Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 159

Experiencing Joy in Times of Discouragement

Like many of you, I periodically experience times of discouragement. During these times, I fight it by engaging in self-talk similar to Psalm 116:7—“Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.”

These words from Titus 3 have encouraged and renewed me. Each word is reason for praise:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)

These thoughts are based on the passage:

This is the redemptive power of God’s good news. When we receive good news it should make us happy. If the Gospel doesn’t make us happy, perhaps what we’ve accepted isn’t good news (and is therefore not the Gospel), but a burdensome bad-news religion. Or maybe we haven’t truly embraced it and experienced its implications in our hearts. We need to daily remind ourselves of what the gospel means, and cheer ourselves daily with God’s good news that should never get old for us.

Few of us will experience in our lifetimes as much utter desolation as Jeremiah faced. In a book written at a time in Israel’s history so sad that it is called Lamentations, there is still a transcendent happiness:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

This defies explanation. It is a joy that flows from being immersed in who God is and what He has done for us. It’s the new, fresh, daily experience and contemplation of the unceasing steadfast love of God, and His great faithfulness to us. What else can this do but make us happy and give us strength for the day ahead?

 

photo credit: Twilight via photopin (license)

Ed Welch Tells a Man’s Story of Asking Forgiveness from a Prostitute

Edward Welch is a counselor and faculty member at CCEF, the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. He’s also an excellent author. I used his book Addictions - A Banquet in the Grave: Finding Hope in the Power of the Gospel in a seminary class I taught years ago called Theology of Desire, and also highly recommend his wonderful book When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man.

CCEF frequently shares great material on their site, including this story from Ed about a man asking forgiveness from a prostitute. I especially appreciate that it shows the woman’s humanity.

Asking Forgiveness from a Prostitute

It seems obvious, but I have never suggested it: if a man has been with a prostitute, it is right for him to ask her forgiveness. Consider this story. 

Sex dominated this man’s life. He paid to get into nightclubs where he could meet women, and he paid to be with prostitutes. When he wasn’t strategizing how to have sex, he paid for pornography. 

How God gets our attention is a mystery, but he got this man’s attention. A relationship with a gentle, local pastor was one of the means. 

Read the rest on the CCEF blog.

photo credit: The mysterious girl via photopin (license)

Christ-honoring graphic novels, such as Eternity and The Apostle, can positively impact children and teenagers… and older people too!

Librarians and teachers know how important graphic novels can be in engaging young readers and even getting reluctant readers interested in books. —Graphic Novels for Young Readers

I’ve found that graphic novels are the easiest books on the planet to give away to young people. I’ve given away a lot of books and never have I seen eyes light up this way whether I’m handing them to a stranger at the gas pump or a kid in the neighborhood. When they have a gospel-centered message, they become a nonthreatening and easy means to share the gospel and/or reinforce biblical truth with young and old alike.

When I received the first copies of my new graphic novel The Apostle, I gave them to my excited grandsons (one of whom finished it in a day). Then I gave them to two teenage boys I didn’t know at a gas station, and their response was “Wow, this looks great” and “Cool, thanks, man.” As I drove away, they were turning the pages!

A couple of friends on Twitter recently wrote to let me know they were enjoying The Apostle:

Fantastic new graphic novel on the life of the Apostle Paul by @randyalcorn !! pic.twitter.com/cpaJbqrhtQ

— SheilaWalsh (@SheilaWalsh) August 5, 2015

I love this picture of Trillia Newbell’s son reading the book:

Thanks @randyalcorn for a copy of your graphic novel. My boy loves it! A great and creative way to teach the Bible. pic.twitter.com/RqD7tTq8vZ

— Trillia Newbell (@trillianewbell) August 6, 2015

Our ministry is also donating The Apostle to prisoners and groups that work with young people and those who speak English as a second language. (If you’re aware of a youth group or ministry in the U.S. that could use some complimentary copies for outreach, please send your request to info@epm.org.) The small number of words and all the pictures make it extremely readable and engaging. It’s like a movie in the form of a book. The graphic novel form is the “heart language” of many young people, but it’s also enjoyed by countless older folks.

