While watching a little TV and working on a paper, a commercial for "Plan B" came on the TV. It's claims were amazing. If your birth control failed you - condom broke, forgot to take a pill, or whatever else - just take some "Plan B."
And, don't worry, it will not cause an abortion the commercial assures you.
Unless, of course, you bother to read the fine print, and you happen to believe that human life begins at the moment of conception - the moment the embryo has all the chromosomes necessary to be identified as human.
Read for yourself from their "Patient Pamphlet" available here, or just take my word for it.
The pamphlet states, "Plan B® contains a dose of the hormone levonorgestrel that is higher than in a single birth control pill. Levonorgestrel has been used in birth control pills for over 35 years. Plan B® works like a birth control pill to prevent pregnancy mainly by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. It is possible that Plan B® may also work by preventing fertilization of an egg (the uniting of sperm with the egg) or by preventing attachment (implantation) to the uterus (womb), which usually occurs beginning 7 days after release of an egg from the ovary. Plan B® will not do anything to a fertilized egg already attached to the uterus. The pregnancy will continue."
Did you catch that? Plan B has redefined pregnancy. For them, a woman is not pregnant from the moment of conception but from the moment of implantation. Therefore, their drug does not cause an abortion. If abortion only means killing an embryo after it is implanted, they are accurate. However, if abortion includes killing an embryo before it is implanted, Plan B does cause abortion. It is all a matter of who gets to define the terms.
Christians know and DNA evidence confirms that human life begins at conception.
Plan B does not call what their drug does "abortion."
Abortion or not, it is still murder.
Interestingly enough, virtually all birth control pills on the market do the same thing from time-to-time. While it is not the first-line defense, the pill does prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg - a boy or a girl whom God allowed to be brought into being - if only for a few days before the drug takes the life we had thought it was impossible for the pill to take.
How do you feel about "PlanB" now? How about the pill?
Can we keep on taking the pill as Christian couples on the one hand while scolding Obama for allowing experimentation with human embryos on the other?
Discuss.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Christians and the White House's Culture of Death
Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
Let us not be negligent in reminding the people we worship with each week that elections have consequences. In this case, the election has had deadly and conscious-debilitating consequences. Obama has already 1) provided tax-payer funding for agencies that administer abortions around the world, 2) removed protections for medical professionals who object to performing abortions on moral grounds, and, 3) on Monday, he will begin funding the killing of human embryos (embryos are human, they have all their chromosomes just like you do) for the harvesting of stem cells.
Has your pastor been keeping you up to speed on the culture of death that is emanating from the White House? If not, press the issue with him.
Where are the pastors who gave Obama a forum with evangelicals? Where is Rick Warren? Where is T. D. Jakes? Why are they not demanding a meeting with President Obama to discuss these terrible measures? Why are black pastors not calling Obama out on an issue which takes so many African-American lives each year? Where are they now?
We cannot make these pastors give words to their faith, but we can give words to ours. This is cause for outrage that gets expressed to our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not "bringing politics to church;" this is government-sanctioned; tax-payer-funded murder, and we are duty-bound to oppose it at every turn. Will you remind your Sunday School class/small group/etc. to both pray for a change of heart in our President, to oppose his policies of death, and to vote for life in every election?
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself (Ezekiel 3:17 - 19).
Let us not be negligent in reminding the people we worship with each week that elections have consequences. In this case, the election has had deadly and conscious-debilitating consequences. Obama has already 1) provided tax-payer funding for agencies that administer abortions around the world, 2) removed protections for medical professionals who object to performing abortions on moral grounds, and, 3) on Monday, he will begin funding the killing of human embryos (embryos are human, they have all their chromosomes just like you do) for the harvesting of stem cells.
Has your pastor been keeping you up to speed on the culture of death that is emanating from the White House? If not, press the issue with him.
Where are the pastors who gave Obama a forum with evangelicals? Where is Rick Warren? Where is T. D. Jakes? Why are they not demanding a meeting with President Obama to discuss these terrible measures? Why are black pastors not calling Obama out on an issue which takes so many African-American lives each year? Where are they now?
We cannot make these pastors give words to their faith, but we can give words to ours. This is cause for outrage that gets expressed to our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not "bringing politics to church;" this is government-sanctioned; tax-payer-funded murder, and we are duty-bound to oppose it at every turn. Will you remind your Sunday School class/small group/etc. to both pray for a change of heart in our President, to oppose his policies of death, and to vote for life in every election?
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself (Ezekiel 3:17 - 19).
Sunday, March 1, 2009
That Giant Flushing Sound
That giant flushing sound that you hear is the "recovery" money being thrown down the toilet to fix up public housing, get rid of lead paint, and install green technologies in public housing as well. So much for creating long-term jobs with the money that the Democrats are stealing from our children and grandchildren.
