The Gospel in Context

Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

0 ratings

· 5 views

Notes

Transcript

PREFACE

This is a serious issue. There is no way around. I am not going to down play it in anyway today. It is an absolutely heart breaking, shocking, and immoral subject matter. This could be upsetting for those who have been through traumatic experiences. I want you to know that we love you. If you need help healing from something we would love to connect you with an appropriate person in the church. We fully understand if you do not want to stick around for this message.

If you are new here this is admittedly an odd way to get to know someone. Its like being invited over to someone’s house and being like “really serious culture sin issue”! Boom! But the purpose of these gatherings of the saints as a local church is the edification of the saints. That is the primary purpose in the Scriptures. So it is important we do equipping from God’s Word on the matter. So welcome to the family.

This message can be upset. I fully expect people to want to complain to me when we are done about this message. That’s fine. But my hearts desire is that we will be appalled that abortion happens not that we talk about it.

When I talk about abortion today I am talking about the intentional taking of a human life, an unborn child, through the process commonly called abortion. I am not talking about miscarriages. I am not talking about complicated situation like an ectopic pregnancy. There are ways that life affirming doctors handle these situations and show value for both mom and baby. Those are categorically different than a medical professional intentionally posioning, vaccum suction or ripping them apart piece by piece. We are talking about the intentional taking of human life.

Many woman in our country and around the world have had abortions. Many men as well have played equal part, and one could argue that lack of male leadership, fatherlessness, is the chief contributing spiritual factor in the equation. There also have been countless doctors, nurses, volunteers, and many more who actual facilitate and perform these horrific practices. Then there are local and national leaders who quite literally legislate the so called right to this human rights violation. They have blood on their hands. I want to be very clear on this from the outset Jesus is your hope. If you will repent and throw yourself on the mercy of the cross there is forgiveness. The Judge of all the earth will remember your sins no more. He through the blood of Jesus will purge those sins from you and make you white as snow. I would echo to you the words of the Apostle Paul, “This is a trustworthy statement deserving of full acceptance. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost!”

This is a Gospel issue. Anytime there is a major cultural sin in a society the Gospel needs to be preached in light of it. The Ephesians had to destroy their witch craft practices. Paul wasn’t just going to go we will just ignore that… you know its part of your economic well being… its been around for a long time… we are just going to focus on the Gospel. What you do on the side is up to you. That is not how the Gospel works friends. Christ calls men and women to follow Him. He doesn’t call pieces of our life. Gentiles from day one of the proclamation of the Gospel being preached had to turn from their idols. They had to turn from deaply rooted sexual sins in their culture. It was actually reported that................................................................................................... There is nothing new under the sun. We actually have testimony from the early church as far back as the 1st century that they opposed the practice of abortion.

I see more and more Christians compromising on this issue. I see more and more Christians down playing it. and quite frankly I think they know not what they are doing and I think it breaks the heart of God.

Opener

“The year 1783 was an important year for abolition. It was... the year the Zong case had riveted the public to the issue of the slave trade and drawn them into it as never before.”

“On September 6, 1781, the Zong, a slave ship of 107 tons, set sail from the coast of Africa headed for Jamaica. Beneath its decks were crammed 470 slaves, horribly packed together....”

Slave ships would often ride the coast aquiring slaves. So some could be on the ships weeks before they even left to cross the sea. Luke Collingwood the captain of this slave ship made several navigation errors and turned the trip into a much longer journey. At the 3 month mark 60 of the slaves had died. That was high but not uncommon. If a slave died at sea or was sick they would get no payment for them. Slave captains were paid of a commission so this directly effected them. They would toss the slaves who had died over board. Collingwood had an epiphany. While they would not get paid for dead and sick slaves the slaves were insured so that if a disaster at sea occured they would get paid roughly 30 pounds which in modern payment is around $4,000. His plan was to take the sick slaves and to begin to toss them over board alive. He instructed the crew to say that they were short on water supply and it was necessary to keep everyone else alive. At first the crew refused. As henious and murderous of a business it was even this was beyond the pale for them. But they finally caved to the captain fearing for themselves.

