On The Other Side of Surgery

It has been quite the roller coaster ride of waiting and stress leading up to our three month old daughter's open heart surgery. Yet after a couple of cancellations due to a lack of space in the pediatric I.C.U., Emma finally had her much needed operation on Tuesday March 18th. Since then, the doctors in charge of her recovery have been very happy with her progress and it looks as though we may be headed home in a few days.

Looking back, now that we are on the other side of the surgery, I have been amazed to see how God has planned/used even our weeks of waiting in the hospital to connect us with certain people and different experiences. Furthermore, I am so grateful for all of the care Emma has received through the many nurses and doctors at the U of A hospital. It is truly an amazing medical resource that we have free and open access to here in Edmonton, something that most people in most other countries simply do not have.

This leads to a very important theological question that should be asked and that can be summed up in two very simple words. Why me? Why should my family have this kind of care and attention and not millions of others around the world? We certainly don't deserve it any more than the next family. In fact, if I were to stop and think about all of the different circumstances and blessings in my life, my upbringing, my schooling, my family and health, all of this, everything that I enjoy in this world and every single day that I'm given, they are all ultimately a result of God's providence and grace. What do I mean by this? In his article entitled "The Providence of God" Loraine Boettner explains it like this:

God determines when, where, and under what circumstances, each individual of our race shall be born, live, and die, whether it shall be male or female, white or black, wise or foolish. God is no less sovereign in the distribution of His favors. He does what He will with His own. To some He gives riches, to others honor, to others health, to others certain talents for music, oratory, art, finance, statesmanship, etc. Others are poor, unknown, born in dishonor, the victims of disease, and live lives of wretchedness. Some are placed in Christian lands where they receive all the benefits of the Gospel; others live and die in the darkness of heathenism. Some are brought through faith unto salvation; others are left to perish in unbelief. And to a very large extent these external things, which are not the result of individual choice, decide the person's life course and eternal destiny. Both Scripture and every day experience teach us that God gives to some what He withholds from others. If it be asked why He does this, or why he does not save all, the only available answer is found in the words of the Lord Jesus, 'Yea, Father, for so it was wellpleasing in thy sight.' Only the Scripture doctrine of the fall and redemption will give us any light on what we see about us.

It is to be remembered that those who receive these gifts, whether spiritual or temporal, receive them through pure grace, while in regard to the others God simply withholds those gifts which He was under no obligation to bestow. Nations, as well as individuals, are thus in the hands of God, who appoints the bounds of their habitation, and controls their destiny.He controls them as absolutely as a man controls a rod or a staff. They are in His hands, and He employs them to accomplish His purposes. He breaks them in pieces as a potter's vessel, or He exalts them to greatness, according to His good pleasure. He gives peace and fruitful seasons, property and happiness, or He sends the desolations of war, famine, drought and pestilence. All of these things are of His disposing, and are designed for intelligent ends under His universal providence. God is no mere spectator of the universe He has made, but is everywhere present and active, the all-sustaining ground, and all-governing power of all that is.

The point is that we should never take things like our health, our family, the country we live in , the hospitals we have or even the food we eat for granted, they are all gifts of God's grace. In the end, we desperately need to be reminded of this truth, as a means of thankfulness, dependence and assurance. Everyday we are busy making our plans for things like surgery, and for our work, school and family, but it is God who sovereignly governs this universe we live in, not us. As it says in Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." And so not only do I thank God for blessing us with a beautiful baby girl but I also praise Him for all of the care and resources we have access to.

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No Matter How Small

Another Dr. Seuss movie, Horton Hears a Who, is being released this week with a very interesting message. "A person's a person no matter how small." This is the line that is repeated throughout the story by Horton himself as a kind of mission statement, if you will. Ironically, some pro-life groups have tried to use this phrase in their material only to be sued, in one case, by a modern day Grinch, the late author's widow Audrey Geisel, a firm supporter of the pro-choice group Planned Parenthood.

