Breakpoint

Evidence is mounting of possible war crimes by Russia and, on a vastly smaller scale, by Ukraine. We can be sure, given that every act of warring nations is documented on social media today, that the truth will come out. But where did the idea come from that some ways of fighting wars crossed some sort of civilized line? Who decided where that line should be drawn? Where did the very notion of "war crimes" come from? Union Major General Sherman, the general behind the infamous Sherman's March during the Civil War, famously said that "War is hell." International laws on war crimes are a historically recent innovation intended to mitigate how terrible and devastating war becomes. They are attempts to prevent war from descending entirely into hell, especially for non-combatants. In the West, the primary sources for laws governing how war should be waged are found in Just War Theory. The earliest idea that war should be governed and moderated, however, dates long before any formal formulation of Just War Theory. In Deuteronomy 20, Moses instructed the Israelites not to kill the women and children of their enemies. Much later, the Roman Republic would embrace three criteria for waging war: first, that it had to be waged for a legally sound reason, such as in response to aggression; second, that it had to be declared by someone legally authorized to do so; and third, that it had to be waged justly. As ethically innovative as that may sound, the Romans still had no problem using horrific tactics, such as rape, torture, enslavement, and terrorism, in their warfare. It was Christian thinkers, especially Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, who most fully developed the ideas governing if and how war was to be waged. This Judeo-Christian approach eventually influenced the formation of the code of chivalry in Medieval Europe. Like the injunctions in Deuteronomy 20, the code was eventually expanded to include the protection of women and non-combatants, with the ideal of the knight being a protector of the weak. Though in the throes of war, these ideals were rarely followed, the code held among the nobles. For example, if a knight unnecessarily killed another knight in combat, he could be charged with murder. This was not considered a war crime, however. In the wake of the brutality of the Spanish conquests in the Americas, thinkers such as 16th century Spanish theologian and jurist Francisco de Vitoria began to argue that war was never part of God's plan and could only be justified on the grounds of the common good. Thus, consideration of war and warfare shifted from a topic within theology to the emerging realm of international law. At the same time, the emergence of gunpowder armies and other military technologies made war increasingly destructive. As weapons became more powerful, the ability of armies to target civilians grew as well. This led to legal attempts in the 19th century to restrict warfare. The first international treaty on warfare was the 1864 Geneva Convention, which covered the treatment of sick and wounded prisoners of war. This was followed by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which also banned weapons such as poison gas, the killing of surrendering prisoners, looting, and the bombardment of undefended towns. The 1925 Geneva Protocol supplemented the ban on chemical weapons with a ban on biological weapons. Protections afforded to civilians were expanded in the 1949 Geneva Conventions. In 2008, the U.N. Security Council added rape and sexual violence to the list of war crimes. Although a few Germans were tried for war crimes after the first World War I, it was the Nuremberg Trials and the lesser known International Military Tribunal for the Far East after World War II that most fully established the idea of war crimes and holding violators accountable. Since 2002, such trials have been handled by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In the U.S., war crimes can be prosecuted using the 1996 War Crimes Act and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Despite all the conventions, treaties, and laws, war crimes continue to be a part of every military conflict and are often perpetrated by all sides. Heads of state and others have been prosecuted, from a range of countries, while others have escaped accountability altogether. It is important to remember that the U.S. has been guilty of war crimes, such as the violations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The very concept of war crimes is rooted in the Judeo-Christian understanding that in a deeply flawed world, war is at times a horrible necessity. However, the desired ends of nations, even if noble, do not justify the means. The waging of war, even if just, must not violate the inherent dignity of human beings. In other words, all is not fair in love and war, and to whatever extent we can control, war should not be hell.

In the midst of brutality, the war in Ukraine is revealing stories of courage, beauty, and human decency in the face of evil. The Polish city of Przemyśl is situated on Ukraine's western border. According to the BBC, over 4 million Ukrainians, about 10% of the population, have fled their country since the war's beginning. Poland has received more than half of them. What makes their kindness ever more incredible and significant is that during World War II, Ukrainian nationalist groups killed over 100,000 Poles in the region of East Galicia. This led to Polish reprisals and an ongoing cycle of violence, ethnic tensions which remained until quite recently. Today, this Polish city has been transformed into a refugee hub: locals giving their own time and resources to house and resettle those fleeing the war. As one veterinarian put it, "We have to help. It's our destiny." It's a beautiful reminder that there's something deeper than borders, political gridlock, or even ethnic tension: when other image bearers of God are seen and treated as neighbors.

