The Undershepherd

You will find below a Pastoral Statement on Euthanasia and Imposing Death by Starvation and Dehydration. This statement is born of concern for our willingness and increasing intention to end the existence of the ill and disabled through any means but especially through the inhumane and sinful practice of starvation and dehydration.

We recognize that all decisions concerning the end of life are not as clear morally and medically as others and that this statement cannot cover every potential situation adequately. This being said, the fear of misapplication or misunderstanding of our intent must not keep us from speaking to a situation that needs clarification from God’s servants. Our fear of making blanket applications has led us at least in the Protestant world to say very little and sometimes nothing. While it is given that one could present a situation that needs special consideration the simple truth is that with greater frequency people whose condition is not terminal and who by God’s grace might recover are being starved to death. The “quality of life” mantra of recent decades has been successful and has wrought great destruction upon human life.

While this statement makes reference to one individual (Lauren Richardson) whose life is currently threatened by the intention of her guardian and a Delaware court decision, we include also a concern for the many who are starved and dehydrated to death without our knowledge. A few such cases become high profile because of a dispute between family members but most deaths of this nature are never heard of. Because there is no debate between family members the act happens largely unnoticed and uncontested.

It is our prayer that God will use this statement and the voice of His servants to rebuke this practice and those who advocate and enforce it, to call them to repentance and to reverence for God and the life that He gives and takes and that bears His image. This call to repentance is not limited to those of the medical field or political/judicial world but includes all of us who by ignorance and/or apathy have allowed this practice to become entrenched and to increase.

Signatories will be listed in the comments section.

A Pastoral Statement on Euthanasia and Imposing Death by Starvation and Dehydration

Believing that human life at all stages from conception until natural death and in every condition regardless of disability or cognitive ability bears the image of God, we, the undersigned offer our voice in support of life and in opposition to imposing death on the ill and disabled, in particular through starvation and dehydration.

Those of us who minister in Delaware have a special concern at the potential imposed death by starvation of one of our citizens, Lauren Richardson. We urge those who have influence over Lauren’s life, her guardian and the Delaware court system, to act on the basis of hope which comes from faith and reverence for human life, of which God is the author and finisher (Deuteronomy 32:39).

Acknowledging the tragedy and difficulty of human suffering we ask our fellow citizens to consider the following:

1. Euthanasia is an act of hopelessness. Human suffering humbles us as we see our inability to heal suffering despite our many medical advancements. But by imposing death on the ill and disabled, society is declaring that there is no purpose in suffering. This is contrary to the message of Scripture as seen in the lives of many people, most notably Job, and ultimately our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. God has told us clearly that He is the author and finisher of our existence. Fear of God should prevent us from ever seeking to end our own life or the life of another prematurely, especially by depriving them of the sustenance that is essential to human existence.

3. We express our concern that nutrition and hydration have been classified as medical treatment by many medical authorities and in the legal system. Food and water are now referred to in some legal documents as “life support”. This classification then becomes the basis for interpreting unguarded or uninformed comments from individuals about life support as an expressed declaration of their intent. The result is a deceptive vehicle by which many people are starved to death.

4. We urge our citizens to reject the claim that euthanasia is a private act. Even if one’s wishes to have his life ended prematurely were documented (Lauren Richardson left no such written documentation), society must give its approval to euthanize, which it has not done. Euthanasia advocates demand that society validate the so called private decision and make provision for the practice of imposing death. By depicting euthanasia as a purely private act, euthanasia advocates hide the reality that if Lauren is starved to death, we will all share in the decision to do this to her.

5. New Jersey recently ceased capital punishment calling death by injection “cruel and unusual punishment”. If imposing death by injection is cruel, how much more so death by starvation, which can be a two week process!

6. Faith leads to hope. We readily acknowledge that suffering is tragic and painful, both for the one suffering and for their loved ones. But because God is real and active, the end of our life is not certain until He makes it so. Often doctors using their best judgment declare that there is no hope; often they are wrong. Faith believes that God can heal, and that if He doesn’t, He is with us and has a purpose for our suffering.