In any case, the question remains, is a person really a person no matter how small? Even if they are, as in our daughter's case, born two months premature at only three and a half pounds? Or, more to the point, what about a tiny human embryo? Is that a person? Does life begin at conception?

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." - Psalm 139:13

As Christians, we must answer this with a resounding yes. Life begins at conception, we believe that a human embryo is very much a person created in the image of God. The reality is, one of the most important and urgent ethical issues we face today is centered around the embryo and the issue of stem cell research. Here is a short summary of what is at stake:

Stem cells are the unspecialized “master cells” of the body. They are able to produce all of the other types of cells (skin, brain, muscle, etc.). Human embryos have been promoted by some as an excellent source of stem cells. Nevertheless, a human embryo is a human life, no matter his or her age, manner of conception (natural conception, in vitro fertilization, or cloning), or location (uterus, test tube, or Petri dish). Embryonic stem cells can be obtained only at the cost of ending these innocent human lives.

Now as I mentioned in the sermon this past Sunday, this seems to be changing as scientists have recently discovered that they can produce new stem cells from skin cells. This, of course, is very big news as it appears to provide a much needed solution to this pressing moral dilemma. Robert George and Chris Tollefsen, professors at Princeton and the University of South Carolina, talked about this discovery in a recent World magazine article.

The announcement that pluripotent stem cells—undifferentiated cells that can be used to produce most and perhaps even all the tissue cells of the human body—can be obtained from reprogrammed skin cells is tremendously exciting. Prior to this breakthrough, scientists had thought that human cloning of embryos was the best way to obtain new stem cells that would be genetically identical to possible patients. The new approach shows that cloning is unnecessary and that it works without using or destroying embryos.

The point is that as Christians, we need to apply our faith to every area of life. We need to think biblically about everything, including our families, politics, the economy, and science. We need to be informed about these kinds of issues if we are going to defend the lives of every person, no matter how small (Psalm 82:3-4). As Albert Mohler once wrote:

In reality, many people simply assume that whatever science is able to do is good -- because science is morally neutral. This is one of the most dangerous myths of our times. The incredible wonders that have come to us through modern science -- so many wonderful developments that have transformed human lives for good -- can blind us to the reality that other technologies and applications can be inherently evil. The myth of moral neutrality in modern science is a myth we cannot afford.

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Don't Forget The Lyrics

I was listening to our local "safe and fun" "Christian" radio station (a topic for another post) the other day and heard something that really upset me. It was a song called "How You Live", which incidentally has been nominated for the Dove Awards song of the year. The concern I had was with the message I heard in the lyrics. The chorus and central message of the song: "Turn up the music, turn it up loud, take a few chances, let it all out... because it's not who you knew and it's not what you did, it's how you live!"

In other words, what really matters in the end is not what you believe or Who you knew but how you lived. It's about living your best life now... throwing caution to the wind and living life to it's fullest, as it were. Really? Do they really mean to suggest that in the end the only question that matters is "how did you live"?

The problem with this is that it reflects the belief system of all the religions of this world... all that is, except Christianity. You see, every other religion says how you live your life will determine where you go in the end. Christianity, on the other hand, teaches that it doesn't depend on how you live but rather on Who you know. What truly matters is whether or not, by God's grace, you have come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. John 17:3 (ESV) "This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Our entrance into heaven then does not depend on how we live or even what we believe, in the sense of simply having right theology. Instead it depends on Who we believe in or Who we know. As Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In Christ alone God’s rich provision of salvation for sinners is treasured up: by Christ alone God’s abundant mercies come down from Heaven to Earth. Christ’s blood alone can cleanse us; Christ’s righteousness alone can clothe us; Christ’s merit alone can give us a title to Heaven. Jews and Gentiles, learned and unlearned, kings and poor men – all alike must either be saved by the Lord Jesus, or lost forever. - JC Ryle

It is by the grace of God alone that our eyes are opened to the Truth so that we come to know Him and Him alone as our Lord and Saviour. In the end, this song is right in one sense, it's not what we did, but it's not how we lived either! It's Who we know! What's ironic about all this is that these words are sung by a group who call themselves Point of Grace!

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