-- www.wilberforceweekend.org -- Virginia Prodan grew up in Communist Romania. Unaware of the truth about her own family — including why her family never showed the slightest hint of love toward her — she discovered God's Truth and Love as a teenager. Virginia accepted the divine call to defend fellow followers of Christ against unjust persecution in an otherwise ungodly land as a human rights attorney. For this act of treason, she came within seconds of being executed under the orders of Ceausescu himself. How Virginia not only managed to defeat her enemies time and again, but helped expose the appalling secret that would lead to the demise of Ceausescu's evil empire is one of the most extraordinary stories ever told. BreakPoint This Week Co-Host and Wilberforce Weekend Emcee Maria Baer sat down with Virginia to discuss Virginia's session on forgiveness at the upcoming Wilberforce Weekend.

I'm Kathy Koch of Celebrate Kids here in Fort Worth, and I want to talk with you about how God made us good. I think God is good and God is a good Creator. And if children, teens, or adults don't know that, then it doesn't matter to them that they're created in His image. That's how my friend, Dr. Kathy Koch began her presentation at last year's Wilberforce Weekend event. In a remarkable talk, which many attendees identified as the highlight of the conference, Koch talked about something incredibly elusive in this cultural moment: a settled identity. In Psalm 139, verses 13 and 14 declare that we have been formed by God in our inward parts. It says in Psalm 139:13 that Father God knitted us together in our mother's womb. Knitting is a precise skill; the knitter knows before starting what he is making, or he'd better not start. Otherwise he'd have a mittens-scarf-hat-afghan sweater thing. The size of the stitch and the needle, the color of the yarn, and the design of the creation is known before the knitter begins. For years, Dr. Kathy Koch has taught the truth about God's design of human beings, especially how to help children grasp who they are. Tomorrow, she joins the Lighthouse Voices Series to speak about how parents, educators, and mentors can secure the hearts of children for God. The Lighthouse Voices Series is sponsored by Focus on the Family and the Colson Center. If you live in the Holland, Michigan area, please join us in person. If not, please join us online for the live stream. Childhood matters. In our culture, children are too often the victims of adults pursuing their own happiness. If children are to experience their full potential, they must learn to see themselves as the image bearers they are. How can we point children to God? How can we help them understand who they are when there are so many competing voices? How can we help them emerge as adults, stewarding their gifts and talents for the glory of God? How can they grow up to be who God created them to be? Tomorrow night, Dr. Kathy will share three essential beliefs and three communication approaches that can help us secure our children's hearts for God. You'll appreciate her upbeat instruction, her practical and realistic ideas, and her tremendous speaking ability. The verse that revolutionized my understanding of God's creative intent is the end of Psalm 139:14 where David writes on behalf of God: My soul knows very well that I am a wonderful work of the creative intent of God. A fearfully and wonderfully creation made in His image. Dr. Kathy Koch is founder and president of Celebrate Kids, and is one of the best speakers I have ever heard. She is practical, relevant, and gives a results-oriented approach that's grounded in a Christian worldview. She helps parents, grandparents, teachers, and anyone caring for kids do so in a way that's engaging and honoring of the image bearers that children are. Dr. Kathy's presentation in our Lighthouse Voices series will guide us to secure children's hearts. Her talk will be practical, powerful, and impactful. I hope you'll register to attend, either in person or through the live stream, tomorrow, Tuesday April 19, at 5:45pm for those in the Holland Michigan area, and at 7pm for the livestream. To register visit www.colsoncenter.org/events

Today on the BreakPoint Podcast, John Stonestreet introduces a sermon given by Chuck Colson from a Prison in Michigan in 2010. Nearly every Easter, Chuck visited a prison to give the Gospel. In this presentation we hear why, and the significance of Easter to Chuck Colson.

