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Sarah Neufeld Co.

Empowering Women through the Living Word & Living Stories

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The Podcast

The Christian Response to Communism

July 22, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

christian response to communism

Part 1 – Summary

In Part 1 of this episode, we take a look at the problematic elements of this marxist ideology from a Christian perspective; specifically, its atheism.

Which political parties share these views, and does this have an impact on how we vote?

How does the rise of Socialism impact the Christian church?

We unpack the answer to these questions here.

Part 1 – Shownotes

  • How Should A Christian View Communism? by Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • “In God’s Underground” by Richard Wurmbrand
  • 100 Million Deaths Under Communism
  • Victims of Communism Memorial Vandalized in Ottawa

Filed Under: Christian Living, Humanitarian, Politics, Social, The Issues, The Podcast, The Word of God

Trusting God at His Word on Controversial Verses

May 4, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

A Series on Trusting God at His Word

So I want you to know, straight out of the gate, that this is one of the hardest episodes I’ve had to prepare for. In fact, it revealed to me that I struggle with trusting God at His Word.

Because we live in a world where we are pressured to identify ourselves by our culture, rather than the Word of God, this is the time to get rooted in our identity and build on right beliefs.

Therefore I’m excited, and a wee bit nervous, to introduce a new podcast series on Trusting God at His Word.

For today, we focus specifically on a selection of controversial verses in the Bible.

Here, I review the verses and discuss some of the topics at a high level only.

In future episodes, we dive deeper into the Biblical context of Christian marriage, tithing, unpopular beliefs (as they pertain to abortion, gender, LGBTQ, feminism and more), as well as the worldly voices that we listen to.

As you listen to this podcast, ask yourself how much do you trust God; I mean really.

Do you trust God at His Word enough to:

  • submit to your husband? 
  • tithe, even when money is limited? 
  • stand with the unpopular? (And by that I’m referring to the unpopular opinion, as well.)
  • stop listening to the voices of the world before I go into any more detail? 

These are challenging questions that I have posed myself, and I hope you will, too.

The Verses

Because I believe people should do their own homework, here is a list of the verses discussed in this episode. For the full passage, follow the links to Biblegateway.com.

  • “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” – Ephesians 5:22-24
  • “Honour the Lord with your wealth” – Proverbs 3:9-10
  • “Do not be conformed to this world” – Romans 12:2
  • “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” – Matthew 5:43-45
  • “male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27
  • “Did not he who made me in the womb make them?” – Job 31:15
  • “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God (…) neither the sexually immoral, (…) nor men who practice homosexuality,” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
  • “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” – 1 Kings 18:21

Filed Under: Abortion, Christian Living, Politics, The Podcast, The Word of God

A Christian Response to COVID-19 (Canadian Update)

April 14, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

All links listed at the bottom of the page.

Transcript

Hi there. I’m Sarah Neufeld, and welcome to today’s podcast.  

So COVID-19. Are you sick of hearing about it yet? You know what, I am, too! But I hate to break it to you, that’s what we’re talking about today because there’s so much going on right now. We don’t recognize our world, and we’re living through such uncertain times.

But you know what? The Bible says that we’re supposed to “be innocent as doves but as wise as serpents.”[1.]

I know that all of the information that’s coming to us through the media, whether it’s a press conference, whether it’s a commentary, whether it’s a tweet, it is all overwhelming what we’re hearing; especially today.

It’s so heavy. But we shouldn’t lose our faith despite everything going on. We need to be diligent. We need to know what’s happening. We need to hold people and government to account, if it’s appropriate. But we should not lose our hope.

We should not stop looking to God as our source of help above all things. He is our salvation, not the government and no other organization out there. He is our salvation. He wants us to be looking at Him exclusively.

Today we’re gonna sort through some of the most recent news of the day. We’re going to put it into context. We’re going to talk about some things that we should be looking out for. But I’m going to encourage you that you have a purpose during this time and it is such a good purpose. Thank you for joining me. This is a Christian podcast for Canadian women.

Hi there, friend. I am so happy that you are tuning into today’s podcast. Today is April 9th, 2020 and the last six weeks or so have been record breaking not just for Canada, but for around the world. And I feel like we need to take a moment and just sift through everything that has happened recently.

So we have this global pandemic going on right now, this virus, coronavirus, that originated in China [2.], and it has slowly permeated through basically every single country.

I started following this story back in late January, early February. I was following this story before it was really a huge concern in Canada, and I started preparing myself for what was coming.

I wasn’t just preparing for the virus itself, but I was preparing for the economic implications that would come from a virus that had the potential to put a lot of people out of work, and even claim lives.

And that’s where we’re at today between Statistics Canada and Public Health from Canada and Mr Trudeau. Canadians from west to east were delivered a lot of heavy information today, so let’s go through that.

Statistics Canada said that over one million Canadians are out of work. It’s around 1.1 million and we know that over two million people have been affected economically.[3.]

I had heard two million people applied for unemployment benefits. I don’t know if that’s strictly people who have been laid off or people who have had a significant reduced income as a result of the closures. But that number is over two million and our unemployment rate has shot up to 7.8% which is high now.[4.]

United States just announced their numbers, which is I believe, around 14%.[5.] So, you know… that’s something to make us feel a little better.

Also the models were released today and I feel weird every time I say that, because I immediately think of Milan. But it is not those kind of models.