I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of Eternity or The Apostle, or one of Kingstone’s other graphic novels, and read it yourself. If you’ve never read a comic or graphic novel, I predict you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you like it—and find it Christ-honoring. And I hope it will give you a vision for all the young people in your life you want to reach with the gospel.

Christ-honoring graphic novels, such as Eternity and The Apostle, can positively impact children and teenagers��� and older people too!

Librarians and teachers know how important graphic novels can be in engaging young readers and even getting reluctant readers interested in books. —Graphic Novels for Young Readers

I’ve found that graphic novels are the easiest books on the planet to give away to young people. I’ve given away a lot of books and never have I seen eyes light up this way whether I’m handing them to a stranger at the gas pump or a kid in the neighborhood. When they have a gospel-centered message, they become a nonthreatening and easy means to share the gospel and/or reinforce biblical truth with young and old alike.

When I received the first copies of my new graphic novel The Apostle, I gave them to my excited grandsons (one of whom finished it in a day). Then I gave them to two teenage boys I didn’t know at a gas station, and their response was “Wow, this looks great” and “Cool, thanks, man.” As I drove away, they were turning the pages!

A couple of friends on Twitter recently wrote to let me know they were enjoying The Apostle:

Fantastic new graphic novel on the life of the Apostle Paul by @randyalcorn !! pic.twitter.com/cpaJbqrhtQ

— SheilaWalsh (@SheilaWalsh) August 5, 2015

I love this picture of Trillia Newbell’s son reading the book:

Thanks @randyalcorn for a copy of your graphic novel. My boy loves it! A great and creative way to teach the Bible. pic.twitter.com/RqD7tTq8vZ

— Trillia Newbell (@trillianewbell) August 6, 2015

Our ministry is also donating The Apostle to prisoners and groups that work with young people and those who speak English as a second language. (If you’re aware of a youth group or ministry in the U.S. that could use some complimentary copies for outreach, please send your request to info@epm.org.) The small number of words and all the pictures make it extremely readable and engaging. It’s like a movie in the form of a book. The graphic novel form is the “heart language” of many young people, but it’s also enjoyed by countless older folks.

I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of Eternity or The Apostle, or one of Kingstone’s other graphic novels, and read it yourself. If you’ve never read a comic or graphic novel, I predict you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you like it—and find it Christ-honoring. And I hope it will give you a vision for all the young people in your life you want to reach with the gospel.

Let’s Reach Out with the Gospel to Women Victimized by Abortion

Millions of women and men, both in society as a whole and in our churches, are suffering under the guilt of abortion. The heavy emotional burden of abortion isn’t limited to those who’ve had one. A schoolteacher in her forties said, “Advising my daughter to have an abortion led me into a long, suicidal siege. I’m not over it yet." [i] (Another group of people affected are those who work in abortion clinics. Check out this article, “Mugged by Ultrasound,”about why so many abortion workers have turned prolife. Wow. Also, see Justin Taylor’s blog for the sixth video released about Planned Parenthood.)

I encourage you to read through the following perspectives from Diane Meyer, a close friend of ours. In fact, she’s like a third daughter to me and Nanci. She lived with us when our daughters were small and she was a young unwed mother. We had the joy of seeing her come to Christ, and helped her place a baby for adoption.  (Just this last year she was reunited with her 33-year-old son and it was our privilege to be there with Diane’s family and the adoptive parents.)

Over the years we’ve seen Diane honor Christ and serve the needy, with a great heart for women damaged by abortion (She and I and Pastor Dan Franklin spoke together about abortion to our church several years ago; video is available on our site.)

I can’t express how deeply Nanci and I respect Diane. She’s a courageous and insightful voice who deserves to be heard. She has helped countless women, including those she’s worked with in prisons, come to terms with their abortions and seek forgiveness and healing in Christ.

