Posts Tagged ‘Abortion’

1. Well Said…

   Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by Cory Varden

   1. Homosexuality, the NBA, and the Morality of Making Moral Judgments by Sam Storms: …Actually, not only does everyone have a right to judge, everyone has a responsibility to judge! In fact, everyone does judge, even if they think they don’t. Making moral judgments is simply inevitable.

   2. Broussard, Bigotry, and the NBA by Denny Burk: After the news broke earlier today that Jason Collins has come out as the first openly gay player in the NBA, I didn’t really plan to comment. But that all changed after watching Chris Broussard’s commentary for ESPN. After Collins’ announcement appeared, all the sports shows were abuzz with the news. ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” hosted a discussion between two sportswriters: the openly gay LZ Granderson and the Christian Chris Broussard.

   3. Dear Mr. President (a letter from a mother trying to answer her children’s questions about abortion): I understand we view the world differently.  I understand you think a child burdens a woman, and that he/she breaks a woman down.  I think a child is the greatest gift a woman could receive, and giving birth is one of woman’s greatest powers. That doesn’t sound very politically correct, though.  I know the world is more complex than that.  I understand we are fundamentally different.

    

2. Well Said…

   Posted on April 19th, 2013 by Cory Varden

   

   1. What Does God Say About the Boston Bombings by Jared Wilson: It is a dangerous thing to speak for God, but he has spoken for himself about such atrocities. I for one will not dare to say more than the following, but it’s quite enough, really, especially for those of us who lack the energy at this time to say much…

   2. 9 Things You Should Know About Female Body Image Issues by Joe Carter: Body image is the mental representation we create of what we think we look like; it may or may not bear a close relation to how others actually see us. Here are nine things you should know about female body image issues:

   3. Kermit Gosnell and the Politics of Abortion by Ross Douthat: The most rigorously pro-choice writers really did cover the Gosnell case more assiduously than the mainstream media, because they really do see it, not as an embarrassment to the cause of abortion rights, but a vindication of their worldview…

   4. Kermit Gosnell and the Gospel by Russell Moore: The Gosnell case is stomach-turning. Testimonies in court point to a sadistic man… They speak of a man who would prey upon the poorest and most vulnerable women in his community in order to destroy their lives and those of their children. It’s hard to think of the gospel in the midst of all that evil. But that’s just the point.

3. Gosnell. Abortion. Life.

   Posted on April 18th, 2013 by Eric Parker

   

   Much has been written recently over the Kermit Gosnell case as news of his horrific acts spread like wildfire across the social media world late last week. Secular media outlets have only in the last few days begun to take notice. Gosnell’s crimes against women and children are nothing short of disturbing. It’s the issue of abortion and infanticide that we want to briefly consider below.

   As believers rightly continue to argue that an unborn child is a person and not merely a fetus, some in our culture want to redefine what it means to be a person. Not surprisingly, this redefinition of personhood doesn’t include babies in the womb.

   While we must maintain that a baby in the womb is a person, Graham Cole points to a biblical category that may help us as we think through and articulate the biblical position on this issue. At a foundational level, the Bible portrays God as being chiefly concerned with the preservation and dignity of human life. This doesn’t mean we give up on our definition of personhood, but it does give us another angle to view this issue. Consider Genesis 2:7: “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

   Life is God’s creation, and God’s concern for life continues as He addresses the penalty for the taking of life: “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.” And again in Leviticus 24:17: “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.”  The emphasis is on the taking of life.

   The Bible certainly has much more to say on the issue of abortion and personhood, and every approach we take will meet with some level of opposition by abortion advocates. Nevertheless, we must maintain that God is concerned with preserving human life. And life begins at conception (Ps 139:13).

   The real difference between Gosnell’s crimes of late term abortions/infanticide and more commonly accepted forms of abortion is that with the former, people are confronted with a disturbing visual display of the taking of life. Abortion in its various forms takes place literally millions of times around the world each year. Tragically, most people have an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality when it comes to the horrific reality of abortion. That must not be the case for those who love God and His image-bearers.

