Friday feature: Statewide alliances

Pregnancy care centers are often attacked by abortion advocates as being "fake clinics" that offer false information about abortion and trick women into continuing their pregnancies. Nothing could be further from the truth, but countering such misconceptions is difficult. Abortion advocacy groups are well-funded and adept at manipulating the media. What's a center to do?

Most PCCs adopt standards of operation such as those to which we hold our partner centers. That's one level of defense. Another is to band together with like-minded PCCs in statewide alliances.

One such group is the Alliance for Life of Missouri. You can find a full list of their services on their website, but one of the key components is nurturing centers through consultation and training. Our president, Tom Lothamer, has led workshops at several conferences with the Missouri alliance over the years. He also worked with our state's PCCs to form the Alliance for Life of Michigan.

Another key component of alliances is building awareness among state legislators so they understand the value of PCCs to Missouri families. This effort is aimed at forestalling the tactics used against centers in other states that, thankfully, have come to nothing.

To do:

• Ask God to protect PCCs from attacks
• Find the Alliance for Life - Missouri on Facebook
• Read Are we really so bad?

Thankful Thursday: God's gift of His Son

His most recent time through Deuteronomy, my husband noted God's use of the word "test" in connection with the giving of manna. In 8:16 Moses said:

In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. (See also Exodus 16:4)

The test was whether and how they would receive it. If they were hungry enough, they would eat anything, but would they continue to expect it day after day as something good from God? Or would they abuse the privilege by greedily (and foolishly) hoarding it? Would they keep giving thanks for their daily bread, or begin grumbling about its monotony?

We often think of tests in terms of trials or feats of obedience, wondering, "What hard thing is God going to ask of me today?" But in this and other instances, God tests His people by giving them gifts -- whether they be the gift of life, the gift of a child, or the gift of His Son.

How have we responded to God's gifts?

Working Wednesday: Donor relations

In one sense, donor relations is the responsibility of every staff person at Life Matters Worldwide, but the task of recording donations and receipting them falls to Nancy Lothamer. She actually holds the title, Donor Relations.

In addition to maintaining the database and sending out thank-you letters, Nancy -- who is president Tom Lothamer's wife -- also orders supplies for the office and oversees orders of materials going out from our office. This time of year, with churches and pregnancy care centers preparing for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (January 20, 2013), that's a huge part of her part-time job.

Nancy is also heavily involved in the August Golf Classic -- organizing food and volunteers -- and other events throughout the year . . . a true helpmeet to Tom. She stays busy with church activities, their three children, and six grandchildren.

Tuesday prayer: Sandy Hook Elementary School

Pray that the families of the victims will take refuge in the heart of a God who grieves with them, Who gave up His own innocent Son to forces of evil, and Who accomplished victory over the grave in the Son's resurrection.

Pray that the teachers and students overcome the trauma of the memories of last Friday.

Pray that the hearts of our leaders will be moved to protect all children.

Related: The slaughter of innocents

Monday musing: The slaughter of innocents

In our sadness over the murder of innocent children in Newtown, CT, at Christmastime it's not hard to draw parallels with Herod's slaughter of children in Bethlehem near the time of Christ's birth. As then, the tears flow, and the cries go up. We ask, "Why? Why do the innocent suffer? Where is God?"

Asaph asked this question in Psalm 73, but phrased it somewhat differently: "Why don't the wicked suffer?" When the innocent suffer and the wicked don't, the result is the same -- people are tempted to doubt God.

They say: “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence;

For I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.

The wicked life of ease is as much a problem as the evil that befalls the undeserving. When God doesn't prevent evil or immediately punish it, some people conclude He doesn't exist, He knows nothing, or is weak. It's far from an academic exercise or idle speculation. If a satisfactory answer isn't found, some turn away from faith in God, or are hardened in unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-15).

Asaph recognized the danger. He was careful not to vent his tortured thoughts while they were still foremost in his mind, lest he betray God's people -- the generation among whom he walked. He wasn't like some teachers who raise provocative questions without making an effort to answer them. As the writer of Hebrews says, we have a responsibility to the congregation: "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

So what's Asaph's answer? Does God know what's in the heart of the wicked person before he acts? Does He see the future? Is He aware of who the victims will be and the void they'll leave behind? Should we continue believing in God and maintaining pure hearts when pain is the result?