Between Dr. Tam and Mr. Trudeau, they said a lot of things today. They told us that we should expect that this first wave (note FIRST wave) could take us into summer.[6.]

You know, there’s so much uncertainty for everyone right now. Business owners… parents who have kids out of school… When are we going to go back to normal?

As of today, when I did the calcs, it is 0.5% of the population of Canada who has contracted COVID-19, that we’re aware of. I know not everyone’s been tested. Ontario’s really behind on that.

But that’s not subtracting the people who have already recovered, and that is not all of the critical cases. The critical cases are much smaller. So 0.5% of Canadians have contracted this, either currently or they had it in their over it, but 7.8% of the country is now unemployed and an even greater number than that are in a very precarious financial situation right now.

So when you see that distinction between numbers, you have to ask yourself, how much of this is an overreach? And how much of this is something that is legitimate?

Perhaps all of this social distancing and the closures of so many institutions and businesses are what’s really helping, and that’s why our numbers are down. I mean, there’s there’s no way to know while we’re living it today.

In Dr. Tam’s press conference, she said, we won’t know that we have “peaked until it has already happened.”[6.]

And thats fair.

We aren’t going to really understand what our government’s been doing yet. Did our government make the right choices? Did they not? Were we too cautious? Should we have resisted, or should we have been more compliant?

We won’t fully understand much of what’s happening right now until we’re past it.

That is incredibly frustrating.

For those who have qualified for the CERB (the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit), that’s not the worst news. It’s not great though.

It depends on what your income was. It’s a flat rate of $2000 a month. For some that’s a sweet spot; for some that’s more than what they were making. And for others, that’s nowhere near what they were making.

So you know to hear that, this is how long it’s going to be, that is very hard news to hear.

The other thing Mr. Trudeau said was that until there is a vaccination, our life will not go back to normal.[6.]

I’m gonna give you a little a little side note here.

He and Dr. Tam said a lot of things today, that to me opened up so many more questions!

There is a lot of ambiguity, and a lot of questions I have. There’s no way we would ever get the answers. This particular government really knows how to sidestep questions better than most.

So these are just questions that we’re just gonna have to hold on to, and more importantly, for me, anyways, I’m gonna have to take them for the Lord.

But what does that actually mean? “Life doesn’t go back to normal.”

Does that mean that until there’s a vaccination, businesses stayed closed? Children will not return back to school? What happens in the fall for especially for High School students? What about the students that were supposed to graduate this year, or those who were supposed to start High School?

He said that a vaccination is far off, so this isn’t something that they are going to have soon.[6.] And so he said, life isn’t going to go back to normal, and we need to accept what’s going on.

Because we’re a bilingual country, all of these press conferences are given in English and French. Fortunately, I am fluent in both, and I absolutely hate listening to the translator talking over, whether it’s him or anybody else.

This is because I want to know what they’re saying specifically as things get lost in translation. That’s not just a title of a Bill Murray film; that’s legit.

And so what I found interesting as that he gave a timeline of a year to 18 months in French, but not in English.[6.] Now, obviously there are translators, so if you’re listening, you would have heard it.

But I find that interesting that something that that is as troubling as this timeline is something that he chose to say in a second language that unfortunately, most of the country doesn’t speak outside of Quebec.

Anyway, so it was hard news that we heard today. There were some other things that I found troubling, guys.

He talked about aggressive [contact] tracing. I believe it was the word tracing, not tracking. And he was referring to contacting people who get COVID-19, and tracing where they contracted it from. But this term, “aggressive [contact] tracing,” is troubling if you look what’s going on around in the world.[7.]

There are measures being taken by governments that are very totalitarian. And some of that is not shocking because China, where this originated… I mean, they were literally welding people into their homes so they couldn’t leave![8.]

They were given QR codes through a phone app. If they were given a green light than they were allowed to leave their house and go wherever they wanted.[9.]

If they had yellow, it meant they were restricted to their homes I believe for two weeks, or they were restricted to where they could go. And if they got a red, then they couldn’t leave their house for a much longer period of time.

This is tracked and the authorities have this information.[10.] So if someone who has been given a yellow or red code is not abiding by that and they leave their house, then they could get arrested. Now, that’s an extreme because it’s China and they’re communist.

This is unfortunately what we expect from those governments, but we’re seeing this in the United States and even in Canada as well where people are being tracked.

We know for a fact that Google has been assisting governments per state, I believe. But I don’t know if it was municipalities as well. [Also in Canada][11.]

Either way, they are providing the government with what they said was anonymous information to show them if people are staying home.

Are they staying within the certain limits, or are they disregarding the guidelines? And they said, no one’s name is being given.

It’s just a general through tracking people’s phones, and that’s if you believe that.

There are drones that governments are clamouring for.[12.] I’ve seen video footage of it, perhaps you have too. There are drones flying around, telling people to get back in their homes.

You’re hearing of people being fined up to $100,000 depending on what the violation was.[13.]

There’s a video of a guy who was surfing [correction – paddle boarding] in California. No one was near him for miles and two Coast Guard boats came and basically chased him down, handcuffed him and arrested him.[14.]

We’re seeing some very extreme responses.

So when our leaders are saying that we’re going to continue with aggressive [contact] tracing measures, that doesn’t leave me feeling that great.

I’m not trying to read into anything, but we need to be aware of what’s going on, and I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist. God forbid, I ever sound like Alex Jones!