John and Maria discuss new findings in teen sadness and what it means for culture. They also discuss a recent podcast by Jen Hatmaker and what it means to misunderstand what church is and what church is for. To close, John explains the landscape of a recent BreakPoint commentary on the roots of Easter. He shares how Easter is a pivotal moment in history that changed the course of humanity. -- In-Show Mentions -- Segment 1: New York City subway shooting attack timeline Frank R. James, the 62-year-old man accused of popping a smoke canister in a crowded New York City subway car before opening fire during the Tuesday morning rush hour, is in police custody after a good Samaritan spotted him walking down a Manhattan sidewalk in broad daylight Wednesday. In 30 hours between the attack and his arrest, investigators obtained and distributed images of the suspect in the hope that the public could help catch him. They searched a storage unit and apartment linked to him in Philadelphia, which he had spoken of in numerous videos posted to a now-disabled YouTube channel. And he may have taunted investigators by calling in the tip line to report himself, according to law enforcement sources, even as a security camera technician spotted him in the East Village and turned him in. FoxNews>> Why American Teens Are So Sad The United States is experiencing an extreme teenage mental-health crisis. From 2009 to 2021, the share of American high-school students who say they feel "persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness" rose from 26 percent to 44 percent, according to a new CDC study. This is the highest level of teenage sadness ever recorded. The government survey of almost 8,000 high-school students, which was conducted in the first six months of 2021, found a great deal of variation in mental health among different groups. More than one in four girls reported that they had seriously contemplated attempting suicide during the pandemic, which was twice the rate of boys. Nearly half of LGBTQ teens said they had contemplated suicide during the pandemic, compared with 14 percent of their heterosexual peers. Sadness among white teens seems to be rising faster than among other groups. The Atlantic>> Derek Thompson on This Week in Startups>> Segment 2: What is Church? With Jen Hatmaker 1999: 70% of US adults said they belonged to a religious institution. 2020: It fell to 47%. Why are people leaving & where are they going? Is the church experience still relevant & what is its future? Jen Hatmaker Youtube>> Is Easter a Pagan Holiday? Most Christians consider Easter to be a sacred and joyous celebration of Christ's resurrection. But what about the claim that Easter and its accompanying traditions originated from a pagan spring celebration? BreakPoint>>

One of my all-time favorite B.C. comic strips has two guys talking. "I hate the term Good Friday," says one. "Why?" says the other guy. "My Lord was hanged on a tree that day," the first guy replies. "But if you were going to be hanged on that day," his friend says, "and He volunteered to take your place, how would you feel?" "Good," the first guy replies. And there it is. Today marks the greatest act of love in the history of the universe: "he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Today on very a special BreakPoint podcast, we air four of Chuck Colson's classic BreakPoint commentaries reflecting on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the day that, as he said, tells "the truth about everything."

Today, on Good Friday, we remember, honor, and reflect on the God who entered the world of human suffering on our behalf. "I thirst." Only John's Gospel records these words. They were uttered by Jesus, we're told, not as a guttural physical response, but with intention: "Knowing that all was now finished," Jesus said, "I thirst" in order to fulfill the Scriptures (John 19:28). And yet, we ought not think these words are manufactured or insincere either. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had, on the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, "stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:37). "The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13–14). And now, on the cross, He who said these words was Himself thirsty. Why are we told this? Why is the fact that Jesus thirsted important? The world changed on All Saints Day in 1755. In Lisbon, Portugal, a 10-minute earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, killed an estimated 60,000 people, many crushed by collapsing churches where they had gathered to celebrate that Christian holy day. According to moral philosopher Susan Neiman, for many Western intellectuals this incident of natural evil proved that God could no longer be trusted. The French philosopher Voltaire offered scathing words in a poem: "Are you then sure," he wrote, "the power which would create The universe and fix the laws of fate, Could not have found for man a proper place, But earthquakes must destroy the human race?" And so in the modern era, trust moved from God to man. And it seemed to work: The next few centuries were marked by technological advances, scientific progress, and scholarly criticism of the Bible. However, the peak of modernism was the 20th century, which revealed that trust in man was badly misplaced: the mechanized slaughter of millions in two world wars, Communism, Auschwitz, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. So where do we turn now if we can't trust God or man? The cross directly addresses this world of moral and natural evil: As the prophet Isaiah foretold, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). The cross proves that God is not aloof from human suffering as Voltaire had imagined, nor will human evil have the final say. Our God once thirsted, like we do. He bled, as we do, in this existence of fallen people and a fallen world. In Christ, God entered the world of human suffering, suffered Himself, defeated suffering and now has the scars to prove it. Nearly two centuries after Voltaire, theologian Edward Shillito, offered a poem with a very different take on the suffering we experience. Here are two stanzas of that poem: "If we have never sought, we seek Thee now; Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars; We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow; We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars. . . "The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak; They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone." Today on Good Friday, we remember, we worship and proclaim this God, Jesus of the scars. To Him be all glory and praise forever and ever. Amen. And before I leave you today, I want to invite you to come to BreakPoint.org for a free pdf that the Colson Center team has prepared on the seven last sayings of Christ from the cross. It's a beautiful booklet, with reflections from our team and sacred art to help you reflect this Easter season on what Jesus suffered and said for our benefit. Again, it's at BreakPoint.org.