On the first day they threw over 54 slaves alive. Very sick ones and most of them immediately drowned. A day or so later 42 more were selected… not nearly as sick as the previous and forceably thrown into the sea. The next day 36 more were selected. They fought back and 26 of them had to be forecably shackled. 10 of them escaped being shackled and leaped over board on there own. and 1 man was able to grab onto a rope, climb back on board undetected and furnished many of the facts we know about the case.

131 people were murdered in cold blood.

What the captain didn’t expect was the insurance company disputed the claim in court. Not out of sense of justice for the lives lost but because they didn’t think they should have to pay. But a lawyer by the name of Grandville Sharp then picked up the case and tried them for the murder of 131 image bearers. A judge by the name of Lord’s mansfield ruled that this was no different than “as if horses had been thrown overboard.”

“But Granville Sharp couldn’t be accused of taking his cues from intellectually lazy judges. The deliberate drowning of 131 human beings, and for profit, was a grotesque abomination against God, not to say an unconscionable blot on the British legal system. Sharp would do whatever he could, and the first thing he did now was write a host of letters to numerous clergymen across the country, informing them of the monstrous details of the case. Some of them preached about it in their sermons, and thus word of the murders and the subsequent legal travesty spread.”

Metaxas, Eric. Amazing Grace (p. 106). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

This henious crime and perversion of justice became a key turning point because good men and women decided to speak up.

We may think in our day if we had lived back then we would have spoken against slavery. Or if we lived during the hollocaust we would have stood against it. Well friends abortion is a human rights violation like no other.

If you are shocked by the fact 54 to 36 image bearers could be thrown overboard across three different days.... will it shock you that 25 children are murdered right here in Fargo every week.

Or what about 862,320 that died in 2017. Or what about the 56 million that are killed each year globably.

These numbers are so large they are hard to comprehend.

By comparison the 2017 numbers to these 2018 numbers of leading deaths:

Heart disease: 655,381Cancer: 599,274Accidents (unintentional injuries): 167,127Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 159,486Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 147,810Alzheimer’s disease: 122,019Diabetes: 84,946Influenza and pneumonia: 59,120Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 51,386Intentional self-harm (suicide): 48,344.

Now none of these are intentional . But abortion is the intentional taking of a human life. Since Roe v Wade passed there have been over 60 million children murdered in this way.

Murder, specifically murder of the unborn child, is the leading cause of death in the world. It is something the church cannot be silent about. It is unloving to do so. There is an old saying that goes, “A watch dog that does not bark is not worth having.” There is no human rights issue facing the world today like this issue.

Point 1 God cares deeply for the unborn CHILD

Exodus 21:12–24 NASB95

12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 “But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 “If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar, that he may die. 15 “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 16 “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death. 17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 18 “If men have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but remains in bed, 19 if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall take care of him until he is completely healed. 20 “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished. 21 “If, however, he survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for he is his property. 22 “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. 23 “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

I wanted to read the whole passage to you. It is intense across the board isn’t it?

A CHILD

Number one God calls the unborn person a “child”. Case closed. The Bible is perfectly consistent on this. John the Baptist was six months ahead of Jesus and is the first person (outside of his parents) to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. He does it in the womb. God’s word doesn’t miss a beat on this topic.

Death Penalty vs High Value of Life

Isn’t it interesting that the same passage that protects those that are murdered and specifically unborn children that are murdered also prescribes the death penalty for a son who strikes or curses his father or mother. This is likely a young man. In other similar passage it describes the parents coming before the elders and refering to him as a “drunkard and a glutton” (Deut 21:20). Obviously not exactly parents of the year if your five year old is a drunkard and a glutton. Sometimes Christians really struggle with the idea of the death penalty. This gets brought into “pro life arguments”. If you are pro life than you should be against the death penalty. Isn’t the death penalty anti-life?

