Today I heard some women agree that the term "born again Christian" is often perceived as being "stand-offish" or "exclusive." The group thought it might be nicer to refer to themselves as "followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ."

I, of course, disagree.

I have seen too many folks who call themselves "followers of Jesus" who have never made a commitment to place their faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is too much of a gap between being a "follower of the teachings" and being a Christian who is "born again"--or, as the Message puts it, "born from above."

In too many of the standard brand churches--Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ (many folks would call those and others "mainline churches")--membership in the denomination is predicated on having gone through some sort of an initiation ritual. In most of these churches that ritual is infant baptism. It is generally agreed that if a person has been baptized, either as an infant or an adult, her continuance in the faith and ultimate entrance into heaven is assured. To be sure, there are MANY mainline churches that call their members to a life of commitment to the work of Jesus Christ and encourage an assurance that the person is "saved" by virtue of either her baptismal vows or her definition of a time when she has received Christ as her personal savior; frankly, however, these churches, at least in the United States, are few and far between. What is left in the remaining churches are members who consider their spiritual well being to be contingent on maintaining membership in the church in whatever manner the local congregation dictates--be that adequate pledging, attendance, holding church positions, even moving into ordained ministry. These are people who would be more than correct in holding that they are "followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ."
But ask them if they have made a choice to place their faith in him and his work and oftentimes the work of God is obscured by the work of the follower.

As a human, made in the image of God, I may have many good qualities. But one thing I cannot do is take care of the fact that my sin nature, brought about by the act of Adam and Eve in the Garden, separates me from God. Eternally. There is NO way that I can bridge that gulf by myself. It is only be the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that the gulf can be removed and the relationship repaired. As I place my faith in that work, I am put into relationship with God and assured that my sins are forgiven and I am in possession of eternal life.

No one can achieve that position by simply following the teachings of Jesus. It is an act of faith to make the choice to accept his work that brings about reconciliation. Followers are hangers-on; believers are heaven bound.

An important vote--and politically hot!

To my friends-

It is getting really close to election day: one week from tomorrow!

Below is a message I sent out to some of my close friends. I had promised several that I would refrain from sending political messages: those folks were tired of some partisan e-mails (but that didn't stop them from sending the same to me!) Anyway, I felt that one issue was too important to be "polite" about, that the issue of human life was too important to dismiss as simply one more campaign issue. So I took the bull by the horns and sent out the below message to many people in my e-mail address book. Here it is for a potentially larger audience.

I know many of you disagree with my position on abortion. I am a long time opponent of the procedure that basically kills a living human infant in the womb—or on her way OUT of the womb! As a nurse I have been a consistent advocate for compassionate care for women who may have had this procedure (several of the hospitals I have worked in have performed abortions; many of the new mothers I have cared for have had abortions in their past) but I still am an adamant opponent of it. You may recall I have a bumper sticker quoting Mother Teresa: "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

So it should come as no surprise to any of you to learn that I am actually promoting a vote for Sen. John McCain and NOT Sen. Obama as president. Here is why:

Sen. Obama has promised several things in the course of his campaign. But the one promise that I KNOW he will keep—and will require only his signature and no action on the part of any other member of Congress OR the Supreme Court—is his promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). This piece of legislation states—simply—that "It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman."

What this means for you is that you, the taxpayer, will be responsible to pay for any and every abortion, whether it be for a medical reason or for convenience.

I know several of you are concerned about freedom of choice—a woman’s right to choose whether or not she desires an abortion. May I point out to you that the FOCA will eliminate your right to choose; you will no longer be able to choose NOT to pay for an abortion of convenience—abortions which apparently make up 85-90% of all abortions. (It is not my purpose here to go into statistics but I WILL provide you with them if you really want them. Yes, I have them.)

Moreover, FOCA will nullify informed consent laws, waiting periods, health safety regulations for abortion clinics, etc. This doesn’t sound like good Federal policy to me. But it is exactly what will happen if Sen. Obama is elected president.

You can see, I am NOT basing my urging for you to vote for Sen. McCain on any other social issue or any fiscal or military issue. I agree that all of these are very important. But it seems to me that the issue of human life and the value that FOCA puts on it is too important to dismiss. We are talking about human infants. And remember: abortions as defined in the original Roe v. Wade decision allowed for the procedure at any time UP UNTIL AND INCLUDING THE ACTUAL BIRTH OF THE INFANT. It places no value on “possibility of life” (e.g. premature babies) or “quality of life” (genetically affected babies—Down Syndrome infants.)

I am saddened that Sen. Obama has been so “progressive” in this area. Many of his other ideas are worth considering. But this is the most important issue to the future of our population (ask me more about that if you wish) and our country. It tells folks about the value we place on human life.

For this reason I am urging you to strongly consider voting for Sen. John McCain. He is a man who respects life at ALL levels. And he has demonstrated that position throughout his career.

Again, if you wish to simply delete this and ignore it, I cannot stop you. You do not need to respond in any way—although you may and I will respectfully read your response. I send this to you because you are a friend and a person I know who is thoughtful and careful in your decision to vote.

That's my message. Thanks for reading it. I look forward to your responses here in this blog.