Proclaiming the Gospel by Caring for Our Elderly

As Tertullian wrote roughly 1,800 years ago, “it is our care of the helpless, our practice of loving kindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ” What better opportunity to demonstrate how this new life in Christ has transformed us—reorienting our priorities away from self to others—than by how we care for the aging within the community of God’s people? In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he stresses this responsibility toward the elderly and widows in particular. Such care is not merely a nice option if it’s convenient or affordable but a serious and universal command. Center for Christ & Culture

The Unrelenting Culture of Life

The doctrine of natural revelation was probably best articulated by the 13th century theologian and philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, who argued that truth is known through both reason (natural revelation) and faith (supernatural revelation). This followed the Augustinian concept of “I believe (i.e. have faith) in order to understand.” However, the 17th century Enlightenment turned this on its head by saying “I must understand in order to believe” and unfortunately that has been the dominant epistemology in the Western world ever since. We see this in our culture today and specifically in the categories of what it means to be human and how we determine the value of life. Center for Life & Culture

What Americans Need to Know About The Healthcare Takeover

Read Liberty Counsel's updated and revised overview of HR 3200 and the text of HR 3200 directly from a government website. See for yourself how dangerous this government healthcare takeover would be. Read more about the consequences of this bill in this article "Is There a Co-Pay with Forced Abortion?"

Of course, it is not enough to be alarmed and do nothing! It's time to visit the Senators and Representatives in their local offices in your state. Take copies of the overview with you so they can understand your concerns. Find your Senators and Representatives offices online.

Anti-abortion protests target area churches

An anti-abortion group targeted Salem Heights Church (Oregon) for the second time, displaying graphic images of aborted fetuses Sunday. The 4-foot-by-8-foot posters angered some passersby and neighbors. Leaders at Salem Heights Church tried to dissuade the group from coming and sent out a letter warning neighbors and church members. The letter affirms the church's teachings on the sanctity of life, but also disapproves of the group's tactics. Display organizer Darius Hardwick said he understands the images are difficult to look at, but he hopes they will inspire Christians to get involved in the anti-abortion cause. Statesman-Journal

What's wrong with the new pro-lifers?

Amid proclamations that common ground has been reached on abortion, a new set of anti-abortion actors has claimed leadership of the movement. They are no longer ultra-fundamentalist Catholics and Evangelicals but anti-war, anti-capital punishment, pro-environment "pro-lifers." Single-issue anti-abortionists thought they diluted the message by claiming abortion and war were equal horrors and other progressives and Democrats thought they were, well, anti-abortionists. But some of them are also opposed to discrimination against women and call themselves feminists. . . . These are good and decent people who, it seems, suffer from the same lack of understanding of women's nature and identity as do old-line anti-abortionists. Frances Kissling, former president of Catholics for a Free Choice

Number of Abortionists Falling in US

The Center for Reproductive Rights released the results of a study it conducted saying the number of abortion businesses and abortion practitioners has decreased by 25 percent since the 1990s. States such as Mississippi and North Dakota have only one abortion facility while Missouri has three. Alabama has seven while Texas has 40 abortion centers across the state. The pro-abortion group says the proliferation of state legislation limiting abortions, with laws such as parental involvement, informed consent and waiting periods, has lowered the number. LifeNews, CRR's report

20 of 24 Studies Agree: Public-Funding Restrictions Reduce Abortions

The Guttmacher Institute recently released a literature review about the effects of restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortion. Overall, the results indicate that there is a very strong consensus among both public-health researchers and economists that public funding restrictions lower abortion rates. When funds were unavailable, the authors found a consistent increase in the birth rate and a decrease in the abortion rate. These findings provide additional evidence that the rhetoric of President Obama on sanctity of life issues does not match his record. National Review

Teen Pregnancy May Be Symptom, Not Cause, Of Emotional Distress

It would make sense that teenage mothers have a lot of psychological stress in their lives, but a new study shows that the distress comes before the pregnancy, not because of it. "Psychological distress does not appear to be caused by teen childbearing, nor does it cause teen childbearing, except apparently among girls from poor households," said Stefanie Mollborn, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology at the Institute of Behavioral Science of the University of Colorado at Boulder. The combination of poverty and existing distress was a good predictor of teen pregnancy. Medical News Today

A pure heart before God

What God's Word has to say about sexual purity. Eternal Perspectives, page 9

What advice would you give young people related to their friendships?