Diane’s thoughts that follow remind us that as we continue to speak out about abortion, we should do so in a spirit of grace and truth, always pointing to the hope and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Christ died for the sins of us all; and His forgiveness is freely available to all: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Because of the mountain of blogs, posts, statuses and tweets on social media concerning the Planned Parenthood videos, I hesitated before adding my own voice. But then I remembered that I am a witness and it is my job to speak the truth.

I am encouraged by these videos being released because it is good that, however horrible, this truth is coming out and is being discussed. It is being seen.

The really difficult part for us to stomach is not so much the profit being enjoyed by Planned Parenthood but rather the simple truth that there are baby body parts to harvest because there is a baby’s body.

Along with many thousands of other women, I don’t need to watch these Planned Parenthood videos (in fact, I cannot) because I’m a firsthand witness to what happens at abortions. I have my own unwanted videos that play in my head. There is no unseeing that, there is no unhearing that and there is no unknowing that. I am a witness to the truth.

 Not “my” truth.

THE truth.

These videos are so enflaming because they are making us actually see what is happening.

The truth of these videos may make women who have chosen abortion, or had abortion chosen for them, lash out in self-righteous indignation and bitter anger. They cannot face this truth because it would mean that they ended the life of their own child.

Or they may howl in pain and despair, because how are they supposed to live, supposed to go on, supposed to breathe at all, knowing what they did. We are missing our babies.

You have an opportunity to be Jesus here.

Cry with us as we miss our children.

Show grace.

Show love.

Be kind. Be gentle.

I want to gather all these women up and hug them until they don’t hurt anymore.

Please convince me, convince all of us, we are wrong. Show us that Planned Parenthood is not actually harvesting children’s body parts; that it is just unorganized unrecognizable blobs of tissue. Don’t just tell us; prove to us that we didn’t really kill our children. Show us evidence that they could feel no pain during the violent procedure that took their lives. Tell us that the parts weren’t taken for profit. Convince us mothers that we’ve not experienced great loss and that we should not grieve for our children.

I wish you could do that. But you can’t, nor can anyone else. Because I am a witness to the truth.

So how am supposed to live with myself? I can’t. I don’t.  It is only because of Jesus Christ who forgives me for EVEN THIS, and it is He that lives in me.

Did you hear that, sister? EVEN THIS. Repeat that out loud to yourself.

Believe that. Count on that. I am testifying to the truth.

Can you imagine that God that would come live in ME? Amazing grace is what that is. He redeemed me from shame and sin and death and He calls me His own. And I, who am more unworthy than most, will proclaim this unbelievable, preposterous truth until the very end. Praise God.

As Diane shares, because of Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness, for abortion and every other sin. Here are just a few of those offers:

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. (Ps. 103:10, 12–13)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1)

If you or someone you know has had an abortion, there are Bible studies designed for women, and others for men, offering compassionate help and healing. Many online resources can help you find the support group you need. Those in the Portland, Oregon area can learn more at Portland Heart. For those in other areas, see Silent No More, Heart Beat International’s Abortion Recovery Ministries or Hope After Abortion to connect with a post-abortion healing group in your area. 

 

[i] Family Planning Perspectives, July–August 1996, 12.

photo credit

Let���s Reach Out with the Gospel to Women Victimized by Abortion

Millions of women and men, both in society as a whole and in our churches, are suffering under the guilt of abortion. The heavy emotional burden of abortion isn’t limited to those who’ve had one. A schoolteacher in her forties said, “Advising my daughter to have an abortion led me into a long, suicidal siege. I’m not over it yet." [i] (Another group of people affected are those who work in abortion clinics. Check out this article, “Mugged by Ultrasound,”about why so many abortion workers have turned prolife. Wow. Also, see Justin Taylor’s blog for the sixth video released about Planned Parenthood.)

