Refuge

Salvation ... comes from the Lord ... because they take refuge in him. (Psalm 37:39-40)

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Pre-born Lives Matter


On January 23rd New York became the most dangerous state for pre-born human beings to live.  NY lawmakers made it legal to kill children up to the moment they are born and breathing on their own.  The law also excused medical personnel from stepping in to save the life of a survivor of an abortion attempt.  
With this action, NY officially became the most barbaric of states in the US.  Killing pre-born children is savage. Taking human life in this way is evil.  But the door for accepting this kind of evil was thrown open on January 22, 1973 with the US Supreme Court Roe  vs Wade decision.  A slippery slope was begun by not clearly defining a pre-born child as human life, and tragically, the slope continues its decline.  
I became aware of the gravity of the problem sometime around 1980, and joined the battle to defend the value of human life.  In the 1980’s my wife and I spent countless hours on the sidewalks of abortion facilities talking to young ladies about their options in pregnancy.  We were instrumental in saving a number of babies lives, and saving their mothers the horrors of abortion.  We led groups that offered practical assistance to moms and dads of children that were rescued from the knives of abortionists.  We were founding members of a Board of Directors to bring a Bethany Christian Services adoption provider to our town.  Later we turned our attention to the prevention side of the pro-life efforts by founding an organization to promote the message of chastity for youth in our region.  With 3 natural born children of our own, in 1996 we adopted a 3-year-old girl from China.  Currently in our counseling ministry we help post-abortion men and women deal with the losses associated with making their bad choices.   We are pro-life, not just in theory, but in action, because truth demands action.  
           Why is truth important?  History tells us why.  About a century ago, a casual view of truth led to the careless destruction of approximately 11 million peoples’ lives (see Andy Andrews book “How Do You Kill 11 Million People”).  The Nazis were pathological liars and no one had the will to hold them accountable until it was much too late.  A pattern of lying, deception, and propaganda accompanies dictatorships throughout human history.  Our world has suffered diar consequences of foolishness and  falsehood.  Since the original sin of mankind, we are extremely prone to falsehood and vulnerable to its destructive results.  
A society is only as morally good as the people who make up the society.  A person’s thinking determines their actions.  If a person is not thinking true thoughts, their actions will yield results that are not based in truth.  For example, the truth is that a newly conceived child is a unique human being as expressed by God’s creation.  If people place value in that truth, thoughts and actions will treat the pre-born child the same as any two year old child they know. They may wonder what the child will do when they grow up, which set of parents do they look like the most, or observing what kind of personality they have.  Good-willed thoughts of the child’s future will lead to actions that support the child and help them grow into the person they are meant to be.  On the other hand, if a pre-born child is not thought of in ths same way as a two year old, their value will be diminished.  If they are thought of as unwanted, inconvenent, unsupportable, not yet human, etc., then actions taken by adults around them will be unsupportive and may not lead to the well being of the child (and the child’s family).   
The idea of “slippery slope” magnifies this truth with even greater implications.  A famous quote by Mahatma Gandi states, “The true measure in any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”  When we tolerate the ill-treatment of pre-born children who have no voice of their own, we set ourselves up for the ill-treatment of anyone deemed unfit for some random reason.  Again, the Nazis showed this by killing persons with disabilities, Jewish people, and then anyone who disagreed with their regime.  By taking away the God-given value in what it means to be human, it becomes easier to take away God-given value in what it means to be married, be male, be female, be a person with a certain color skin, ethnic background, or cultural views.  The social ills facing our society all trace back to dispising the sanctity of human life.  
So what exactly is the truth?  The Truth is God’s reality, not mankind’s perceptions of reality.  The truth is absolute, and not defined by trends, popularity, or media propaganda.  God is the Author and Creator of life.  Human life is God’s idea.  Our respect for God is mirrored by our respect for the sacredness of life.  When we dishonor God and disregard his ways, we are at risk for the worst kinds of falsehoods and deception known to mankind.  The Book of Proberbs in the Bible (written by the most intelligent and succcessful person of his time) starts out by acknowledging that wisdom begins with a respect (“fear” as he calls it) of God.  Many of the verses in Proverbs speak of the folly of mankind trying to ignore or devalue the Creator.  God knows each person better than they know themselves.  God knows everything about the world in greater depth than the combined knowlege of all humans put together.  God’s power, authority, and majesty are limitless.  Every human life from the moment of conception is a unique stamp of God’s creative ability.  Every individual’s worth and value is equal and determined by God.  Every human life is valuable because God made it so.   
           How should we then live?  Seek God for truth.  God came into the world as a man, Jesus Christ, to demonstrate the heart of Father God, and save us from the largest slippery slope of all.  Our sin condition seeks to devalue the dignity God placed in each of us from the moment of conception.  We need Jesus to redeem us from our lost condition.  The greatest deception of all is that we don’t need God to do this for us.  We are deceived to think we can define our humanity on our own, and decide for ourselves what is best, what is good or bad, or right from wrong.  
Pre-born lives matter, All lives matter.  All of life matters. Your life matters.  How you live your life matters.  It matters how we think and act.  Living for God reveals truth.  It matters how we make decisions, choices, and form opinions, with their corresponding actions, results, and consequences.   Disrespecting God reveals falsehood  (not always immediately, but eventually for certain).  God wants to heal us in the midst of the struggles we face in this life.  All mental health problems (not directly attributed to brain malfunction) are somehow related to poor self concept (see previous articles).  Perceiving ourselves as  unworthy and lacking value keeps us fulfilling our God-given purpose for our existence.  Poor image of self leads to poor image of others, causing poor relationships, which cause a breakdown of society.  When we fail to take action to defend  the truth of the value of human life, our world literally falls apart.    
May I encourage you to take a stand for truth.  Start with what you have the most control over, that is your own transformation and sanctification journey.  Receive God’s healing for guilt or shame.   Look at some of my previous articles for help with this.  Your personal life matters, and directly affects your views of God.  In addition to guirding up your inner being, be aware of the evil influences from without.  The major news media sources have a record of being extremely biased  against God-honoring people and principles.  Do not allow your mind to be tainted  by their false narratives.  It’s not always what they say, but what they don’t say that misleads the most.  Editors often fail to report significant events because they are more concerned about selling their product (via popular opinion), that revealing truth. On the bright side, CBNNews.com is a great source for truth reporting.  Of course your time building your relationship with God is crucial.  Truth is found not merely in the words of the Bible, but getting to better know the Person of God behind the words.  Another thing you can do is make your market place purchases count. Do research on vendors, and only support those who refrain from joining the trends that dishonor God.  Find a church, get pugged in, and support leadership of like-minded people supporting all of the above.  
One last thing.  If you have been a participant in abortion in any way, it is not an unforgivable sin.  Our Father God has his arms open wide for you regardless of how you feel, or what you’ve done.  You’re not alone.  There is someone who understands.  God is there and he understands, but there are people who can help you also.  Please contact me if you need help.  
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian martyred by the Nazis a few days before his concentration camp was liberated by US soldiers.  This article is inspired by his quote, “Not to speak, is to speak. Not to act, is to act.”  We must speak.  We must act, because truth demands action.  Our pro-life/ God-respecting actions over the years have been motivated by Scripture.  One most pointed Proverb says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”  does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?” (Proverbs 24:11-12).  What will your next action be to uphold the value of life?   


by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry