Quotes from An Abortionist

I found these quotes from this article shocking in their horrific irony:

“Abortions are performed here, a job that can endanger Carhart. ‘I’m willing to put my life on the line,’ he says.”

“He glances at the poster of Tiller [an abortionist who was murdered]. ‘I don’t want his death to be in vain.’

“I have abortion on the front of this building, because I think abortion isn’t a four-letter word. It’s a part of life.”

I’ll also say this: read that article. It’ll give you an idea on how to pray and weep, for both sides.

The Myth of Moral Progress

My buddy Clint emailed me a link to this article. Evidently, there’s a church in the Kentuckiana area that has made a practice out of bringing dogs to church. This church is a “Unity Church”, governed by the following five principles:

1. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and as my life, God the Good.
2. Our essence is of God; therefore, we are inherently good. This God essence was fully expressed in Jesus, the Christ.
3. We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in mind.
4. Through prayer and meditation, we align our heart-mind with God. Denials and affirmations are tools we use.
5. Through thoughts, words and actions, we live the Truth we know.

The gospel is nowhere present in these principles, and it is nowhere present on any part of the church’s website. So I’m not surprised to see some “different” practices come from their congregation. They’re not really part of the “church” in the biblical sense of the term. However, Christian or not, one statement in the article stood out to me (yes…even more than people calling their dogs their “healer”).

“The moral progress and greatness of a nation are determined by how the animals are treated by that nation,” says Rev. Mahaffey. We really think about dogs as having a divinity within them, and that is something you find in other world religions that revere other forms of life.”

Stomach-churning is the only way I can describe the feeling that comes from reading that quote, namely because of this part: “The moral progress and greatness of a nation are determined by how the animals are treated by that nation.” In light of the fact that our nation is killing human babies by the droves (and celebrating their right to do it), I find this statement disgusting. There is absolutely no room to talk about moral progress when we’re actually declining.

Then again, this is what results from their foundational belief that we are “inherently good”. The Bible actually teaches otherwise: We are inherently wicked, suppressing the knowledge of God and spurning his love. If we believe otherwise, we take minor moral triumphs (the ethical treatment of animals) and exalt them to a point that they mask our moral depravity. We all of a sudden think we are at the pinnacle of morality.

More can be said on this; for instance, the plucking of Jesus from the rest of the Biblical context, and placing him neatly as an add-on to principle #2 (see above) where he is no longer the exclusive Savior of the world. And it should also be mentioned that the praised ethical treatment of animals by this church has actually manifested itself as animal worship (e.g. “she’s my healer“). But I could not help but comment briefly on the false notion of overall moral progress and “greatness”.

Humans Need Jesus

Joe Rigney has some very timely words about the sexual perversion and brutality that is ever-present in our world.

Be Courageous, Mr. President

Fight Freedom of Choice Act

In light of convictions my brother and I share about the sanctity of human life which have been born of and informed by the Scriptures (see helpful articles here and here), I would set before you a petition to sign created by Americans United for Life, a nationally recognized organization “committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels.” The petition will hopefully aid in countering the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) already introduced by the Senate (here), which would “eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

1. Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
2. Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
3. Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
4. Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter’s abortion

FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.”

President-elect Barack Obama promised Planned Parenthood last year (for this video click here; for related research see this helpful article: Obama’s Abortion Extremism),

The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do.

Brandon and I are both well aware that government restrictions will never solve the real issue that drives people to take the life of the wonderfully-created unborn, namely, sin and the supression of the truth. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can deliver us from this cursed bondage. Nevertheless, we also welcome the means through which God’s common graces might lessen death among those unborn, created in the image of God, and welcome and celebrate the gift of life by preserving them throughout a woman’s pregancy and beyond. I am certainly thankful for the gift he has given me and Rachel:

To sign the petition visit Fight FOCA.

Eric Redmond on Living Soli Deo Gloria under Obama

In light of the previous two posts regarding the five Solas, especially that one into which all the others are swept up, Soli Deo Gloria, check out this guest post by Eric Redmond at Between Two Worlds. Here is a brother who has already sought to apply Soli Deo Gloria to how he will be living under the leadership of President-elect Barack Obama. He includes very helpful thoughts on ethnicity (e.g. a Christcentric rather than Afrocentric proposal), prayer, and concern for the unborn. To read his post click here.