How much are we spending on this?
Read for yourself from Obama's website.
"The money opened up today includes:
$3 billion to develop, finance, and modernize public housing; $255 million for Native American and Native Hawaiian Housing; nearly $100 million for lead hazard reduction; $2.25 billion to kick-start the production of stalled affordable rental housing projects under the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP); $2 billion to undertake much-needed project improvements to maintain the quality of critical affordable housing; $1 billion to rehabilitate affordable housing and improve key public facilities under the Community Development Block Grant Program; $1.5 billion to reduce homelessness, and prevent it among those facing a sudden economic crisis; and a temporary increase to the loan limits of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)."
The lunacy has just begun.
How much are we spending on this?
Read for yourself from Obama's website.
"The money opened up today includes:
$3 billion to develop, finance, and modernize public housing; $255 million for Native American and Native Hawaiian Housing; nearly $100 million for lead hazard reduction; $2.25 billion to kick-start the production of stalled affordable rental housing projects under the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP); $2 billion to undertake much-needed project improvements to maintain the quality of critical affordable housing; $1 billion to rehabilitate affordable housing and improve key public facilities under the Community Development Block Grant Program; $1.5 billion to reduce homelessness, and prevent it among those facing a sudden economic crisis; and a temporary increase to the loan limits of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)."
The lunacy has just begun.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Oh What a Savior
I had the privilege of preaching at my home church on Sunday evening. The text for my sermon was Philippians 2:5 - 11, very likely the most beautiful and theologically rich Christmas text in all the Scriptures.
This text begins by urging the church to have the same attitude - to think - in the same way as her Savior. What sort of attitude did Jesus have - humility, others first.
Paul shows this in a beautiful piece of poetry. He begins by affirming the absolute Deity of Jesus, and he ends by showing Jesus is the super-exalted Lord of all. In the middle of all this, however, is the fact that God became a man!
Get your mind around that fact! God, whose name is Holy, became a man. He emptied himself by what he took on - humanity. But, He did not stop there. He came as a slave! God made himself a slave in that He willingly went to the cross to take the sins of the world upon Himself and to redeem for Himself all those who trust in Him for the salvation that only He could make possible.
Right in the middle of Paul's hymn to Christ, he shows us the cross. The Son humbled himself to the point of death - even death on a cross. Because of this great demonstration of God's grace and holiness, the Son is exalted, given the name above every name - LORD.
The church is to now demonstrate (bow the knee) and declare (confess) the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We do this by living in humble service to others by the power of the resurrected Lord living within us and the church.
The church will most effectively and accurately represent her Savior when she humbles herself. The Son is best seen as the exalted Lord when we are humble. This flies in the face of a "name it and claim it" or "health and wealth gospel." The church who most exalts Christ is not likely the one with a glorious physical plant but the one who continually lowers herself for the sake of the glorious gospel.
This text begins by urging the church to have the same attitude - to think - in the same way as her Savior. What sort of attitude did Jesus have - humility, others first.
Paul shows this in a beautiful piece of poetry. He begins by affirming the absolute Deity of Jesus, and he ends by showing Jesus is the super-exalted Lord of all. In the middle of all this, however, is the fact that God became a man!
Get your mind around that fact! God, whose name is Holy, became a man. He emptied himself by what he took on - humanity. But, He did not stop there. He came as a slave! God made himself a slave in that He willingly went to the cross to take the sins of the world upon Himself and to redeem for Himself all those who trust in Him for the salvation that only He could make possible.
Right in the middle of Paul's hymn to Christ, he shows us the cross. The Son humbled himself to the point of death - even death on a cross. Because of this great demonstration of God's grace and holiness, the Son is exalted, given the name above every name - LORD.
The church is to now demonstrate (bow the knee) and declare (confess) the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We do this by living in humble service to others by the power of the resurrected Lord living within us and the church.
The church will most effectively and accurately represent her Savior when she humbles herself. The Son is best seen as the exalted Lord when we are humble. This flies in the face of a "name it and claim it" or "health and wealth gospel." The church who most exalts Christ is not likely the one with a glorious physical plant but the one who continually lowers herself for the sake of the glorious gospel.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election Results: African Americans, Action, and Abortion
The results are in, and it is time to respond. The question is; how should we respond?
We should respond by praying for Senator Obama and opposing him at every turn on issues that are clearly a violation of Scripture. It is possible to do both at the same time and to be Christ-like throughout. We must be salt and light and trust in our Sovereign Lord.
