The Circle Maker

The Circle Maker book is an insanely popular book that is still a bestseller, even though it is a few years old. Based on a story from the Jewish Talmud, the book recalls the tale of a guy who drew a circle around himself and demanded that God make it rain. When that didn't go so well, he did it again and then a third time.

When I first heard about it, I thought it was just silly. While the book's author claims that this is not "name it and claim it" teaching, I fail to see the difference. There is a reason this story was in the Talmud and not in the canon of Scripture. It's because the story is about the man and his prayer, not about God and His power/glory.

It is merely a lame story highlighting the demanding prayer of a guy who has figured out the right technique to boss around the Divine Butler.  

Having learned more about the book, I realize now that it is not just absurd; it is antithetical to Biblical teaching on prayer.

Besides the story of the book coming from an extra-Biblical source, the teaching of this book is very anti-Biblical. The book implies that drawing a circle demonstrates faith in God's will for a "miracle" to happen. In other words, the "technique" of prayer (drawing a circle) is the thing that will get God's attention.

Says Batterson in the book:  “Sometimes physical contact creates a spiritual conduit. Proximity creates intimacy. Proximity proclaims authority. Drawing a prayer circle is one way of marking territory — God’s territory.”

These are not the writings of a serious student of the Bible. These are the writings of someone making stuff up about prayer and then attaching the name of God to it. To attribute thoughts and ideas to God that God has not revealed in His word is to break the third commandment in the worst way.

I remember a professor from Bible college who said that three words should end most theological debates: "book, chapter, and verse." But apparently that is not the case anymore. Too many Christians don't know or care what THE Book says. They simply want a new idea.

Perhaps the reason this book is so popular is that people are clamoring in many ways to connect with God. We all find our relationship with God dry and dusty at times, and this "touchy feely" approach has much appeal. It also is appealing to think that if I DO something that is pious and seems righteous looking, that God will surely answer.

Scripture has a much better, much simpler plan of prayer: it's about talking to God in FAITH; putting your trust in Him. Trusting that he knows better than we do. Biblical prayer is more about TRUST than about DEMANDS.

The Biblical plan of prayer is coming to God HUMBLY and without pretense (Matthew 6:5-15). Those who believe in this kind of prayer frequently talk about having a "bold" or "audacious" faith. A metric of quantity does not measure faith. Faith is measured by its direction.

If your faith is in Jesus Christ, you have great faith (Matthew 15:21-28 is a good example of this. Click below for a sermon on this passage). If your faith is in yourself or your prayer circle, your faith will be very small.

I know what many people will say in response to this already: it will be somewhere along the lines of "but isn't it a good thing to encourage people to pray more/pray harder?"

No, I don't think it is if it is going to take us away from the true teaching from Christ and the Apostles on prayer. Some links that I think are helpful:

http://www.challies.com/christian-living/dont-pray-in-circles

http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/the-circle-maker 

Fighting for the Faith - Part 1 on The Circle Maker

And this very interesting post. I don't know much about this author, so take it as it is:

http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2013/06/showing-in-pictures-how-circle-maker.html

Sola Scriptura. 

Pregnancy is Not a Disease

A viewer of The Baby War: Defenders and Defectors has asked for clarification about exactly where the Affordable Care Act defines pregnancy as a disease.To quote from the film:

The mandated contraceptive coverage was listed among 8 essential health benefits, as recommended by the National Institute of health. By including contraceptives with preventive care against diseases like cancer, pregnancy was equated with preventable diseases. 

And: 

Well he's (Obama) using contraception as an opportunity to be able to treat pregnancy like a disease. Pregnancy now is listed with diseases like cancer and diabetes, muscular dystrophy and pregnancy are treated today like diseases in Obamacare, it's called a disease.

Here's the short answer: 

It is not literally called a "disease," but the ACA lists contraception as one of the "preventive services" for women, being functionally equivalent to cancer, diabetes, and other "preventable" illnesses.  So contraception is functionally called a "disease" in the ACA.

Ok, so here's the long answer.

At its core, the Affordable Care Act requires that certain "Essential Health Benefits" (EHB's) are provided with all approved health insurance plans under Obamacare. From the Obamacarefact.com website:

In general Essential Health Benefits are the types of care you need to prevent and treat sickness and do not include elective and "non-essential treatments..."  

This website goes on to list the 10 Essential Health Benefits. Our film says eight. The list was updated since our film was released.

Not all the EHB's are defined as having "low" or "no" copays. They all simply have to be a part of approved Obamacare health plans. However, so-called "preventive services" are required to be "No Cost Sharing."

From the same Obamacarefact.com website:

Essential Health Benefits include annual wellness visits and many types of preventive services including immunizations and screenings at no out of pocket costs. The Affordable Care Act has a major focus on wellness and prevention to help increase early detection and catch sickness before it starts increasing wellness and decreasing the need for costly treatments.

Preventive services, wellness services, and chronic disease treatment are listed as number nine in the list of Obamacare's 10 Essential Health Benefits. (This list is on the same page linked above.)

Well, this all sounds fantastic. Who isn't for keeping people well and preventing "preventable" illnesses?  

From the "Preventive Care" Page at the Obamacarefact.com website:

Why Cover Preventive Services?

