From One Degree to Another

Phil Auxier's Blog

  • Home
  • About
  • Archive

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Powered by Genesis

On Syria, Immigration and Some Things To Think About…

November 19, 2015 by Phil Auxier

Lots of conversation is happening about the Christian view on welcoming Syrian refugees.  Some Christians say we shouldn’t put ourselves in positions of danger (however elusive that category is).  Other say, it’s simple: we love others so we should welcome them.  Here’s an article and a video that get at some things to Christians may think about…

First off, Kevin DeYoung wrote on how Immigration Policy Must Be Based on More Than An Appeal to Compassion.  One part that stood out to me in this:

Our church has always had a vibrant international ministry and we’ve rallied around families trying to work through the labyrinth of U.S. immigration policies so they can stay in the country legally. I too am turned off by the harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric that sounds more like Pharaoh in Exodus 1 than the “love the sojourner” commands in Deuteronomy 10. It is a commendable response to see hurting people and think, “Let’s do all we can to help.”
And yet, this good Christian impulse runs the risk of taking an extremely complex geo-political, international crisis and reducing it to pious platitudes about showing compassion to the least of these and not giving in to fear. As I said at the beginning, I don’t have a plan to fix our broken immigration system and I don’t know the “correct” number of Syrian refugees to welcome into the country, but I do think there is more than one way for a Christian to approach these issues.

But, read the whole thing and make up your own mind.  There is a tension here, it seems.

I was also helped by this video, though.  Take 5 minutes and consider this counsel:

I hope these things are helpful to you as you seek to navigate this difficult issue.

Filed Under: Kevin DeYoung, love, Syria

From One Degree To Another?

Yeah, that's right. My one, consuming passion is Jesus Christ, my Lord. I'm totally gripped by one message: the Gospel - the good news that God came after me when I was far from Him. So, the life I live, I live by faith in Him: He loved me and gave Himself for me.

From One Degree To Another is the change that He's accomplishing in me by grace. Growing downward in humility, upward into Him, outward toward others, and inward with renewal characterize my existence.

This site is where I flesh all of these types of things out, including my life as a slave to Jesus, husband, father, coffee-enjoyer, and pastor. I hope it encourages you.

RSS My latest sermons at Crestview

  • Love One Another April 27, 2025
  • The Word of Contentment April 20, 2025
  • Good Friday 2025 April 19, 2025

Categories

  • 1 Corinthians
  • 1 Samuel
  • 2016
  • abide
  • advent
  • Apologetics
  • Baby Dedication
  • Bible Intake
  • Book Review
  • Books
  • Camp
  • CBCH2Go
  • CCM
  • Chandler
  • Church
  • Colossians
  • conference
  • conferences
  • confession
  • COVID
  • Crestview
  • CrestviewKids
  • devotions
  • Easter
  • Elders
  • Elyse Fitzpatrick
  • Ephesians
  • Evangelism
  • Faith
  • family
  • food
    • ChickFilA
  • For The Church
  • Free Audio
  • Funeral
  • Goals
  • Good Friday
  • Gospel Friday
  • Gospel of John
  • gratitude
  • Great Commission
  • H2Go
  • health update
  • heart
  • Heaven
  • Holy Spirit
  • Holy Week
  • Hutchinson
  • Isaiah
  • Jesus
  • Job
  • Judgment
  • kansas
  • leadership
  • life
  • Lord's Supper
  • love
  • LRC
  • LRCAA
  • mental health
  • Missions
  • Music
  • Palm Sunday
  • Parenting
  • Paul Tripp
  • Peace
  • personal
  • Piper
  • Planning
  • prayer
  • Preaching
  • Psalms
  • Ray Ortlund
  • reading
  • recommendations
  • rest
  • Resurrection
  • Retreat
  • revelation
  • Revival
  • Russell Moore
  • salvation
  • Scotty Smith
  • Scripture Memory
  • Sermons
  • service
  • Shai Linne
  • sin
  • Small Groups
  • Suffering
  • Sunday School
  • Technology
  • Thanks
  • Thanksgiving
  • Uncategorized
  • vacation recap
  • valley of vision
  • VBS
  • Weakness
  • Week of Prayer
  • Weekend Preview
  • Weekend Recap
  • women's ministry
  • worship

Recent Posts

  • The Word of Victory
  • The Word of Suffering
  • The Word of Affection
  • Confidence in Suffering?
  • Cutting Through the Fog of Suffering