Thursday, November 18, 2010
Sources
I haven't done the citing of my sources yet either just so you all aren't like "dude, cite your sources".
Abortion From a Biblical Perspective
The destroying of a human life, particularly that of a weak and helpless child, is an act of blatant disregard for what God’s word says about the sanctity of life. Yet every year there are over 1 million of these horrific acts committed in the United States alone.
Actually, in the years of 2005, 2002, and 2000 there were 1.21, 1.29, and 1.31 million abortions respectively and there have been over 45 million legal abortions in the U.S. from 1973 to 2005 (which was the last year with reliable data) (Abort73).
With such staggering statistics and huge numbers, we have become desensitized to what those numbers really mean. We are so used to the idea of abortion and the astronomical numbers of abortions every year that we see the numbers and don’t think twice. Because we only see numbers, nothing more. We translate the killing of millions of innocent babies into numerical data instead of seeing the millions of potential lives that were snuffed out before they could enter this world.
What does this say about our country and how much we value human life? How does the country that emphasizes “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” throw away so many young lives every year without batting an eye? Well, here’s the answer: we have removed God from everything we possibly could and forsaken the truth of His word. Because of this, our views of children, parenting, and our views of God Himself have changed dramatically, and not for the better.
When we forsake the truths of God’s word we cease to apply them to our lives and when we cease to apply them to our lives we see the effects manifested in statistics like the ones shared above.
If we were still firmly grounded in the truths of God’s word we would see a passage like Genesis 1:26 that says “So god created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him…” and we would know that destroying the life of something created in the image of God Almighty is something that should never be done.
Then we would see a passage like Psalm 127:3 that says “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” and our thinking that children are an inconvenience would be totally changed. If we were reading and believing God’s word we would know that children are a blessing from God and that they should be cherished.
Also our view of parenting has become one that is more of an obligation than what it really is; a privilege given to us from God. We don’t realize what we have been given. When God blesses you with a child He is entrusting you with the care and upbringing of His most precious creation. If we were to really think about that, and get our heads around it, we would never see raising and parenting a child as an obligation again.
We can come up with many reasons why we see life, children, and the concept of parenting the way that we do, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t trust God. We don’t trust that He is big enough, that He loves us enough, that He cares enough, that He knows enough, or a thousand other reasons why He just isn’t enough. And when you’re going to be a mother or a father and you know you aren’t ready and you don’t have anything else to draw on for strength but yourself, then it’s very easy to see how abortion would be a favorable option. This is where our view of God has changed and must change again if we are ever going to see an end to abortion.
The top two reasons women give for wanting an abortion are that “having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities”, and that “they can’t afford a child” (Abort73). These may seem like legitimate reasons, but in light of what God’s word says, all they really convey is a lack of trust.
Jeremiah 29:11 reads “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” If God has a plan for each and every one of us and that plan is for “wholeness” to give us a “future and a hope” why would we think that He wouldn’t work out the details for us having a baby when we think it might interfere with our work or schooling?
In Matthew 6:25-26 Jesus says “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more that food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” So are we as human beings more valuable than birds? Or course we are! That was Jesus’ whole point in saying this. God provides food and shelter for even the birds of the air and we think that He is going to forget about us? The ones created in His own Image? Not a chance.
God does not forget about us. He doesn’t just set us here and then stand back and watch. He is immensely intimate and all compassionate toward us. The only thing we need to do is seek Him out. James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you”. That’s a promise from God in His word and when God promises something, you can bank on it.
Now I’m not so naïve as to think that everyone in the world believes like I do in the truth of God’s word. I know there are people who totally reject it so to them none of this will have any effect on them. But as a nation this is where I see that the U.S. has taken a turn for the worst. In removing God from our lives and ceasing to recognize His word as truth we have allowed our views on the sanctity of life, children, parenting, and God himself to be severely perverted.
Until we recognize once again the truth of God’s word and start applying it to our lives we will continue to see the effects of our godless moral views manifested in statistics portraying the millions of abortions that take place every year.
