by Barry Newton

As you read scripture, I hope that various scenes spring to life for you. For me, one of these is Jeremiah's description of the religious world in which he was engulfed.

It is sobering to fathom the dynamic in which Jeremiah lived. Politically, nationalism was on the rise since a weakened Assyria had provided Judah with the window of opportunity to assert her independence. Keeping step with this nationalistic optimism, the religious authorities had added to the momentum by their consensus that all was well. Jeremiah 23:16,17 Theirs was a positive and reaffirming message to the people, even though the hearts of the people were calloused in following their own ways. Jeremiah 23:17 It was as though the religious leaders were reading each other's books! Jeremiah 23:30 And from this inbreeding of ideas they were growing more confident each day that the vision they portrayed as coming from God was in fact to be expected from God. Jeremiah 23:26-27, 31-32

Into this wonderfully upbeat celebration marched Jeremiah wearing the proverbial placard of doom, "repent, the end is coming." His message was that of a lone wolf and a social outcast. It was the kind of message which people today often sneer at.

While each of us wants to believe that we would be different from all those sheep who blindly followed the false prophets in Jeremiah's day, would we be willing to let go of such a positive outlook, to consider the possibility that the herd might be wrong, and to honestly examine scripture? Knowing that the power of group dynamics is so strong and our desire to empower the status quo can be so enticing should compell us to carefully examine even what others might assume to be true.

It would be wonderful if someone were fortunate enough to be living at a time when the religious herd was headed down the right path. But what if it is not? What if the predominant religious ideas are what Jesus called, "the wide path that leads to destruction"? Matthew 7:13 It can be hard to walk down a narrow way especially if this means you will be traveling mostly alone down a path that goes against the torrent of books and attractive ideas which "everybody" assumes to be true.

What is the message of this article? "Examine everything carefully; hang onto what is good; abstain from every form of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 The thoughtful spirit of inquiry characteristic of the Bereans needs to be a part of each one of our lives. Acts 17:11 The goal is neither to be out of step with those around us nor to march in unison with them, but rather above all else to seek the approval of the Lord by loving what is true. Failure to order our values in the proper priority is a recipe for disaster. John 12:42-43; 2 Thessalonians 2:10

by Randal Matheny

You've heard it said we should hate sin but love the sinner. It's true. The phrase expresses an important truth. But not the whole truth.

The word of God presents two, and only two, positions one may assume before his goodness: submission and rebellion. The Lord rewards submission with blessings, with good, with his presence. He also brings upon the rebellious his due: punishment and justice.

So we should not be so surprised at these words:

"The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit." Psalm 5:5-6

He who does not gather with the Lord, scatters. He who scatters receives his full wrath. And he who gathers rejoices, because the Lord defends his cause with victory.

Can Only God Hate?

But the Lord may hate perfectly those who sin, but we should not, you say? Read again.

Not only does the faithful say, "I hate the work of those who fall away" (Psalm 101:3).

He may also rightfully declare, "I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law" (Psalm 119:113).

And even more telling,

"Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies" (Psalm 139:21-22).

So what does all this mean? And how do we reconcile hating one's enemy with Jesus' instructions to love one's enemy? Are these railings merely a vengeful Old Testament spirit, while we must show New Testament grace?

Good Hate

Actually, we need both hatred and love toward our enemies. Now let me explain.

First, hating the one who does evil takes sin seriously. Is it really so easy to hate the sin and love the sinner? Can we divvy up a person and his sin? Sin is not some scab that can be quickly, albeit with certain discomfort, picked off to reveal the real person underneath. Sin is part and parcel of who we are. Even after recovery, we must say we are sinners (as per 1 Tim. 1:15).

Second, hating the evildoer is an expression of one's loyalty to God. His enemies are our enemies. In fact, they make themselves our enemies because we insist on submission to God. One cannot pray for the victory of God's cause without desiring the defeat of his detractors.

Third, we are not speaking of our character, but God's cause. Usually there is, in the context of hating the evildoer, a declaration of the writer's integrity (see Psalm 139:23-24) or a reverent appeal for help to observe the commandments (see Psalm 119:114-120). The question is not the perfect moral state of the faithful, but the perfect righteousness of the Lord's cause which he upholds. Hating one's enemy, properly done (and it can and must be done properly), takes into full account the only two positions possible toward God's goodness.

Fourth, hatred of the evildoer does not take justice into its own hands. It appeals to God. And while it waits for God's judgment, it works to turn the wicked from his way. It devotes itself to converting the rebellious into a soul submissive to the will of God.

I can appreciate greatly the sentiment to hate sin and love the sinner. But the Word goes beyond that easy phrase to enter fully into the Sovereign Lord's cause and work ceaselessly that his justice may come to all, in every place.

On the Birth of the First Cloned Human Being by Sam Hine

[Editor's note: We rarely publish articles by people unknown to us, but the following content represents a Biblical perspective. Though, from what we've read, proof has yet to be offered that Eve was actually cloned, the author's principle still applies.]

My first son, Adam, was born November 12, six weeks before the Raelian cult announced to the world that they had successfully delivered the first cloned baby. Brigitte Boisselier, the group's scientific director, nicknamed the baby Eve.

