Abortion
Can We Handle the Truth?
0First, let’s start out with the classic scene from A Few Good Men.
I LOVE that line.
So, this past weekend, I’ve found myself the “victim” of the Facebook block on 2 separate occasions. I figured I would share the circumstances and some observations.
Block #1
Oh, Facebook Ticker, I love you and sometimes loathe you at the same time. I already have a propensity to throw my $.02 in on occasion, and the Ticker just feeds that propensity. The other day I noticed that my cousin, Cody, had chimed in on a wall post by a famous Florida radio personality. The post was something to the extent of, “women have it way harder then men. Men can’t possibly understand. Women should be treated better than men, due to the fact that they are women.” Now, this is my paraphrase.
Cody countered with some comments highlighting the value / worth of men, and basically got virtually stomped on for it. At this point I decided to chime in.
Here’s my thing. We’re all created equal. Period. None of us are better than anyone else. We are all commanded to treat each other as Christ would. The end.
And that was the point I tried to share. Well, one lady went off on me, how I was lucky that my wife / significant other hadn’t decided to get a hysterectomy so she didn’t have to deal with the burdens of womanhood. Now, we’re currently going through our 2nd miscarriage, and I just about went through the roof. Half a dozens replies floated through my mind before rational thought prevailed and I offered what I thought was a calm and honest response.
When I checked the post later I realized I couldn’t see any of the woman’s responses, but I could see replies from other people. I had been the recipient of the Block. Now, Danielle chimed in later on with some awesome responses.
Block #2
On the heels of the emotional posts last night regarding the death of Whitney Houston, I noticed one fly through my Ticker from the page of a well known Pro Life proponent. She had mentioned that she was praying for Whitney Houston’s soul.
I’m sorry, but I don’t find evidence that once someone has stepped into eternity our prayers can effect where they spend said eternity. Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In Hebrews 9:27 we read that man is destined to die once and then face judgment.
Perhaps there is a purgatory. I can’t say for sure. But why in the world would you want to gamble your eternity on whether or not purgatory exists. That’s a bet I don’t want to take.
When I went back to the post later on I noticed that I couldn’t comment and that all my comments had been deleted.
I had received The Block.
Now, I get it. This post sounds like I’m just whining about getting blocked by two strangers on Facebook. That’s really not the point I’m trying to make.
Danielle recently posted on the topic of criticism and our ability to hear and handle the truth, even when it hurts. I couldn’t agree more.
Let’s tie this back to the Bible. Let’s take a look at Matthew 16:21-23.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
In the words of a TV character, “Oh, snap!” Jesus just dropped one of the biggest Truth Bombs ever on his boy Peter. He called him Satan. It does get more harsh or true than that.
If you would grant me some artistic freedom, let’s fast forward a couple thousand years to see how this might have played out if Jesus and Peter used Social Media.
Jesus Tweets / FB posts: I must suffer many things at the hands of man and be killed.
Peter replies / comments: No way, Jesus! That’s not going to happen!
Jesus: Get behind me, Satan!
Peter blocks Jesus from posting on his wall and then hides Jesus. Who does that guy think he is anyway? Peter definitely stops following Jesus on Twitter and blocks him there too.
Peter posts on his Facebook, “can you believe what Jesus called me? He called me Satan. The nerve of that guy.” He Tweets this to all of his followers and causes a rift in Christianity that never completely heals.
Instead, what does Peter do? Well we don’t know what his exact reaction was, but we do know he was ready to lop off ears in the Garden of Gethsemane. Sounds like he handled Jesus’ harsh words pretty well.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
And lest you think I can lob truth bombs and not take them, believe me, in the past few weeks I’ve handled more than my fair share.
Remember Jesus’s words, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…”
All You Need is Love
0“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
“All you need is love…” – The Beatles
I feel like some things I’ve posted recently between my blog and Facebook have been misconstrued as an attack on people who adopt.
Please know this – that could not be further from the truth.
Did I use a wrong choice of words on a couple occasions? Perhaps.
I was simply trying to show another side of an emotional issue – the plight of the unborn and the plight of the uncared for.
It is my feeling that, in my recent experience, more light has been drawn to the plight of the uncared for than the unborn.
I wish to shine light and speak up for the unborn, but I do not condemn those who care for the uncared for.
Please know that my heart is that we all can work together on these extremely important issues.
The Church and Abortion
0I’ve recently had many heated discussion on abortion and adoption in the church.
Through those debates people have said that the church is doing its part by voting on abortion, etc.
That is not the case. Let me gives some numbers to back that up.
In the 2008 election season, According to InfoPlease, there were 231,229,580 registered voters in the US. Only 132,618,580 actually voted.
This means only 57% of registered voters voted. That is pathetic.