The answer is yes, God does know and see all. Righteous living is worth it. In suffering, we experience the consequences of the Fall and recognize our need of a Deliverer. In His sovereignty, we're allowed by it to glimpse the brevity of this life and prepare for the next.

Asaph felt as wretched as anyone could "until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end." He came to terms with reality in the Temple where He was reminded of 1) God's holiness, 2) His desire to fellowship with men, 3) the problem of sin in the hearts of all men that separates us from God, and 4) the provision of sacrifices to atone for it. He saw that the wicked are on a slippery path, even though it appears they have it made. Their end is in sight; their destiny is destruction. (See also Matthew 7:13-14.)

As for the pure in heart, they seem to live precariously, but the truth is they'll be with God "afterward" (Ps. 73:24) and are always with Him now (v. 23). He is holding their hands, guiding them. God is all their desire, their strength, and portion (vv. 25-26).

This is even true in times of doubt. In verses 21-23, Asaph admitted:

When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within,

Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.

Evil exists. To avoid it, we'd have to go "out of this world," as Jesus noted. But good exists too -- with God. As Asaph says, "the nearness of God is my good," not all the stuff over which I'm envying the wicked. Sometimes we need a reminder that the only real good in life is the presence of God. Suffering is, therefore, useful in getting us to loosen our grip on other things that have taken His place.

One day Jesus was asked about some people who were killed by Pilate. Were they being punished for something they'd done, or was this just another outrage against goodness? Jesus chose to focus on something else. He warned, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." This could be the sobering lesson of Sandy Hook Elementary School, too.

God didn't let a bitter, brutish Asaph go, and He's not going to cast away the honest questioner of 2012 either. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Let us all humbly bow before Him.

I pray the grieving families will experience the nearness of God in all its goodness and take refuge in Him (Ps. 73:28) during this impossibly difficult moment. His Father heart grieves with them. The Son He sent to once-for-all atone for sin is the One who assures they can someday be joyously reunited with their children.

Related: 
Where shall we put this grief?
Weeping with those who weep – a first-hand response from Newtown

And slew the little childer
A Christian perspective on the Newtown shootings
Why Doesn’t God Do More to Restrain Evil and Suffering? Part 1
How could a loving God . . . ? (powerful answers on suffering)

Friday feature: Beacon of Hope PCC -- Bay City, MI

Life Matters has been associated with this pregnancy care center from its founding by our good friends Kim and Patti Lewis. They served the Lord in the Bay City a number of years -- Kim as a pastor and Patti as director of Beacon of Hope -- before recently moving to another church in Beaverton, MI, last year.

Leadership of the PCC is now in the hands of young and energetic Amy Srebinski. A few months ago, however, the mother of four was feeling a little overwhelmed by all her new responsibilities. She called our office. Even though she had no experience directing a center, she seemed to know what she didn't know, and that's often a key to success.

We were able to advise her on a few things, urge her to attend next year's Summit, welcome her as an associate, and give her a Standards for Excellence manual. We also introduced her to Carolyn Doyle, CEO of Lakeshore Pregnancy Centers.

Amy spent a few days on this side of the state, consulting with Sharlene from our office as well as participating in a training seminar at LPC. She also got to sit in on a meeting with directors of all the Lakeshore satellite centers. She probably felt overloaded with information on her way home, but we've already seen an uptick in her confidence level.

We're grateful for the privilege of working alongside directors like Amy -- made possible by our donors, years of experience working in this field, and a fine network of partner centers.

• Find Beacon of Hope PCC on Facebook

Thankful Thursday: for Christ the King

This time of year Christians around the world are thinking about Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. Another scene in His life has been on my mind since I recently read 1 Timothy about "Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate." (6:13; don't miss this: the passage says God is the One who "gives life to all things.")

Jesus testified about Himself, and that was supposed to give Timothy courage for fighting the "good fight of faith." It's meant to give us courage too.

What did He say before Pilate? My impression of that incident is that He didn't say much. In English Matthew, Mark, and Luke record it as exactly five words: "It is as you say" (to the question, "Are you the king of the Jews?").

They were a sufficient number of words to get Him killed and to give us courage. Do we believe it? He's either the King or He's not.

In John, we're given a little more: "My kingdom is not of this world. . . . For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth." Ah, there is a Christmas connection!

Christ's testimony before Pilate is either true, or it's not. What do you do with it?

Pilate brushed it off: "What is truth?" But it's less a matter of us deciding and more about being called by God: "Everyone who is of the truth hears [His] voice."