I encourage you to read through the following perspectives from Diane Meyer, a close friend of ours. In fact, she’s like a third daughter to me and Nanci. She lived with us when our daughters were small and she was a young unwed mother. We had the joy of seeing her come to Christ, and helped her place a baby for adoption.  (Just this last year she was reunited with her 33-year-old son and it was our privilege to be there with Diane’s family and the adoptive parents.)

Over the years we’ve seen Diane honor Christ and serve the needy, with a great heart for women damaged by abortion (She and I and Pastor Dan Franklin spoke together about abortion to our church several years ago; video is available on our site.)

I can’t express how deeply Nanci and I respect Diane. She’s a courageous and insightful voice who deserves to be heard. She has helped countless women, including those she’s worked with in prisons, come to terms with their abortions and seek forgiveness and healing in Christ.

Diane’s thoughts that follow remind us that as we continue to speak out about abortion, we should do so in a spirit of grace and truth, always pointing to the hope and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Christ died for the sins of us all; and His forgiveness is freely available to all: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Because of the mountain of blogs, posts, statuses and tweets on social media concerning the Planned Parenthood videos, I hesitated before adding my own voice. But then I remembered that I am a witness and it is my job to speak the truth.

I am encouraged by these videos being released because it is good that, however horrible, this truth is coming out and is being discussed. It is being seen.

The really difficult part for us to stomach is not so much the profit being enjoyed by Planned Parenthood but rather the simple truth that there are baby body parts to harvest because there is a baby’s body.

Along with many thousands of other women, I don’t need to watch these Planned Parenthood videos (in fact, I cannot) because I’m a firsthand witness to what happens at abortions. I have my own unwanted videos that play in my head. There is no unseeing that, there is no unhearing that and there is no unknowing that. I am a witness to the truth.

 Not “my” truth.

THE truth.

These videos are so enflaming because they are making us actually see what is happening.

The truth of these videos may make women who have chosen abortion, or had abortion chosen for them, lash out in self-righteous indignation and bitter anger. They cannot face this truth because it would mean that they ended the life of their own child.

Or they may howl in pain and despair, because how are they supposed to live, supposed to go on, supposed to breathe at all, knowing what they did. We are missing our babies.

You have an opportunity to be Jesus here.

Cry with us as we miss our children.

Show grace.

Show love.

Be kind. Be gentle.

I want to gather all these women up and hug them until they don’t hurt anymore.

Please convince me, convince all of us, we are wrong. Show us that Planned Parenthood is not actually harvesting children’s body parts; that it is just unorganized unrecognizable blobs of tissue. Don’t just tell us; prove to us that we didn’t really kill our children. Show us evidence that they could feel no pain during the violent procedure that took their lives. Tell us that the parts weren’t taken for profit. Convince us mothers that we’ve not experienced great loss and that we should not grieve for our children.

I wish you could do that. But you can’t, nor can anyone else. Because I am a witness to the truth.

So how am supposed to live with myself? I can’t. I don’t.  It is only because of Jesus Christ who forgives me for EVEN THIS, and it is He that lives in me.

Did you hear that, sister? EVEN THIS. Repeat that out loud to yourself.

Believe that. Count on that. I am testifying to the truth.

Can you imagine that God that would come live in ME? Amazing grace is what that is. He redeemed me from shame and sin and death and He calls me His own. And I, who am more unworthy than most, will proclaim this unbelievable, preposterous truth until the very end. Praise God.

As Diane shares, because of Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness, for abortion and every other sin. Here are just a few of those offers:

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. (Ps. 103:10, 12–13)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1)

If you or someone you know has had an abortion, there are Bible studies designed for women, and others for men, offering compassionate help and healing. Many online resources can help you find the support group you need. Those in the Portland, Oregon area can learn more at Portland Heart. For those in other areas, see Silent No More, Heart Beat International’s Abortion Recovery Ministries or Hope After Abortion to connect with a post-abortion healing group in your area. 