If we use the number that 76% of people in the US call themselves Christian, then, after crunching the numbers, of the 98,611,000 people who did not vote in the last election, 74,944,360 would identify themselves as Christian.
Let’s be super conservative and say that only 15% of those people were actually born again believers. That leaves us with 11,241,654 Christians that did not vote.
Why is this number a big deal? Good question.
According to this page, the difference in votes between Obama and McCain was 9,522,083.
Do the math. Christians could have prevented the election of Barack Obama, and they did not.
Why is this a big deal? I could get into a whole list of reasons, but check this information out.
To quote:
But Obama’s record on abortion is extreme. He opposed the ban on partial-birth abortion — a practice a fellow Democrat, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called “too close to infanticide.” Obama strongly criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban. In the Illinois state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly claimed that he would not want his daughters to be “punished with a baby” because of a crisis pregnancy — hardly a welcoming attitude toward new life.
Obama’s actions speak for themselves. He does not value the life of the unborn.
People tell me, “if we do our part for the orphans, then God will help us with abortion.”
I respectfully disagree with them.
Perhaps if we do our part, educate ourselves, and don’t pick a man to lead our country who has no care for the unborn, God would honor that decision, make it easier for people to adopt, and we would solve two problems at once.
Adoption Frustration
2Warning: this post may be offensive to some. You’ve been warned.
I’ve had a lot of back and forth over the last month or so, mostly on Facebook, on the subjects of abortion and adoptions – two very sensitive subjects with strong opinions and emotions on each side.
Many people say, “they’re not mutually exclusive.” While there is some truth to that statement, I, respectfully, believe those people are missing the point. I can only share from personal experience, and do not wish to create stereotypes, but that’s probably what I’ll end up doing anyway.
Let’s clear up a few points that all Christians SHOULD be able to agree on.
- Life begins at conception (David speaks of God knowing him in the womb and being fearfully and wonderfully made)
- Terminating a life, no matter what stage that life may be in, is murder. This includes embryos, fetuses, etc. etc.
- If we follow the logical points of #’s 1 and 2, abortion is murder. Period.
If we can’t agree on those 3, feel free to stop reading now.
I find it disconcerting within the past couple years or so, this heavy push, especially in the church regarding adoption.
TO BE CLEAR: I have no problems with adoption and I think it is an admirable, noble thing – FOR THOSE WHO ARE CALLED.
Here is where I believe the church in general misses the point. Not all are called to adoption. Sorry. Scripture doesn’t back up anything less than this. Yes, God has a heart for the fatherless. Yes, He brought us into His family. Yes, He wants us to reach out and care for others, but we are not all called to adopt.
I would also argue that not all are called to support adoption. I often times see people say something to the following effect, “We need to raise X amount of dollars for so and so’s adoption. Remember, you need to live out James 1:27 and practice real religion.”
I’m paraphrasing, but you get the gist.
I’m fairly certain Jesus wouldn’t want us to twist people’s arms with Scripture in order to get them to support adoption, whether adopting themselves or supporting someone who does.
For reference, let’s take a look at the Amplified Bible’s translation of James 1:27
External [e]religious worship [[f]religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.
Ahh…external religious worship. I think that is a great point of clarification. It’s a way to reach out to others, but, I feel, sometimes the church gives the impression that if you don’t give or adopt your somehow not exercising your faith properly.
And there’s the whole last part of the verse – “and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.” How many times have you heard that part of James 1:27 brought? My guess would be not much.
I know this sounds critical of those who adopt. That is not my purpose. My purpose in writing is to shed light on the matter as I see it and remind us all that we need to do everything in moderation.
Abortion is an issue I feel strongly about. And here’s where it’s different than adoption. It’s something as Christians we are all called to oppose. Where’s my Scriptural evidence to support that claim? Go back and read the 10 Commandments where it mentions not murdering. End of story.
Many people say, “we can’t handle the increase in babies that would come from outlawing abortion.” I say that’s a pretty weak excuse. Often times these people champion the cause of adoption. Guess what? If there are less abortions, there will, logically, be more chances to adopt.
I feel like abortion gets approached in the following way. Many people seem to think that it will always be an issue, so why bother?
Which explains how we get a man in the office of President who seems to care very little for the unborn.
We need to vote. We need to get the word out. We need to not shut up until something changes.
And while we’re doing that, continue to adopt, continue to foster, continue to support, but don’t guilt others into doing that.
Another big pet peeve is when people complain about how hard it is after they’ve adopted X number of children. Well guess what? You chose to do that. There are thousands of couples who would love to have 1 child of their own, just 1. I can speak from experience saying that it angers those people greatly when others are not thankful for the little bundles of joy they get the honor of parenting.
I guess I’ve gone on long enough. What are your thoughts?
