Walking and Talking

I remain totally convinced that when human sperm penetrates human egg, you get a new human immediately. And at that point, it's Life that trumps Liberty and the Pursuit of Happyness every time. (Yes, it's misspelled.) The order was intentional.

Walking and Talking
Pro-Choice as Rhetoric

December 3, 2008

The smartest thing “abortion rights” advocates ever did was to coin the phrase “pro-choice.” That shifted our attention towards the act of choosing and away from what was being chosen—the dismemberment of a human being in utero.

Eventually, however, at some point, “choice” has to go from mere rhetoric to an actual deed. Somebody has to actually perform an abortion if “freedom of choice” is to become a reality, as one medical student learned recently.

The November 23rd issue of the Washington Post Magazine told the story of a medical student named Lesley Wojick. She plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology and is unapologetically “pro-choice.” She even helped organize a “day-long abortion seminar” at her medical school.

At the seminar, a medical director for Planned Parenthood of Maryland asked the attendees, “How pro-choice are you?” She asked them what their families and neighbors would think of their performing abortions.

Wojick was determined to “walk the talk,” to make her “actions to be consistent with [her] words.” She thought that if “pro-choice” doctors like her didn’t do this, “the right to abortion might be rendered meaningless.”

Wojick then attempted to “walk the walk.” But not for long. During her obstetrics rotation, she realized that “vacuuming out a uterus and counting the parts of the fetus” wasn’t for her. “Somebody else . . . would become an abortion provider. But it wouldn’t be her.”

It’s not surprising. Once you get past the rhetoric of choice, what’s left is a bloody and, for most people, disreputable business. As Wojick discovered, even people who insist that it’s a right want little to do with the actual practice or the practitioners.

Someone else who understands what abortions really mean is Stojan Adasevic, a Serbian doctor who performed 48,000 abortions in 26 years. Studying medicine in communist Yugoslavia, he was taught that abortion was simply removing a piece of tissue.

Then he began to have nightmares about a field filled with children playing and laughing. When they saw him, they ran away in fear. In the dream, a man in a black and white habit explained to Adasevic that these were the children he had aborted. The man in the habit was St. Thomas Aquinas.

Adasevic insists that he had never heard of Aquinas. In any case, he knew what he had to do. He stopped performing abortions. What he calls his “conversion” came at a cost—the then-communist government “cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”

Today, Adasevic is a leader of the pro-life movement in Serbia and persuaded authorities to air the pro-life classic, The Silent Scream, on television. Not surprisingly, he has returned to the “Orthodox faith of his childhood.”

These stories are reminders that rhetoric can only obscure the truth for so long. Then those on both sides of the abortion debate will have to decide how to “walk the talk.”

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=10635

Prop 8 Post

Posted something about Prop 8 on my blog: http://livingonapearl.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to comment here or there if you wish. I posted it there for the sake of some of my church, and even non-church, buddies.

Persecution is heating up.

Glory, Holiness, and Suffering

Confession: Sometimes I post here because I know only our little group ever looks at this, if even you.

I've long wanted to write about how glory, holiness, and suffering collide. Here is a story that illuminates it: Punk Rock Mommy. You see, we cannot solidly be who we are called to be, His holy ones, until we know where we stand in God's eyes, a display of the glory of God. And that will not be clear until we see our suffering in the proper light.

Glory: worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving; to exult with triumph, and rejoice proudly. YES! Highest praise only accompanies sacrifice. Inherant talent isn't sufficient. Pain is required. Even fanciful dreams of our grand requiem flirt in the imagination. But supreme praise is hoarded for supreme self effacement even when thrust upon us. War gruesomely offers examples in rows even inspiring Glory. Mother Teresa's name requires no introduction, engenders deep respect, because she poured out her life selflessly to the very end.

But at the crossroads of glory and affliction, you find holiness. (No! Not piety! Though perhaps a bit in its root, kindness.) In ASL, with palm up and palm down the motion swipes across from heal to fingertips leaving one with the image of cutting. A removal or separation, or to be set apart, to be made unique and special is the reality of the Holy. Jesus sits atop that mountain too. Talk about weird and wonderful, He defied normality in every sense. He trusted the Father to make Him. And the Father sculpted Christ into the perfect man that Adam failed to achieve. And Peter knew it wholeheartedly. Pete's first letter explores sacrifice, death, holiness, and glory. Amazingly, Peter uses Jesus suffering as an example with his point to encourage us in our time of trial. For those who dare to stand outside the World's norm will pay the price, but be encouraged by Jesus' example because the glory of God is completely worth it.

Praise be to the lamb that was slain! Be glory and power and strength. Hallelujah. Amen.

Christianity at the Visitor's Center

Long time, no post.

Here's a vision for our lives. But it requires risk, courage, and faith.

Christianity at the Visitor's Center
Just Courage

September 18, 2008

By Mark Earley.