 

[i] Family Planning Perspectives, July–August 1996, 12.

photo credit

As the Planned Parenthood Videos Continue, May We Remember the Women Who Were Told Lies

Should we view and share the Planned Parenthood expose videos? Yes. Even a secular news source such as MSN addresses “Why Every American Should Watch the Planned Parenthood Videos.”

And as we continue to do so—with more of these videos yet to come—may we also remember the women who have been lied to by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. There are two victims in an abortion—one dead, one damaged. Abortion is horrible because it’s a process in which instruments of death invade a woman’s body and kill her innocent child. Neither laws nor slogans nor attractive waiting rooms nor advanced medical equipment can change that reality. Nor can they remove the guilt and pain resulting from abortion.

Ann Voskamp offers some honest thoughts about how we can understand and sympathize with those who choose abortions, while holding firm to the conviction that abortion is a moral evil that kills one person while damaging the other.

Our dear friend Diane Meyer shared with me this blog post by Anne Marie Gurney. (In Friday’s blog, I’ll be sharing some of Diane’s own perspectives.) This is vitally important for us to remember as Christ followers:

Missing a Compassion Component

I am in my mid-forties and approaching an anniversary date from 25 years ago that turned my life on a completely different trajectory—though few know about it. I was sexually assaulted on August 4, 1990. I became pregnant from that assault and chose to have a second trimester abortion. It was horrific.

I have walked a journey of healing and restoration since then. As the videos revealing the insidious intentions of Planned Parenthood’s to harvest fetal body parts are published, I am having a hard time. As a person who has done a very thorough and personal inventory of her abortion experience and laid it before God and mankind, I am struggling with these videos. 

We need a component of compassion as these videos are released. And they should be released and need to be released. Planned Parenthood has gotten away with murder for too long.

I spent years after my abortion, by the grace of God, finding healing. I consider myself extremely fortunate. I know of many women who live empty shells of lives because of the trauma of their abortion choice and were not able to find the kind of help I was able to. 

Additionally, I also spent a few years leading post abortion support groups. I have been given a gift. It is a gift of sincere peace and forgiveness from my abortion experience that only God can provide. Let me repeat that…there is no pill, doctor, prescription, book, YouTube video or app that can fix that kind of pain. Only God, creator of this universe yet intimately involved in the inner workings of my soul, can fix that kind of messed up pain. 

In the ensuing years I have not been shy about sharing my experience. I have shared my story before churches, groups, youth and on the radio. 

As I follow the methodical and timed publishing of undercover videos depicting Planned Parenthood administrators peddling human body parts for profit, the voice inside my head strongly exclaims, “Good! Finally!”  I am glad the inside workings of Planned Parenthood, their motivations and their tactics, are finally being revealed. 

Yet I have not watched one of them from start to finish. I can’t. Even after all I’ve been through, it hurts… A lot.

I am a tough cookie. There’s not a lot you can say to me to make me change my mind on being pro-life. Try calling me a hypocrite. I’ll quickly reply, “No. I learned my lesson the hard way. I am pro-life not only based on medical facts, but on personal experience.”

I say this to my fellow pro-life friends publishing these videos and disseminating them through media. First I say, “Don’t stop and keep going!”

Next I say, please take a moment each time you share these videos to also share hope. There are post abortive women watching these, and reeling from them. They are hurting….badly. I cannot stress enough. These videos are pouring salt on a seeping, gaping wound that hasn’t healed. 

For those who are struggling, it is causing nightmares, increased depression, despair, and potential increase in destructive behaviors such as addiction if that is their coping mechanism to make the pain go away. I am saying this not as a professional counselor, but as someone who has walked this path and had to refer women to professional services for these very things…when videos weren’t being published. 

Let’s make sure not to forget the second victim in abortion, and that is the mother. She was fed the lie that abortion was “the best decision”, “she had to do it” and “it’s only tissue”. No woman ever wakes up and says, “Hey, this is a great day to abort my baby!” No. Women choose abortion as a last resort under immense pressure and extreme situations. She has the abortion to end the immediate pressure, but the emotional consequences afterwards are a horrifying reality that don’t go away on their own—they are permanent and despairing. 