   May we, as God’s people, be zealous for the life of men and women, born and unborn, physical and spiritual, in a moral landscape that is looking increasingly like Romans 1:19-32. Our God is concerned with persons, and He is concerned with life.

   We must be too.

    

   To read some helpful articles covering the case, see our recent “Well Said…” for a good starting point.

4. Well Said…

   Posted on April 12th, 2013 by Cory Varden

   This week’s “Well Said” is focused on a particularly disturbing court case occurring right now that is centered around abortion, and for the most part is being ignored by the mainstream media.  Be warned that some of this can be difficult to read given the nature of the atrocities that led to this trial.

   1. 9 Things You Should Know About the Gosnell Infanticide and Murder Trial by Joe Carter: Kermit Gosnell, 69, is an abortionist on trial in Pennsylvania for murder and infanticide. Here are 9 things you should know about the Gosnell case…

   2. 8 Reasons for the Media Blackout on Kermit Gosnell by Trevin Wax: To put the Kermit Gosnell trial in perspective, consider other famous cases of child-killing. From Susan Smith to Andrea Yates, and most recently the horror of Newtown, we are accustomed to 24/7 news coverage of these types of tragedies. Not so with Dr. Gosnell. Here are the reasons why…

   3. Why the media don’t want you to see the horror of Gosnell’s crimes by Denny Burk: Here’s the bottom line. What happened in Gosnell’s clinic exposes not just his crimes. It also underlines the moral bankruptcy of pro-choice arguments that routinely and callously disregard the humanity of the unborn. The entire pro-choice position requires persons to ignore the personhood of unborn persons who die daily in those clinics. That reality cannot bear the light of day, and that is why Gosnell and every other perpetrator like him are enjoying a media blackout…

5. Well Said…

   Posted on January 25th, 2013 by Cory Varden

   As we look back this week on the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade which legalized abortion in our nation for any reason, it seems appropriate to highlight some truly insightful and somewhat disturbing posts.

   1. Abortion and the Gospel from Russell Moore: Too often, pastors and church leaders assume that, when talking about abortion, their invisible debating partner is the “pro-choice” television commentator or politician. Not so. Many of the people endangered by the abortion culture aren’t even pro-choice.

   2. Feminist says baby is “a life worth sacrificing” from Denny Burk: This week marks the 40th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision—a monstrosity that has presided over the legal killing of over 55 million human beings since 1973. And yet in the wake of this horror, the pro-abortionists are feeling the wind at their backs

   3. We Know They are Killing Children–All of Us Know  from John Piper: One biblical principle of justice is that the more knowledge we have that our action is wrong, the more guilty we are, and the more deserving of punishment (Luke 12:47–48). The point of this blog post is that we know what we are doing — all America knows. We are killing children. Pro-choice and Pro-life people both know this.

6. Is Abortion a Rights Issue?

   Posted on January 22nd, 2013 by Cory Varden

   “Pro-choice advocates argue, “Every woman has the right to choose what she does with her own body.” Ironically the choice of abortion assures that something like 650,000 females in the United States each year don’t have the right to choose what they do with their bodies. (That number is roughly half of aborted children, the other half being males, though as we’ve seen the rate of females aborted is even higher.)

   The fact is that a female killed by abortion no longer has a life, a choice, or a body to exercise control over. All of these have been stripped from her by adults.

   Despite the fact that he is choosing do do what he wants to with his own body, a man isn’t  permitted to expose himself.  There are laws against public urination, prostitution, drug use, trespassing, and even loitering, even though every one of them involves a choice to do something with one’s own body.  Most of us agree with these laws, even though they restrict personal freedoms, but always in the interests of others whose personal freedoms they directly or indirectly violate.

   My hand is part of my body, but I’m not free to use it to strike you or steal from you or hurt your child, or mine.  Aren’t you glad the law prevents me from doing whatever I might want with my own body?”