There is precedent for governments taking advantage of of situations to obtain more control. We have already seen that happening in Canada.

I read today about how Canadians are developing tools and habits that will be beneficial for the resiliency of Canada and the future. We’re being told that what we’re learning right now to stay away from each other and certain other things.[6.]

You know, if you weren’t in the habit of washing her hands, then you know this was not all in vain. That was a good habit to pick up!

Spending more time together as a family, forced or not, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.

However, where we are starting to be obedient… We’re told where we can go; how often we can go there; can you go to work; your business can stay open; your business can’t…

Under this circumstance, it makes sense up to a certain degree.

We had the incident back in March when the Liberal government was trying to pass through legislation. Everyone was unanimous. All the parties were working together. It was so great to see such bipartisanship effort taking place.

There’s a lot of hostility that was lingering from the election in October between the parties; especially between any party that’s left and the Conservatives. I mean, I don’t want to say bad blood, but kind of…

There was a lot of tension. There wasn’t much cooperation. And so seeing all the parties coming together was wonderful. This legislation that they were trying to pass was to bring aid to Canadians, which, let’s be honest, we need it right now.

And the government tried to throw in a few extra clauses, giving them a lot more power and free rein to not have to answer to the opposition to any kind of scrutiny until December 2021 which everyone agreed.[15.]

Even the CBC, God bless them. It was so hard for them, especially Rosemary Barton, to admit that this was an overreach. They chose their words ever so carefully, which makes sense because they’re funded by the government.[16.]

But even they agreed, and they weren’t the only ones. There was a lot of liberal journalists and commentators who agreed, and again we saw this unity between the opposition parties, whether it was the conservatives, le Bloc and the NDP.

They all agreed that this couldn’t happen and they had to work together to find an alternative solution.

And so we’ve seen examples where our government may take advantage of the situation.

We really don’t know what to believe. Who’s telling us the truth? Is the WHO telling us the truth? Well, I don’t trust them implicitly.

Can we trust these models? Should we be favouring to protect our economy? Should we just say,

“Screw it? Let the economy go… What happens, happens. We will recover. We have to just shut everything down because people may die.”

Where do we find the middle ground? Who do we believe? And for me, I find this incredibly frustrating because, as I’ve said to my husband, I honestly don’t know who to believe anymore!

I don’t know whose statistics to believe anymore. There’s so much corruption and collusion at high levels involved here. And I don’t trust my government to always make the best choice.

I think scrutinizing one’s government, whether it’s the party you voted for or not, is always a best practice.

I voted conservative. If Andrew Sheer had become Prime Minister, I would be scrutinizing his choices as well; I don’t agree with everything that he does either.

So I think it’s very healthy for us to step back, look at the scenarios that we’re in and scrutinize them.

Look at history.

There’s precedence for a lot of bad things that could happen right now, and we shouldn’t fall into a state of complacency and think it won’t happen to us.

So I’m here to provide a Christian biblical perspective.

I’ve given you a very detailed summary. But what are our takeaways?

Well, first of all, if you’re a believer, our faith should be in God first.

We should be looking to God to provide for our needs. And for some of us, that’s gonna take a whole lot of faith.

And if you’ve been following me, and my writing at Sarah Neufeld Co. or on social media, then you know a little bit of my story. When I talk about financial struggles and having to live by faith, I’m I’m not speaking flippantly. I am speaking very seriously.

We have to put our trust in God. We have to know who we are in Christ and that we are heirs of a promise. I’m not saying that Christians won’t get sick, because, of course, they’re going to.

We have to monitor how much we listen to the news and to social media because too much can become “too much!” It’s not very uplifting news right now.

At the same time, we cannot divorce ourselves from being informed and for not trying to ascertain what is true in a time when, I’m sorry to tell you, a lot of people are going to be lying to you.

We need to be paying attention to what our government is doing, and this isn’t to create mistrust of the government. I would be saying this no matter who’s in power.

There is a long history of people who are in leadership, when there’s a crisis and people are vulnerable, that this is the time for governments to assume more power because people are willing to give it over.

And this is why I’m saying we need to put our trust in God.

Don’t look to the government to be your saviour; whether that’s your mayor, your Premier or a Prime Minister. Don’t look at them to be the solution.

My husband is laid off and we are benefiting from the CERB, and we consider ourselves grateful for that. So it’s not to show a lack of appreciation for the aid that we’re receiving.

Now, I’m going to give you some practical advice for those of you who are going to be receiving some unemployment benefits from the government. This is not tax free, so put money away when you can.

This isn’t a time to go spending it. This is a time to be very, very careful. You will want to spend the next year making sure that you have money set aside to cover the tax bill that you’re going to get from the government next March or February.

Depending on whether you’re an early bird who likes to get your taxes filed away, that would be February. If you’re someone who likes to avoid it, as much as possible, it could be April or May.

Either one, you’re going to want to put money aside.

The other thing I want to say is this is a time to be generous when we can.

Now some of us cannot be generous with our money by much. Some people have no idea how they’re gonna pay all of their bills. But if you could be generous with your time or with your skills to help someone else who’s really struggling, I encourage you to do that.

If you do have some ability to be generous, I strongly recommend you keep tithing to your church. I recommend that you make donations to the local food bank or any other organization that you know is on the ground somewhere helping vulnerable communities.