Ninety-seven percent of African-Americans voted for Senator Obama. Many of these voters are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to encourage every brown-skinned follower of Christ to use their well-deserved political clout to tell Obama that they will not stand idly by while he appoints judges who will not respect the lives of the unborn. Tell him that you will not support him in 2012 or his colleagues in Congress in 2010 if he removes protections for the unborn or signs the Freedom of Choice Act. He has to listen. Without your vote, he would not be our president-elect. For the sake of the millions of lives on the line, please do not be silent.
We may disagree on economic policy, but we should not disagree on the issue of life if we have been saved by the same Lord Jesus Christ who is life and the light of men.
We should respond by praying for Senator Obama and opposing him at every turn on issues that are clearly a violation of Scripture. It is possible to do both at the same time and to be Christ-like throughout. We must be salt and light and trust in our Sovereign Lord.
Ninety-seven percent of African-Americans voted for Senator Obama. Many of these voters are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to encourage every brown-skinned follower of Christ to use their well-deserved political clout to tell Obama that they will not stand idly by while he appoints judges who will not respect the lives of the unborn. Tell him that you will not support him in 2012 or his colleagues in Congress in 2010 if he removes protections for the unborn or signs the Freedom of Choice Act. He has to listen. Without your vote, he would not be our president-elect. For the sake of the millions of lives on the line, please do not be silent.
We may disagree on economic policy, but we should not disagree on the issue of life if we have been saved by the same Lord Jesus Christ who is life and the light of men.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Voting
What would the election results look like if we limited voting to people who are net contributors rather than net takers from the government? This would not be divided on race or gender lines - just lines of productivity. S/he who sacrifices the most to make government run would have the strongest voice. The next time you think of blaming the rich for your plight, remember this little nugget of truth. Fifty percent of Americans receive a check from a government entity each month (local, state, federal). Why don't we let the people who pay for government elect its leaders? Otherwise, isn't democracy just sanctioned stealing?
Discuss.
Discuss.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Just Wondering
If Barack Hussein Obama wins this election and creates a national heath system, what will happen when a pro-life mother learns she is carrying a baby with some form of disability?
Will the government require an abortion so the system is not "stuck" with the carrying costs of this child? Every national health care system ends up less efficient than projected and with costs billions more than anticipated. Is it too far fetched to suggest they will "eliminate" "unnecessary burdens" on the health care system for the "greater good" of the nation?
So, you ask, what about my freedom of religion on this issue? The government may say, look, if you want to have the child, that's fine, but they will not qualify for national health care - you will have to find a way to pay for it on your own. Which, with the private options we now have, this would be a possibility. However when a national system drys up these options by putting all the healthy people in a national system - where will we turn?
I am not sure how likely this is, but two facts haunt me. First, Barack Obama voted three times in Illinois to kill babies who were born alive after a failed abortion.
Second, our government, even under George W. Bush, already forces pro-life citizens to subsidize the operations of Planned Parenthood to the tune of more than $250 million annually. Planned Parenthood operates with a budget of nearly $1 billion annually. About a third comes from private donations. Another third from murder fees. Another third comes from us - the taxpayers. Planned Parenthood kills more than 225,000 babies each year.
I am opposed to national heathcare primarily for common-sense economic reasons. The government almost never improves something that is already a challenge for the private sector.
Yet, in the case of a liberal Congress led by an even more liberal Barack Obama, I fear a far graver danger.
Is this an unlikely scenario? I hope and pray it is.
Will the government require an abortion so the system is not "stuck" with the carrying costs of this child? Every national health care system ends up less efficient than projected and with costs billions more than anticipated. Is it too far fetched to suggest they will "eliminate" "unnecessary burdens" on the health care system for the "greater good" of the nation?
So, you ask, what about my freedom of religion on this issue? The government may say, look, if you want to have the child, that's fine, but they will not qualify for national health care - you will have to find a way to pay for it on your own. Which, with the private options we now have, this would be a possibility. However when a national system drys up these options by putting all the healthy people in a national system - where will we turn?
I am not sure how likely this is, but two facts haunt me. First, Barack Obama voted three times in Illinois to kill babies who were born alive after a failed abortion.
Second, our government, even under George W. Bush, already forces pro-life citizens to subsidize the operations of Planned Parenthood to the tune of more than $250 million annually. Planned Parenthood operates with a budget of nearly $1 billion annually. About a third comes from private donations. Another third from murder fees. Another third comes from us - the taxpayers. Planned Parenthood kills more than 225,000 babies each year.
I am opposed to national heathcare primarily for common-sense economic reasons. The government almost never improves something that is already a challenge for the private sector.
Yet, in the case of a liberal Congress led by an even more liberal Barack Obama, I fear a far graver danger.
Is this an unlikely scenario? I hope and pray it is.
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