Voices

from 2022/July/14

Connect: Be on guard!

/// PREVIEWED ON COVER

Todd Fisher

Oklahoma Baptists’ Executive Director-Treasurer @eToddFisher

I took the recent holiday weekend to start clearing our new (to us) property where we have recently moved. It’s not a big place, one acre, but a part of it is really grown over with small trees, vines, brambles, etc.

Since there isn’t that much area to clear, I decided not to wear my more “heavy duty” work clothes and instead opted for short-sleeve shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. I also left the bigger, gas-powered chainsaw in the shed and grabbed the battery-operated one instead.

I quickly discovered that I was very ill-prepared for the task ahead of me! As soon as I started, I encountered the gnarliest stuff I’ve ever dealt with in clearing brush (and I’ve cleared a LOT of brush in my life). I couldn’t help but think of a lesson…

What I encountered was Allegheny Blackberry. There were vines and vines of it everywhere. At first, I was so excited when I found all this blackberry growing on our property (dreams of cobbler!).

I then discovered the thorns that grow all over these vines. They have very fine tips and seemed to me to be more angled than rose or greenbrier, so they really grab you—and hurt! I kept pulling

>> PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM

Allegheny Blackberry that Dr. Fisher discovered while clearing out his new property. the vines off of me as they lodged into my shirt and skin. Not fun.

Later that evening I learned of another downside to these blackberry vines when my legs started itching—chiggers! Apparently they love these vines as much as I had grown to dislike them.

This whole encounter made me think of sin. The fruit of sin is alluring and deceptively appears to be a sweet treat to satisfy a longing or satiate a curiosity.

Many times we think the “small” sins won’t hurt us or others. We approach them unprepared, shoddily clothed in thoughts of our own righteousness or goodness rather than the full armor of God. We often think “small” sins couldn’t do much damage so we proceed haphazardly. But we soon find we are entangled and torn up by sin, no matter its “size.”

Paul instructs us in Rom. 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” And like the chiggers, we discover sin has lingering consequences unforeseen to us at the moment. Be on your guard, not just for the “big” sins, but the “small” ones as well.

The fruit of all sin is deadly, dangerous, and destructive. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

Sword & trowel: Life after Roe

Brian Hobbs

Editor of the Baptist Messenger @BrianGHobbs

In my years serving as editor, I have written about the issue of abortion and for protecting unborn life on many occasions. Today, as I write about the same topic, it is amid a new day for the unborn in this country.

We find ourselves, by the grace of God, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Justice Samuel Alito composed the court’s majority opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson case, which effectively overturned Roe and also Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

He said, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any provision in the Constitution. Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.”

Amen to that. Indeed Roe was wrong from the start, and it unleashed abortion on this country, tragically costing tens of millions of preborn lives and harming untold women in the process.

Oklahoma Baptists’ executive director Todd Fisher, in the hours that followed the historic decision said, “Christians have been praying and working for 50 years to see this day in our nation. I am grateful to God and overjoyed at this historic decision! There is still much work to do among the states and to double our efforts in loving and caring for mothers, fathers and children, but today we humbly rejoice over this decision!”

Dr. Fisher is right. This is a moment to rejoice and thank God. According to credible news reports, some 26 states are poised to radically curtail or altogether eliminate legalized abortion, including right here in Oklahoma. That means the lives of countless unborn boys and girls will be spared. He’s also right that this is a time to re-double our longstanding efforts toward ministry.

Thankfully, Oklahoma Baptists have been a leader in crisis pregnancy support ministry since the 1980s. Through Hope Pregnancy Centers and ministries like them—some 40 evangelical-based ministries across Oklahoma—we are well positioned to continue to serve the unborn and women in need with the love of Christ and the Good News. Moreover, Oklahoma Baptists have also become a leader in the areas of adoption and foster care, which are vital to the continued needs and this conversation.

Jesus said, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and life abundantly” (John 10:10). In this moment after Roe, we recognize that stark juxtaposition of death versus life.

The late, great pastor Adrian Rogers said the blueprint of Satan—to kill the babies—was seen on display many times: in Pharoah’s Egypt; in Herod’s evil order during the time of Christ; and with the abortion industry in modern times. Certainly the thief of legalized abortion has killed and destroyed.

But thanks be to God, Jesus has come to offer life and life abundant!

Today, we rejoice as Roe is no more. Tomorrow, we set about the work of making sure there’s life for all after Roe.

FEEDING &LEADING

A PODCAST FEATURING TODD FISHER & ANDY TAYLOR

02: SBC ANNUAL MEETING WRAP UP

Hear Todd Fisher and Andy Taylor talk about significant moments from the recent annual meeting of Southern Baptist Convention in Anaheim.