Thursday, September 24, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
The Unheard Genocide of the Voiceless
KNOW.
We don't want to face it. We don't want to see images of murdered, undeveloped babies on our Facebook scroll. We want to see selfies of that acquaintance we may or may not know, hiking a mountain in some foreign country.
But the truth is, we do know. We can ignore it, we could not take the 10 minutes to hear the heartbreaking story of a former procurement technician who sliced an infant's head open while his heart was still beating. We can ignore it. Even those of us who say we are pro-life... we can still ignore the gross reality of what is happening in this country.
Maybe it's true for some, that people really don't understand what or to the extent of what is going on. Maybe they don't know when they think life begins, and what really counts as a "baby." Or maybe they don't want to know. Maybe they don't want to think about it. If you were to search "aborted child" on Google images, the photos you would see would be enough to make you squirm, if not cry or throw up.
But you know what? I think we do know. I think it is our responsibility to make sure the world understands the atrocity and reality of what is actually going on. That these ARE lives.
But if all we do is know and make known... what does that even accomplish?
DO.
You find this everywhere. I don't care what religion, race, age, or political side you are on. You see something in the world/country that you don't like, and you're going to talk it down. Sometimes it's just to vent, sometimes it's to inform... but regardless, all you're doing is talking. Talking can be informative, but that's usually all it is. If you're really passionate about something, if you see something NEEDS to change, it's time to start DOING.
It's not enough to just say, "Abortion is bad," or "I'm pro-life." Because this is not just an issue of, "Yeah, that probably shouldn't be happening," or "In a perfect world that wouldn't happen."
NO! This are people's lives at steak! This is a genocide that is happening right inside of our country, and thousands of other countries around the world, this is not just a matter of talk!
So if this is really something you deem important (and I pray it is), then it's time to start practically challenging yourself: What can I do? Maybe voting for a pro-life president won't change anything or maybe it will. But dig deeper. What can you do, more than just signing a petition, attending a protest, or sharing a link on Facebook. Seek out a local crisis pregnancy center, and donate or better yet, volunteer there. Help babysit a single mother or struggling family's child or children. Employ someone. Adopt a child, or if it's all you can do, foster. Go to another country, spend a significant amount of time in an orphanage (although this may not have a lasting effect on the orphans, let me tell you from personal experience, it changes your outlook!). Help counsel a family or couple. Find a job that invests in people. Serve lower-income families.
Not all of us can do some of the things mentioned above, and definitely one individual can't do ALL of the things above. But in the words of Edward Everett Hale:
Find something. Have knowledge, then go DO.
But what even are actions?
Love.
My dear family in Christ. Have you ever asked yourself what kind of image people who are pro-life have with those who aren't? Have you ever wondered what they think we really stand for?
I was taken back when I heard the response statement of the director of Planned Parenthood, after those videos of the interview were made public. She is so against people who are pro-life. My first question was:
"Why? ...Does she think that we, who are for pro-life, hate women?" Although I cannot one-hundred percent answer this question... I think this should cause us to take a look on how we appear as pro-life supporters.
I don't hate women. On the contrary, I am one (go, women!). In fact, I am 100% for people!
(Ironically, roughly 50% of these murdered human beings were probably women.) So this is not a matter at all of my being sexist (against my own sex?) or whatever other argument one of pro-choice may have (although I admit I don't quite understand what they think of us.)
However, I am "for people," meaning I am for ALL people. I believe in life. And yes, I realize it is harder to care about someone who is considering killing than to care for the one being killed. But they're all people. And it's true, many of them are coming from hard situations.
So while we love the babies, we have to check ourselves to see if we're loving the parents as well. That's a hard reality in itself. These are people, who have hard decisions to make. The last image we want as someone supporting pro-life is that we hate families/parents. We should love families! That's what we're fighting FOR!
As Paul in 1 Corinthians states:
1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
LIFE.
I AM PRO-LIFE. 100% Life.
The issue of abortion is an incredibly important one. One that should be recognized, and fought boldly. We must not just sit back silently while those without voices go unheard.
But in the end, what I and my Christian brother next to me must realize is that the root of the problem is not abortion.
It is life, and it is choice.
The life and the choice offered by JESUS CHRIST, the Son of the holy, living God. We will never have victory in fighting this sinful world if we are merely fighting morality. Murder, adultery, lying, rape, stealing, addiction, sexual immorality, gluttony, pride... these are not the root issues.
The root of the issue is that Christ has offered us LIFE,
and He has offered it to us by CHOICE.
It is not our position to take away someone else's life, but the choice we are faced with is if we are going to accept the life offered to US.
So please. Fight abortion. Fight it with all that you've got. Fight it with knowledge, action, and love. But more than that: fight death. And fight it with Life.
We do not preach and live a gospel of morality.
We preach and live a Gospel of life given by grace.