Pastor and author John Piper sums up the whole point of this paper so eloquently. He says “Submit yourselves to God. Draw near to him. Live by the power of his grace. Let him shape your desires rather than the world and the feisty, self-centered temperament of our culture. Let your life and your mouth bear witness to the real delights of knowing and trusting and obeying and being shaped and guided by the Creator of all things who loved us and gave himself for us.”
I haven't submitted this yet so if you all have critiques or corrections let me know! Thanks for reading!
Actually, in the years of 2005, 2002, and 2000 there were 1.21, 1.29, and 1.31 million abortions respectively and there have been over 45 million legal abortions in the U.S. from 1973 to 2005 (which was the last year with reliable data) (Abort73).
With such staggering statistics and huge numbers, we have become desensitized to what those numbers really mean. We are so used to the idea of abortion and the astronomical numbers of abortions every year that we see the numbers and don’t think twice. Because we only see numbers, nothing more. We translate the killing of millions of innocent babies into numerical data instead of seeing the millions of potential lives that were snuffed out before they could enter this world.
What does this say about our country and how much we value human life? How does the country that emphasizes “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” throw away so many young lives every year without batting an eye? Well, here’s the answer: we have removed God from everything we possibly could and forsaken the truth of His word. Because of this, our views of children, parenting, and our views of God Himself have changed dramatically, and not for the better.
When we forsake the truths of God’s word we cease to apply them to our lives and when we cease to apply them to our lives we see the effects manifested in statistics like the ones shared above.
If we were still firmly grounded in the truths of God’s word we would see a passage like Genesis 1:26 that says “So god created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him…” and we would know that destroying the life of something created in the image of God Almighty is something that should never be done.
Then we would see a passage like Psalm 127:3 that says “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” and our thinking that children are an inconvenience would be totally changed. If we were reading and believing God’s word we would know that children are a blessing from God and that they should be cherished.
Also our view of parenting has become one that is more of an obligation than what it really is; a privilege given to us from God. We don’t realize what we have been given. When God blesses you with a child He is entrusting you with the care and upbringing of His most precious creation. If we were to really think about that, and get our heads around it, we would never see raising and parenting a child as an obligation again.
We can come up with many reasons why we see life, children, and the concept of parenting the way that we do, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t trust God. We don’t trust that He is big enough, that He loves us enough, that He cares enough, that He knows enough, or a thousand other reasons why He just isn’t enough. And when you’re going to be a mother or a father and you know you aren’t ready and you don’t have anything else to draw on for strength but yourself, then it’s very easy to see how abortion would be a favorable option. This is where our view of God has changed and must change again if we are ever going to see an end to abortion.
The top two reasons women give for wanting an abortion are that “having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities”, and that “they can’t afford a child” (Abort73). These may seem like legitimate reasons, but in light of what God’s word says, all they really convey is a lack of trust.
Jeremiah 29:11 reads “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” If God has a plan for each and every one of us and that plan is for “wholeness” to give us a “future and a hope” why would we think that He wouldn’t work out the details for us having a baby when we think it might interfere with our work or schooling?
In Matthew 6:25-26 Jesus says “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more that food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” So are we as human beings more valuable than birds? Or course we are! That was Jesus’ whole point in saying this. God provides food and shelter for even the birds of the air and we think that He is going to forget about us? The ones created in His own Image? Not a chance.
God does not forget about us. He doesn’t just set us here and then stand back and watch. He is immensely intimate and all compassionate toward us. The only thing we need to do is seek Him out. James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you”. That’s a promise from God in His word and when God promises something, you can bank on it.
Now I’m not so naïve as to think that everyone in the world believes like I do in the truth of God’s word. I know there are people who totally reject it so to them none of this will have any effect on them. But as a nation this is where I see that the U.S. has taken a turn for the worst. In removing God from our lives and ceasing to recognize His word as truth we have allowed our views on the sanctity of life, children, parenting, and God himself to be severely perverted.
Until we recognize once again the truth of God’s word and start applying it to our lives we will continue to see the effects of our godless moral views manifested in statistics portraying the millions of abortions that take place every year.