One most peopel do this to avoid the horrors of abortion. When do we do that with other issues? I don’t go to an AA meeting and a guy is sharing about the dangerous of alchohol and I go “why are you talking about alchohal what about weed!?” This is often done because they have already dehumanized the unborn child in their mind and think each life is not a life worth fighting for.

It is a false equivalence and deeply concerning to compare those who what the Bible refers to as deserving of death with a completely innocent unborn child.

The Bible plainly and clearly supports the death penalty and not just in the mosaic law.

It supports it in the commands given to Noah after the flood.

It supports it in the N.T. “The government doesn’t bear the sword for nothing.”

It supports it in the story of the woman caught in adultery. What it does? It does! Someone in that story actually gets the death penalty. It was Jesus. The reason the Savior could say, “Neither I condemn you” is because He was condemned… on a cross… put to death. If you think the death penalty is unjust you think the Gospel is unjust. But wasn’t Jesus unjustly jduged by the Jewish Authorities and Romans? Yes He was. But He justly died a righteous sacrifice. The Just for the unjust. and God was JUST in judging sin in the person of Jesus Christ. If you believe Jesus is an acceptable atoning sacrifice you philosophically accept the idea of a just death on some level. The Bible makes it really simple: The wages of sin is death.

The Old Testament makes this really simple as well.

Exodus 21:12 NASB95

12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

It gives the logic behind it as well when it says in verse 23 when it says a “life for life”. Now they didn’t always take this litterally (not even in this passage if you read it closely). But the point is the punishment must justly fit the crime.

Genesis 9:6 NASB95

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

Murder is particularly a heinous crime because it destroys the image of God, a human being. When a court holds someone who has intentionally murdered another human being responsible by paying with their own life they are actually showing a high value for life. It is not eye for life. it is life for life. It is not tooth or foot for life… it is life for life.

You may not like that. But that is what the Bible teaches.

1. It is a just system. God is just in laying out these laws.

2. Human life and liberty is so closely guarded because human beings bear the image of God.

3. If nothing else here I want you to see that what is driving these laws is a high value of life!

Intrinsically valuable

The fact that this principle is laid out for both mother and child shows that God sees both as image bearers. They are both intrinsically valuable. It doesn’t matter who the woman is. It doesn’t matter how small the child is… or how far along in development. What matters is that you are a human being. Not that the Bible needs help from science. But we actually know that from the point of conception there is 1) all the information for a unique individual. a sperm is the man’s. the egg is woman’s. but once conception occurs they are a unique individual. 2) we know that they are alive and will continue to grow and develop under the care of loving parents unless tragedy strikes (we live in a fallen world) or they are murdered.

Look your brain continues to develop into your late 20s. Then it starts declining. I am on the downward slope. No one would say Steve… your no longer an image bearer. Being an image bearer is an intrinsic value.

Image of God

Genesis 1:27 NASB95

27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Notice they are “created” in His own image. Now they are given things to do as image bearers to reflect God’s glory. That requires action. But they are image bearers who glorify God. They are not someone who earns being an image bearer by glorifying God. Do you see the difference? In other words the fact that every human being is an image bearer from that moment of conception means being an image bearer is a GIFT! It is not earned.

This is what we call intrinsict value. Our entire legal system is built on this idea. Our entire legal system is built on this THEOLGOCICAL TRUTH of intrinsic value: “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal.” The reason smarter, stronger, more beautiful (whatever that would mean) people don’t get to impose themselves on other peoples life, liberty, or property is because even if I am dumber than you I am still your equal… because we both have the same intrinsic worth.

An atheist can believe this. They just have no justification for the logic of it. Why should everyone have the same intrinsic worth? Intrinsic value in the Christian world view comes from God. It comes form the giver of life. It is a gift.

The Gospel is a Gift

Let me take this a layer deaper.