You will never get away with an unwise choice of friends. It will hurt you and haunt you. Don’t let it happen. Your friends will greatly influence your values, attitudes, and behaviors. Eternal Perspectives, page 12

Obama's Science Advisor: Newborn Baby Not Yet a Human Being

President Obama’s top science adviser said in a book he co-authored in 1973 that a newborn child “will ultimately develop into a human being” if he or she is properly fed and socialized. “The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being,” John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions. Dakota Voice

Keeping Abortion Out of Health Care

Evangelical writer Jim Wallis has until now remained strong on the idea that nationalized health care should not force Americans to pay for killing unborn children. Now, he seems to be wavering. He says he hopes that abortion will not become a "wedge issue," one that will prevent us from enacting a sweeping takeover of the health care industry. American Spectator

13 million abortions a year in China

China performs about 13 million abortions every year, mostly for single young women who experts say know little about contraception. The China Daily newspaper said the real number of abortions is believed to be even higher since the 13 million accounts for procedures in hospitals but many more are known to be carried out in unregistered rural clinics. Also, about 10 million abortion pills are sold every year in China. The report said around 62% of the women undergoing abortions were single and aged between 20 and 29 years old. It called the widespread use of abortions “an unfortunate situation” but did not directly say whether abortions were on the rise. No year-to-year statistics were given. Irish Examiner

Tim Tebow Says He's Saving Himself for Marriage

There have been famous virgins in the entertainment world before . . . but has there ever been someone like Tebow who has publicly announced he's a virgin? I don't think so. . . . We've all suspected it before, but now we have even further evidence: Tim Tebow isn't like you and me. . . . Tim Tebow is superhuman in every way. Tim Tebow Says He's Still a Virgin, Saving Himself for Marriage, LifeSiteNews

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Editor: Interesting that purity is viewed as superhuman. Well, we do, ultimately, need the Holy Spirit to accomplish it, so the writer isn't so far off.

Deadly doctors

The health bills coming out of Congress would put the decisions about your care in the hands of presidential appointees. They'd decide what plans cover, how much leeway your doctor will have and what seniors get under Medicare. Yet at least two of President Obama's top health advisers should never be trusted with that power. NY Post

World's elderly to overtake number of infants

With every passing month, another 870,000 people turn 65 and the world's cohort of pensioners becomes larger still. Thanks to rising life expectancy, their ranks will soon be growing by almost two million a month and, by 2040, their numbers will have doubled to 1.3 billion. This will reduce the size of the working population and impose huge new pension costs, threatening to reduce the overall growth of the world economy. The US Census Bureau predicts pensioners will soon overtake the number of infants under the age of five because old people are now increasing faster than the very youngest human beings. Telegraph

LIFT Summit line-up

The 2nd annual LIFT Caregiver Summit line-up is shaping up with these scheduled workshop and plenary speakers:

• Christiana Getz, from the Alzheimer’s Association, speaking on “Meaningful Activities for Persons with Dementia”
• Anne Ellermets, from the Area Agency on Aging, on “Caregiver Resources”
• Sharon Van Dyke on “Making the Most of Chronic Illness"
• Rev. Ray Paget on “Grief Recovery and Mourning”

The Summit will be Saturday, October 24, 2009, at Grandville Bible Church in Grandville, MI. For more information, email or phone 1-800-968-6086, (616) 257-6800.

"Dad, I know where I am"

A young girl’s life and death inspire her family to share the hope of Heaven. Eternal Perspectives, page 5

To Those Who Are Hurting and Confused

What is more universal to human experience than suffering? And what is more important than the perspective we bring to it? Eternal Perspectives, page 1

Diagnosing comas: Unlucky for some

A newly published study suggests that a lot of people who have been diagnosed as being in a vegetative state are not in one. Diagnosing comas: Unlucky for some The Economist

Withdrawing Nutrition from Children Ethical Within Limits

Nutritional support can ethically be withdrawn or withheld from certain children with terminal illnesses or with severe, irreversible disabilities, the American Academy of Pediatrics has determined. Withdrawing Nutrition from Children Ethical Within Limits

Women Sell Their Eggs, So Why Not a Kidney?

While most of us find it revolting to pay for an organ, we readily accept allowing women to sell their eggs to an infertile couple. While it's not illegal for women in the United States to get payments for egg donations (it is in Europe), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has established ethical guidelines for egg donor compensation—a cap of $10,000 per cycle—which most fertility clinics follow. "I'm on the fence, I have to say. I'm really torn about this," says Jonathan Moreno, a professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. "People are understandably uncomfortable and uncertain about selling kidneys, but there really is a shortage." He says if there were a nonexploitative way of doing this, he'd like to see it tried within the framework of a research study. (Most shocking were allegations that poor donors were forced to give up their kidneys for $10,000, while the middlemen received $150,000.) US News

IRS Postpones Case Against Pastor Who Endorsed McCain

A group of pastors issued endorsements for McCain in late September as a part of an effort to overturn a decades-long IRS rule prohibiting endorsements from the pulpit. Aided by the pro-life law firm Alliance Defense Fund, they say the rules violate their free speech rights. More than 33 pastors across the United States were involved in the endorsement effort, including Booth. Instead of going after the church, IRS officials say that a procedural move forced the IRS to close the case, but it had the option to reopen the case in the future. LifeNews

On Health Care Reform and Abortion

It's one thing to search for ways to reform health care. It is another thing entirely to make abortion even more mainstream and acceptable under the guise of helping the uninsured and trimming healthcare costs. Richard Land

Faith linked to better health

As Christians and other people of faith join the debate over health care, many may not realize they already have a leg up when it comes to good health. It doesn’t obviate the need for a reasoned discussion of health care reform, but a growing body of research suggests that religious belief and practice leads to better physical health. ELRC, video, PowerPoint, paper