We should do that as Christians. We should be looking for ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Not to undercut the spiritual principle I’m trying to impart, a side note is, if you are going to be met with a tax bill next year, charitable donations can come in handy. I’m just putting that out there. Some practical advice.

Be wise. Budget. Save. Be generous.

Make sure that your faith is in Jesus and not in human sources of help.

The other thing, and this is some advice that I’m giving myself, just as much as anyone who’s going to listen to this, is make sure that as much as you’re listening to the news or you’re listening to press conferences, (which to some degree, I think we should) make sure that you are meeting that with time with the Lord.

You know, there’s that principle that for every cup of coffee you need to drink so many glasses of water.

The fact that I don’t know that answer tells you  that I don’t follow that principal very well. Although I have given up coffee. So there you go. I’m sipping on a mint tea right now, and I’m enjoying it.

But that principle should follow here as well. For as much as you’re listening to things from the world, double up on how much you’re spending time in the word.

Listen to things that are going to encourage you and edify you.

Another thing that I’m I’m going to tell you, and I’m going to keep saying this, I’m going to be saying that ’till people are sick of tired of hearing it, and then that I’ll say it again.

We need to be praying for our country.

And we need to be very diligent in that.

I have a newsletter, a prayer letter that goes out every Saturday. It’s called, Women Praying for Canada.

You go to www.sarahneufeld.co, an you’ll see it in the menu bar, Women Praying for Canada. You can sign up. You receive an email every Saturday evening with current relevant prayer requests for whatever’s going on in the nation.

Right now, I hate how much it’s about COVID-19, but this is what we’re living through right now. Before this, it was other things that were going on in the country.

I am someone who pays very close attention to the news. And it irks me that not everyone does this. And as much as we can pray for our country in a general sense, we can pray in the spirit if that’s how we are lead. There’s also something to praying about things specifically.

We’re told to pray continuously, and we are instructed to pray for our governments and for our leadership. That’s actually one way that we can be assured that we will live in peace.

Did you know that?

You want to live in peace? Be praying for your leaders.

I mean, that’s powerful. That’s Paul’s writings right there.

So if you haven’t signed up for Women Praying for Canada, I invite you to be a part of this ministry to keep praying.

We are limited to what we can do right now. You know, you look back during wars at the past, how women got involved. I mean, everyone has seen that iconic picture of the woman with her flexing her bicep against the yellow backdrop.

Women went in the factories; they rationed in their home; they sewed. They did all kinds of things.

And for us we can’t go out of our homes, for the most part, but we can buy groceries for elderly neighbours and relatives. We can maybe pick up their laundry if they don’t have their own units.

But for the most part we are confined to our homes.

So if that isn’t proof positive, that our role, our first line of defence, our position that we should be assuming as Christians right now is to pray, I don’t know what else is!

Because there’s very little else we can do.

It shows us that this… this is what we should always be doing.

Let’s not become dependent on human sources of strength. You know, we have access to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us.

And one of my favourite things that Christine Caine has ever said is how the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, lives in you!

You don’t need to pray for a revival to come from somewhere. You are it, my friend!

We need revival in Canada. And you know what? You’re part of this.

Whatever you’re looking for, you have it. And if you’re looking for what your role is going to be in this time of crisis, this time that our grandchildren are gonna ask us about someday if we’re not raptured first, this is it.

We are Jesus’ hands and feet.

We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. So let’s not get distracted.

Let’s not look for a source of help anywhere except God. Let’s be diligent at watching what our government is doing. And let’s not be afraid to use our voice if we have to; I really hope we don’t.

I am someone who hopes for the best, but plans for the worst. That’s my personality. That’s where life has brought me.

Let’s be generous. Let’s be wise. And let’s not forget to pray for our nation. Thank you so much for listening today. I appreciate your time. My prayers are with all of you. Until next time, thank you so much. You’re listening to Woman to Woman. God bless.

Links

  1. Matthew 10:16
  2. The origins of COVID-19
  3. Unemployment in Canada
  4. 2.13 million Canadians apply for EI Benefits
  5. Unemployment in the United States – April 9, 2020
  6. Public Health Canada Press Release & Mr. Trudeau’s Comments – April 9, 2020
  7. Aggressive contact tracing
  8. Chinese communist government welds coronavirus patients into their home.
  9. Communist government controls quarantine in China through QR codes.
  10. Communist China’s detection app shares info with the authorities.
  11. Google is sharing Canadians’ location data with the government.
  12. Ways governments are using drones during the pandemic.
  13. $50,000 to $100,000 fines for ignoring social distancing in Brampton.
  14. Paddleboarder arrested for violating stay-at-home order.
  15. Liberal government puts forward “overreaching” legislation, described as a power grab.
  16. Government funding for the CBC

Filed Under: Politics, Social, The Issues, The Podcast

Why We Should Stop Pursuing Cozy Christianity

February 24, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

stop pursuing cozy Christianity

I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard people debate the will of God. We seek after God’s will for how we should live our life, whereas the answer is found in God’s nature. I like cozy Christianity, myself, but I’ve learned that it impedes us from living the life we were called to pursue. Let me explain.

(Please note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

The Story of a Soldier

stop pursing cozy christianity

Are you familiar with the story of Desmond Doss?

It might be familiar if you saw the 2016 blockbuster film, “Hacksaw Ridge.” Desmond Doss was a devout Seventh Day Adventist who joined the military in World War II, but only under the conditions that he would not kill or bear arms; this was according to his beliefs. 

