It’s hard to understand why Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida, will burn a Koran on September 11. After my 36 years of Bible study, three degrees from Bible-believing schools and 28 years of preaching in Bible-centered churches, it’s impossible for me to cite one instance in the life or teaching of Jesus Christ that could justify such an act.

Taking Pastor Jones at his word that he sees all Muslims as violent extremists who want to impose sharia law in the United States, it is still clear the New Testament teaches Christians to love even their enemies. When He said from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), Jesus showed consummate generosity to the people who spit on Him, mocked Him, beat Him and ultimately murdered Him.

Later, one of the first missionaries, Stephen, as he was stoned to death, prayed to God and said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60)

The Apostle Paul instructed the Romans that when it comes to those who harm us, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19-21).

Following his service as a missionary abroad, surely Pastor Jones knows the Koran is more than the Holy Book of the Islamic religion. For most Muslims, the Koran represents a culture, a heritage, a people and even a language. Burning the Koran is not instructive, but insulting. It also says we don’t really believe the message we preach, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Surely Pastor Jones knows burning a Koran will not bring a Muslim to faith in Christ. Surely he knows insulting Muslims will not make Christians or our message more appealing to them. Certainly the pastor knows burning things belongs to groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis and, yes, terrorists.

If the pastor knows these things, then what could be his reason for doing something so contrary to Christ and the Gospel?

Burning a Koran is un-Christian, unkind and un-American. Pastor Jones and those who intend to aid and abet his intended act should confess their sinful attitudes and repent of them.

Only after the Pastor admits he is wrong will Muslims take seriously whatever else he may want to say to them.

Rob +

During a visit this week to my precious mother at the St. Francis nursing home in Buffalo, New York, I had an unexpected reunion with Beryl Kinney, the first person to clearly share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with my twin brother, Paul, and me, when we were teenagers. She had come to visit Mom, too. Beryl was also the one to lead my mother to the stage at a conference center where the famed Dale Evans Rogers had just shared her testimony of faith in Christ. That night, in 1977, Mom gave her heart to the Lord.

Beryl is as vivacious in early 80’s as she was when Paul and I first met her 37 years ago. A devout Catholic, she is also one of the most multi-denominational Christians I’ve ever known. She’s as comfortable with Baptists as she is with Pentecostals, Presbyterians or Methodists. To Beryl, if you confess Jesus as Lord, you’re a member of the same family.

This generosity of spirit–that is, accepting and affirming all of God’s people–is what the word “ecumenical” means. I know it’s a bad word in some circles, but it never has been to me. As Beryl introduced my brother and me to Jesus, she also introduced us to His household–Christians of every label, tradition and style.

After making our public professions of faith in Christ at Emmanuel United Methodist Church, we learned quickly how to enjoy everything “the church” had to offer. We went to Sunday morning service with these original “Holy Rollers” and learned about John Wesley and his circuit riding preachers. We went to midnight mass at the local Jesuit university where we came to appreciate the majesty of God through liturgy, incense and Gregorian chants. On Sunday nights we learned the importance of Bible study at a little independent Baptist church–and we felt the power of the Holy Spirit at midweek service with an Assembly of God congregation.

All of this came together, though, at “Monday Night Prayer Group.” This gathering was an eclectic blend of Christians from nearly enough denominations to represent the whole alphabet. Along with the Catholics that hosted us, there were . . .

Adventists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Disciples, Episcopalians, Free Methodists, Holiness, Independents, Jews (Paul and I were two of them!), Lutherans, Mennonites, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Quakers, Reformed, Salvationists (of the Army brand, that is) and Wesleyans.

This is what the word “ecumenical” means. It comes from the Greek, oikoumenikós, the same word from which we get “economy.” It referred to the “household,” meaning everything that revolved around the functioning of a family within their domicile. Through Beryl’s role modeling, this is how we came to know the Body of Christ, as our brothers and sisters regardless of what label they wore.

Paul and I would later come to appreciate the importance of every member of God’s family through the most intense years of the pro-life movement. We were often in jail with Christians of every variety. When you’re in prison clothes, all you have is your love for the Lord and each other–no denominational membership cards allowed!

It’s this history that led my brother “back to Bethel” this weekend. After 33 years of being a Protestant Evangelical minister, Paul was ordained on Saturday as one of the few married priests in the Catholic church. It was a beautiful service, and the message preached by the visiting bishop, Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Florida, would have been just as well received in any of the churches I routinely preach in as it was at St. Joseph’s in York, Pennsylvania, where the service took place.

“Fr. Paul” will continue the work he has always done through our sister organization, the National Pro-Life Center, as well as take up part-time pastoral duties at a largely Vietnamese parish in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Oh, and of course, he remains happily married to his wife of 33 years, Becky, and continues to be “the other kind of father” to his eight children.

God often takes us back to where we started our spiritual journeys. I’m very happy that my brother has found his Bethel in this new–well, make that old–place.

Rob +

Paul Schenck kneels to be ordained a priest.