If you wanted a Biblical way to say some people are better than others it wouldn’t be based on the sword, the bank account, nor the brain. It would be based on righteousness. The over arching emphasis in Scripture from beginning to end. At the pinacle of Solomon’s Wisdom he landed on this idea:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 NASB95

13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

This is actually a great equalizing idea as well. You are accountable before God as image bearer for how well you glorified God through your obedience. “This apples to every person.”

But there is one little bitty problem. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God has looked out across all mankind across all time and there are no A students, no B Students, No C nor D students. The whole human race has a big fat F. Failure in this category.

Well there is one exception actually. God took on flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life and died for our sins. For those who trusts in Him He removed our sins from us and He took the punishment we deserved.

Now Buckle up and listen to this. Just as being an image bearer was a Gift… a gift we spoiled. A gift we were accountable to and did not glorify God.... so also is SALVATION a gift. No one earns salvation. It is the gift from God. It is the best Gift. and it is not a temporary life but it is the gift of eternal Life.

In others words from beginning to end the most valuable aspects of human existence are rooted in a divine truth, a divine gift. There is no room for debate in the Christian world view on who is valuable and who is not. God decides that and it is a gift. We get the privilege of stewarding that responsibility. and as we will see throughout the Bible that the believer does that not when he takes care of his own life. but when he shows concern for the LIFE of others.

---------------------------

Gosnell

Kermit Gosnell sits in jail today for the murder of children. He was an abortion doctor. The state ignored reports for years not wanting to get involved. The only thing he did that was different was they were able to determine in the autopsies that some of the children were killed outside the womb not moments before inside. Think about that. Ann McElhinney who wrote the book “Gosnell: The untold story of America’s most prolific serial killer” says this:

I never trusted or liked pro-life activists. Even at college I thought them too earnest and too religious. I thought the shocking images they showed were manipulative. I distinctly remember my argument: a heart transplant is gross to look at, too. I don’t want to look at pictures of that, and heart transplants are brilliant. So back off, pro-lifers with your scary pictures. I also didn’t trust the provenance of the pictures; I was sure they had been photo shopped. If the anti-abortion position was so strong, it should be able to argue without resorting to emotionally manipulating its audience with fraudulent horror pictures. Once you have this mentality, it’s very easy to completely dismiss pro-life activists. And the universities of the world are teeming with young people just like that young person I once was. Fast forward to April 2013 and Kermit Gosnell’s trial in Philadelphia, when everything changed. Nothing in the intervening years had shaken my feelings on the subject. But the images shown in the courtroom were not from activists, they were from police detectives and medical examiners and workers at the 3801 Lancaster Ave clinic. The expert testimony describing “good” abortions was from OB/GYNs who had been performing abortions for thirty years. The witnesses swore an oath to tell the truth and to present the evidence, and they did, under pain of penalty for perjury. What they said and the pictures they showed changed me. I am not the same person I was.

McElhinney, Ann. Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer . Regnery Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Christians MUST stand in opposition to abortion, the murder of the unborn child, because we believe in intrinsic human value. Whether it be abortion, slavery, or holocaust they all have something in common. Those who commit and propagate such practices dehumanize the victim.

That we are all image bearers. and its not just “okay Steve I won’t get an abortion. got it. whats next.” no, no, no, no.... I must be alive to the sufferings of my fellow creature as William Wilberforce put it. To ignore the cry of

Point 2 God Gives Extra Protection for the WEAK

Exodus 21:12–13 NASB95

Contrast this with:

Exodus 21:22–23 NASB95

22 “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. 23 “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,

I want you to notice another contrast. In the passage an accidental death doesn’t get the death penalty. They are given the opportunity to flee to a place of refuge.

But notice in the case of the unborn child the death is accidental. Yet if anything happens to the child or the mother… even though it was an accident it is still life for life.

Why is their more protection given to a mother and a child that are accidentally murdered than to a man who is accidently murdered?