Although Mel Gibson’s movie is accountable for a significant amount of literary license, specifically in Doss’ early years, it does present the believer with a challenge to live according to the nature of God.

Doss was treated terribly by the members of his battalion, and even by some of his commanders. They had no respect for this man who didn’t believe in what they did, nor did he live by their rules.

But what they didn’t know, was that God had placed Doss there to save their lives. 

They didn’t know that when their weapons were depleted, their strength had failed, and their bodies were broken and mangled, that it would be this man who would lead them to safety.

Doss was a dedicated medic. In fact, he was fearless. 

Over the course of weeks, he exposed himself to open fire by the Japanese to rescue his wounded countrymen. He single-handedly dragged soldiers (sometimes up to 300 yards) to the precipice of Hacksaw Ridge, a 400 foot cliff. Then he would belay them down to safety. 

You can read this citation he received from President Harry S. Truman in 1945 for a more detailed account of his acts of bravery.

The War We Are In

In many ways, we are like Desmond Doss. We are in the midst of a supernatural war between holiness and evil. The more open we are about what we believe, the more we expose ourselves to scrutiny, even persecution.

The more you understand of the world, the more you understand that the world hates Jesus and the faith to which He called us. Our society is changing rapidly due to the success of the progressive movement.

As laws are changing from province to province, Christians are either slowly being muzzled or coerced to fall in line with where “we are at as a society.” Words our Prime Minister used last year as he was defending reproductive rights.

(For more on this issue, listen to this podcast, “How Should Christians Respond to Abortion?“)

Have you ever asked God, “How much longer?” 

I have long been a member of the choir that sings, “Surely Jesus is coming back soon!”

Many people like to speculate on how long it will be before the rapture; Christians have been doing this for centuries! Here’s what we need to ask ourselves:

Do we have a firm understanding of what the ancient Prophets wrote about the End times? Or are we hoping that Christ returns soon because we fear the persecution that awaits us? 

All of the fear and dread is completely understandable because we have seen how tides are turning. But could it be that we think things are getting worse because we have been shielded from the persecution? 

Could it actually be that our Western church is being pushed out of its cozy Christianity against its will?

What does the Bible Say?

The Battle Plan is Found in the Nature of God

stop pursuing cozy christianity

The Apostle Peter, who was persecuted, tortured and ultimately martyred, wrote in his second letter. 

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:8-9


God is watching this planet self-destruct. He sees the evil, the pain, and the injustice. He does not watch from a distance, for the Father of light and life is near to the broken-hearted.

And as Peter says, he tarries, as some view tardiness, because He is saying “one more.”

This side of heaven, we do not know what awaits the unbelievers in hell. We can debate it, however we have no capacity to understand.

But God does. That’s why He gave us Jesus. He knows that nothing we can go through on this planet is as terrible as an existence permanently separated from Him. And so He delays in sending our Groom to bring home His bride.

Lost on the Battlefield

stop pursuing cozy christianity

And so here we are, standing at the top of a cliff, scared and uncertain. We don’t know if we should retreat and attempt the precarious journey down to safety, or if we should venture into the smog and fire.

My heart so resounds with these lines from the film, as Doss trembles alone in the darkness.

“What is it you want of me? I don’t understand. I can’t hear you.”

We can easily reason that God does not want to see any of His children suffer, so it is hard to reconcile why sometimes our Lord calls us to stand firm and endure persecution, when we could just as easily stay out of the line of fire.

Full disclosure: I thought I was going to write a post about why Christians should observe Lent. (Spoiler alert: the Apostles observed a yearly fast before Passover, so I think that answer should rightly be yes.)

In my research, I began reading the writings of Eusebius (a historian who lived from 263 to 339 AD). As I scanned through the document, I kept seeing the word “martyr.”

Despite the fact that I talk a lot about looking into the darkness others live in, I did not want to read about the persecution. But as I should practice what I preach, I took a deep breath and started reading.

You can access this document here, and start reading on page 140. 

I warn you, it’s graphic. 

With love and compassion, I say you should read it. Because these Fathers and Mothers of our faith bore the unthinkable to keep the message of the Gospel alive for you and me!

The Soldier Who Stays

stop pursuing cozy christianity

You know what’s amazing? And when I say “amazing,” I mean drop-to-your-knees humbling.

The Christians who were persecuted, then and even now, have a strength and courage that we cannot possibly understand when we attempt to live out our faith with caution.

How do they do it? They have a revelation of Jesus that creates joy in times of persecution; even when facing death. 

I recall when my daughter and I went to an underground gathering in China years ago. Young people were praying so passionately, begging God to send them to the most dangerous places. They were actually hoping to die as martyrs! I had never seen anything like it. I still can’t get over the fearless passion for Jesus that this church embodied.

(…)As I described church life in America, they began to laugh. Not just small chuckles–they were laughing hysterically. I felt like a standup comedian, but I was literally just describing the American church as I’ve experienced it. They found it laughable that we could read the same Scriptures they were reading and then create something so incongruent.

“Letters to the Church” by Francis Chan

As Eusebius set out to record the great persecution of the holy witnesses. He records here:

But the grace of God led the conflict against him, and delivered the weak, and set them as firm pillars, able through patience to endure all the wrath of the Evil One. And they joined battle with him, undergoing all kinds of shame and injury; and regarding their great sufferings as little, they hastened to Christ, manifesting truly that ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us afterward.’ Romans 8:18.”