7. Human suffering is ultimately a result of the fall by which our first parents Adam and Eve turned away from God and brought death (physical and spiritual) upon themselves and their offspring. Human suffering is a reminder of our need of the Savior Jesus Christ and the eternal life that comes through His atoning death and resurrection.

• We call our fellow citizens to acknowledge God’s prerogative in beginning and ending life.
• We encourage prayer to God in Jesus’ name on behalf of those who suffer.
• We call on the medical profession and government to turn from their irreverence for God demonstrated in the sinful act of starving and dehydrating the ill and disabled.
• We remind us all that because mankind bears God’s image our treatment of life is taken as our attitude toward God Himself (Genesis 9:6).
• Finally, we remind us that God sees our actions and will render to each one of us according to our deeds (Jeremiah 17:10).

My brother in the ministry Tim Bayly (BaylyBlog) has a post that I would highly recommend you make time for on the issue of abortion. The post which excerpts an essay by Joe Sobran demonstrates how abortion touches every realm, consideration and issue of our existence.

Often Christians are labeled “one issue” voters. This label is one that I am not ashamed of. It is simply an argument of the greater to the lesser, if a candidate cannot see the most important issue (life) correctly how can I trust him to see lesser issues as he should?

Here is an excerpt from Sobran’s essay:

…I have found that the abortion issue has so many ramifications that it can’t possibly remain isolated. Time and again when I thought everything there was to say had been said, new and vital considerations came to the fore, The Court’s disruption of life rippled outward to disrupt the family: it ruled that women were entitled to get abortions without informing their husbands, and teenage girls without informing their parents. The Court’s very willingness to assert these things implied something deeply ominous: that the state could redefine family relations, as well as life itself, at its whim.

All these issues converge in the abortion issue. Just what is being killed when the tiniest human embryo is destroyed? Do we dare to say it is nothing? Do we dare to risk assuming the role of enemies of creation? The very act of abortion implies something grave about the whole universe. If it is not wrong, then what can be right? Do we exist in a void in which nothing matters? Is the whole sense of piety–the motive of so much important human action, in history and in our daily lives–deluded?

You can read Tim’s post (which includes a link to Sobran’s entire essay) here.

Psalm 8:1  “O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!”

I came across the web site for the Hubble Space Telescope today and it is worth a visit. Take a few minutes to ponder the wonder of what God has made.

As you look at these pictures and the many others that are available just remember, there is no Creator or intelligence behind these wonders. This was all random chance happening apparently from an explosion that included hydrogen the existence of which we cannot account for, somehow it was just there. Sounds like faith doesn’t it?

Here is yet another national story of a woman who was declared brain dead and has recovered. If you listen carefully you will hear that doctors were about to remove her organs when she revived though she had been declared dead:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7932917

We have spoken against proposed legislation here in Delaware that would presume participation and intent in organ donation unless one opts out. Chief amongst our concerns is that vital organ removal happens under the diagnosis (guise) of brain death which is not death as this story proves.

The response we have received is that HB 302 has nothing to do with brain death or end of life issues. What lawmakers refuse to acknowledge is that if they pass HB 302 they would be making a statement to the public advocating organ donation more strongly than ever. Whenever we advocate something to others we take a moral obligation upon ourselves about the process or position that we advocate. Organ donation cannot be divorced from the brain death diagnosis and in advocating organ donation lawmakers would be (whether they acknowledge so or not) also advocate the means by which organs are taken, brain death.

In the last six months there have been three national stories of people diagnosed brain dead who then recovered. Two of these were moments from having their organs removed, yet lawmakers still insist that this has no bearing on the fact that they want to presume participation in organ donation.

