Advent-ure Day 12: For the Children

In Colossians chapter 4, the apostle Paul asks for prayer for open doors and boldness of speech.  We
can read:
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

As Christ's representatives, we are called to not only know the truth of the Scriptures, but to walk in that truth and speak it in love.  It is important, in the morass of cultural messages that do not reinforce and even contradict the Bible, that we are speaking clearly in a manner that is consistent with God's Word.  We can make sure that we are firm in our beliefs and reliant on the Holy Spirit to speak through us when we are asked about or discussing various topics.

+++++

We are continuing to work our way through the Faith Radio Advent Guide, entitled, Sing Unto the Lord! It features 25 days and 25 different Christmas songs, with a corresponding Scripture and song lyric.  So, today, on Day 12, we concentrate on He is Born, the Divine Christ Child.

In Matthew 1, we find that an angel has come to Joseph. Beginning in verse 20, we read:
20 ...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

Joseph had a dilemma: he had a wife who was pregnant outside the bounds of marriage.  Until the angel came to him, he was considering sending her away.  This gave him the strength to resist the religious law and cultural norms of the day and follow God's direction.

There will be defining moments in our lives, in which we have the choice to follow God's direction, even when it may not make sense or be the popular decision.  A gentleman named Ryan Bomberger has repeatedly made that choice as he speaks out for children created in the image of God.

He is the founder of the Radiance Foundation, and ran into some trouble recently at, of all places, a Christian college.  That would be Chicago's Wheaton College, the place from which a professor departed because of her teaching that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.  Just before that, there was a member of the Chaplains' Department who held to the so-called "gay Christian" paradigm, and even though she insisted that she was celibate, not practicing her "orientation," she later moved from what is termed "Side B" to "Side A," and entered into a same-sex relationship.  And, Wheaton has just hired a professor who has provided talking points to fuel this gay Christian identity movement.

This is the Wheaton where a semi-secret meeting occurred to discuss the "future of evangelism" earlier this year; only one media person, who doubled as a participant, was allowed.  But, the guest list - those who attended and those who did not, would certainly create some concern.  Some of the most high-profile evangelical leaders were not invited and even dismissed by one of the organizers, who I had previously never heard of, as not being "thought leaders."  Wheaton is the alma mater of Billy Graham, and even has a Billy Graham Center, yet Franklin Graham was not invited to this gathering.

So, enter Ryan Bomberger into the mix.  The Daily Wire reports:

Recently, prominent pro-lifer Ryan Bomberger (a black man conceived in rape) delivered a talk to the Wheaton College Republicans about a topic very close to his heart: abortion and race. Apparently, that was much too racy a topic for certain members of the student body to tolerate.

His talk was entitled, "Black Lives Matter In and Out of the Womb."  In response, the Student Government Association sent out a campus-wide e-mail. The article states:

The email claimed that Bomberger's message about abortion and race "made many students, staff and faculty of color feel unheard, underrepresented and unsafe on our campus," which is bizarre, to say the least, considering that Bomberger is a "person of color." The email did not identify him as such.

Philip Zeisemer, Founder of the College Republicans, said he was "disappointed by the school’s response." He added, "I believe free speech is threatened when someone with a different point of view is accused—in print—of making students feel ‘unsafe’ and ‘underrepresented.’ I wish the school would have responded by encouraging students to think critically, discuss the message from both sides, and challenge themselves on the content presented."

Bomberger, writing on the LifeSiteNews.com website, stated:

Sadly, it was clear that even on an evangelical Christian campus, truth is anathema to those who deify "diversity". In a presentation on what Jesse Jackson once called "black genocide", those who prefer activism over factivism chose to demonize and distort. The talk focused on the hypocrisy of the #BlackLivesMatter movement's leadership and its announced solidarity with the leading killer in the black community – Planned Parenthood – where 247 black lives are killed by the abortion giant every single day. I pointed out several disturbing policy platform positions (see www.M4BL.net) that are, inarguably, hostile to Christianity such as the negation of fathers, the promotion of radical LGBTQ ideology, and lack of any call for racial reconciliation.

I refuse to bow to groupthink. And that never goes over well with those who think "diversity" means ideological conformity.

Franklin Graham, on his Facebook page, has stood in solidarity with Ryan.  As he points out, Wheaton is the alma mater of his mother and father, Billy and Ruth Bell Graham.  He wrote:

As Christians we need to have an influence on culture and not let the culture influence us. I’m afraid these students are being influenced by the culture of the progressive left, which is very unfortunate. They need to hear from godly leadership of the university on important matters of truth like this. This one-time bastion of evangelical conservatism always needs to be on guard against drifting left.

I think that there is a timely message for the Christmas season, as we consider that we should speak up for the Child, the One who grew up to give His life for our sins.  The One who said to let the little children come to Him.  And, we should always speak up for the children.  The taking of human lives prior to birth should not occur in a civilized society.

Ryan Bomberger also reminds us that we should be willing to tell the truth, even if there is a cost.  He has chosen to address a very serious issue in our society in provocative and creative ways.  For that, he has found himself maligned on numerous occasions because he dare disrupt the status quo.

That leads into another takeaway: we should always seek to offer a compelling testimony.  We can be challenged to be grounded in our beliefs, consistent with Scripture, and to communicate well.  With preparation and prudence, we can be good representatives of our Savior.