Men have a responsibility

You already know the answer. It is because men have a responsibility to protect woman and children not hurt them. I one time was talking to a young man who said in modern society there are no difference between men and woman… it is really arbitrary. I said really? Let me ask you this: imagine you were married (he obviously wasn’t married) and you are both laying in bed and you hear a noise in the house. Sounds like someone is breaking in. DO you nudge your wife and say, “it is your turn?”. Now this guy was very smart. he was really quick on his feet. He hesitated for a moment and goes… “we will both go”. First of all that’s lame. but I said to him “why both of you. what is it in you that could not stay behind.” God has put this responsibilty on men to be a protector.

How many times when this topic is being debated do you hear men being told to shut up. This doesn’t pertain to you. You don’t get to have an opinion on this. Let me just say to the men in the room… and I think everyone of you is great father or will be one day. every single one of you would happily die for your ffamily. but i just want to say to you do not get to sit this conversation out. you have a responsilibty before God to reflect the Father’s heart. He cares for the least. He cares for the lonely. He cares for those who don’t have a voice.

Men Speak Up

Proverbs 31 is the passage that says, “speak up for those who cannot speak for himself.” Do you know who told him that? His momma. His momma told him that. Ladies teach your boys to stand up for the weaker.

Ladies Reach Out

Ladies the same passage says the virtuous wife:

Proverbs 31:20 NASB95

20 She extends her hand to the poor, And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

The hallmarks of a godly woman have always been focused meeting the needs of the least.

1 Timothy 5:10 NASB95

10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.

She has lived the Christian life as a godly woman. That is what it looks like.

We need men and woman who are not only going raise thier own children well but whose hearts are going to blead for the unborn child who is being led to the slaughter. And who will stand in the gap for women and men head to have their child murdered.

Jeff Durban

Jeff Durban, he is a pastor in Arizona, one time said to a man driving into an abortion clinic. He stopped his car to talk to him. He said if you go through with this today you will still be a father you will just be a father of a dead baby.

The man went inside. but he came out a few minutes later to talk to him somemore. He finally went back in and rescued his wife and child from that place. He went from driving his wife or girlfirend to a place to have his child murdered to saving their child’s life and no doubt heir relationship as well. We need men who will stand in the gap.

Prolife Woman in Fargo

There is a woman here in Fargo. She is the woman who has saved the most lives outside of the fargo aboriton clinic where 25 babies are murdered every wednesday. She opens up a pamplet and points to the results of a vacuum suction abortion, which is commonly practiced at this clinic, and she says that is what you are going to do to your baby. and she saves lives doing that.

JUDE

Those people may sound radical but I promise you they are a good friend to those who listen.

Jude 22–23 NASB95

22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

This passage is talking about false teaching. But the principle of mercy here is astute. Show mercy in such away that you don’t get dragged into their belief system or practices.

APOSTLE PAUL and ABBY JOHNSON

Jesus said the one who loves Him much is the one who has been forgiven much. Paul, the greatest missionary the earth has ever seen, said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of who I am the foremost.” I think there is a direct correlation between that attitude and the magnitude of the impact Paul had on others. Paul, just like Jesus, was on a rescue mission to save sinners. That needs to be our heart for both the people going in and out of the aboriton clinic.

Abby Johnson and her ministry “and then there were none” has helped 430 workers leave the abortion industry and begin to heal. She use to run a very large plan parenthood clininc in texas and her life was changed when she saw one take place on an ultra sound. There is no question in mind that there is a direct correlation between the mercy she was shown by the Lord and the mercy she as shown to those 430 workers.

There is no aboriton doctor, no woman who has had an abortion, no man who has pressured and even threatened his girl friend to get an abortion that cannot be forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Jesus’ merciful shoulders are broader than anything you have done friend.

When Paul, who the Bible says was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”, got saved do you know what the church did? Well at first they were afraid because they thought it was a ploy. But Barnabas sticks his neck and vouches for the man. Then Paul very quickly goes from being the persecutor to now being the target of his own counrtymen for preaching Christ. and you know what the church does? It rescues him. They hide him and send him to another area.