Eusebius: History of the Church – Book V – Chapter 1.

The Victory in Obedience

stop pursuing cozy christianity

The great truth that we need to awaken to is that God wants us to step out for ‘one more’.

I type this holding back a flood of tears, because I know to the depths of my soul that this is not only the will of God, it is in accordance with the nature of God.

“What is it you want of me? I don’t understand… I can’t hear you…”

Desmond may not have been able to hear God speaking, but he heard the call of his brothers in arms. He heard the desperate calls of the wounded and dying. And that was all he needed to hear to take his next step forward.

Sometimes God answers our questions through the call of those He wants us to serve.

I don’t know where God wants you to step out in faith. Only you know that. It’s a conversation you need to press in and have with Him. I am labouring to do the same thing.

I want to climb down off of this cliff and retreat. But God keeps showing me reasons to step forward.

When surrounded by attacks and carnage, when it seems time to flee, we are called back into the flames, the smog, the danger, the evil.

We are called by souls who don’t know that they are dying. 

When the enemy seems to be winning, we head back in. We head back in not as soldiers of war, but like the medic Desmond Doss, we risk it all to save the wounded. We stop pursuing cozy Christianity and we pray, “Lord, help me get one more!”

Watch this powerful scene from the movie “Hacksaw Ridge. Ask God where He is calling you. (Please note, this clip is meant for mature audiences only.)


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Filed Under: Christian Living, Social, The Issues, The Podcast, The Word of God

How Should Christians Respond to Abortion?

January 26, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

This is the podcast episode that scared me for the past 12 months resulting in disobedience on my part for far too long. And here it is! You can listen to the podcast above or read the transcript (including the links & sources) below. God Bless!

Transcript:

So back in late January, I was watching a political show and they were discussing the bill that was passed in New York state making abortion legal up to 40 weeks.

As discussions continued on the panel, a staggering statistic was brought up. According to the Abortion Worldwide Report, released by Thomas W. Jacobson and William Robert Johnson, there have been approximately 1 billion abortions conducted since 1920 (when  abortion was first made legal in the Soviet Union).

Back in late January, I was watching one of my favourite news shows and they were discussing the bill that had just passed in New York state by Governor Cuomo making abortion legal up to 40 weeks.

1 billion babies whose lives were arbitrarily ended in the last 99 years. I wondered how different our world would have been with the influence of not only 1 extra billion people but their children and their children’s children. I

A member of the panel brought up a powerful and humbling point that has not left me in the months since.

When we think of the realities of the Atlantic Slave Trade, we tend to think something along these lines:

“Well, if I had been there when people were owning slaves, or if I had seen someone dehumanizing a person of colour, I would have spoken up. I would have definitely been among the abolitionists!”

Or perhaps when we are reminded of the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust during World War II, we declare to people:

“Well, if I had been in Germany, I wouldn’t have stood for Naziism. If I had been in Europe, I would have helped hide the Jews. I would have been among the people to stand up for what’s right!”

Despite the fact that these are very righteous statements, we need to remember that we have a huge benefit of hindsight. We’ve learned the stories of the heroes of history who risked anything and everything to stand up for what was right in the face of pure evil.

We get pumped up and motivated. Our imaginations run wild with the possibilities of what we could have done then and what we surely would do now if a similar situation arose.

But is that really true?

In light of the 1 billion abortions stat I just gave you, could you think of anything more diabolical that has ever taken place on this planet? What are we going to do to support the fight for the unborn?

I am going to be very transparent for a moment.  

Until now, I personally have done very little. I do not want to get into fights and confrontation with people. I do not want to seem intolerant. I do not want to put myself out on the limb as one of “those hateful people.”

I have stayed silent. I have nodded. A few times, I’ve probably even forced an insincere smile. And yet I flatter my ego that I would have been an abolitionist if I had lived in 19th century America, or that I would have risked my life, and the life of my babies, to rescue the Jews from the Nazis!

What a dishonour to the brave, the righteous and the faithful who faced imprisonment, or torture, or the firing squad, or a train ride to a concentration camp for standing for the human rights of the vulnerable!

And yet I, and many like me, who can talk big to like-minded people, won’t risk the shame or scorn of faceless people on the internet for exercising my right to free speech.

This was a humbling moment for me, but a necessary one. And with all the love and grace in the world, I hope it may be for you too.

The African-American slaves and the European Jews were perceived by many as being sub-human. And as their rights were not considered worth protecting, then what moral dilemma could there possibly be enslaving them or exterminating them?

Does this argument sound familiar?

The Nazis claimed that the Germans’ rights were being infringed upon by the Jews. The Confederate constitution claimed that owning slaves was their right. These rights had to be upheld and when one dared to challenge them, they were punished!

How about that one?

It should sound eerily familiar, too.

In January, Justin Trudeau, when in Hamilton Ontario, answered a student’s question about free speech saying, “An organization that has the explicit purpose of restricting women’s rights by removing rights to abortion, the right for women to control their own bodies, is not in line with where we are as a government and quite frankly where we are as a society,”

To which Ben Shapiro, an American conservative political commentator, responded one week later at the March for Life stating, “Maybe they’re right. Maybe we today here are not in line with the rest of society. To which I say, ‘good.’ So were the abolitionists. So were the civil rights marchers. So were the martyrs in Rome and the Jews in Egypt. Righteousness doesn’t have to be popular; it just has to be righteous.”