There is hope. If you live in the Portland METRO area, I strongly recommend HEART (Healing Encouragement for Abortion Related Trauma). You can find them at this website. All services are confidential and free. 

*All views are my own. 

If you or someone you know has had an abortion, there are Bible studies designed for women, and others for men, offering compassionate help and healing. Many online resources can help you find the support group you need.

See Silent No More, Heart Beat International’s Abortion Recovery Ministries or Hope After Abortion to connect with a post abortion healing group in your area. 

Marvin Olasky on Being on Guard in Our Churches

 

Editor-in-chief of the World News Group, Marvin Olasky, writes insightfully on the subject of churches and what constitutes true grace and compassion when it comes to gay marriages. It also applies to other challenging issues:

Be On Guard

When leaders of City Church in San Francisco (see “Blindsided” in WORLD, July 11, 2015) recently decided to offer membership to same-sex marriage partners, investment banker Liza Hing says “a lot of people in the church were totally blindsided.”

Others see such a change as inevitable. But that’s not the way it has to be, even at churches in cities with large gay populations. Redeemer Presbyterian Church Pastor Tim Keller has shown how to attract thousands of young New Yorkers while remaining biblically faithful.

The Acts 29 Network is also attracting many young Christians to the new churches it plants. Its president, Matt Chandler, criticizes those who say, “Let’s soften the stances of the Bible in order to win people to Jesus.” He says, “It’s not just those issues that are offensive; it’s Jesus Himself. What goes out the window next is the atoning work of Jesus Christ.”

Chandler adds, “To back away from the teachings of Scripture around issues that our culture finds offensive is to wave the white flag on human flourishing. It is to say, ‘Our Creator God does not know what is best for His creation. Creation knows what’s best, not the Creator.’ That’s madness.”

Nevertheless, pressures on pastors are likely to become even greater. How can church members—without roasting their pastors for Sunday dinner—take precautions against being blindsided?

Read the rest.

photo credit

The Life-Long Process of Mastering Your Writing Skills

I enjoyed Kevin DeYoung’s blog “How to Write More Gooder,” in which he shares some great advice for writers. (You might also be interested in C. S. Lewis’s tips on good writing.)

Here are a few of my own thoughts about writing:

Be a voracious reader. To improve my skills I continue to read and reread books on how to write. I also analyze both the fiction and the non-fiction I read. What do I like or not like? What is the author doing to create this mood, develop this character, create this tension, set up a plot twist, etc.? Good writers are readers, and writers who don’t have time to read won’t ultimately be worth reading.

Work hard at it. Anything that’s easy to read is usually hard to write. What’s easy to write is hard to read. I heard one author say, “Writing is like giving birth to barbed wire.” Writing is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.

Learning to write well is not a matter of memorizing a set of rules. It’s a matter of mastering a set of techniques. The artist—and writers are artists—who desires to excel at writing must dedicate his life to mastering the skills. You’ve heard it said many times: How does one learn to write? By writing, and writing, and writing...That’s because the writing itself is your practice. Every page you write is the equivalent of that half-hour at the piano keys, honing your skills.

Realize that the best writing comes in revision, not creation. I learned long ago that I should never wait for inspiration or a good beginning. I just jump right in. I’ll either cut it out or clean it up later. Years ago I heard someone say, “Never edit at the point of conception.” I think a lot of writer’s block happens when people wait for the right words. I just write. Later, I labor over the right words, and there’s no block because I’m already looking at something on the screen.������

First drafts are the lump of clay; repeated revisions shape it into art. Someone asked Hemmingway why he rewrote an ending 37 times. His answer was, “to get the words right.”

Write to please the Audience of One, Jesus Christ. Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do (including writing), we are to do to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). If your writing is about you, not God and His glory, find something else to do that you can make about Him.