In his new book, Just Courage, Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission, recounts a childhood trip to Mt. Rainier with his father and two brothers. When his dad suggested that they try to reach base camp, 10-year-old Haugen wasn't sure he could make it. His father reassured him he'd be there to help. But Haugen opted to stay in the cushy comfort of the visitor's center. As he writes, "I went on the trip, but missed the adventure."

Haugen uses this to illustrate a widespread malady in the Church today. Christians often choose safety and comfort over courage. We don't believe that risk and suffering may be part of God's plan for our lives. But in cutting ourselves off from the risk, explains Haugen, we also miss the adventure, the joy, and the experience of seeing God meet us at our point of need.

Haugen—the 2007 recipient of BreakPoint's William Wilberforce Award—speaks from experience. He and his colleagues at International Justice Mission take risks for God every day. In some of the world's darkest regions they liberate women and young girls from sexual slavery, families from forced labor, and communities from widespread injustice.

Haugen tells the story of one young man, Sean Litton, a brilliant lawyer, who was at the top of his game professionally when he decided to join IJM's staff. According to Sean, he wasn't afraid of joining the on-the-ground work in the Philippines. But he was afraid of losing that competitive career edge when he came back. But Sean came to decide, "If I can rescue one child from the unspeakable horrors of prostitution, it would outweigh any sacrifice."

Sean got his wish and a lot more. Through his efforts, he and his staff rescued hundreds of women and girls from sexual exploitation.

He knew it was all worth it when, as he says, "I looked into the eyes of a fifteen-year-old girl who had been brutally raped two years previously and no one had done anything to help her: I was able to tell her, 'God loves you. I know he loves you because he sent me here to help you.''

As a result, the man who raped this young girl is now serving a 20-year prison term, while she is now studying social work at a local university. She hopes to help other abused women one day.

Stories like this should thrill you, and I recommend you get yourself a copy of Haugen's book. But, like Haugen, I want to encourage you not just to listen to the stories and be moved, but to join the adventure.

Maybe you'll volunteer your expertise with International Justice Mission. Maybe you'll help to break the chains of men and women enslaved overseas. Maybe you'll move out of your comfort zone to share the Gospel with millions of incarcerated men and women right here in America, helping them loose their chains of addiction and spiritual bondage, helping them reintegrate into society once they leave prison behind.

Perhaps there is some other way that God is asking you to take a risk for Him. But either way, I hope you won't be content to stay put. It's time we all left the visitor's center.

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=9317

Are we able to pray, "God, help us avoid the rich young man's plight"?

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" We all know the words Jesus said while he was dying on the cross. Here's the question: Why would Jesus say that? What was he feeling? What was his purpose? Countless speculations have been made online, some including:

1. When Jesus took on the sin of the world, God turned away because He cannot look upon sin. This means that Jesus was left by Himself to suffer. (Although this explanation is discredited by Deut 4:31, 2 Chronicles 15:2, and Psalm 37:25,28, all which show that "God does not forsake the righteous.")
2. When Jesus made the call, He wanted the people to recognize that He was referring to all of Psalm 22, not just the first verse. The people would recognize the quote and later would read all the psalm. Then, they would know that what had just happened had been prophesied long before.
3. In the introduction to his translation of the Bible, George Lamsa criticizes the various versions in their rendering of Matthew 27: 46. He points out that what they say is in contradiction to the King James Version of John 16: 32 and several instances of the Old Testament (which he does not state). His translation includes:

Psalm 22: 1
My God, my God, why hast thou let me to live? and yet thou hast delayed my salvation from me, because of the words of my folly.
Matthew 27: 46
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! My God, my God, for this was I spared!
Footnote: This was my destiny.
Mark 15: 34
And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! which means, My God, my God, for this was I spared.
Footnote: "which means" used by Mark to explain translation from one Aramaic dialect to another.
Luke 23: 46
Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, O my Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. He said this and it was finished.
John 19: 30
When Jesus drank the vinegar, he said, It is fulfilled; and he bowed his head and gave up the spirit.

(Source)

I keep reflecting onto why we use phrases such as "why have you abandoned me" and the times that I have accused God of exactly that, even though my spirit knows that it is not possible. We know that Jesus was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matt 3:15) even though He didn't need to wash away any sins, but was fulfilling Scripture the only purpose for his cry?

I wonder if Jesus was really in despair. I wonder if Jesus was expressing an accusation to describe his frustration. I wonder if Jesus doubted God for a split second of his decision to sacrifice his Son. I wonder if Jesus was angry at God. I wonder all these things because all these things I feel toward God- despair, frustration, doubt, and anger- and yet, my Spirit knows that God is in control. Does Jesus truly understand this battle within? And can this battle be attributed to humanness (which Jesus would have endured) or just lack of faith (which Jesus would not have endured...or would he)? And is this kind of "little faith" a sin?

Apologetics...

Hi everyone!