On top of all this, an important voice from Harvard (who gave us the brain death diagnosis) recently stated that he doesn’t believe people diagnosed as brain dead are dead. This quote is mind-boggling but here it is:

“It’s completely ethical to remove organs from patients we diagnose as brain dead. It’s just ethical for reasons other than that we think they’re dead, because I don’t think they are.” (Dr. Robert Truog, director of clinical ethics at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Children’s Hospital Boston)

See the full story here:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/03/09/fatal_flaw/

We present information like this and the response seems to be a yawn. Does it not trouble anyone that for forty years we have been assuring people that their loved ones are dead and it is safe to take their organs only now to be told otherwise? The initial story linked above is further proof that brain death is not death. But here in Delaware we don’t seem to think it important to take this to heart, we stick to our politically precise answer, “HB 302 only has to do with how people get into the organ donor program”.

Lawmakers everywhere need to take a serious, honest look at organ donation and how states arrive at the declaration of death. We have been dishonest with many, many people all for the purpose of getting organs.

Truth and time go hand in hand.

Luke 4:16-30 “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”  And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”

And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.”

As I read this passage recently I was taken by the way of the Savior Jesus and how intent He was (and is) to do the will of God which always includes exalting God and humbling sinful man by speaking the truth.

Up until this point in Jesus’ public life all is well, could not be better. Jesus has performed miracles, the people are following and then this amazing set of circumstances.

The setting is the synagogue and Jesus is handed a role of Scripture. He reads from Isaiah a section of Scripture that is prophetic concerning the Messiah. Now understand what is happening, Jesus reads the passage, sits down and tells the people that the prophecy has been fulfilled in their hearing. We might think at this point they would say, “You’ve gone too far Jesus, you may be doing some amazing things but we are not going to tolerate this claim to be the Messiah.”

Instead we are told that after Jesus claims the fulfillment of prophecy in Himself the eyes of everyone are fixed on Him and they are all speaking well of Him and marveling at the gracious words that are coming out of His mouth. We would say that Jesus “has them”. In the realm of oration Jesus has them eating out of His hand, He is well thought of and has the favor of the people.

Now watch carefully…Does Jesus revel in the adoration and approval of the people? What a temptation this is for God’s servants. We are sinful and want to be well thought of, we want the people speaking well of us and eating out of our hands. We are loathe to do or say anything that will cause us to fall out of the people’s favor.

Bring yourself to this point in the scene: they eyes of all on Him, His praises in the mouths of all, “What a preacher”! What does Jesus do next? He goes for the jugular, He forsakes the approval of sinful man and instead proclaims to man his sin: “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” Jesus looks into the hearts of the people and sees their sin, they are not interested in God or righteousness, they want to see miracles.

If this were not enough Jesus calls them to the time of Elijah and reminds them that there were many Hebrew widows during that time who received no miracle from God but instead it was the gentile, heathen woman from Zarephath whom God favored. Likewise there were many Hebrew lepers but it was the Syrian Naaman whom God healed.

Jesus knows full well what He is doing. He is showing the people their sinfulness, He is convicting them and in so doing He is forsaking all the favor and adoration that were His a few moments before. In a few moments Jesus is going to be hustled out of the synagogue and to the brow of a cliff to be thrown down all by His deliberate choice to speak the truth.

Are we as Christians (especially elders and pastors) willing to forsake the approval of man so that we may have the favor of God? If we are not careful we will have the favor of the people now only to have them curse us later when they face the truth in eternity. Better to have them hate us now and love us later. Better yet to have God pleased with us at all times.

John 5:44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”

Lord give us the grace to love you more than ourselves and the favor of man. Give us the faithfulness that we always see in Your Son Jesus.

My son Joshua (4) loves to ride the lawn tractor with me as I cut the grass. Last week after starting our ride my tractor cut out after about 40 seconds. I was sure that I wasn’t out of gas. After repeated tries it became evident the tractor was not going to start.