Be humble. “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5-6). Do we want God’s grace or His opposition? 

The way to be humble is to take a good look at God and then a good look at yourself, and notice the difference. When you see Him as He is and yourself as you are, the very thought of being proud or arrogant should be absolutely laughable. Writers who are proud will not depend on Christ and will operate on their own strength. Throughout the process of writing a book I find myself on my knees repeatedly because I know I cannot do it without Him, and anything I do without Him will not last. Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

 

photo credit: via photopin (license)

The First Five of an Estimated Dozen Video Exposes of Planned Parenthood Selling the Body Parts of Unborn Children

Yesterday the fifth video exposing Planned Parenthood was released by The Center for Medical Progress. (I shared videos one and two on my blog, and you can watch video three and video four on Justin Taylor’s blog.)

The video is the fifth by The Center for Medical Progress documenting Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted fetal parts. Project Lead David Daleiden notes: “This is now the fifth member of Planned Parenthood leadership discussing payments for aborted baby parts without any connection to actual costs of so-called tissue ‘donation.’ Planned Parenthood’s system-wide conspiracy to evade the law and make money off of aborted fetal tissue is now undeniable.” Daleiden continues, “Anyone who watches these videos knows that Planned Parenthood is engaged in barbaric practices and human rights abuses that must end. There is no reason for an organization that uses illegal abortion methods to sell baby parts and commit such atrocities against humanity to still receive over $500 million each year from taxpayers.”

I appreciate David and his team’s efforts to share the truth, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable to see and watch, as parts of these videos are. (The picture here, a screenshot from the fifth video, is of a tiny hand being held up by tweezers as the staff pick through an aborted baby’s remains.) Consider the Holocaust, which was so evil that words alone couldn’t describe it. Descriptions of Nazi death camps had long been published in American newspapers, but when these papers started printing the pictures of slaughtered people, the American public finally woke up. I pray the Lord will use these videos and the surrounding controversy in much the same way. (If not for the pictures, even today most of us wouldn’t understand or believe the Holocaust.)

I believe it’s important for people to understand the true history behind Planned Parenthood, the world’s largest abortion promoter and provider. Margaret Sanger was the direction-setter and first president of Planned Parenthood. The shocking truth, which I have carefully researched and shared in my books ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments and Why ProLife?, and also in this blog, is that her organization was thoroughly racist and viewed abortion as one more means of controlling the birthrate of those they considered inferior.

This history helps to explain why to this day Planned Parenthood does virtually nothing to promote adoption or help poor and minority women who choose to give their children life rather than abort them. Planned Parenthood has even brought legal action to shut down pregnancy centers that give women other choices besides abortion.

It’s also important for Christians to remember that we are not dealing here with “one more social issue,” but a unique and focused evil in which Satan has deeply vested interests. Abortion is Satan’s attempt to kill God in effigy by destroying the little ones created in God’s image.

Jesus said of the devil, “He was a murderer from the beginning.... When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). It is no accident that Jesus speaks about Satan’s murders and his lies in the same breath. Lies are the wheels that turn every holocaust. To pull off his murders, Satan tells us lies. He is so eloquent, so persuasive in his lies, and we are so gullible, that we fall for his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). He masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), calling right wrong and wrong right, making us think—as many prochoicers do—that they are taking the moral high ground even as they defend something unspeakably immoral.

If some of the prochoice arguments momentarily cloud and eclipse what you know to be right, realize it is simply because the devil is behind the persuasive rhetoric of the prochoice movement. He is fluent in the language of lies and uses the prevailing assumptions of culture, education, and media to draw us away from God’s thoughts about children and abortion and toward his.

We are dealing here with a force of darkness that will bitterly resist every effort to combat it and that requires earnest and sustained prayer and alertness to the spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:10–20). The abortion battle is being fought in the realm of thoughts and ideas. Paul says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

 

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