The lucrative industry of Abortion, that operates under the deceptive facade of Family Planning and Women’s Rights, has grown exponentially at the expense of millions of innocent lives.  Women are routinely deceived into believing that the baby boys and girls that they carry in their wombs are not truly “human,” but disposable “masses of fetal tissue” that are in no way viable or valuable, except for the advancement of medical science, which is achieved by marketing the bloody “mass” to the highest bidder.  While we shudder at the thought of the pagan practice of sacrificing children to an active volcano to appease an angry god, as a nation we turn our heads while greedy marketers and practitioners line their pockets with the proceeds from the slaughter of innocence.  Some of the same people who see no evil in this atrocity, shed tears and take up the banner of protest over the destruction of a tree, or the supposed near extinction of a bug.  Our reasoning is twisted.

  But don’t take my word of it.  Read the newspaper and medical journals and industry propaganda, for yourself.  And then, if you dare, consider for yourself the words of God, the giver of life.  He would have us believe that a child is His gift to human parents—the tender lives of which families are made.   “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3–5)”

  God has made it abundantly clear that the life of a child in the womb is a person, already known to Him.   He said of the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)”  The Psalmist concurs, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (Psalm 139:14–15)

  Ichabod means, “the glory hath departed.”  In the biblical history of Israel, God manifested His presence to His people in various ways.  When they were delivered out of slavery and pursued by the armies of Egypt, God’s glory, or presence, was made visible to them as He stood between them and the camp of the Egyptians, in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.  Later in the tabernacle built by Moses, and in the Temple of Jerusalem erected by Solomon, God’s glory was again known to His people by the Cloud and Light of His presence that filled the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.  

  While God’s presence was manifested, the people of Israel could expect His blessing; He was their God and they were His people.  But in time their hearts grew cold; they forgot His laws and began to worship other gods, first in a syncretistic worship that included Him, and later, Jehovah, the only true God was excluded altogether.  Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:23 recounts the day in which the glory of God visibly departed from the house of God, and from the people of God.  Israel had made her choice.

  The scriptures state clearly that we are to learn from the examples of our forefathers in the faith.  But, as mankind is so prone to do, we have chosen to follow in the steps of those who forsook their God.  We, as a nation, have elected leaders who would erase, even the memory of God from our hearts, and have already spawned generations of godless sheep, programmed to be dependent upon men with impure motives.  Look closely; we are not “indivisible,” but divided.  We are no longer functioning as “one nation under God,” and it is obviously not “in God we trust.”  Today, as in the days of old, God’s glory hath departed.  We have chosen to exclude God from our lives and He, true to His Word, has allowed us that freedom of choice.

  Is there hope!  YES, the same hope that was offered to ancient Israel, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)”

 Between my wife and me, we have only one parent left, my mother.  I remember so well the passing of the other three.  In July of 2005, my unbelievably healthy father in law went to the hospital to confirm that he was in the midst of a serious stroke.  From that day forward, he could not walk or lift his right arm, his face was mostly paralyzed on one side, and his speech was almost unintelligible.  This dear saint, had celebrated over 50 years in the ministry.  He was scheduled to preach in a couple of days for an “Anniversary Sunday” at a church in North Carolina, but after that fateful day, this and many other events would unfold without him.  His life was permanently altered, his stride permanently diminished.  A year later, he died.

  As a pastor, I had heard of numerous illnesses and accidents that had changed lives forever, but it was even more sobering when it was so “close to home.”  As I reminisce, I am reminded of the words of the poet… “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

  Did you ever stop to think of what life will be like when someday you are not able to stop to think?  The day of opportunity will eventually end for all of us.  At any time, we could find ourselves at death’s door, or lying on beds of affliction in total dependence on others for the most basic and personal needs.

  The Bible also warns of this coming end of opportunity.  The apostle John recorded the words of Christ, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. (John 9:4).”   Wise old King Solomon observed, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Ecclesiastes 9:10).”

  Time is running out!  If you have not made reservations for your eternal home in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ, …behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2Corinthians 6:2).  If you are a believer and have wasted the stuff of life on frivolous pursuits, “Redeem the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16).”

  Though it has been several years, I still remember well, a court battle in North Carolina in which the American Civil Liberties Union had taken on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for the mention of Jesus’ name at periodic meetings.  A federal magistrate ruled against the county, insisting that their prayers mentioned Jesus “too many times.”  The court acknowledged that the county included a wide variety of speakers at invocations, and from various faiths, and yet for Christians to mention the name of Jesus in prayer, “too many times” represented some violation of their understanding of the law.  It should come as no surprise, since Jesus has said,  “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18)”  The darker the world gets (spiritually), the more it will despise Jesus, “the Light of the world,” and us, His followers.

  The Apostle John put it like this, “… men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)”  People reject God outright, because they know that if they admit that there is a God who can be known by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, they will have to answer to Him—And they answer to no one!  But how can a Christian not mention the name of Christ?Our feelings toward Him are expressed in our music, “Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day, without Him I would fall.”  This is America; we can talk about Jesus here, right?   Actually,  the scriptures are clear—those of us who have committed our lives to serving God and our fellow man, in the footsteps of Jesus, His Son, will be despised for the simple mention of His name.

  Dear brother or sister, “Are you a soldier of the cross?  A follower of the Lamb?  And will you fear to own His cause or blush to speak His name?”  Please recall, “…there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).”  I know that I can speak only for myself, but here I stand; “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; For Thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

  We have all heard the story of the terminally ill patient whose family and doctors spared him the truth concerning his condition, so that he would not be obsessed with the thought of dying.  While some may prefer not knowing, there are others of us who, sensing the secrecy, would plead with our doctors, “Please, tell me the truth, whatever it is; I can take it, and, if I am dying, I want to use the time I have left, to prepare.”

  How important is truth to you?  If there is a truth that affects you, maybe in a negative way, do you want to hear it, or would you prefer to live in the bliss of ignorance until it overtakes you?  There are two realms in which this scenario  is quite common.  The first, the physical realm, often involves the health of an individual, as described above.  In the second, or, spiritual realm, the decision is no less a matter of life or death, though it is spiritual.  While knowing the truth in the physical scenario will affect the remaining days, months or years of our lives, in the spiritual realm, knowing the truth will most certainly affect our eternity.  When God created man, the Bible says that, “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).”  …and the scriptures are abundantly clear that living souls will go on living forever somewhere, even after the body grows weary and retires.

  God, the giver and sustainer of life in both realms, wants you to know the truth, so that you can be prepared for your future.  When Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17, He made this interesting comment, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17).” God has Himself provided the truth that will be necessary for you to prepare for your future; it is written in His book, the Bible.  If you will simply peruse its pages, “…ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)”

  Here it is—the truth: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)”  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)”  “Jesus saith, …I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)”