I pushed the tractor into the garage and sought the help of a neighbor to no avail. The next day another neighbor came over. We had new fuel, the spark plug had spark, churning and churning but the engine wouldn’t fire.

A few days later a brother from our church came over and cleaned the carburetor, certainly that would do the trick, nope.

Later that evening I came into the garage and found Joshua near the tractor with the lid open and the cap off the gas tank, as he stood there he was holding a plastic Spider-Man cup. Immediately the picture came into view.

I said, "Joshua, what did you do?" He responded, "I poured it in the tractor". It appears that Joshua had been filling my gas tank with water and orange juice. What is frustrating is that I emptied the tank and put new gas in but apparently the old had not cleared out and in the meantime he must have added more.

Well, dad knows how to fix that. Off to Lowe’s for a latch and some metal screws and viola, a custom made tractor lid lock (I will install one for you for a mere $79.99).

To top the fun off, even after finding out what was wrong I couldn’t get it to start. I loaded it into the back of my mini-van (no easy task let me tell you) and took it to the small engine repair shop nearby. The repairman had some real ramps and we backed it down, he hopped on, worked the throttle up and down as he turned the key, a little sputter. Same thing again, more sputter, finally, it fired, belched out smoke and started running. I stood there half happy, half mad, off the van 30 seconds and its running. Four men and a few hours produced nothing, one engine repairman and 30 seconds and it starts.

I plan to unveil this story at a very opportune moment in Joshua’s life, I see him in our living room with a young woman for whom he has intentions, I’ll be sure to tell her all about it. The score will then be dad (2) little booger (1).

"How long can you falsify and deny what is real?"

Bob Dylan

In the course of the day today one of my children was deceptive. Upon confrontation there was denial and seeming lack of concern about the spiritual consequences of sin. As my little one went to bed I went in my concern realizing that tomorrow is not promised. I spoke plainly about the fact that lying is sin. I sent my child to bed with the reminder that we have an eternal soul and urged a prayer of confession.

I came downstairs as is my custom to read some news and unwind with some music on my computer and decided to listen to some of Bob Dylan’s, "Slow Train Coming". The last song on the album is called, "When He Returns", what a powerful song.

I often think of Bob Dylan. I hear the lyrics of his Christian music and it is undeniable that Christ  drew near this man that some blasphemously regard as a music god. As I listened to "When He Returns" over a few times I wondered how Bob Dylan could depart from the truth that he once so powerfully wrote about and sang?

I am not kicking Bob Dylan, I am sure he has had that from some Christians, I am grieved for him. I wonder if he ever listens to this song and if he does what goes through his heart and mind. Hebrews 6 warns us of the danger of turning from the truth after once professing it.

Hebrews 6:4-6  "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."

If I could talk to Bob Dylan tonight before he goes to bed I would say to him the same thing I did to my child, "Remember, you have an eternal soul." Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the World and the Judge of the living and the dead. He is going to return, are we ready?

Luke 21:34-36  "Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

When He Returns

The iron hand it ain’t no match for the iron rod,
The strongest wall will crumble and fall to a mighty God.
For all those who have eyes and all those who have ears
It is only He who can reduce me to tears.

Don’t you cry and don’t you die and don’t you burn
For like a thief in the night, He’ll replace wrong with right
When He returns.

Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow that it passes through,
He unleashed His power at an unknown hour that no one knew.
How long can I listen to the lies of prejudice?
How long can I stay drunk on fear out in the wilderness?
Can I cast it aside, all this loyalty and this pride?
Will I ever learn that there’ll be no peace, that the war won’t cease
Until He returns?

Surrender your crown on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask,
He sees your deeds, He knows your needs even before you ask.
How long can you falsify and deny what is real?
How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal?
Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned,
He’s got plans of His own to set up His throne
When He returns.

Ephesians 5:11-12  "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret."

We cannot battle every evil that takes place in the world but what lies nearest us becomes our duty when it comes to wrong and right. We have been concerned and write to oppose the potential death by starvation of a Delaware citizen, Lauren Richardson.