Pastor and author John Piper sums up the whole point of this paper so eloquently. He says “Submit yourselves to God. Draw near to him. Live by the power of his grace. Let him shape your desires rather than the world and the feisty, self-centered temperament of our culture. Let your life and your mouth bear witness to the real delights of knowing and trusting and obeying and being shaped and guided by the Creator of all things who loved us and gave himself for us.”
I haven't submitted this yet so if you all have critiques or corrections let me know! Thanks for reading!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Paper on Abortion
Ok I have to write a paper for my Ethics class so I am doing it on Abortion. I haven't written it yet, but as soon as it is written I will post up here for you all to read if you'd like. And I am going to get around to posting about the discussions in my Ethics class too....someday.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Apologies
I am REALLY sorry about not posting, everyone. I have a bunch of interesting topics to cover (mostly from my Ethics class), but I can't ever seem to find enough time to write them out. I will try to post soon though. I hope you all haven't given up on me :). Oh this is random, but I am playing a tournament right now over this weekend and we won both our games today and we have two more tomorrow and I am starting the first one tomorrow. Yeah just thought I'd let you all know. I'll let you know how it goes. Posts coming soon. Peace.
Friday, September 17, 2010
1 Peter 2:19-20 says....
"For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God."
This scripture was one that I had read numerous times over the years, but had forgotten about until my wonderful mother, mindful of how I was struggling, referred me to it just a few weeks ago. I have been contemplating it, pondering it, and just letting it resonate in my mind for these past few weeks and I have found it very encouraging.
I'm sure all of us can relate to this verse on one level or another so I thought I'd post it as a reminder that God isn't missing anything. He isn't sitting back and watching as we are beaten down and suffering. He sees it all and He's right there with us. We may not see the reasoning behind our suffering, but God never does anything that isn't for our good. So I think we can all take heart in the knowledge that although our circumstances may look like the worst ever, God works everything out for good and he WILL work everything out for good. All we have to do is trust Him and endure.
I know from my own experience that saying this and living it are two totally different things. This all sounds good and it is encouraging, but what happens tomorrow when this isn't the only things going through your mind and the troubles and anxieties of life are weighing on you?..... "Well, thanks Taylor for letting us know it's hopeless...." It's not hopeless. Not with God at least. By ourselves? Yeah, then it's hopeless. But we aren't by ourselves. We have the Holy Spirit living within us 24/7, we have a God who we can pray to 24/7, and we have God's word available for us to read 24/7. I'd say we're good to go.
I think God sets things up like this so we HAVE to depend on Him. Cause when we aren't looking to Him for our strength then we will be overwhelmed by the troubles of this world and we can read all the encouraging things in the world, but it won't make a difference. We need God, every day, every minute.
So that was the encouragement now here is the challenge, and this is to myself too. Be aware of God. Throughout your day be aware of His presence and His promptings. Really be drawing on Him for power and strength and see what happens.
This post is really just for me. This is what God has been telling me lately and I just have to write it out to try and wrap my head around it so I figured I'd write it on here and hope it was encouraging to y'all. So yeah I hope it was encouraging. Thanks for reading!
This scripture was one that I had read numerous times over the years, but had forgotten about until my wonderful mother, mindful of how I was struggling, referred me to it just a few weeks ago. I have been contemplating it, pondering it, and just letting it resonate in my mind for these past few weeks and I have found it very encouraging.
I'm sure all of us can relate to this verse on one level or another so I thought I'd post it as a reminder that God isn't missing anything. He isn't sitting back and watching as we are beaten down and suffering. He sees it all and He's right there with us. We may not see the reasoning behind our suffering, but God never does anything that isn't for our good. So I think we can all take heart in the knowledge that although our circumstances may look like the worst ever, God works everything out for good and he WILL work everything out for good. All we have to do is trust Him and endure.
I know from my own experience that saying this and living it are two totally different things. This all sounds good and it is encouraging, but what happens tomorrow when this isn't the only things going through your mind and the troubles and anxieties of life are weighing on you?..... "Well, thanks Taylor for letting us know it's hopeless...." It's not hopeless. Not with God at least. By ourselves? Yeah, then it's hopeless. But we aren't by ourselves. We have the Holy Spirit living within us 24/7, we have a God who we can pray to 24/7, and we have God's word available for us to read 24/7. I'd say we're good to go.
