Here is Pastor Jeff Durbin‘s foreword to our newest book, Biblical Strategies to Abolish Abortion. It is somewhat embarrassing and humbling at parts, but a powerful Biblical admonishment to get back to Christ, His Word, and fight this battle His way.
If you want a copy or copies send me back your address, and I’ll send them out to you. Enjoy!
Foreword by Pastor Jeff Durbin:
The history of Christ’s Kingdom in the world is filled with examples of giants of the Faith. Every century has its heroes with names that mark the timeline of human history. These are points of power and examples that provide encouragement and hope to God’s people throughout the ages. To be sure, there are many heroes of the faith whose names we may never know on this side of glory.
However, God does raise up men and women that He speaks through in such a way that puts them in His hall of fame. The Book of Hebrews testifies to a hall of fame reserved for some Old Testament saints. If the resurrected earth has halls with memorials and artifacts of God’s glory, I am confident that Rusty Thomas’ life and ministry will have a central placement.
We have endured about a half a century of slaughtering pre-born Image-bearers in the United States of America since the fallacious and evil Roe vs. Wade iniquitous decree. This systematic slaughter, now totaling in the dozens of millions, can only occur in a nation at war with God and His Word.
Child sacrifice has a long and dark tradition amongst mankind. Christians have spoken against this evil and worked to end it since the earliest days of the Christian Church. Nations influenced by the Gospel of our Lord have not only created the atmosphere wherein abortion is “unthinkable,” they also penalized it by law. Christian nations, transformed by the Gospel and God’s Word, see abortion for what it is: murder. It is the unjustified killing of a human being; a creature made in God’s Image.
According to the Christian Worldview, abortion is not merely a sin, but something far more abominable. A cursory look at the history of the United States (pre-Roe) demonstrates that when the Christian Worldview permeates and becomes the primary influence, society views abortion as a CRIME. This explains why many State laws (some still on the books) criminalized abortion for the doctors who commit this shameful act as well as the parents who paid them to have their children executed.
Transformed Christian Nations never tolerate the murder of the pre-born. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland serve as recent examples. It took several decades and an incredible effort by the forces of darkness to thrust upon them this national sin, which brings national calamity. Ireland’s defense of the preborn when so many Western nations caved reveals the inescapable truth that Christendom will not tolerate child sacrifice and the shedding of innocent blood.
The murder of pre-born human beings is primarily a Gospel issue. This is the key point. It is the hinge upon which the entire issue turns. Abortion is a problem of the human heart that is bent toward sin, evil, and destruction. People who are in a hostile relationship with their Creator will go to war with Him at every point of contact. They will distort their own humanity, erase the borders of what constitutes a beautiful, harmonious, and intimate relationship with other humans, become a law unto themselves, and, if given opportunity, kill their own offspring. Even the gracious gift of life given by the hand of God, in the midst of this conflict with Him, will end up in the trash heap. That is how truly depraved we are when left to ourselves. Sin is undeniably irrational.
So, what is the solution? The Pro-life industry believes that they can fight this battle for the lives of pre-born humans by adopting a posture of neutrality. They are confident in their confession that they are not explicitly Christian. “We are about the science!” they proclaim. They are equally committed to portraying mothers, who hire an assassin to dismember their little boys and girls, as abortion’s second “victim.”
In other words, the Pro-life industry has not engaged this vitally important issue Biblically, with both feet firmly planted on the authority and consistency of the Word of God. They often proclaim that they want to make abortion “unthinkable.” However, this proposition neglects the fundamental assertions of Scripture: There is none good, there is none who seeks for God, and the heart is deceitful above all things.
They, as well as those who advocate for abortion, must understand that there is no neutrality with Christ. Whoever does not gather with Him scatters and whoever is not with Him is against Him. There is no transformation of the human heart without the gracious work of God, by His Spirit and Gospel. This alone removes the heart of hostility toward Him and His Word, which causes people to love His ways, His beauty, His glory, and His Law.
Rusty Thomas has known this throughout his decades of faithful ministry and witness. Rusty has saved countless children from death, directly and indirectly through his witness. His teachings have led countless other believers into this fight. For Rusty (and the many believers involved now because of him) this issue is first-and-foremost a Gospel of the Kingdom issue.
It is an issue of fidelity toward the One Who has all authority in heaven and on earth. For Rusty, Christ is King, His Law is good, and the nations are Christ’s inheritance. Rusty has raised his voice for the fatherless outside of abortion-mills while the ashes of these recently slaughtered children were falling on his head. He has lost time with his family, friends, and church through many trials in jail. He has labored and suffered across this nation, sacrificing time and money, to speak prophetically to legislators who have the duty to abolish and criminalize the slaughter of the pre-born.
What you will find in this book is a consistent, Gospel-centered, biblically grounded approach to ending child-sacrifice in our nation. We do not need the compromised, inconsistent, and failed neutral approach to ending abortion. We need Christ. We need His Word. We need His Gospel. This is what Rusty has fought for, taught, and learned over and over again through his life of sacrifice for these fatherless children. The Christian Church will benefit from listening to a man who knows the problem, is keenly aware of the solution, and understands the macro and micro issues.
We need to listen to Rusty Thomas. His commitments are to Christ, His Gospel, and to the faithful God-centered approach to every sphere of life. This is what changes the world.
Always has and always will.
Jeff Durbin
Lead Teaching Elder of Apologia Church