"What business is this of yours?" one might ask those of us who are concerned. "This is a private matter" is the mantra of those who seek to usher in a culture of death in our country to which we have a simple response, imposing death on someone is never a private matter. We are not islands to ourselves, we are all a part of the human race and what is done to one of us effects us all. Death for Lauren would be imposed for she is not terminal and needs no medical machinery to live, she only like you and me, needs food and water.

Those who insist that imposing death on ill and disabled people is a "private matter" need to have something explained to them. Even if it were documented that someone would want to be starved to death (which is not the case with Lauren) such a request forces us all into that person’s situation for by their request they are demanding that we (society) validate and make provision for their self imposed death. Imposing death is not the act of one person, it is the act of a society and some of us maintain and will never stop maintaining that imposing death on the ill and disabled, especially through the tragic vehicle of "substitute judgment" is immoral and unjust. Be very frightened that you live in a country where your life can be ended on the testimony of others while you are unable to speak for yourself.

Guardians and attorneys who seek to impose death through starvation and dehydration will thank us for our concern and then ask us to leave them alone to deal with the situation "privately". No, by imposing death on a fellow citizen you are attempting to force us all to join hands with you, to give our societal approval and consent. You cannot try to make us join hands with you and tell us to go away at the same time.

Of course the response from imposed death advocates to what I am saying is that this is all legal and as evidence of our depravity, it is. Owning slaves and forbidding women to vote was once legal also.

It seems that we are to accept that starving people to death is legal and are to be quiet and go our way, we will not, we cannot. Starving people to death is the act of a society that has lost its moral bearings, fear of God and appreciation of life. If privacy means that things like this can be done, there is no telling what will become possible and practice in our world.

This past Sunday evening I decided to get some food for my own soul and read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon entitled, "Jacob and Doubting Souls-a Parallel" (you should read it). Spurgeon preached this sermon on June 20th, 1886. As I read I came to a portion where Spurgeon relates having received a letter from a young man who refers to Spurgeon’s "advanced years" though Spurgeon had just turned 52. Here is the section:

Yesterday, I had many kind letters congratulating me on completing my fifty-second year, but there was one that did a little surprise and amuse me. One brother writes that he has read my sermons for many years, and that, at my advanced age, he cannot pray that I may have many returns of the day; but he does trust that God may spare me at least two or three years longer for the good of the church. Well, as I read the letter, I could not help smiling, as you do, for I do not feel that I am quite as advanced in age as that; but still, I thought that, perhaps, this brother’s letter might be prophetic. We may be older than we think we are, and two or three years may be all the time we are to have here. At any rate, I will try to work for Christ as earnestly as if I had only two or three years to live, and then it may be that he will add to us yet more; and, if not, what matters it? We shall go home to him who sent us, and be gathered to our Father in peace.

Immediately I started to calculate in my mind knowing that Spurgeon did die in his fifties and found that he died on January 31, 1892, Spurgeon lived 5 1/2 years after the reception of that letter, more than hoped by the letter writer but should not the point be taken? How long do we have to live? Presumption is never wise or God honoring. When are we going to become whole hearted in our living for God? When are some of us going to submit and acknowledge our need of the Savior Jesus?

"Some day" is the excuse we all keep making. When will we become the husbands, wives, parents, children, servants of God we should be? Some day? Who told you you have another day? In case you’re apt to think that God can’t get by without you here consider that there are few people that God would have more reason to give many years to than Charles Spurgeon. If God chose to take Spurgeon (who won countless souls for Christ) in the midst of his years what makes us think that God needs us here?

May God help us to live and work for Him as if our time is short, it is.

James 4:14  "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

Atheism has no other answer to suffering than suicide or in atheism’s attempt to be “merciful”, to kill others who suffer.