As I write this, President Obama is hosting a private Easter prayer breakfast at the White House for a select group of religious leaders from around the country. The only minister I know personally is in the room is Joel Osteen. (I’ve never commented on my relationship to the Osteens, but I preached for his father at the Lakewood Church many years ago, when Joel was just a young guy on staff!) Anyway, the other person I think is there is Washington Post reporter and fellow Christian Hamil Harris. I’ve done many interviews with him over the years. Mr. Harris and I once actually teamed up in an televised debate with Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Viewers were surprised that a Post Reporter and I were on the same side of the argument!

In any case, I was NOT on the invitation list for the breakfast. (Hmm . . I wonder why?) I’ll pass along anything I find out about what went on and what was said.

On a related matter, you may have seen that we covered the President’s Easter visit with his family to a nearby church, the Allen Chapel AME (African Methodist Episcopal) congregation in Southeast Washington. I’m familiar with the church and know one of the deacons there. I was actually criticized for the posting, as if we shouldn’t mention when the President goes to church. Frankly, I’d rather see the President attending church–no matter his motive–than not attending. A lot has been made that Mr. Obama, since being inaugurated, has spent more Sunday mornings shooting hoops than sitting in pews. This was a positive break in that pattern. Let’s pray it has a lasting effect on him.

OK, back later with more.

Rob +

Evangelical Protestant Christians like me aren’t generally big on saints–that is “official Saints.” I’ve always been the exception to the rule on everything, though, and this is . . . well . . . no exception! Many of the Saints in the historic churches are great Christian heroes. One among them is Patrick of Ireland. (Not Mahoney–he’s a different Patrick. Very different!)

Here’s what Wikipedia says about the St. Patrick:

Little is known of Patrick’s early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish, and indeed he was successful at this, focusing on converting royalty and aristocracy as well as the poor. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God’s Word he died on 17 March, 461 AD, and was buried at Downpatrick, so tradition says. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Patrick is a great example of not just missionary work–though he is certainly that–but mission work to an entire civilization. In many ways, Patrick could be the patron saint for Faith and Action. Note that Patrick aimed his missionary work at the “up-and-outers” as well as the “down-and-outers.” By reaching up to the tribal leaders and the aristocracy who shaped the society, Patrick evangelized both individual souls and the whole culture.

A big part of our mission here at Faith and Action is to evangelize souls and culture. The most important thing we do is win people to Christ. The second most important thing we do is Christianize culture. Both are critical in these critical times. So, this St. Patty’s Day, think about more than Ireland–but do think about Ireland–and all that was accomplished for Christ by this humble and sacrificial man.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Rob +

Yesterday, our Faith & Action chief of program, Peggy Nienaber, spent the day at a White House conference on Faith Based and Community Partnerships. She took some heat for that. Some people thought we may be compromising our core convictions by even fraternizing with this administration. Well, that’s not the case.

Our mission theory is simple: Take whatever platform is offered to us and use it for the ultimate purpose of advancing biblical truth and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At yesterday’s conference, all voices were invited to the table. That included everybody from homosexual activists to ardent, pro-life Catholics and firm traditional marriage advocates. Peggy was there to explore what contribution we can make to the conversation. St. Paul did that among the pagan philosophers on Mars Hill. We need to do it in places like the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, as we did yesterday.

So far, we’ve found one important place where we can support Mr. Obama and the Administration: The President’s Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. Admittedly, it’s a narrow space, but it’s there and we intend to prayerfully make the most of it. Fatherhood is first a biblical concept; Second, we are commanded by God to be good fathers; Third, the President himself has given even more than fatherhood for his rationale for this worthy effort. He says one of the primary reasons he launched it is because the responsibility of fatherhood, “does not end at conception.”

We agree. Fatherhood continues throughout the life of that child–FROM THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTION. It is a father’s role to protect and provide for his child from the very moment the child makes his or her debut into existence, and throughout pregnancy, birth, and every stage of development. Even, to a certain degree, into adulthood.

Many of the President’s policies, resources and allegiances conflict with his own statement on when the responsibilities of fatherhood begin–especially when it comes to abortion. We will do everything to point this out to him and to those who work with and for him. I believe that whenever truth is spoken, it is a good thing. Unlike some, I also believe that truth is powerful wherever it is presented. If that’s the Obama White House, it makes it even more so.

Rob +

Today the following notice appeared on the website for the Marriage Bureau of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia:

NOTE: Pursuant to the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, A18-248, effective March 3, 2010, same sex couples may apply for marriage licenses in the District of Columbia.

Yes, the notice is in red font. The color seems to highlight the alarming content. As of today, Wednesday, March 3, 2010, our country’s showcase city–the seat of American culture, politics and influence in the world–takes a huge step backward, to a morally primitive time. It is not “progress,” as the proponents of same-sex legal pairings assert; it is the opposite. It recalls a period in human history where sexual behavior was indiscreet, unbridled, animalistic and injurious.

The revelation of God’s moral law on Sinai and the subsequent charge to mothers and fathers to model and instruct their children in right and wrong behavior was the cure to an otherwise self-destructive impulse. Research has shown that the human drive towards sex is stronger than the drive for food–and it’s not terribly discriminating. A big part of “civilization” has to do with curbing, controlling and steering this “power” into positive, constructive and ethical directions.