When you hear that story you here mercy, upon mercy, upon mercy.

NPR Story

I really believe the Gospel is the answer to this problem. We need women and men who will run a rescue shop in a yard of hell as CT Studd would say. When a woman gets an abortion she is left high and dry and thrown into a pit of dispair. I remember one year NPR (Nation Public Radio) did a celebration of Roe v Wade (your tax dollars at work). They invited women to call in and share their story. To their surprise woman after woman called in full of regreat. One lady said I regret it because I was never able to have children again. Another was in tears and the host tried to comfort her that she did nothing wrong. But that doesn’t help her does it.

What she needs to hear is that Jesus can forgive you, cleanse you, and establish you. As the Psalms say again and again He can redeem your soul from the pit. He is the resurrection and the life. He is your hope and he is your child’s hope. There is hope in Jesus.

Murder is not the answer

Murder is not the answer to poverty. It is not the answer to being unwanted. It is not the answer to defects. It is not the answer to broken relationships. The answer to all these problems is love. Loving God and loving others.

All the problems a woman who goes into the abortion clinic with she still has when she came out. I promise you murdering her child only made matters worse. She needs mercy now more than ever. and we need to be the people ready to offer it. You likely know someone who has had an abortion. They need to know that Jesus saves and not only will He save He is the only one who can turn the story around. As horrible as the situation is He can redeem it.

We need to be people of Grace and Truth. I think everyone of us can be challenged by the Lord to grow in these areas.

Some of you today may have trouble having mercy for the ultimate victims of abortion. The unborn child. You may immediately go. I want to care for the mom. You will not help any mother who has been complicit in the murder of her child by devaluing their life. Your heart needs to blead for those whose innocent blood has been shed (remember a babies heart is beating from what we believe is now day 21).

VIDEOS

If you are not passionate about this issue I encourage you to get online and see what an abortion is. Just as it changed the woman who wrote the book on Gosnel it will change yours:

You can watch these animated videos called: https://www.abortionprocedures.com. Dr Anthony Levatino explains the differnt types, shows the tools used, and he himself has performed over 1,200 abortions. But by God’s grace he doesn’t any more.: “in the early part of my career as on OBGYN i performed over 1,200 abortions. One day after completing one of those aobriton I looked at the remains of a preborn child whose life i had ended. and all i could see was somones son or daughter. I came to realize that killing a baby at any stage of pregnancy for any reason is wrong. I want you to know today that no matter where you are at or what you have done you can change. Make a decision today to protect the preborn.” Friends the great thing about being on the side of life is there is always room for one more person. Help get more people in the boat. We are Christians and we should be the champions of life and mercy for those who have gone astray.

You can watch an old documentary called the silent scream on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbSixsMwH8I. They film an abortion of a 12 week unborn child on an ultra sound. Keep in mind this old technology. The doctor who performed the abortion had done over 10,000 and he atteneded the editing session for the film. He was so appalled by what he had done he had to leave the room for a while. He came and finished the editing but never performed another abortion.

There are much more grusem things you can watch. I encourage you to do it. William Wilberforce famously said to the house of commons in his efforts, that would eventually succeed, to end the slave trade: “Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.”

Proverbs 24:11–12 NASB95

11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. 12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?

Let your heart bleed and break for the innocent lives that are lost. When you see a child there is no mistaking it.

Practically what can you do?

You can get informed. If you are going to help people you need to know what you are talking about.

If you are a college student. It is no coincadense the abortion clinic is located near NDSU. A lot of young women are going in there. Have a conversation with people you know. Let them know you will help them make the life affirming decisions. They are not alone.

We as a church are strategically involved in some of the places we minister because of this issue. and you can get on the front line. helping people is messy. and it will be hard work and long relationships.

this month is the pro life woman center is doing a fund raiser you can give to that.

my wife has reached out to a few organizations that from time to time have pregnacy mothers that are on hard times. We are going to try and take on doing some baby showers for them. Please talk to my wife if you would like to be involved in that.