Where would you be if….

Before you start to read this, be warned – it’s a rare “rant” for me as I don’t often give in to the extent of my feelings on some issues in the way I have done with this one, but some things just get me plain mad, and this is one of them!!

I’ve been listening a lot lately to talks and discussions about abortion issues in particular, especially where they concern Barack Obama’s excessively liberal stance on this topic.   I was utterly shocked beyond anything I’ve ever felt before, to hear that he not only condones abortion, but also that he voted in favour of partial birth abortions to the point where he would support a doctor actively killing a BABY if it dared to exit the womb of its own accord before the doc got his hands on it during a planned abortion procedure.   I find it incredibly fascinating how so many women in particular seem to be able to ignore the utterly obvious in all of this.   While they lie there 7 months+ pregnant desiring to be rid of the “thing” inside of them, they don’t want to contend with how that is done, or the end result etc.   To them the “thing” inside them is a nonentity of no value – it must be, or else they would not only deliver the baby but be willing to put it up for adoption instead.   I seriously want to know why that is such a huge undesirable thought for them.   What really leaves me confused is how in an “unwanted” pregnancy the baby is only ever referred to as “product of conception” or other medical terminology e.g. foetus, embryo, etc,  but yet, if say x years down the line the woman’s circumstances change and she then is married and gets pregnant, from the outset the “thing” is incredibly now called a BABY!!!   Does anyone else see the irrationality in that??   Or can someone explain it to me, as I’m seriously lost on how you can switch your entire pysche to think one thing to suit one set of circumstances and an entirely different to suit another, when it pertains to the same “thing” – a BABY!!   I’m also utterly galled by the fact that partial birth “abortion” is nothing short of infanticide but because the woman’s rights trump the baby’s it’s overlooked and everything is done to prevent it gaining any notoriety.    I have to ask again – what the heck is the problem about giving birth and handing the child over to someone else to love it and bring it up – and I can only surmise that it’s a desire to have NO responsibility in any shape or form for the child that God has graciously granted the mother to have – perhaps even for the sole purpose of providing the child for another infertile couple – who knows?!

Excellent sermon on idolatry….

No post – just wanted to share this interesting sermon by one of “our” own – Aaron is originally from N. Ireland and now living and speaking in a church in Greenville, South Carolina, US.   This is a timely and thought-provoking talk on idolatry and what it can and often does mean for Christians and non-Christians alike.   Highly recommended.

 

Our Featured Video   Keep Yourselves From Idols Rev. Aaron Dunlop Sunday – PM

Have you desired to be forgiven lately??

For many people, the concept of forgiveness for something either done to them, or that they have done to someone else, is something that either is of no interest, or conversely causes great anguish and distress.   And ultimately for the person who has a thriving conscience (a gift from God by the way!) they will do whatever it takes to gain the peace that can only come from resolving this need.   But while we can manage to forgive people to some extent, most of us will discover we will not be able to do it fully, solely in our own strength and certainly as Christians, we are required to ask God for His strength to enable us to forgive someone.   And ultimately it’s placed in our awareness every single time we recite the “Lord’s” prayer, that we cannot gain forgiveness ourselves unless we do indeed forgive others who’ve wronged us, and in fact, Jesus gives the impression that it is also to whatever extent we forgive others that our own forgiveness will be provided by God, so it’s a hugely important area to deal with. 

But the point of this particular post is aimed somewhat at my Jewish friends – those at least who’re willing to read something of a “Gentile, Christian” viewpoint – because I think forgiveness and everything involved in it from the point of view of our relationship with God, is hugely important when it comes to a Jew determining to know more about his Messiah.   One of the threads running through Judaism is a continual desire to please God, and since the destruction of the 2nd Temple, Jews have endlessly turned to many ways of attempting to do this.   But one aspect of life has never been able to be fully dealt with by the multitude of Mitzvots undertaken by any religious Jew, and that is in this whole area of forgiveness.