No, Mr. President? No, Mister.

I am traveling next week with my family and with my infant son to meet with doctors, men and women highly trained in the medical arts in an attempt to find a resolution to a life changing problem with our baby's hips.

The goal, Lord willing, is to restore his hips to a normal position and allow for him to grow sockets that will give him the chance to walk and live a normal life with legs that work like you or I. We pray that this will happen. But if it does not, rest assured, we love him and are grateful every day that we have him in our lives. He is a gift from God.

All the more reason however that I refuse to stand by and allow people to minimize the meaning of my son's life, or any baby's life when they advocate the myth of "choice." Abortion of a baby is the destruction of a person, and each person you know is in this world because they were given the chance at life, both by their creation which is the work of God, and the willingness of the mother of that person to endure and give birth, regardless of their willingness to parent. Everyone was at one time a baby. Think of the best friend, brother, sister, or anyone you might not know today if that person's mother had made a different "choice."

With that in mind, again I call upon the men that this blog is directed to.

Men, we are called to act. To fight for life. By word, deed, and by faith we are charged by God in His Word to honor his creation and to stand up and defend the lives of the men (and women) whom no one will know, who will never have a chance at life, who have yet to be born, and who will not exist with us in the world every time an abortion takes place.

How we do this is not with violence, not with hatred against those who would contribute to the horrific practice of abortion, but with love and truth that our Lord has given us with which to use our example and our voices to contrast the myth that destroying unborn people is somehow an act of will that women must feel entitled to utilize. And we do this by supporting women by being MEN. Being FATHERS. Being HUSBANDS. Being RESPONSIBLE.

Rough guess, but I'm willing to believe that many, many abortions in this country and around the world would never have happened if the men in women's lives who were equally responsible for the pregnancy stood up, led, were men, and took responsibility for their own children. How many men, not women, endure the thought that a child that was theirs was aborted.

Recently John Piper produced a message through Desiring God Ministries responding to President Obama's views on abortion. It's worth watching if you have not.



The Hard Truth is that it's much easier to feel pain and loss from the death of a person whom you know, born into this world and seen with your own eyes. Much easier to want to protect a life that is known to you. Harder however to have faith that such a person exists before you can see them, and then sight unseen elevate that person to more than a yes or no answer. Men, act like a father when a gift of a child is known to be on the way and be responsible for your behavior. You will one day know your child and live and die for them. To imagine never knowing them will be terrifying. Women, get an ultrasound before even considering an abortion. Your own eyes will remind you of the life you carry, and choice will have nothing to do with it.
And if there is no man there to help you and you cannot on your own care for your child, placing that child up for adoption is a blessing to a family desperately in need of the chance at being loving parents.

Pray for the President. Pray for our children. Pray for the hearts of those considering an abortion to be open to God's grace. Pray for our men to be men.

If for nothing more...

The Hard Truth has commented before about politics. But this is not what we're about.

The Kingdom of God is not going to be altered by anything any one politician, political party, or election can bring about.

But with this in mind, many of the events that are soon to transpire politically in this country
will have powerful ramifications for our daily lives, the security of our families and the continuation of our freedom. Life may stay constant for a while but things will eventually change. God's plan is working to a single end, and we must rely upon His wisdom and Divine sovereignty as the world and our country moves in that direction.

However, when we as Christian's have the opportunity to vote in free elections, vote our conscience, defend righteousness, and act consistent with our faith, we must do so. To be faithful to the will of God as told to us in scripture is our faithful responsibility.
We may have personal preferences about minor issues such as a candidate's likability, age, background, etc. We may have strong opinions about a candidate's political philosophy. But when a biblical issue comes into play as an issue upon which we have the chance to represent our faith and God's will, our faithfulness demands we represent the biblical standard. As slaves to Christ, we must do the will of our Master. Our Lord.

Such an issue stands silent in the corner of the room that represents this presidential election.

It is abortion.

Millions of unborn children are killed (not aborted, terminated, or ended...let's not use the pro-choice lobby's language of minimization, excuse, or guilt relief,) every year in this country. Innocent children who are never given the chance to even breath the precious air you take into your lungs right now, are hacked to death by scalpel inside of their mommy's wombs. They feel pain (scientifically proven even in the first trimester,) until their precious little lives are gruesomely taken from them. Look at any newborn or tiny baby that's not your own, a stranger's child, and you'll see a precious, new human being even you yourself might defend, even unto death. Ask yourself: Is there a difference between the baby in the womb, and the baby you would dive in front of a car to protect if he or she were laying in a busy city street?
If it's only that you can 'see' one, and not the other, take a moment to realize how silly that viewpoint is.
Now be blessed to have a child of your own, see that child in your hands through the eyes of a parent's love, a gift of love God has granted you, and you'll never look at abortion the same way again.