At some point in time, I naively concluded that there wasn’t much that could be done in Canada when it came to abortion. There were several reasons for it, too.

  1. The fact is that there has been no regulation of abortion since the law was repealed in 1988. This means that for 30 years full-term abortions have been legal in Canada.
  2. Abortion procedures have been covered under Canada Health Act for decades.
  3. Many pro-life conservative MPs have made it clear that they are not in favour of opening the abortion debate to regulate the procedures, let alone pursuing the avenue to have the law repealed. There is a fear that a national debate of this kind could divide the country with serious long-lasting effects.

When I considered all of these things, I figured, “The liberals won this round and got their way. What more could they want, right?”

Wrong. It isn’t enough.

Now, they’re coming after our right to free speech so that they can silence us on this issue.

In Canada, the Liberal government has made strides to strongly discourage anyone from taking a pro-life stance. This was the case in the Wynne government in Ontario and has been the case of the last couple of years with the Trudeau government.

I included our prime minister’s quote in here, not to cause fear, but to call people to awareness. Apathy, ignorance and a zeal to appear as “tolerant” as our neighbours or co-workers will pull us down the wrong path.

I included Shapiro’s quote because I want you to be encouraged! Taking a stand now, as intimidating as that may seem, puts us on the right side of history.

It may keep us out of line with society as one ideological group sees it, but it puts us in line with our beliefs and principles.

What Canada needs is revival.

I do not believe that all pro-choice supporters or women who have had an abortion are evil, but the lie they’re believing in is. Which is why when you look at the advocates and politicians who promote this ideology, it’s hard to imagine how they could have crossed to the other side.

And yet it is this that proves that the opposition to life goes beyond the man or the woman themselves.

For “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  

For how can the Prime Minister of a free country deny a pre-existing internship grant to applicants who refuse to agree with his views on reproductive rights?  

How could a person support late-term abortion up to the moment of birth? Worse still, how could a human being propose legalizing infanticide requiring only one doctor to sign off? Hitler at least required three!

A supernatural problem requires a supernatural solution.

And on that afternoon in January, as I listened to the facts, the commentary, and my own emotions swirling in my brain, I stopped to pray. And I asked God, “what would you have us do? How do You look at all of this?”

Verses quickly came to my mind from the Gospels. I believe that these verses lay out clearly the response that Christians should have towards the abortion debate.

I am speaking to pro-lifers but more specifically, I am making an appeal to born again believing Christians.

We are the ones who have the Holy Spirit living in us.

Before we flip through the pages of the Old Testament to find verses about life and death to challenge the opposition, we first need to be rooted in what the Word of God says to us as believers. We need to be clear regarding the mandate that is on our lives as followers of Christ.

So let’s look at the verses. Two directives are given by Jesus regarding how we are to treat people; specifically people we might identify as our enemies.

The first one is that we love our enemies.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34 & 35

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Matthew 5:43-48

The second mandate is commonly known as The Great Commission. We are to tell people about Jesus.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

We are to love our enemies; those who curse us, hate us, use us and persecute us.

We are to love them with a VIP treatment. And we are to share the gospel with everyone.

It struck me so hard. How does God view this situation?

He wants to see them saved.

I am not solely speaking of the unborn at this point.

Take a moment, and a deep breath if you need it, and picture the faces of those who you know to be champions for abortion; the politicians and advocates. Picture them, say their names in your head even.

Now give a thought to the abortion doctors, nurses and staff who work in their clinics.

Now think of the protestors; the women who wave hangers and tattoo scissors on their ankles. Think of the millions of women who have had abortions.

God loves them.

God loves them all.

God does not want to see a single one of these individuals perish. At the cross, Jesus died for their sins. The opportunity for salvation is available to them. They are no more disqualified than we were prior to our rebirth.

God wants them saved.

There is nothing wrong with feeling a righteous anger when we contemplate the cruelty of abortion.

But I challenge you, there is something wrong with followers of Christ heaping hate and condemnation on women entering abortion clinics.

There is something wrong when people take the law into their own hands.

There is something wrong when people declare contemptuous indifference at a woman dying as a result of abortion or consequently ending up unable to carry a child in the future.

These attitudes and behaviours are wrong.

Casting judgment is the easiest, laziest and most harmful thing that we can do. It may appease our inner-self, but it does an injustice to the gospel and the perfect finished work of Jesus.

We are the body of Christ.

We represent Him in the flesh.

We are the light of the world.

We are to reflect His holiness.

We are to show the grace and truth in which He came.

We are to love liberally yet with humility.

We are to invite the lost to meet Jesus.

But what about the judgement? What about the wrath and vengeance of God we’ve read about? Surely this would anger our Holy Creator!

One of the most important things for any human being to be aware of is how they view God and how they think God views them.

I’d like to read you a verse from Hosea.

“How can I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I set you as Zeboim?

My heart is turning over within Me.

My compassions are kindled.

I will not vent My fierce anger.

I will not again destroy Ephraim.

For I am God — not a man —

The Holy One in the midst of you,

And I will not come in fury.”

Hosea 11:8-9

Oh, that one verse gets me every time I read it!

“I will not vent My fierce anger. I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God — not a man –.”

It is man who wants to see the mighty fall.

It is man who wants to see people pay the price for their failures.

It is man who thirsts to witness judgment.