I think God sets things up like this so we HAVE to depend on Him. Cause when we aren't looking to Him for our strength then we will be overwhelmed by the troubles of this world and we can read all the encouraging things in the world, but it won't make a difference. We need God, every day, every minute.
So that was the encouragement now here is the challenge, and this is to myself too. Be aware of God. Throughout your day be aware of His presence and His promptings. Really be drawing on Him for power and strength and see what happens.
This post is really just for me. This is what God has been telling me lately and I just have to write it out to try and wrap my head around it so I figured I'd write it on here and hope it was encouraging to y'all. So yeah I hope it was encouraging. Thanks for reading!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sidetracking a little bit
Sorry for not posting in a while y'all. College has been pretty crazy as I have been playing "catch up" from missed classes. College has provided me with a couple interesting topics though so I am sidetracking from my progressive posts for a little bit to talk about some of the things we have discussed in my Ethics class (fun fun fun).
I have only been to one class so far, but it was quite the experience I must say. It was really fun actually, and I mean that. We talked about numerous topics, but the main thought and topic through the whole class was the topic of Hedonism vs. Deontology. Hedonism, when it's broken down really simply, is the belief that the purpose of life is to be happy and the happier you are the better your life is. Deontology is the belief that a good life is about doing the right thing even if it doesn't always make you happy. So you have hedonism: Pursue pleasure and avoid pain. And Deontology: your moral duty supersedes your selfish desires.
Most of our discussion was on whether or not someone could do something kind, caring, or loving without it being selfishly motivated. People argued that yes you could and then others said no you couldn't and it got all kinds of crazy. It got to the point where people were saying even if you do something to help someone else and it gains you nothing or even hurts you in some way that you still did it because not doing it would have made you feel guilty and that wouldn't have made you happy so that would have been painful so you did it even though you didn't want to and it caused you pain because.....you didn't want to cause yourself pain.
Does that sound conflicting to you?
Anyway the debate continued and for the most part I was listening and trying to gather my thoughts before I said anything, but it got to a point where I just had to speak up. I got my chance to speak and explained that I was a christian. Then I offered the suggestion that there could be a different motivation than just trying to make yourself happy or trying to avoid pain and that was simply grace motivation. Well that threw a lot of people for a loop. Then I brought up Jesus Christ and how I believe, as a christian, that he lived a perfect sinless life, died on the cross to redeem everyone that would call on him, and then rose again so that we might live with him forever. I asked if they thought that His act of dying on the cross could be motivated by selfish motive or that he could have done it just to make himself feel good. One guy chimed in and said "Dude, you said he died for the whole world. If I was gonna die for the whole world, I would be feeling pretty good about myself..."
I was about to bring up the fact that Jesus SWEAT BLOOD in the garden of Gethsemane because he knew he would soon be delivered up to die on the cross, but I never got my chance to speak again. Do you think though, that someone who was sweating blood because of the stress of knowing he was going to die soon was dying because he wanted to make himself feel good?
It was a great debate really. I really enjoyed it and I think God is really going to use me in this class. People without Jesus as their savior are lost y'all and for the hour and twenty minutes I spent with those people it was plain to see that although they like to think they know what they believe, they really don't. Their beliefs about God, ethics, and moral standards are vague at best and they contradict themselves so often. It's understandable though, they don't have The Truth so they don't know what to believe or what to trust. How can they? They have nothing to measure against or look to for actual truth.
This is what I'm getting at here guys, especially any of you who are going to college or are going to public school: you have a great opportunity to show people truth! Along with love, care, and a true passion for Christ if you are able to share with someone, whether it's person to person or in your classroom or whatever, the truth of Jesus Christ and what that means in your life it WILL amaze people! Trust me, the people in my class were like "This kid is what? 17? 18? and he's talking like he really knows something I don't....what is that?" They didn't say that in words exactly, but I could tell by their faces that they were having a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea of grace motivation and the concept of living your life for something more than yourself. And it's not like I am some kind of amazing speaker or that I have any special gift for persuading people, any of you who know me know I am not real smooth when it comes to speaking, but God will work through you. The Holy Spirit empowers and will give you words to speak.