Recently I've had a very long conversation with a friend who is not a Christian and he raised some very important questions that I do not have the answers to. He is willing to believe the bible (although he doesn't yet), so it's okay and desired that the answer to these questions be backed with bible verses. I thought maybe all of you could help me. Perhaps these questions don't have answers.. but I don't know this for sure. Actually, these are statements that need to be counteracted (and perhaps the statement itself is not spoken in a correct manner)

1) If God created us in His image, than He is not ALL good.. because we are evil. If He created Lucifer, and Lucifer is evil, than God is evil. Questions: Biblically, were angels also created in God's image (or just the humans)? We can explain that humans are evil because we fell prey to the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that God didn't create us evil. However, He created the tree... and according to the bible everything He created is good. But the tree wasn't good... the tree was the knowledge of evil. So, DID He create evil? Or is evil just the absence of good? In Genesis, when it says that "and He saw that it was good", does it mean that it was "well done, properly created" or that it was "good good, pure and likable good"??? The verse I have found to reference that it was good good is 1 Timothy 4:4... do you all think this is confirmation as well? Lastly, I know we've discussed in this blog before the nature of good and evil (and if evil is the absence of good)... but I don't think the verse which indicates God allows us to go through tribulations to refine us actually proves He CREATED evil... although it does prove He allows evil (or rather, the absence of good in my opinion.. because He gave us choice).

2) Was Lucifer thrown out of heaven before the creation of man? Can we prove this biblically? Was the snake in the Garden of Eden possessed by the Devil? Or was this just a cunning snake, the most intelligent of all the animals (which perhaps had itself already ate from that same tree)?

Ok, I think these are all for now.

God Bless,
Evelyn

Possible answers to "Troubling Thoughts"

If you read comments on here, you might remember my asking 2 questions: "Does Christianity demean life?" and "Does Christianity hold a lower value on life than other worldviews and specifically atheism?" The first is answered elsewhere. And below is a response to the second. Consider this carefully and honestly.

Theology at the Theater
Atonement

February 21, 2008

The film Atonement won a Golden Globe for Best Drama and has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. It may look like just another period drama, but there is something in this film that is resonating deeply with audiences. It might be the love story or the performances or even the look of the film, but I would venture that it is something deeper: the way it touches on one of our deepest spiritual needs. (Before I go on, you need to know that I am not recommending the film. It deserves its "R" rating. But I do think the film's themes are having an impact, and Christians should be ready to discuss them.)

The story revolves around a little girl named Briony Tallis, who tells a lie. She claims she saw a man who molested her cousin one night, when it was actually too dark for her to be sure of what she saw. For reasons of her own, Briony is convinced that she really knows who committed the crime and that she is doing the right thing by swearing that she saw him do it. But her lie sends an innocent man to prison and lets the real rapist go free.

Her guilt, as she comes to realize what she has done, haunts Briony for the rest of her life. The title of the film, though, is deeply ironic, because although she tries in her own way to atone, all her attempts fall short.

It makes the story all the more poignant when you learn that Ian McEwan, author of the critically acclaimed novel on which the film is based, is an atheist. In a recent interview, McEwan told the New Republic, "It is crucial that people who do not have a sky god and do not have a set of supernatural beliefs, assert their belief in moral values and in love and in the transcendence that they might experience in landscape or art or music or sculpture or whatever." He continues, "Since they do not believe in an afterlife, it makes them give more valence to life itself."

But when you apply McEwan's reasoning to his own story, the resulting principle is unbearable. Briony's victim had the only life he could ever know taken away from him. But Briony's plight is even worse. She is never able to earn forgiveness from the people she wronged, and, if McEwan's beliefs are correct, there is no God to forgive her for her disobedience to the "moral values." She has, as the novel suggests, played God with people's lives, but she has neither God's power of omniscience nor His power to bring good out of evil.

As his story suggests, McEwan's universe—as noble as he tries to make it sound—offers no second chances for those who get it wrong. Atonement, the theological doctrine that for Christians provides the path to a restored relationship with God, here becomes only an elusive, mocking wish that can never be fulfilled.

Although McEwan's atheism is not spelled out in the story, the viewer comes away with a sense of tragedy and waste that reflects the author's ideas, perhaps even better than he knows. But the film also makes us face our own desperate need for atonement and forgiveness. It just goes to show, yet again, that the truth of the human condition and the law of God are written on our hearts, no matter what we tell ourselves we believe.

If this still is not enough, try the further thoughts found on The Point.

Finally, I often find that I should pay closer attention to atheists' own words, particularly the more qualified ladies and gents. The disparity in how our beliefs play out in the real world becomes more apparent. This from Peter Singer is a pretty good example.

I'm still concocting a response for Kenaz first question: "Does there need to be a BAD for every GOOD or is BAD only the absence of GOOD? If there is no hardship, then there is no discipline, and thus no true sonship. (Hebrews 12:7)"