God warned our first parents Adam and Eve that they would certainly die if they separated themselves from Him (through disobedience) which they did and with their disobedience they brought suffering and death into this world. Adam and Eve did not physically die on the day they disobeyed, physical death would come through an extended process but they did die spiritually that day, they could no longer bear God’s presence and now hid from the Creator who in love made them.

This spiritual death that sin has worked in us brings with it a force of a sinful life that rushes toward death. Most primarily, man now is determined to live life without God. Oh yes, if you listen to man’s mouth, he speaks of God all the time and claims to believe in Him but the proof is in the pudding, what we do in regard to the life that bears God’s image is one of the greatest revealers of whether we know God or not and will submit to Him or not.

Know this, much of what is called belief in God today is nothing but practical atheism with a coat of religious paint brushed over it. How does one know whether or not they believe in God? One way we know is what our response is to this statement of God’s:

Deuteronomy 32:39  “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life…”

If I believe in God then I am a person who understands that God is the One who creates life. The philosophy that I have a right to decide whether or not another person who has been conceived can live or die is nothing but atheism in its fullest arrogance. God is the One who is forming that child in the womb and would you dare lay a hand or severing scalpel on him?

Now come to the end of life, yes, we grieve for those who suffer but faith in God brings one to the place that they understand that God has a purpose in our suffering. Remember, we cannot blame God for our suffering, we brought it on ourselves but God in His great power and kindness takes our suffering and uses it, He gives it a purpose and is able to even use if for our good and the good of others.

What must we ultimately say of those who support abortion and euthanasia? They do not believe in a living, real God, for abortion and euthanasia are not compatible with belief in a God who is in control of all things (life and death especially) and who is able to bring about good from suffering.

Look closely at Euthanasia, it is man in his utter desperation and atheism. Human suffering humbles us all, all we have power to do with it is to lock our self in a garage and start the engine, or in the case of others, give them the lethal injection or remove their feeding tube. These are acts of people who do not believe that God is in control of or has a purpose for what we suffer and in defiance (not mercy) they end their own life or the life of others.

For a sober look at where man is in this regard just read these recent articles about a suicide machine and proposed legislation. Fallen man, your only answer to your suffering is to kill isn’t it? When will you see how powerless and hopeless you are?

Humanism is the religion of our day. Read the philosophy and legislation that comes with the death movement and it is filled with the term “self-determination” which as they mean it is totally incompatible with the Christian faith. If Job believed in this self-determination he would have hung himself but being a man of faith in a real God, he humbled himself under his suffering and believed that God was worth following no matter what life may bring Him and God did not leave his faith un-rewarded:

James 5:11  “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

Our sinful darkness will not be seen for what it is so sin with its deceiving power tells us that we are being merciful and loving as we remove people’s feeding tubes and put them on the two week path to death. Listen clearly to atheism now as it insists that people who are starved to death do not suffer, they are not aware we are told (why they then give them pain medication is a mystery, didn’t you tell us that they can’t perceive anything?).

Here is the position of atheistic man, he believes that we are nothing more than what can be detected on a monitor, if a monitor cannot detect life, than it must not be there. You don’t believe that we have a soul or spirit do you fallen man? You don’t believe that people with a soul and spirit would still perceive what is happening and would wonder why this horrendous thing is being done to them.

Faith knows nothing of this self-determination, faith submits and believes God to be in control and wise in what He does and allows. Does God have a purpose for people who are disabled like Lauren Richardson? He does. Listen to the voice of atheism, “There can be no recovery” really? Those who believe in God believe that nothing is too difficult for the Lord and that even if He does not heal, that He is working good even through suffering. And by the way, should we trust the diagnosis of a being who has no other answer but to kill himself when faced with suffering?

Ask God for the courage to look around you at what is happening in our day. Man’s atheism is erecting a machine of death that none of us understand the reach and power of (this of course is because the devil is the real builder of it). We are self-determining ourselves to the grave and to hell. How grateful we are to be among those God has rescued from sin and death. How we need to pray for those who are lost in the hopelessness of atheism and its child, death. Lord, save us from ourselves.