I’ve been engaged for a long time in the conversation and debate on same-sex sexual relationships–and the attendant proposals for publicly sanctioning them with laws and certificates. The argument goes something like this, “There’s no difference between heterosexual and homosexual relationships, therefore gay and lesbian people should be allowed to express their love just like straight people do.” I agree–to a point.

Men should not only be allowed to love other men, but encouraged to do so. In fact, the Bible says this is the only way we can know for sure that we are “saved,” part of the redeemed; indeed, that we are Christians at all, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.” (1 John 3:14) Obviously, the same is true for women. Love between men and men and women and women is part of the experience of knowing God, who is Himself “Love.” (See 1 John 4:7-11) However, this love of God, and by extension, this “love of the brethren,” is not expressed sexually. In fact, most love bonds do not–or at least should not–have a sexual component. Love for children, for example, is never to be expressed sexually. The same is true of love between siblings.

“Well, of course not!” I hear the celebrants of today’s same-sex marriage licensing saying. “Everyone knows that!” Well, not true. Sadly, there are plenty of people in the world–even in our own country–who don’t respect these moral boundaries on sex. Recent headlines bear that out. Sexual predation of children is on the rise and often includes unspeakably horrible acts, including torture and brutal murders. We think of these things as frightening aberrations, but that’s only true of human culture in the recent past. For example, in ancient times–in fact, in Bible times–pederasty and incest were rampant; inbreeding was practiced as a genetic purifier for royal family lines; and girls were routinely seized and held as sexual slaves by much older men.

Religious, moral and legal governors of sexual behavior are relatively recent innovations. They are only a few thousand to a few hundred years old, and there are plenty of places left in the world where they either remain unknown, non-practiced or are ignored. Just yesterday I sat in on a heart-breaking briefing on the current state of world-wide human trafficking, much of it driven by the sex-trade. My wife, Cheryl, is in training now to be a counselor to victims of child sexual abuse. She’ll tell you just how devastating and life-long these injuries are to soul, mind and body.

All this to say that human sexual behavior cannot be left to simple impulse. Human beings are built for a certain kind of sexual interaction. The body’s architecture alone makes that quite plain, but the soul and psyche even more so. Children are not built for sexual interaction with each other or with adults; and men are not built for sexual interaction with men, neither are women with women. And that grand result of God’s exquisite sexual design, the conception and bearing of children, can only happen between a male and female, wether through intercourse or in a test tube. It’s simple yet profound: It takes a daddy and a mommy to make a baby.

Let me remind everyone that there’s nothing new about what happened today at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Marriage Bureau. In fact, it’s very old. Thousands of years ago, the world at the base of Mount Sinai looked very much like Indiana Avenue, NW, the street outside the Marriage Bureau office. Actually, it was far worse. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Christian Church was born at Jerusalem, Greco-Roman athletes competed in the nude and engaged in homosexual acts to titillate insatiably wild crowds. Worse, Roman men of stature kept wives to sire children by, but young boys as sexual play toys. Temple prostitutes were used and abused as an act of worship.

It was into this kind of moral abandon that the Jews first taught God’s moral code and Christians later were called to evangelize. Both remain our challenge today. It was this kind of sin-sick, miserably wretched, often shockingly coarse and even frightening world that “God so loved,” and to which He “gave His only begotten son.” (John 3:16) This is the solution to the backsliding of human culture. It’s not to cower, shrink back, denounce or scold, but to love with the love of God; it’s to make known the Truth that alone can “set you free.” (John 8:32)

If there’s anything to be disappointed about today here in the Nation’s Capital, it’s that we thought human progress had come so far, but, in fact, it has regressed. Should that surprise us? The preacher in Ecclesiastes doesn’t think so: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) This is why the wise Apostle would later write to us, “[L]et us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)

With the help of God, let us get on to the work at hand . . .

Rob +

What? you’re asking.

Yes, Sunday night, December 20, during the annual “Christmas in Washington” concert at the National Building Museum, President Obama and the First Lady took to the stage to join entertainers in singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

Before I go further, let’s recall the first verse of this powerful and all-time classic carol by the musical “prophet” Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788):

Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born king; Peace on Earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”

Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th’ angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Now, I ask you, how can someone sing these great words and not be affected in their soul? This is the plain Gospel, “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth”. (Romans 1:16 b) I call these carols, “Musical Gospel Tracts.”

Of course, the key is that last part, “to every one that believeth.” That’s the difference between “affect” and “effect,” but whether one “believes” or not, you must feel the “affect” of such a magnificent message.

Time will tell whether the President bears the “effect,” but the optimist in me says he definitely felt the “affect.”

This is why I love the CHRISTmas season. No one—not even an isolated, insulated, hyper-protected, inordinately shielded President of the United States, can escape hearing and being touched by the echo of that glorious angelic pronouncement heralded from the Heavens 2000 years ago,

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

It’s enough to make even a president cry.

Rob +