Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinved that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present no future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Philippians 2:9-11 "Therefore God also has highly exalted HIM and given HIM a name which is above every name, that at the name of JESUS, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that JESUS Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father."
etc. etc. etc x a zillion and more
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Monday, June 3, 2019
Life on Planet Earth
One of my favorite TV stations is Animal Planet and I am particularly drawn to those stories that deal with people giving their lives to preserving the lives of animals endangered or just individual family pets under the care of vets. It is particularly fascinating to me the efforts dedicated to conservation of species like rhinos, giant tortoises, gorillas, tigers and many more. I can't imagine a world without them. I hope as you read this it won't sound like preaching but simply me sharing my heart with you. I saw a story about the efforts to preserve the pregnancy of a rhino mama. I was shocked to learn that the rhino horn is the most valuable thing on the planet - more than diamonds and gold. Therefore, their future is fragile. As I watched the human care over one expectant rhino it deepened my respect for female humans and animals who are honored to carry new life in their bodies. Without them life would end - no more rhinos. No more tigers. No more giant tortoises and the list goes on. But of course the male is so critical and part of the future generation. So, now, in my lifetime I see human conversation on a high alert to preserve our future. We are the created beings above all that God created. And yet, our story seems to be turning against that special place in creation. Babies in the womb are sometimes and in some dark places referred to as parasites that do not deserve to live. I do see extreme efforts to conserve the human life that God considers His greatest creation and HE, too, moved in history to conserve us. Jesus gave His life to give us eternal life. He, who created time and lived outside of time, stepped into time to redeem our time.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
The Church and Abortion
Part 1: It’s Our Job to End Abortion
Brian Fisher
Every January, pro-life legislators in Washington introduce token legislation they know won’t pass.
Some churches across the country remind their congregations of the sanctity of human life from the pulpit; while others tentatively print something about abortion in their church bulletins, hoping the calendar quickly turns to February. Most churches, of course, avoid the topic of abortion entirely, instead focusing on the new year; updated capital campaigns; and sermon topics on grace, compassion, mercy, and justice – all while the willful slaughter of 3,000 preborn children continues to occur day after day after day.
Meanwhile, those who are pro-abortion continue to vehemently work to further disregard life both inside and outside of the womb. A prime example of this is the governor of New York ordering the lights on the One World Trade Center and other landmarks be changed to pink to celebrate his newly signed legislation that allows abortion up until birth.
The outcry from Christian leaders, denominations, and megachurch pastors in response to New York’s death legislation has been virtually nonexistent. A few Catholic bishops in New York responded with dismay, though I have yet to see any meaningful backup support from Christian leaders in New York or anywhere else. Most well-known Christian leaders remain eerily silent on abortion. The complacency of the Church is evident.
The events of recent history serve as a grim reminder of the overall silence of Christian leaders regarding the greatest genocide in American history. While I realize some churches passionately and regularly address abortion from a biblical perspective, the vast majority of Christian communities pretend it doesn’t exist.
And so, we must continue to ask:
Yet in recent years, I’ve observed an even deeper, more insidious reason for the Church’s silence: Christians are not convicted by the truth that the preborn child has the same intrinsic value as those of us already born. If we did, our actions would align with this belief.
Every single aborted child is a human being with inherent value, “created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.” A zygote has the same value as an adult and is therefore worthy of the same protections, rights, and securities.
This belief is founded and grounded in the Christian faith. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this fact. The centrality of the pro-life worldview is that we are each of inestimable, equal value because we are handcrafted by a loving Creator, and we are made in His image. We are valuable because God instills that value in each one of us.
One can be pro-life and not be Christian, of course. However, the Christian worldview recognizes the value of the human race to the extent that the Creator came and rescued His own creation through His death and resurrection.
The fact that God came to rescue His own human creation is enough to firmly and forever form a concrete pro-life ethic. Yet HOW God came to rescue us cements the pro-life ethic even further. He came as one of us. He came to earth as a zygote. God, the Author of life, came to earth through the very process He authored to create human life. Every person who claims belief in Christ should marvel and be awestruck at this scriptural truth. Humans are valuable, and God affirmed it most miraculously when He came to earth as one of us.
Because the pro-life ethic is grounded in Christianity, those who follow Christ are uniquely motivated in our reason for believing in and our passionate defense of the value of all humanity. In addition, the undeniable fact that the preborn and born have the same value should require all of us to act according to our belief.
below is my response to this article:
Some churches across the country remind their congregations of the sanctity of human life from the pulpit; while others tentatively print something about abortion in their church bulletins, hoping the calendar quickly turns to February. Most churches, of course, avoid the topic of abortion entirely, instead focusing on the new year; updated capital campaigns; and sermon topics on grace, compassion, mercy, and justice – all while the willful slaughter of 3,000 preborn children continues to occur day after day after day.