But it is God who loves with an everlasting love.

It is God who is as merciful as He is righteous.

It is God who wants His beloved people restored to Him.

It is God who did not spare His own Son that we might receive all things.

It is God who was pleased to crush Him and cause Him to suffer for our sins.

Remember, Jesus took the punishment for the sins of the world; this includes abortion.

Therefore, no matter who you are, when you came to Jesus with repentance, your sins are washed away. Not because God went soft on sin, but because He poured His wrath and judgment hard on His beloved Son, so that all who believe in Him may be restored to the Father who created them.

We need to be very wise and intentional in how we respond to the abortion debate.

We need to be mindful of the sacrifice that was made for us. We need to remember Jesus’ commandments to love and bear witness.

So what does this mean in practical terms?

I said before that a supernatural problem calls for a supernatural solution. I quoted Ephesians 6:12 earlier which identifies for the church who we are really at battle with. The verses that follow list the essential pieces in the armor of God. I am going to focus on one of them; the sword of the spirit.

We need to pray.

And then we need to pray. And then we need to pray again.

The church needs to do more than call for a day of prayer. We need to launch a season of prayer.

Pray in the Spirit.

Pray knowing that it is Jesus himself who intercedes for us before the Father as our High Priest.

Pray.

Don’t listen to people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Kamala Harris who demean the value of prayer. In fact, NEVER make the mistake of underestimating its power!

The Word says that where two or more are gathered, He is there with them.

Add it to your personal prayer time, but seek out opportunities to pray as partners; pray as communities.

Pray not only that we will see abortion end in our lifetime, but pray for the salvation of everyone on the opposing side.

Pray for healing; especially for the women who consented to have abortions.

Also, pray for the people who have worked in the clinics and the hospitals assisting in the procedure.

Pray that they will know the grace of Jesus’ Christ.

This is the first thing.

Secondly, commit to reading and hearing God’s word consistently.

Ask God to help you to be disciplined in this area.

If you are going to commit to be a prayer warrior or assume any other position, you need to be built up in all the truth you can absorb. Sit at Jesus’ feet and receive from Him.

Thirdly, meditate on the following truth with focus and intention.

The battle is the Lord’s.

Flip back to the great battles fought and won by the Israelites and you will find this powerful theme; the battle is the Lord’s.

When Jesus’ died on the cross, He said, “It is finished.”

He conquered death.

He conquered hell.

He conquered the devil.

Greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world.

The battle is already won, my friends!

Operate from a mental position of victory. The same Spirit that resurrected Jesus from the grave dwells within us.

Do not be tempted by fear or the overwhelm of the task. To every doubt and moment of anxiety, quote with confidence, “the battle is the Lord’s.”

Fourthly, and lastly, if you feel lead, ask God to give you an assignment.

Ask God to give you a divine appointment to love.

It could be committing to pray for the nearest abortion clinic to your home. Not so you can necessarily hang out in the parking lot, but so that every time you drive by it, you whisper a prayer.

Everytime you see people going in and out of the building, apply the blood of Jesus over them, the unborn baby and pray that their eyes will be opened to the truth.

Perhaps you could volunteer at a local charity that supports unplanned pregnancies or pregnant teenage girls.

Perhaps if you hear of someone in your social circle who has become unexpectedly pregnant, especially if she is not in a relationship with the father, go show that woman the love of Christ!

Provide for a need of hers whether its diapers or a practical baby care item, or even if it’s a promise for a hot meal or babysitting. Show that woman that a community will come and support her if she keeps her baby.

This list could go on. I am not going to challenge anyone to do anything specific. It’s the Holy Spirit’s role to counsel and assign action.

But I encourage you to pray for divinely-appointed opportunities to share the truth about abortion, but always (and I mean always) accompany those natural facts with grace-filled truth.

As citizens of a free society, we have the right to declare that abortion is evil. As Christians, we have a responsibility to declare that redemption is available through Jesus Christ.

I would like to close with one last passage that I feel captures the art of balancing the righteous truth and the merciful truth. It comes from 2 Peter 3:5-9 & 15

“But they conveniently overlook that from the beginning, the heavens and earth were created by God’s word. He spoke and the dry ground separated from the waters. Then long afterward he destroyed the world with a tremendous flood by those very waters. And now, by the same powerful word, the heavens and the earth are reserved for fire, being kept for judgment day, when all the ungodly will perish.

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

…and consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.”

2 Peter 3:5-9 & 15

So, dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape your notice: a single day counts like a thousand years to the Lord Yahweh, and a thousand years counts as one day. This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with his promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, his “delay” simply reveals his loving patience toward you, because he does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance.And keep in mind that our Lord’s extraordinary patience simply means more opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him.

Thank you, my friend, for listening to today’s episode. I am praying for you specifically that in the days ahead you will be conscious of the love God has for you; you will be encouraged by truth of His Word; and that you will feel empowered, through His strength and grace, to love and support your family and community this week. Take care and God bless.

Filed Under: Abortion, Christian Living, Politics, Social, The Issues, The Podcast, The Word of God, Women's Issues Tagged With: abortion, christian, conservative, infanticide, politics, prolife

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Sarah Neufeld Co. serves as a resource for women who want to go deeper in their spiritual walk, who seek after truth, and have a passion to empower women in their community and around the world. We’ll direct you toward the opportunities, as well as the tools and information through the lens of grace and truth.

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