Waiting to treat illness until a person is sick, instead of focusing on prevention, has had a direct effect on the rising health care costs in the U.S. and has caused many Americans to put off seeing a doctor until it's too late due to cost. Preventive care helps you stay healthy. A doctor isn’t someone to see only when you’re sick. Doctors also provide services that help keep you healthy.

Notice how many times in that short paragraph that the words "Sick" or "Stay healthy" (Also "keep healthy" and "until it's too late") are used. The idea is clear. What are "preventive services?" Services that PREVENT you from getting SICK.

This is the dictionary definition of "preventive:"

pre·ven·tive - noun \-ˈvent-iv\ Definition of PREVENTIVE: something (as a drug) used to prevent disease

So, looking at the distinct definition of "preventive" care as preventing illness, what are these 22 free, no cost share services for women?

Back to the Obamacarefacts.com Preventive care page:

1. Anemia screening on a routine basis for pregnant women
2. Breast Cancer Genetic Test Counseling (BRCA) for women at higher risk for breast cancer
3. Breast Cancer Mammography screenings every 1 to 2 years for women over 40
4. Breast Cancer Chemoprevention counseling for women at higher risk
5. Breastfeeding comprehensive support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breast feeding supplies, for pregnant and nursing women
6. Cervical Cancer screening for sexually active women
7. Chlamydia Infection screening for younger women and other women at higher risk
8. Contraception: Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider for women with reproductive capacity (not including abortifacient drugs). This does not apply to health plans sponsored by certain exempt “religious employers.”
9. Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling for all women
10. Folic Acid supplements for women who may become pregnant
11. Gestational diabetes screening for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes
12. Gonorrhea screening for all women at higher risk
13. Hepatitis B screening for pregnant women at their first prenatal visit
14. HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women
15. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA Test every 3 years for women with normal cytology results who are 30 or older
16. Osteoporosis screening for women over age 60 depending on risk factors
17. Rh Incompatibility screening for all pregnant women and follow-up testing for women at higher risk
18. Sexually Transmitted Infections counseling for sexually active women
19. Syphilis screening for all pregnant women or other women at increased risk
20. Tobacco Use screening and interventions for all women, and expanded counseling for pregnant tobacco users
21. Urinary tract or other infection screening for pregnant women
22. Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65

So, of this list of 22 "preventive services," all have prevention of illness or potential illness in mind, except for number eight, which is "Contraception." The question is, "Which one of these things is not like the others?"

I suppose an argument could be made that number five, about Breastfeeding support, is not strictly about "preventing" illness. However, it is widely known that breastfeeding is healthful in a "preventive" way for both Mother and Baby.

That leaves number eight, "Contraception."

In other words, what is "pregnancy" according to the Affordable Care Act? It is a "preventable" illness or disease. There are many serious women's health issues in this list such as cancer, diabetes, and various infections.

Now someone might say, "well, technically the ACA doesn't call pregnancy a 'disease;' your film is misrepresenting the facts."

No, we totally stand behind what the film says because the ACA does much worse than to call pregnancy a "disease." It functionally equates a pregnancy with a disease.

In other words, this law calls a potential life a potential death. It is to call that which is good evil.

God created government to restrain evil and to reward those who good. (Romans 13:1-7) 

When the government itself mixes up good and evil, the result isn't half good, half evil, the result is MORE and MORE evil. Even recently we have seen in many ways the government "rewarding" the evil of homosexuality, by giving its "blessing" to homosexual marriage.

Why? Because even for the heterosexual couple, children are no longer needed or wanted as an Essential Marriage Benefit. Contraception has rendered children an irrelevant issue of marriage. And if the contraception should fail, well, then there's always the "Plan B" drug or a surgical abortion.

That potential life (a HUMAN CHILD; a HUMAN BABY) is a potential death to the woman and her desires.

This thinking was spoken loud and clear by President Obama himself.  

He said that a BABY (that is a HUMAN BEING) is a "punishment;" functionally equivalent with "an STD."

So many people don't understand the Abortion issue (along with its ugly children: sterilization and contraception, gay marriage, family disintegration, etc.) At issue is not human freedom. It is not about choice. It is about a CHILD.

At issue is the sanctity of life itself. Life is sacred because the Creator God is holy. The Creator God defined marriage as between a man and woman, for the purposes of procreation, chastity, and sexual intimacy. So the POTENTIAL child that comes from each union is sacred as well.

The idea of The Baby War as our title came from the constant war of ideas about babies. God's idea of babies is that every marriage has potential life coming from that union. The world's idea of babies is that every woman has a potential death of her opportunities coming from every sexual union. If that potential death (yes, meaning a HUMAN CHILD) can be prevented from ever happening, then it makes sense to them to equate that child with cancer and diabetes and other infections. 

The worldview of humanism filters everything through the lens of pragmatism. The worldview of Christianity is supposed to filter everything through the lens of Scripture. Those Christians who do will be labeled fools and idiots for their backward ways. Those who put on the world's "pragmatism" glasses will be rewarded with praise for being so forward thinking.

I know what most people who are reading this are thinking. They are thinking, "yeah, but..."

Take off the pragmatism glasses. Put on the Scripture glasses. It will make a huge difference in how you see the purpose of marriage and BABIES.