We don't want to face it. We don't want to see images of murdered, undeveloped babies on our Facebook scroll. We want to see selfies of that acquaintance we may or may not know, hiking a mountain in some foreign country.
But the truth is, we do know. We can ignore it, we could not take the 10 minutes to hear the heartbreaking story of a former procurement technician who sliced an infant's head open while his heart was still beating. We can ignore it. Even those of us who say we are pro-life... we can still ignore the gross reality of what is happening in this country.
Maybe it's true for some, that people really don't understand what or to the extent of what is going on. Maybe they don't know when they think life begins, and what really counts as a "baby." Or maybe they don't want to know. Maybe they don't want to think about it. If you were to search "aborted child" on Google images, the photos you would see would be enough to make you squirm, if not cry or throw up.
But you know what? I think we do know. I think it is our responsibility to make sure the world understands the atrocity and reality of what is actually going on. That these ARE lives.
But if all we do is know and make known... what does that even accomplish?
DO.
You find this everywhere. I don't care what religion, race, age, or political side you are on. You see something in the world/country that you don't like, and you're going to talk it down. Sometimes it's just to vent, sometimes it's to inform... but regardless, all you're doing is talking. Talking can be informative, but that's usually all it is. If you're really passionate about something, if you see something NEEDS to change, it's time to start DOING.
It's not enough to just say, "Abortion is bad," or "I'm pro-life." Because this is not just an issue of, "Yeah, that probably shouldn't be happening," or "In a perfect world that wouldn't happen."
NO! This are people's lives at steak! This is a genocide that is happening right inside of our country, and thousands of other countries around the world, this is not just a matter of talk!
So if this is really something you deem important (and I pray it is), then it's time to start practically challenging yourself: What can I do? Maybe voting for a pro-life president won't change anything or maybe it will. But dig deeper. What can you do, more than just signing a petition, attending a protest, or sharing a link on Facebook. Seek out a local crisis pregnancy center, and donate or better yet, volunteer there. Help babysit a single mother or struggling family's child or children. Employ someone. Adopt a child, or if it's all you can do, foster. Go to another country, spend a significant amount of time in an orphanage (although this may not have a lasting effect on the orphans, let me tell you from personal experience, it changes your outlook!). Help counsel a family or couple. Find a job that invests in people. Serve lower-income families.
Not all of us can do some of the things mentioned above, and definitely one individual can't do ALL of the things above. But in the words of Edward Everett Hale:
But what even are actions?
Love.
My dear family in Christ. Have you ever asked yourself what kind of image people who are pro-life have with those who aren't? Have you ever wondered what they think we really stand for?
I was taken back when I heard the response statement of the director of Planned Parenthood, after those videos of the interview were made public. She is so against people who are pro-life. My first question was:
"Why? ...Does she think that we, who are for pro-life, hate women?" Although I cannot one-hundred percent answer this question... I think this should cause us to take a look on how we appear as pro-life supporters.
I don't hate women. On the contrary, I am one (go, women!). In fact, I am 100% for people!
(Ironically, roughly 50% of these murdered human beings were probably women.) So this is not a matter at all of my being sexist (against my own sex?) or whatever other argument one of pro-choice may have (although I admit I don't quite understand what they think of us.)
However, I am "for people," meaning I am for ALL people. I believe in life. And yes, I realize it is harder to care about someone who is considering killing than to care for the one being killed. But they're all people. And it's true, many of them are coming from hard situations.
So while we love the babies, we have to check ourselves to see if we're loving the parents as well. That's a hard reality in itself. These are people, who have hard decisions to make. The last image we want as someone supporting pro-life is that we hate families/parents. We should love families! That's what we're fighting FOR!
As Paul in 1 Corinthians states:
1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never fails.
Everything in love, my friend.
Lastly.
LIFE.
I AM PRO-LIFE. 100% Life.
The issue of abortion is an incredibly important one. One that should be recognized, and fought boldly. We must not just sit back silently while those without voices go unheard.
But in the end, what I and my Christian brother next to me must realize is that the root of the problem is not abortion.
It is life, and it is choice.
The life and the choice offered by JESUS CHRIST, the Son of the holy, living God. We will never have victory in fighting this sinful world if we are merely fighting morality. Murder, adultery, lying, rape, stealing, addiction, sexual immorality, gluttony, pride... these are not the root issues.
The root of the issue is that Christ has offered us LIFE,
and He has offered it to us by CHOICE.
It is not our position to take away someone else's life, but the choice we are faced with is if we are going to accept the life offered to US.
So please. Fight abortion. Fight it with all that you've got. Fight it with knowledge, action, and love. But more than that: fight death. And fight it with Life.
We do not preach and live a gospel of morality.
We preach and live a Gospel of life given by grace.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Hypocrisy
Is the world nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites who walk around blaming everyone around them for being hypocrites?
What a vicious circle.
What a need for grace: to receive and to give.
What a vicious circle.
What a need for grace: to receive and to give.
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