Meanwhile, those who are pro-abortion continue to vehemently work to further disregard life both inside and outside of the womb. A prime example of this is the governor of New York ordering the lights on the One World Trade Center and other landmarks be changed to pink to celebrate his newly signed legislation that allows abortion up until birth.
The outcry from Christian leaders, denominations, and megachurch pastors in response to New York’s death legislation has been virtually nonexistent. A few Catholic bishops in New York responded with dismay, though I have yet to see any meaningful backup support from Christian leaders in New York or anywhere else. Most well-known Christian leaders remain eerily silent on abortion. The complacency of the Church is evident.
The events of recent history serve as a grim reminder of the overall silence of Christian leaders regarding the greatest genocide in American history. While I realize some churches passionately and regularly address abortion from a biblical perspective, the vast majority of Christian communities pretend it doesn’t exist.
And so, we must continue to ask:
If the Christian worldview is foundational to the pro-life ethic, then why do many church leaders stubbornly refuse to blink an eye in the face of 1 million image bearers of God being destroyed every year and within eyeshot of our church buildings?After years spent working to inform and educate churches about the abortion genocide in America, I’ve found that fear and ignorance partially drive our silence. Some churches are afraid to talk about abortion for fear of being perceived as political or abrasive. Others are ill-informed – they have little understanding about what abortion is or its massive death toll over the past 46 years. And a large number of churches are doctrinally pro-abortion, ignoring Scripture, ethics, and fundamental morality altogether.
Yet in recent years, I’ve observed an even deeper, more insidious reason for the Church’s silence: Christians are not convicted by the truth that the preborn child has the same intrinsic value as those of us already born. If we did, our actions would align with this belief.
Every single aborted child is a human being with inherent value, “created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.” A zygote has the same value as an adult and is therefore worthy of the same protections, rights, and securities.
This belief is founded and grounded in the Christian faith. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this fact. The centrality of the pro-life worldview is that we are each of inestimable, equal value because we are handcrafted by a loving Creator, and we are made in His image. We are valuable because God instills that value in each one of us.
One can be pro-life and not be Christian, of course. However, the Christian worldview recognizes the value of the human race to the extent that the Creator came and rescued His own creation through His death and resurrection.
The fact that God came to rescue His own human creation is enough to firmly and forever form a concrete pro-life ethic. Yet HOW God came to rescue us cements the pro-life ethic even further. He came as one of us. He came to earth as a zygote. God, the Author of life, came to earth through the very process He authored to create human life. Every person who claims belief in Christ should marvel and be awestruck at this scriptural truth. Humans are valuable, and God affirmed it most miraculously when He came to earth as one of us.
Because the pro-life ethic is grounded in Christianity, those who follow Christ are uniquely motivated in our reason for believing in and our passionate defense of the value of all humanity. In addition, the undeniable fact that the preborn and born have the same value should require all of us to act according to our belief.
below is my response to this article:
Gini Walker <giniwalker@yahoo.com>
To:Gini Walker
Apr 9 at 4:47 PM
As
a Christian who lived with an empty womb and experienced God's grace
through adoption I have strong feelings and emotions about abortion. The
adoption we were granted led to having a grown son who loves our Lord
deeply and through this gift of him to my husband and me, we now have a
daughter-in-law and two grand children. God chose not to give us a
child through our bodies but through the body of a woman who chose life
and not abortion. I will be eternally grateful. But I have had to work
through deep burning anger with all that has been happening to babies
from the moment of conception even to lying on a table alive but in
danger of unspeakable death. A truly amazing transformation has been
happening to me. God is turning my anger into righteous
anger...tempered with compassion and tenderness that wants each woman
considering abortion to know, FIRST OF ALL, that she is loved by God,
her creator. And, yes, He is angry. But He turned that anger on
Himself at the cross to take MY/OUR sin. The good news I can say to
these young women is that through Jesus, Father God can and does forgive
and then wants to take their fear. These women do not need our anger.
They need our compassion and willingness to come along side. As for
church leaders, at first I was frustrated by their silence in the
pulpit. No doubt the reasons are as many as there are pulpits. But,
now I feel there needs to be trained, compassionate believers in the
pews who will be willing to put aside comfort, time and money issues to
COME ALONG SIDE women who feel condemned already. They need the love of
the Gospel and the lay community needs to give it. So, I pray you
won't be overcome with despair in the silence. With all the research
God has been leading me through on this journey He has shown me silence
or not in the pulpits is not an indication of the movement of His people
to rescue His precious gifts of babies.