Adam was born naturally, with his mother's eyes and his father's nose, conceived in the loving union of man and wife. As this tiny living person formed and grew in his mother's womb, his parents marveled at the mystery of taking part in God's creation. There was no question: God had created this being as surely as he had created the first man, and only he could breathe the breath of life into him.

Eve, on the other hand, was conceived of the demonic ambition of people desiring to become God, to manipulate nature and pervert science to defy death and achieve immortality. It's a story as old as the tower of Babel, as old as Lucifer and Adam and Eve in the Garden. Even the name they chose belies their blasphemous self-confidence — creating a woman from a rib.

But the Raelians are wrong about one thing: they didn't create this baby. Despite the evil designs of the scientists who engineered her conception, it was God who gave her life, and she would never have been born without his blessing. Eve is a child of God as surely as my son Adam is, created by God in his image to love and serve and glorify him.

Don't get me wrong. Cloning is an abomination that mocks God and the natural order he has established. It should be banned internationally and roundly condemned by all who have reverence for life. If the research conducted on animals is any indication, Eve and those that follow will likely suffer greatly for the sins of their fathers or mothers. Cloned cattle, for example, have been plagued with unexplained high rates of congenital defects and other abnormalities. Then there is the prospect of abuse of this science by people with even more twisted ideologies. Humanity will surely pay dearly for taking this path.

The Raelians—and the more qualified but equally unscrupulous scientists who have been racing to be first to this milestone—are not only egomaniacs, but shameless profiteers as well. They are exploiting the grief of bereaved parents with the false promise of resurrecting their lost children, manipulating the frustration of infertile couples who will pay any amount to have a child, and appealing to homosexual couples dependent on hi-tech fertilization methods. (According to the Raelians, one of several more clones they are nurturing will be born to a lesbian couple within a month.)

Eve is innocent, just as is the child of rape. To welcome such a child in no way condones the crime that led to its conception. This is the terrible and wonderful mystery of God's working. His ways are past our understanding. He allows these evil things to happen; he can even use them for good.

God has a purpose and plan for every child sent into the world, no matter the circumstances of their birth. Perhaps Eve was sent to turn us from this madness, to ensure that cloning doesn't become the next logical step in a society that has already embraced genetic engineering of plants and animals, in vitro fertilization, and homosexual marriage as natural and acceptable practice.

Maybe it's too much to hope that Eve's birth will shock us into changing course. Clearly, she can't save the world. But God can, and will. May that day come soon, for the sake of Adam and Eve and all God's children.

Sam Hine is a member of the Bruderhof movement and an editor at www.bruderhof.com .

by Randal Matheny

We'd been suspecting it for a couple days.

Vicki woke up this morning at 6:15 to go walk. At least, she thought it was 6:15. She consulted her little timer-clock for which she is known around the world (well, almost) and discovered it was only 5:45.

Our trusty clock-radio sitting beside our bed had gone haywire. It was running fast. And throwing everyone who consulted it out of kilter.

If you thought 2002 whizzed by, maybe your inner clock has gone haywire. Removing age as a time accelerator, you may still be wondering where last year went.

The answer may be in our wacky clock-radio. Like it, you stepped up the pace.

You overcommitted yourself, shorted your nights, your family, your God.

You don't need more time. You need less do, less go, less busy, less hurry.

I keep saying "you." To keep from saying "I." After all, it's my clock-radio.

"Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don't be vague, but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of the Lord" (Eph. 5:15-17, Phillips).

by Tim Hall

Seeing Jesus hanging on the cross was too much for the disciples to bear. It must have been especially hard for Peter, James and John who were with the Lord in the garden just hours earlier. Had they not heard Jesus praying fervently to the Father, asking that the cup be removed from His lips? Why had God not heard that prayer? If the Son of God can't get His prayer through to the Father, what hope is there for mere sons of dust?

The Hebrew writer speaks up to correct our misunderstanding. Speaking of Jesus, he wrote: "Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear . . ." (Hebrews 5:7, New King James Version). Obviously, the writer was referring to Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. It was a prayer offered with "vehement cries and tears", and was addressed to the One "who was able to save Him from death". So why didn't God hear that prayer?

The Father DID hear that prayer, according to this passage. Our mistake occurs when we equate God's granting of our request with God hearing our request. That conclusion doesn't follow. It doesn't follow with earthly fathers and their children. There have been times when I have not granted my children's requests, but I certainly took the time to listen and to consider what they were asking. So it is with God, the epitome of Fatherhood.

James expands on this theme by urging us to "count it all joy when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2). Trials are no fun. They are experiences from which we yearn to be delivered. We pray long and hard that God deliver us from such trials. Yet it is undeniable that God's children are often allowed to remain in those trials. Why? Why wouldn't God release us from pain and suffering?

"Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:3,4). It is God's will that we be perfected in preparation for eternity, and the path to perfection frequently involves suffering and patience. There are no shortcuts in the refining of gold and silver, and faith is even more precious than these (1 Peter 1:7).

Our cries to God, even when offered with "vehement cries and tears", will often seem to fall on deaf Ears. Faith, however, reminds us that we will be heard because of our godly fear. When it seems that God is ignoring us, we must tell ourselves that things are not always as they seem.