I was very intrigued to hear what Pastor Josh and the Bible says about the pro-life view. Being far from the pro-life standpoint I was thinking that perhaps today I would consider some opposing viewpoints. I was hopeful for any arguments that might cause me to consider that God is actually active in redeeming the destroyed hearts and lives of abandoned and family-less children.
Then, at 4 minutes and 25 seconds, Josh directs his purpose towards the people who *already agree with him* – not only rendering the sermon useless to me, but making me also wonder what the entire introduction about hoping that "you're growing increasingly convinced that you ought to be pro-life." I'm certainly not becoming convinced knowing that once I am pro-life I will be asked, "Are you *really* pro-life?" (I guess I should have realized that the sermon wasn't directed at me by its title).
If every year at this time Josh talks about the pro-life standpoint, abortion, and euthanasia in order to criticize those already in the pro-life camp, I would suspect the result will more likely be seeing that camp diminish.
I am sorry that I lost you at the 4 minutes and 25 second mark of my talk. Especially since giving evidence that God is actually active in redeeming the destroyed hearts and lives of abandoned children was the goal of my talk! At about 5:25 I tell the story of an encounter I had with a young family at a restaurant. My point was this: In 100 different ways our world tells children & adults that they are not wanted, not loved, not valued. And I was surprised to discover that though I am pro-life by conviction, I was telling my own children that they were not wanted.
I desire to live & think more consistent as I journey in life. There is a world of difference between being pro-life and anti-abortion. To be consistent, if I believe a human life is intrinsically valuable, then I should be supportive of every human being. Not diminishing or destroying them by what I say, do or don't say/do. I am a follower of Christ. As I read about Jesus in the Bible it is clear that he never demeaned or destroyed life, but always worked to help life flourish.
The point at the end of my talk was this: If Jesus Christ is FOR life then we ought to be FOR life too. Not just in our voting practices (pro-choice or pro-life), but in what we say and do to one another. Pete, if you're pro-choice then we probably disagree on some things. However, I hope we can at least agree that human life is precious and once a person is born we should do whatever we can to assist them – that they may flourish and reach their full potential. Rather than demean, discourage, abandon or even abuse them.
In my life I am growing to see that if I am for life, then I must do whatever I can to help the orphan, to be there for the fatherless, etc. I don't think Jesus would pull out a bullhorn and verbally bash Pro-choice people, nor would he criticize pro-life people for not being "pro-life enough". Jesus would be at the orphanage, adopting the unwanted Ethiopian boy who may have AIDS. Jesus would be at the clinic, offering to care for the unwanted child. And if I am a consistent Christian, I should be as well.
I was very intrigued to hear what Pastor Josh and the Bible says about the pro-life view. Being far from the pro-life standpoint I was thinking that perhaps today I would consider some opposing viewpoints. I was hopeful for any arguments that might cause me to consider that God is actually active in redeeming the destroyed hearts and lives of abandoned and family-less children.
Then, at 4 minutes and 25 seconds, Josh directs his purpose towards the people who *already agree with him* – not only rendering the sermon useless to me, but making me also wonder what the entire introduction about hoping that "you're growing increasingly convinced that you ought to be pro-life." I'm certainly not becoming convinced knowing that once I am pro-life I will be asked, "Are you *really* pro-life?" (I guess I should have realized that the sermon wasn't directed at me by its title).
If every year at this time Josh talks about the pro-life standpoint, abortion, and euthanasia in order to criticize those already in the pro-life camp, I would suspect the result will more likely be seeing that camp diminish.
I then stopped listening to the sermon.
I am sorry that I lost you at the 4 minutes and 25 second mark of my talk. Especially since giving evidence that God is actually active in redeeming the destroyed hearts and lives of abandoned children was the goal of my talk! At about 5:25 I tell the story of an encounter I had with a young family at a restaurant. My point was this: In 100 different ways our world tells children & adults that they are not wanted, not loved, not valued. And I was surprised to discover that though I am pro-life by conviction, I was telling my own children that they were not wanted.
I desire to live & think more consistent as I journey in life. There is a world of difference between being pro-life and anti-abortion. To be consistent, if I believe a human life is intrinsically valuable, then I should be supportive of every human being. Not diminishing or destroying them by what I say, do or don't say/do. I am a follower of Christ. As I read about Jesus in the Bible it is clear that he never demeaned or destroyed life, but always worked to help life flourish.
The point at the end of my talk was this: If Jesus Christ is FOR life then we ought to be FOR life too. Not just in our voting practices (pro-choice or pro-life), but in what we say and do to one another. Pete, if you're pro-choice then we probably disagree on some things. However, I hope we can at least agree that human life is precious and once a person is born we should do whatever we can to assist them – that they may flourish and reach their full potential. Rather than demean, discourage, abandon or even abuse them.
In my life I am growing to see that if I am for life, then I must do whatever I can to help the orphan, to be there for the fatherless, etc. I don't think Jesus would pull out a bullhorn and verbally bash Pro-choice people, nor would he criticize pro-life people for not being "pro-life enough". Jesus would be at the orphanage, adopting the unwanted Ethiopian boy who may have AIDS. Jesus would be at the clinic, offering to care for the unwanted child. And if I am a consistent Christian, I should be as well.