The way that the medial world and government make it possible to end people’s lives is to redefine terms then pass legislation that uses the terminology to make imposing death legal.

Some things don’t require an M.D., some things are just known innately (knowledge given us by God). Do you think that food and water are medical treatment? When you sit down at the dinner table or go to the refrigerator at half-time do you think you are taking medicine? Food and water are increasingly considered medical treatment and therefore the order to remove medical treatment means removing food and water and “viola” we can starve people to death and its all very legal.

From the north comes a voice of truth and reason…Alex Schadenberg Chairperson of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - International and the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition defining euthanasia on his Blog states:

Post-modern bioethicists have falsely redefined fluids and food as medical treatment even though the provision of fluids and food do not constitute a treatment of a medical condition, but rather provide a basic necessity of life. Medical treatment is always optional whereas basic care is a necessity that must be provided based on need

I am quite aware that the Bible tells us that a great day of evil will come before the return of Christ. Reading in the gospels this past week for Easter I was reminded of what Jesus said to the women who followed Him as He went to Calvary:

Luke 23:28-31  “But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. “For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’  “Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’  “For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

I take Jesus to mean: “If they do the things they are doing to Me now, what will they do after I am no longer here.” Who knows to what depths of evil we will fall before Christ returns? Knowing that an evil day must come does not mean that God’s people are to say and do nothing, God tells us the day will come but at the same time commands us to stand against evil and wrong:

Ephesians 5:11 “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them…”

Legislation is under consideration here in Delaware that would presume participation in our organ donor program unless one opts out. This bill also presumes consent which means that no further consent is needed. Current law allows some circumstances under which family could refuse the removal of a love one’s organs (an important protection especially if family becomes concern that medical care is on a track for organ removal more than for healing).

Some of us have a concern about House Bill #302 as it stands on its own, but we also have concerns about where laws like this will lead. We get some idea if we look to Wisconsin. Legislation has been passed there and is expected to be signed by the governor that would among other things:

1. Drop the age of consent to be an organ donor from 18 to 15

2. Give medical staff authority over the family’s decision if it cannot be determined what a patient wanted concerning being an organ donor. Here is a quote from an article:

"And in cases where it’s unclear whether the person wanted to be an organ donor, the bill elevates the consent-granting power of appointed health care agents over family members."

Here is a link for the article:

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/03/09/news/z01organ09.txt

My fifteen year old can make a decision that I cannot override if I think best as his parent? A health care agent has more right to decide what will happen in regard to my loved one than I do? Do we not see where these things are all heading? Are we apathetic? I can assure you that as laws like this march forward that many people will find themselves in situations with their loved ones and they will cry out, "How can this be happening?" It happens very simply, by people not paying attention or hearing warnings and being apathetic.

There is nothing quite so dangerous as a group of people who are determined that what they are doing is good.

Here is amazing frankness from a doctor concerning the issue of brain death and organ transplantation. Remember, Harvard gave us the brain death diagnosis in 1968:

It’s completely ethical to remove organs from patients we diagnose as brain dead," says Dr. Robert Truog, director of clinical ethics at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Children’s Hospital Boston. "It’s just ethical for reasons other than that we think they’re dead, because I don’t think they are."

Dr. Robert Truog (Director of clinical ethics at Harvard Medical School)

You need to read the Boston Globe article from which this quote was taken you can find it here.

This is where things are going. We will eventually admit that people are not (and have not been) dead as their organs are removed but we will appeal to our (supposed) right to choose to end our life when we wish to therefore justifying the removal of our organs. Our pride will be our further undoing. We like nothing more than asserting that we have the right to kill our unborn offspring and to choose how and when our lives will end. This is all our attempt to be God.

Proverbs 8:1; 35-36  "Does not wisdom call, and understanding lift up her voice?…Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death."