Tuesday, March 02, 2010

By Daniel Borchers
    January 11, 2010

Have we witnessed a Christmas miracle, a defining moment, a definitional essay which marks the beginning of the new Ann Coulter? Lord, let it be! Or will future columns revert back to the unchristian characteristics to which we have become accustomed in Coulter polemics? Heaven forbid!

Published on January 6th, in her extraordinary essay, “If You Can Find a Better Deal, Take It!” Coulter cogently and succinctly encapsulated the central precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In a relatively non-polemical fashion. Suggesting a new and improved Ann Coulter may be on the horizon. Which would be the handiwork of God. Let’s all give glory to God.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=35103

In her essay, Coulter observed that faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins freed us to be forgiven. She concluded with these exquisite words, “With Christianity, your sins are forgiven, the slate is wiped clean and your eternal life is guaranteed through nothing you did yourself, even though you don't deserve it. It's the best deal in the universe.” Truth and humility in one paragraph!

Coulter also wrote that spiritual transformation is the natural consequence of being forgiven by God. All Christians, having been forgiven by God, should therefore live transformed lives in which they no longer dwell in sin. As Coulter put it, “Christianity is also the hardest religion in the world because, if you believe Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead, you have no choice but to give your life entirely over to Him. No more sexual promiscuity, no lying, no cheating, no stealing, no killing inconvenient old people or unborn babies – no doing what all the other kids do.”

Does Coulter believe what she writes? Will she practice what she preaches? Time will tell.

I first read Ann’s essay that Saturday, just one day after finishing Glenn Beck’s excellent book, The Christmas Sweater, a poignant personal tale of redemption and healing. In Beck’s book, a 13-year-old boy named Eddie was confronted with the selfishly evil person he had become, disbelieving that those he had grievously wounded could ever forgive him, fearful of facing those who knew the truth of what he had done. Eddie’s fears were unfounded. Those family and friends – whom Eddie had so deeply wounded – so deeply loved Eddie that they would forgive him anything. As does our God.

Eddie discovered forgiveness and redemption in God, and the joy of being forgiven by those whom he had harmed. Love won out. Indeed, Eddie’s repentance and receipt of forgiveness marked his passage into emotional maturity and spiritual wholeness. His life – and his behavior – was changed forever!

The Christmas Sweater tellingly expresses the remarkable truth – the good news –  that no human being is beyond the power of God to redeem. Christians live in the spiritual reality that God loves the unlovable, forgives the unforgiveable, redeems the irredeemable, and transforms sinners into saints.

Should Ann ever repent and seek forgiveness, I urge all Christians everywhere to embrace her. To all those who have personally experienced the wrath and wretchedness of Coulter, should she repent, forgive her. I for one will be among the first to welcome her with (rhetorically and spiritually) open arms.

We are all sinners, but our Father in heaven is eager to forgive all those who repent and seek forgiveness. The angels rejoice when even one sinner repents. Shouldn’t we?

Remember, Jesus died an agonizing death on the cross, surrounded by a mob of people rejoicing in His suffering. He was hated without cause. Indeed, all that He did in life was to help them (and us). Were some of the people in the crowd, those He had befriended, taught, healed, helped? Jesus, while in agony at their hands, loved them (and loved us) so much, that He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

His love, and His forgiveness, never ends! Nor should ours.
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A lifelong conservative, Daniel Borchers is a Vietnam-era military veteran with experience as an intelligence analyst and report writer, editor of Windjammer, an overseas naval newsletter, and a graduate of Regents College in New York.

Mr. Borchers is Founder and Editor of BrotherWatch, a newsletter which examines political, social, cultural and religious issues from a Christian conservative perspective. BrotherWatchdebuted in August, 1996 and has featured interviews with people across the political spectrum, from Alan Keyes to Alan Colmes.

BrotherWatch formally supported Senator John Ashcroft�s nomination for Attorney General (see http://www.freecongress.org/media/2001/010116list.asp).
Mr. Borchers was editor of Transformation Press, the flagship publication of Transformation Christian Ministries, from 1996 to 1998. He has published articles in The Lambda ReportThe Washington MonthlyThe Palladium-ItemThe Worldwide NewsThe Last DitchThe Maryland Star and Expanse magazine and his letters to the editor have been published in The Washington Times, on MSNBC, and on the Fox News Channel.

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