For previous posts by Eric Redmond related to similar issues, click below:

• Election Day Joy (November 4, 2008)
• How can any Christian African American Vote for Obama? Throwing the Race Card on an All Black Table (July 11, 2008)

Some Follow-Up on Piper’s Comments on Election 2008

Justin Taylor has responded to John Piper’s comments regarding the complicated factors of this election. Since I recommended watching the video in the previous post, and since some of my own family members have had some questions about it, I thought I would mention the link as well as some other clarifications Piper has made regarding his own comments.

• Justin Taylor’s humble post: ”Piper, Politics, and Abortion: A Few Thoughts“
• John Piper on “Why a woman shouldn’t run for Vice President, but wise people may still vote for her.“

A Brother’s Heart Concerning the Election

I found these words from pastor John Piper helpful and encouraging as we consider the elections in 2008. I hope they might effect you similarly.

Election “Life” and the Kingdom of God

In only a few days now, the country and it’s millions of professing Christians will make their way to the voting booth. Without waxing eloquent, it is worth noting that this election (like every election before it) “could be the most important election of our time”. Supreme court justices, economic philosophies, and healthcare agendas hang in the balance. But for Christians, the defining issue amidst all the politics must be that of abortion.

I won’t argue here the reason that “life” issues must take central stage in any Christian political philosophy. That argument has been tackled by abler communicators than I. My purpose here is much simpler, and intentionally personal.

The pure fact that you do not vote “for” Obama in this election does not make you pro-life, any more than not betting on the Baltimore Ravens winning the Superbowl makes you a sports guru. A sports guru of course would not make such an obvious mistake, but it takes more than that to prove that you know what your talking about. Likewise, just as there is absolutely no way (in good conscience) for a pro-life Christian to vote for Barak Obama on Tuesday, that by no means implies that such a voter is anything but sane. A vote for Obama would negate any claim to a “respect for Life”, but if voting against him is your only pro-life credential, then friends, we need to talk – and you need to listen.

The babies need your vote on Tuesday, that is certain. The real possibility of an Obama presidency should undoubtedly send a shudder down every infant spine, and every aging back. But Obama is not the only threat to human life, nor is he, for many, the most imminent of threats. There are mothers and children (perhaps in your very community) who will today walk into the abortionist’s mill, and be brought under the abortionist’s knife, all in the name of “choice” and “freedom”.

The danger for Christians here is clear and it is lethal. The ease at which the Pro-Life issue becomes an abstract policy debate in Christian communities is shameful. Far too often we are convinced of the rightness of a cause without ever being convinced to cause its rightness in the world around us. We become content to consider how politics fit into the Kingdom of God, without realizing that action and voting are not adequately synonymous in such a Kingdom. No doubt, voting is action; but the action required of us as Pro-Life Christians can never be accomplished by voting alone. If Anthony Comstock was correct when he said that “the world is the devil’s hunting ground, and children are his choicest game,” then we must understand our vote as but one bullet in a volley of firepower that we must employ to defend “the least of these” among us.

Make no mistake, the babies need your vote on Tuesday; but they need your voice everyday. Indeed, abortion-minded women need your political action, but they need more than that. They need pulpits that speak of God’s love for the orphan and widow every week. They need believing families that picture God’s adoptive love of us, in the adoption of the weak and helpless. They need to be offered the alternative of hope, not just hollow philosophical rhetoric about why they’re wrong every election year. More than anything, they need the Gospel of Jesus Christ — a gospel that is not found merely in words, but in power — power that prevails against the gates of Hell, and is with us by Spirit of Christ until the end of the age. It is that Kingdom power, that declaration of victory over death uttered from the Cross, that reminds us that our actions on election day should not be exceptional – they should be expected, the inevitable outworking of a life committed to Life, “life more abundant”. To paraphrase the late Martin Luther King Jr., let not your vote for president be a period in this moment of Pro-Life activism, rather let it be a comma that punctuates it to loftier heights — heights from which even “the least of these” can see the shining city on the hill.

[This was a guest post by Hank Balch of Lawn Gospel. Hank is an M.Div. student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and a graduate of Texas A&M University. But, more importantly, he is a child of God who has been tirelessly fighting for the cause of saving infants from the murderous act of abortion on the local levels, and especially making the gospel of Jesus known amongst those he comes into contact with.]

Obama’s Support of Aborting Babies

Read this from Justin Taylor’s blog. It’s horrific.