The Abortion Debate: A little more light & a little less heat

“Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on.” Alyssa Milano

With the conservative bent on the current U.S. Supreme Court, there’s been a barrage of legislative action related to abortion on the part of the States. States like New York seek to protect their “abortion rights.” Others like Georgia, with their new stricter laws prohibiting abortion, hope a lawsuit will make its way to the Supreme Court to see Roe v. Wade re-addressed and even overturned. In the midst of this political maneuvering, there’s often been more heat than light from both sides of the moral debate.

  Yes, Alyssa Milano actually did tweet that. Unbeknownst to her, she was suggesting exactly what those who hold a biblical worldview believe and is the solution for abortion – abstinence. The Bible teaches that sex outside of marriage violates God’s standard for sexual morality. Let’s not forget that single professional football star, Tim Tebow, was ridiculed for committing to his own personal “sex strike” until marriage. The rationale of those opposed to abstinence is that we’re little more than animals with no hope of restraining ourselves and must succumb to our more carnal urges.

  There’s also blatant hypocrisy on the part of those who promise to boycott states like Georgia which have passed new pro-life laws. Here are just a few examples: Sophie Turner won’t film in Georgia, but she filmed Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland which bans abortion. Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman have both said that they’ll no longer work in Georgia, yet both filmed Star Wars in Tunisia, where it’s illegal to be gay. Tunisia has arrested people for just appearing to be gay.

  The most imprudent protest against new pro-life legislation has been from Disney. Yet, Disney has been filming in Bolivia, where abortion is illegal, Croatia, where abortion is illegal after 11 weeks and the UAE where abortion is illegal and being gay is illegal. Disney has no problem filming in any of these locations, yet suddenly Georgia is the enemy. It doesn’t take a genie to see that this is a big marketing blunder. How can one promote themselves as a “family place,” yet support what exterminates their customer base – families? In light of Disney’s defense of  “reproductive choice,” can we expect them to shut down production in China, including the shuttering of their theme parks on Chinese soil? China has draconian anti-LGBT discrimination and one of the worst records for human rights abuse. If Disney truly cares about human rights, how can they do business in a country with nearly Nazi-like laws against their own citizens?

  Moral ineptitudes make strange bedfellows. The spirit of Margaret Sanger still lives. White Supremacists also oppose the new anti-abortion laws. Why? “Only reason Blacks here in the US have only grown by a few percent each year is because of Planned Parenthood and abortion.”

  Apart from the moral issues, the pro-choice position is fiscally naïve. Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with her obsession with climate change suggests that young people should seriously consider even having children. No one seems to see the end result of such fuzzy thinking: “Who will pay the bills?” Americans and politicians are insatiable for more government programs, but there’s no free lunch. When was the last time you heard of a budget cut being proposed, much less passed?

  A few weeks ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report, concluding that the U.S. is in an official baby bust. It’s been declining for four straight years, but last year the number of babies born in this country fell to a 32-year low. There’s a term called the “replacement level” when you’re talking about fertility. To maintain our current population a woman needs to have 2.1 children, but we’ve been below that level since the early 1970s. Some outcomes of our population decrease will be greater labor shortages and school closings. Taxes must increase. The need for elder care will increase with fewer available to step into those roles. The more that the birth number falls below the replacement level, the weaker our economy will become, especially as a homegrown workforce decreases and more retire. Already-strained programs like Medicare and Social Security will suffer. Fewer workers, i.e., taxpayers,  means fewer paying into the system that supports the growing number of retirees.  We’ve come a long and dark way since Hillary Clinton’s 1990’s comment that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.”

  What’s the solution? Obviously, it’s not another government program but none of these problems are new. Ours is a post-Christian age. The early church faced a pre-Christian one with far worse atrocities; slavery, religious prostitution, infanticide, etc. As the gospel, remedied old world problems, it can remedy contemporary world problems. It’s the gospel that can transform someone’s life, changing someone with no life values to someone who values life and willingly sacrifices for those who can’t defend themselves, the pre-born, disabled, infirm and elderly. We have examples within our own church of grandparents who’ve stepped up to care for a grandchild or an elderly parent.

  It’s the gospel that transforms culture, not social programs, jobs or education. Those are outcomes of the gospel. A Christian who is living out a biblical worldview is a better spouse, parent, student, worker, and citizen. It’s one reason that at Grace we’re committed to planting churches in places like South Chicago (Tom Kubiak) and Nepal (Bishnu).

  The gospel is not just a ticket to heaven. It’s a lifestyle. Living it out means that we’re unapologetically pro-life, but it’s much more than just babies. We’re also pro-living. We want that unaborted child to grow up healthy and safe into adulthood, and to have a quality life filled with opportunity. Yes, we are pro-life – we are pro-life from the first heartbeat to the last breath. That’s what it means to be a Christian. That’s what it means to have a biblical worldview.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

ALL children's lives matter

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” 

  Plato

  One of the benefits of reading is it can give you a perspective you might never have. A book I read recently did that for me: Dancing with Max by Emily Colson. It’s one of the most moving books I’ve read in a long time.