In the church calendar, the Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday. It's set aside to remember the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples. The word "maundy" comes from the Latin word for command. At this supper. Jesus commanded His disciples to love and serve one another. And then he demonstrated what he meant by washing their feet. And let's not forget: This was the supper remembering Passover, when the Jews remember God rescuing His people from Egypt, as described in Exodus. At this supper, Jesus revealed himself as the fulfillment of that event. It's His broken body and shed blood we are to remember. So is Christianity service or salvation? This divided the church in the 20th century and still does today. The answer is, it's both. On the same night, Jesus commands us to remember that we need rescue by His broken body and spilled blood, and to show we have been rescued by loving and serving each other.

"Jesus would've baked the cake." "Christians hate LGBTQ people." "You're on the wrong side of history" "Why can't you let them be 'their true selves'?" "That's just your truth, not mine." And, perhaps most painful, especially when it comes from a friend or family member: "If you love me, you'd accept me for who I am." All of the slogans that leave Christians silent or shamed today are, at root, different ways of saying the same thing – that truth and love are incompatible. For people to tell the truth, especially when it comes to issues of sexuality and gender, is to be unloving and intolerant. And, to love someone is to affirm their choices. There's a uniquely "Christian" version of these slogans, too. Taking a moral stand, we are told, especially on questions so culturally controversial, is to distract from the Gospel. Instead, the Church must become more welcoming and avoid anything that makes people feel excluded from the Church. After all, we are told, isn't the Gospel really about inclusivity? Today, of all the days of Holy Week, directly confronts this mentality. Maundy Thursday is set aside on the Church calendar to remember the Last Supper. The word "maundy" comes from the Latin word for "mandate," or "command." At this first celebration of Communion, Jesus gave His disciples "a new command," that they should love and serve each other. To demonstrate what He meant, He picked up a basin of water and a towel and washed their feet. To fully understand His words and actions, recall that at this "Last Supper" and first Communion, Jesus and His disciples were obeying God's original command, given to all Jews, to remember the Passover. God's people were to never forget how they were rescued from slavery in Egypt. For Jesus to issue a "new" command was an audacious thing to do, especially given how significantly God's original command stood in Israel's history and identity as a people. Jesus, however, went even further than merely adding instructions to an old celebration. Now, rather than remembering how the angel of death "passed over" those homes with lamb's blood on their doorposts, they were to remember His broken body and His shed blood. Ultimately, the new command was to remember a new rescue, and how, through Christ's death, death is not merely avoided but finally defeated. Since at least the mid-20th century, the American Church has been divided over whether it should be primarily about proclaiming truth or about serving others. More recently, the volume in this debate has significantly increased. The Lord's Supper and Jesus' "new" command remind us that this is a false dichotomy, an unnecessary choice to make. Truth and love need never be separated and should never be separated. On the same night Jesus when commanded us to remember how His broken body and shed blood rescues us from sin (that's the truth), He commanded us to demonstrate our new life by serving others (that's love). We need not choose between truth and love. In fact, we must not choose. They always go together, because they are both grounded in the same Source, or specifically, the same Person. Jesus embodied truth and love, not only in the event we commemorate this day, but every event we remember this Holy Week. He is truth. He is love. And, He has risen. Indeed.