   Excerpt from Randy Alcorn’s book, Why Pro-Life?.  I encourage you to pick up a copy of this helpful resource.

7. Well Said…

   Posted on January 18th, 2013 by Cory Varden

   

   This January is the 40th anniversary of the Roe v Wade Court decision that legalized abortion in our nation for any reason. It also opened the door to deep sorrow and regret for many who chose abortion, thinking it held the promise of “reproductive freedom.”  In light of that this week’s Well Said… focuses on some insightful posts this week on this issue.

   1. Why I Hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (and Why I Love It Too) from Russell Moore: As we approach next week’s fortieth anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, churches in my tradition will observe Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. I hate that we have to. Let me explain why…

   2. Thank You, Mr. President, for These Pro-Life Marching Orders from Justin Taylor

   3. Away With Utilitarian Arguments Against Abortion from Jared Wilson: You have likely heard this line of reasoning from earnest pro-lifers before. The logic goes something like this: You should be pro-life because you never know if you’ve aborted the next Einstein, the next Beethoven, the next Martin Luther King, Jr., the next Pasteur or Salk, etc. What if you aborted the curer of cancer or AIDS?…

8. The Most Important Question in the Abortion Debate

   Posted on January 17th, 2013 by Cory Varden

   There’s one question in this debate to which the answer changes everything.  Listen to Pastor David unpack that question and the answer to it.

   If you would like to listen to this entire sermon on abortion click here.

9. Why Pro Life?

   Posted on January 15th, 2013 by Cory Varden

   “A representative of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) spoke in a high school class on the merits of abortion. A student asked the teacher if I could come to present the pro-life position.  When I arrived a week later, the pro-choice instructor informed me that his students had voted 23-1 for the pro-choice position.

   I presented the case for the humanity and rights of unborn children. I showed intrauterine photographs demonstrating the development of the unborn at the earliest stages abortions are performed.

   After class, the teacher said to me, “If we were to vote again, the outcome would be different. Minds were changed.” Then he added something remarkable: “You know, until today I’d never heard the pro-life position.”

   We pride ourselves on being open-minded and providing a fair and fact-oriented education. Yet here was a fifty-five year old social science teacher with a master’s degree who’d never once heard the pro-life position. He had uncritically accepted the pro-choice position from others, and his students had done the same.”

   I wonder how many people would fall in the same category that Randy Alcorn describes in the opening pages of his book, Why Pro-Life?.  Let us work diligently to make sure that the people around us do not fall into this category.  Let us at the very least make sure that people are making informed decisions about such a weighty matter.  I commend this book to you as a great resource is addressing this issue.

10. Well Said…

    Posted on January 5th, 2013 by Jonathan Lenning

    

    This month marks the 40-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case in which the decision to have an abortion was deemed a woman’s right.  Here are a few relevant selections that relate to the abortion debate today.

    1. Is The Pro-Life Cause Winning?:  Roe v. Wade dealt a huge blow to the cause of the unborn.  Despite the tremendous victory Roe was for pro-choicers, Time magazine’s cover story claims that “they’ve been losing ever sense.”  Russ Moore points out some critical nuances in the abortion issue today that may make you say with him, “Not so fast.”

    2. Trying Times Ahead For Hobby Lobby:  … and not just for Hobby Lobby.  All companies that do not wish to comply with Obamacare’s abortion mandate will have what’s sure to be a rough road ahead.  Denny Burk also points to this video clip in which the Green family, (owners and executives of Hobby Lobby) explain how their Christian values affect the way they run their business.  ”This is the kind of business that we need more of in this country, not less.”

    3.  “When Do You Believe Life Begins?”:  Back when political campaigns were in full swing, Trevin Wax submitted “10 Questions a Pro-Choice Candidate Is Never Asked by the Media.”  This question was among them.  As we consider the conversation about this issue today, let’s remember that a lot of the public perception regarding abortion has to do with how the questions are framed. Maybe we ought to press the heart of the matter by asking some of these necessary and penetrating questions.