In this year's presidential election there are two men running for office. Barack Obama has publicly stated that he will not cut funding for tax payer funded abortions. He has said he believes in a woman's "right to choose" and that he will appoint Supreme Court judges who will support such "rights." He says when asked about when life begins that to determine such a thing is above his "pay grade." Barack Obama says he is a Christian. He attended a church for 20 years pastored by the controversial Rev. Wright. Barack Obama has two girls of his own.

John McCain has said he does not believe in abortion, that he is personally and religiously against it. He has stated he will work to overturn a poorly worded, legally unjustified and badly enforced court ruling called "Roe vs. Wade." He states he intends to deny no one their personal freedoms, but believes unborn children also have a right to live and breath our air.
He says he will appoint Supreme Court judges who will defend the unborn and make it easier for American citizens to adopt American children placed up for adoption. He says he will also work to make such adoptions far easier than they currently are. John McCain says that life begins at conception, because his faith in God tells him so. John McCain says he is a Christian. John McCain has several children.

The Hard Truth is that we as Christian men and women must stand for what is righteous. We must echo God's will and stand for what He wants, not what personally appealing message or worldly draw we find uplifting. If we fail to live by our convictions as Christians, we are indifferent to scripture. If we are indifferent to scripture, we are ignorant of it, we are lacking in faith, and we are sinning against God and grieving the Holy Spirit.

If for nothing more than the issue of abortion, for the defense of unborn children in this country who die painfully, daily in untold numbers, vote in this presidential election.
One of these two men says he'll stand for what's righteous. The other has actually said he won't.

Determining when life begins is above all of our pay grades. The boss is in charge of that. And He's told us it's none of our business. It is a precious gift from Him, and should be respected as such. Not as an inconvenience.

For an audio mp3 of the Al Mohler program in which he specifically addresses this issue, click here: http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2008-10-16

False Idols

Something here strikes an uncomfortable cord. Like the looming discomfort that grabs you right before you buy something you're about to regret spending the money on. The thud in your gut of buyer's remorse before the transaction has taken place. Such is the candidacy of Barrack Obama for the Presidency of the United States.

Watching the spectacle of American politics develop over the last 20 years, one would hope that the process couldn't get much worse. But it seems that every new Presidential election becomes more surreal, incredibly shallow, and crushingly disappointing as we witness the degeneration of our national elective process, our common conscience, and our identity as a people and as a nation.

Deeper and more disturbing however is the danger of politics becoming something frighteningly different all together, global sycophantic celebrity worship.

We are witnessing the inception of this in the nomination of the Democratic Presidential candidate Barrack Obama. Pay any attention to the presidential race in the mainstream media, online news, blogs, or otherwise and you become keenly aware that for some, this is not so much about electing a qualified individual for the most powerful office on earth, but the envisioning of a savior who will produce final peace. What Mr. Obama himself calls "a nation healed, a world repaired." With elevated speeches and sweeping oratory, he tells us that "we are what we've been waiting for!" or that he himself has "...become a symbol of America returning to our best traditions." He tells us that "he is the way" to the end of all our problems. Yet without any form of tested leadership, accomplishment, or otherwise to provide a basis for this belief, people are flocking without rational explanation to adore Barrack Hussein Obama.
A man whom many seem to be labeling a savior.

The Hard Truth is that neither Barrack Obama nor any human being can produce on such a promise of peace and prosperity or rise to the level of savior.

The truth is that there is only one Prince of Peace. One savior for all mankind. The only one who can bring about the end of war, famine, hatred, and all that ails the world. He is that man who lived the perfect life, deserves all our adoration, and died to bring us real salvation. Rising back to life on the third day after being crucified (an experience worthy of praise and worship,) he proved that he had defeated death, atoned for the sins of every one of us, and paid our debt to a just and righteous God.

Jesus Christ is that savior. Jesus Christ is that messiah.

To worship any man or woman, celebrity, politician, pope, or king above the Lord Jesus Christ is to commit the greatest sin there is. The sin of elevating anything or anyone above God Himself. This is called idolatry. And God has said there shall be no other gods before Him.

An important election year side-note from our discussion of the Hard Truth.

Beware of worshiping false idols. Mr. Obama is a man like any other, and as we all know, men make mistakes. We live, we grow old, we die. And we sin. Every single one of us. When we fail to recognize this and instead lift up individuals to greater than human standards, we suffer the consequences in the form of dictatorships, monarchies, and tyrannically oppressive governments. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It would be prudent to think about electing a leader who shows the humility and experience to question himself and his motives before making decisions that have global, national, and very personal consequences to you and your family.