So, if you get the chance to share the Truth with someone or a lot of someones then DO IT! You will be amazed at what God will do through you. That's all folks! Thanks for reading.
I have only been to one class so far, but it was quite the experience I must say. It was really fun actually, and I mean that. We talked about numerous topics, but the main thought and topic through the whole class was the topic of Hedonism vs. Deontology. Hedonism, when it's broken down really simply, is the belief that the purpose of life is to be happy and the happier you are the better your life is. Deontology is the belief that a good life is about doing the right thing even if it doesn't always make you happy. So you have hedonism: Pursue pleasure and avoid pain. And Deontology: your moral duty supersedes your selfish desires.
Most of our discussion was on whether or not someone could do something kind, caring, or loving without it being selfishly motivated. People argued that yes you could and then others said no you couldn't and it got all kinds of crazy. It got to the point where people were saying even if you do something to help someone else and it gains you nothing or even hurts you in some way that you still did it because not doing it would have made you feel guilty and that wouldn't have made you happy so that would have been painful so you did it even though you didn't want to and it caused you pain because.....you didn't want to cause yourself pain.
Does that sound conflicting to you?
Anyway the debate continued and for the most part I was listening and trying to gather my thoughts before I said anything, but it got to a point where I just had to speak up. I got my chance to speak and explained that I was a christian. Then I offered the suggestion that there could be a different motivation than just trying to make yourself happy or trying to avoid pain and that was simply grace motivation. Well that threw a lot of people for a loop. Then I brought up Jesus Christ and how I believe, as a christian, that he lived a perfect sinless life, died on the cross to redeem everyone that would call on him, and then rose again so that we might live with him forever. I asked if they thought that His act of dying on the cross could be motivated by selfish motive or that he could have done it just to make himself feel good. One guy chimed in and said "Dude, you said he died for the whole world. If I was gonna die for the whole world, I would be feeling pretty good about myself..."
I was about to bring up the fact that Jesus SWEAT BLOOD in the garden of Gethsemane because he knew he would soon be delivered up to die on the cross, but I never got my chance to speak again. Do you think though, that someone who was sweating blood because of the stress of knowing he was going to die soon was dying because he wanted to make himself feel good?
It was a great debate really. I really enjoyed it and I think God is really going to use me in this class. People without Jesus as their savior are lost y'all and for the hour and twenty minutes I spent with those people it was plain to see that although they like to think they know what they believe, they really don't. Their beliefs about God, ethics, and moral standards are vague at best and they contradict themselves so often. It's understandable though, they don't have The Truth so they don't know what to believe or what to trust. How can they? They have nothing to measure against or look to for actual truth.
This is what I'm getting at here guys, especially any of you who are going to college or are going to public school: you have a great opportunity to show people truth! Along with love, care, and a true passion for Christ if you are able to share with someone, whether it's person to person or in your classroom or whatever, the truth of Jesus Christ and what that means in your life it WILL amaze people! Trust me, the people in my class were like "This kid is what? 17? 18? and he's talking like he really knows something I don't....what is that?" They didn't say that in words exactly, but I could tell by their faces that they were having a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea of grace motivation and the concept of living your life for something more than yourself. And it's not like I am some kind of amazing speaker or that I have any special gift for persuading people, any of you who know me know I am not real smooth when it comes to speaking, but God will work through you. The Holy Spirit empowers and will give you words to speak.
So, if you get the chance to share the Truth with someone or a lot of someones then DO IT! You will be amazed at what God will do through you. That's all folks! Thanks for reading.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Leaving for Vacation
Just letting you all know that I am going on vacation with EVERY member of my immediate family for the next week. For those of you who don't know my immediate family consists of 24 people =D. We are all going to a beach house that we rented out for a week in North Carolina and it is going to be massively fun! I can not even tell you how much I am looking forward to having all my brothers, their wives, and my sister and her husband together along with all their kids! I can not wait to get up there!
Anyway just letting you all know that I won't be posting for a week or so. Peace out my people!
Anyway just letting you all know that I won't be posting for a week or so. Peace out my people!
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