Kelsi's strong/gentle example in coaching
I watched the Baylor vs Notre
Dame Final Four championship game and oh my what an amazing game. I
was thoroughly fixed on the strength of the Baylor coach when her top
player was injured. In the interview before the final quarter she said
"I feel like crying now but I have a job to do..." and that, she
did---her job. Then she showed compassion toward the young player on
N.D. who missed her first free throw at the end of the game with 3.
seconds left and after the game she looked like she was carrying the
full weight of the loss. Couldn't hear what Baylor's coach was saying
but she was so compassionate. THIS IS THE STRENGTH OF WOMEN IN SPORTS.
THEY CAN BE AS STRONG AS MEN BUT THEN HAVE THAT GENTLE SIDE THAT MOST
MEN CAN'T SHOW OR FEEL. Kelsi, I feel you are doing an amazing job,
demonstrating that strong/gentle image that is so needed.
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Grief shared in death
I wrote the following on a Facebook post just recently...remembering about Lew and that experience with him as he passed to Heaven was healing to remember and write about:
Kate, bless you dear heart...thank you for each word you wrote. I hope that you received a bit of healing through this process. I was with my brother in the hospital when he died around 3 in the morning. The nurses were ok but I will say, the young man in the bed next to my brother was the kindest as he looked at me with compassion in his eyes and said "I'm sorry for your loss" And a young, in training nurse brought me a cot to sleep on next to my brother - taking me out of the very uncomfortable chair I was in. It was another healing time for me and this young nurse because he had done something wrong earlier that I had scolded him for. My brother was on hospice care there and close to death so the nurses had him on a morphine drip with instructions to not bother him because he was in a coma. This young man had come in earlier to take his vitals and when he did this it put my brother in a state of distress. I ran for the nurses, they came in and took the equipment away and apologized to me. I looked at the young nurse and said "don't ever do that again" Later, when he brought me the cot, he was so full of compassion and as painful as all of that was, I believe he learned from it. Being present when death arrives is a "human experience" time that care givers and family need to experience as a time to share in grief.
The Psalms
we need the Psalms! In a world that either allows
emotions to rule or attempts to rule over our emotions, we are in
desperate need of a biblical theology of emotion. Since the Psalms show
us what prayer and worship looks like in every conceivable emotional
state, they give us divine permission to bring all our emotions into the
presence of God. The Psalms show us God welcomes us no matter our
emotional state. In fact, he gives us the language we often lack to
understand and navigate our confusing and troubling emotional life. When
we read the Psalms in the context of all of Scripture, we discover that
the Psalms were Jesus' prayer book. They are the prayers of his heart
whereby he redeemed all the emotions of human experience.
Though we won't find the word "emotion" in Scripture, many have recognized that the Psalms have long served as a primary "emotional handbook" for Christians.
A few takeaways from our study so far for you to reflect on:
Though we won't find the word "emotion" in Scripture, many have recognized that the Psalms have long served as a primary "emotional handbook" for Christians.
- “In the other books one hears only what one must do and what one must not do… but in the Book of Psalms, the one who hears, in addition to learning these things, also comprehends and is taught in it the emotions of the soul” (Athanasius).
- "For the early Christians the Psalms were also the unique emotional handbook for personal use of what might be termed “psalmno-therapy” (Bruce Waltke). Though the analogy isn't perfect, reading and praying the Psalms is like having God for your therapist! Who wouldn't want that?!
A few takeaways from our study so far for you to reflect on:
- Our emotions shouldn't be (and ultimately can't) be denied. Our emotions simply "are". God knows about them already. He wants us to bring them all to Him in prayer.
- Our emotions shouldn't rule over us. But they often do - consciously or subconsciously. Prayer is inviting God's rule into our emotional lives through prayer.
- Our emotions are part of what it means to be made in the image of God.
- We mistakenly equate being spiritual healthy with always being happy or being emotionally flat. David - the man after God's own heart! - was anything but emotionally flat. Jesus - the Greater David - was anything but emotionally flat.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Medal of Honor Day
Today is Medal of Honor Day. March 25 marks the date in 1863 when the first of these medals was awarded.
It also falls, appropriately, during Lent, 40 days of reflection and
sacrifice that begin with Ash Wednesday’s stark reminder of our
mortality — “From dust you came and to dust you shall return” — and near
their end on Good Friday, when Christ gave the ultimate example of
fearlessly offering himself for others.
Medal of Honor recipients fully understand that example.
Medal of Honor recipients fully understand that example.
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