a priceless Ming vase filled with Philippe de Rothschild's finest wine. Are we a bit more careful where and how we step? Do we take into consideration every edge, corner, and surface of the objet d'art we hold in our hands?
Notice, though, that the apostle Peter urges us in indefinite terms first and then comes back to definite status "she may be weaker... but she is your equal partner". In other words, "you are equally yoked, but will have a tendency to pull at different speeds - in emotional situations she will walk more steadily than you, but you may have a tendency to drag her through logic when she really needs nurturing. Take care - heed her mood, read her mood, lead her mood in the way she needs her mood to be lead, and then you will avoid unnecessary relational damage, scars, and bruising - your prayers will not be hindered."
Am I reading too much into this? Are these generalizations degrading to women? What if God knew something ages ago that we still struggle with and stumble over to this very day - that men and women are different and we must learn how to treat each other to avoid the relational chaos that so permeates our broken, selfish world? If He didn't know that, do you think He'd have put so many pairs of relational counsel in His word? Notice how often advice is given first to one sex and then to the other? For fun, look at the two lines He commands for women in chapter 5 of Ephesians that preceed the four lines that follow directed right at the men. No pressure, guys...
We have the potential to come together with the word of God between us, or to let our misunderstandings of it divide us. But, if God's greatest commands are to love Him, and love others as ourselves, wouldn't it make sense that his warning to men would be - treat her tenderly, with honor, value, and respect, as you would if she were a weaker partner or your hard, unflexible heart will connect to me like a bogged down dial-up connection in a busy chat room?
Simply stated: "Treat her as if or I'll make you wish you did." - God
Or, in the words of my favorite Haiku
"In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard." 1 Peter 3.7 NLT
I think the NLT gets the Greek word "time" right here - it is often translated "respect" or "value". But, "honor" is a word often used reciprocally in reference to the relationship husbands and wives should have. But, there is no need for offense. This is not a "barefoot and pregnant" command. This is not in any way meant to be misogynistic. Hard to believe?
Let's give credit where due - we men, as a whole, tend to be rough, brash, more focused on logic and solutions than women. Oops. Just lost credibility... Am I painting with broad strokes? So was the apostle Peter in this verse. Does he leave room for exceptions? Clearly. However, as a general rule, if you were God for a moment and you knew how stubborn men were on the whole, and you had seen them screw up this relationship thing over and over, wouldn't you give them a clear and clamorous caveat about their bumbling approach to relationships?
Boys, what do we do when carrying an object of great value? I'm thinking a priceless Ming vase filled with Philippe de Rothschild's finest wine. Are we a bit more careful where and how we step? Do we take into consideration every edge, corner, and surface of the objet d'art we hold in our hands?
Notice, though, that the apostle Peter urges us in indefinite terms first and then comes back to definite status "she may be weaker... but she is your equal partner". In other words, "you are equally yoked, but will have a tendency to pull at different speeds - in emotional situations she will walk more steadily than you, but you may have a tendency to drag her through logic when she really needs nurturing. Take care - heed her mood, read her mood, lead her mood in the way she needs her mood to be lead, and then you will avoid unnecessary relational damage, scars, and bruising - your prayers will not be hindered."
Am I reading too much into this? Are these generalizations degrading to women? What if God knew something ages ago that we still struggle with and stumble over to this very day - that men and women are different and we must learn how to treat each other to avoid the relational chaos that so permeates our broken, selfish world? If He didn't know that, do you think He'd have put so many pairs of relational counsel in His word? Notice how often advice is given first to one sex and then to the other? For fun, look at the two lines He commands for women in chapter 5 of Ephesians that preceed the four lines that follow directed right at the men. No pressure, guys...
We have the potential to come together with the word of God between us, or to let our misunderstandings of it divide us. But, if God's greatest commands are to love Him, and love others as ourselves, wouldn't it make sense that his warning to men would be - treat her tenderly, with honor, value, and respect, as you would if she were a weaker partner or your hard, unflexible heart will connect to me like a bogged down dial-up connection in a busy chat room?
Simply stated: "Treat her as if or I'll make you wish you did." - God
Or, in the words of my favorite Haiku
"Oh, she wants me to
love her just like she would love
her if she were me..."
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