  You may recognize the name, Colson. Emily is the late Chuck Colson’s only daughter. It was printed in 2010, two years before Chuck went Home to be with the Lord. Chuck wrote both the prologue and epilogue.

  While I can often read a novel in a day or so, biographies typically take me time to work through. I literally couldn’t put this biography down. Often I found myself weeping as Emily shared her story and that of her autistic son, Max. It’s a sad yet wonderful story, all at the same time. It was a blessing in that it gave me insights of what it must be like to parent an autistic child.

  Like me, I’m sure you’re thankful celebrities and athletes like Tim Tebow have such powerful testimonies. Yet, in our celebrity enamored world, it’s easy, even in the Church to forget Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians (I know I do), “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

  One of the most important lessons we forget is God loves everyone, Jesus died for everyone and the Church is for everyone. We’re truly to be the antithesis of the world which teaches that the beautiful, talented, intelligent, wealthy, athletic and popular have greater value. The Church is to be a safe place of grace for everyone, particularly the disenfranchised.

  No one seems to know why but the number of children diagnosed with autism or related disorders has grown at what many call an alarming rate. In the 1970s and 1980s, one out of every 2,000 children had autism. Today, the CDC estimates, one in 150 eight-year-olds in the U.S. fits the autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. If we are going to be the Church God has called us to be, we must find ways to love, minister and be a blessing to those others disdain and reject. What can we do as a church family and as individual believers to minister to special needs families?

  Be very sensitive to the amount of stress a special needs child puts on a marriage and family. Even in a church our size, we have two critical health situations. While these are not special needs children, they are critical care children. One family has a two year old granddaughter in need of a heart transplant. The other has a five year old grandson with a brain tumor who’s had surgery and is continuing chemo. And we have other families with special needs children – health, emotional, educational limitations, etc. at different levels, and we will have more.

  A crisis with a child puts incredible stress on a marriage. It did with Emily Colson. Even before they had a diagnosis of autism, the strain became too much and her husband filed for divorce.

  Most young couples struggle financially. Add to that the stress of a crisis with their child. Then, their child needs extra time and attention, yet they must work, just to stay ahead. To pay the extra bills, one or both may need to take a second job BUT their child still needs them, more than other children typically need their parents. Because of the needs of the child, attention which should be focused on each other and the marriage, often is consumed by the child and the crisis.

  How can we help? First, pray…really pray for them. Let them know you are praying for them…over and over again. Then, do it.

  Then, encourage them. One of Emily’s spiritually mature friends, Patti, called Max a “gift.” God used that to change Emily’s whole perspective. Max wasn’t some curse or a burden, this special autistic boy was a “gift” from God. And isn’t that what Scripture teaches? “Children are a gift from the Lord” (Psalms 127:3, NLT). The Bible doesn’t qualify it and say “perfect” children or “normal” children. Psalms 139:13-16 reminds us that each of us are designed by God. And that special child is not just a gift for those parents or that family, that child is a gift to us, to our church.

  Look too for ways to help them. Just the usual stuff of going to the grocery store can be a major crisis with a special needs child. Perhaps offer to watch the child while they do needed errands. Or, do the errands for them. Caring for a special needs child can be a 24/7 commitment. Just watching their child can be the sanity respite they desperately need.

  Be aware ministering to special needs children and their families help you and I grow spiritually. That’s what happened to Max’s grandfather, Chuck Colson. Max coming into his life helped Chuck grow in grace.

  Previously, Chuck had been a lawyer and on President Nixon’s staff. After going to prison and coming to Christ, he began a ministry to inmates, Prison Fellowship. But Chuck moved faster than the speed of light and kept his schedule overflowing. Max slowed him down…a lot. You just can’t rush a special needs child. It taught Chuck compassion and patience and was used by God to cultivate spiritual fruit in his life. God can use it to do the same for us.

  I worry about Christians who don’t want to serve, particularly with children. I worry their souls are shriveling. More than that, I fear what the Lord may do, because He loves us so much, because our spiritual growth is so vital to Him…what He will do to get us to grow.

  Some of the saddest comments I hear folk say, “I’ve done my turn with kids…I’m not a kid’s person…I don’t have the patience.” They’re very ignorant of their Bibles. Our Savior said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). The very best way to become more childlike is to be with experts – children. Amazingly, it was the spiritually stunted disciples who didn’t have time for children – Jesus always did. I don’t know about you but I want be like Jesus. I want to be a person who has His love, compassion and patience, even for the disenfranchised. Don’t you?

 

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500.