We take courage in Christ's testimony about Himself -- before Pilate, before the High Priest, before the people of His day. We carry the message forth from there. We "keep the commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing." (1 Timothy 6:13)

Now I'm in the first chapters of Hebrews; from there we're taken back to Psalm 2, another passage about Christ the King. In it, we see rulers like Pilate put on edge by Jesus. They just hate Him! In light of God's power and fury, however, there's this recommendation -- for kings and everyone else:

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Oh come, let us adore Him, as did the wise kings of the east!

Postscript: Can the Stable Still Astonish? -- a poem by Leslie Leyland Fields

Working Wednesday: What is LIFT?

We've mentioned LIFT in the previous two posts, and now it's time to say more about it.

What is LIFT? LIFT is a ministry of compassionate care to the chronically or terminally. Through LIFT, volunteers are trained to visit individuals and provide non-medical assistance. The circle of care also extends to loved ones who are often the individual's primary caregivers and who face pressures that can be physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining.

LIFT volunteers report to a Care Coordinator and meet regularly with each other for encouragement and support. They help their care recipients by ministering in simple, creative, and practical ways:

• Run errands
• Walk the dog
• Help with housework
• Bake a cake
• Bring fresh flowers
• Read the Bible out loud
• Shovel snow
• Help with correspondence
• Do yard work
• Drive patient to the doctor's office
• Be a friend
• Listen
• Bring encouragement

LIFT is an ideal outreach of the local church -- to church members and people in the community. It also sends important messages to the world at-large: 

1. Human life is sacred
2. God is sovereign over life
3. Jesus Christ conquered sin and death
4. God's people serve others through compassion ministries

Learn more:

What is LIFT? from Life Matters Worldwide

Related:
LIFT on our website
LIFT FAQs
The messages LIFT sends
How not to flinch in the face of suffering

Postscript: An award-winning movie -- Amour -- advocates euthanasia and shows why ministries such as LIFT are needed.

Tuesday prayer: LIFT volunteers

Yesterday's musing briefly mentioned LIFT as one way for Christians to ease the suffering of people, stand up for the sanctity of human life, and oppose euthanasia. Today we'll pray for people who volunteer to help people -- primarily those with chronic or terminal illnesses, and their loved ones -- in programs like this through local churches.

For instance, the Care Coordinator at Grandville Baptist Church (MI), Ruth TenBrink, has recently linked five volunteers with five care recipients. Pray that these will be mutually encouraging partnerships, and that the individuals will find sustaining grace from the Lord in difficult experiences.

There are also LIFT-type ministries at other Michigan churches: Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, Jenison Bible Church, and Calvary Baptist in Grand Rapids. (If your church has a similar program, please let us know. We'd love to pray for you, too!)

Learn more about LIFT on our website.

Monday musing: We wouldn't do that to a dog!

Time was when pet euthanasia was used as a rational for people euthanasia. The logic went something like this: If we can put a dog or cat out of its misery, why can't we do the same for humans?

[For examples of this sentiment, see the following articles: Pro-euthanasia ads air on Australian TV, Is euthanasia for the living or the dying? and Dutch Euthanasia.]

While the pro-life side appreciated the ever-so-slight acknowledgment that human being deserve better treatment than dogs and cats (that was the intent, right?), we reject the rationale. Human beings stand above the animal world as imagers of God. (Genesis 1:26-27, 9:2-4; Psalm 8:6-8)

The death of animals is morally neutral, while that of humans requires scrutiny. In Genesis 9:5-6, God made animals accountable for the death of humans, not the other way around.

 "Better" treatment of human beings, in our view, involves easing suffering -- through  palliative care and hospice ministries that affirm every patient's worth as valuable to God -- not ending it by killing the sufferer. Our LIFT program trains Christians to do that for fellow-church members and others.

So now it's amusing to read about a new twist on the argument. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, dying pets are receiving palliative care rather than euthanasia. In 'It's Just a Dog. Get Over It.', Jessica Pierce writes about how the line is being blurred between pets and other family members. Owners are shelling out big bucks to provide pets with care from one of the approximately 75 veterinary hospice services available around the country.

"Once euthanasia was the default response to an animal's mortal illness. Not any more. . . . Working together, pet owners and veterinarians can often maintain a good quality of life for an animal long after we might, in past times, have simply euthanized it."

Will this mean the end of the euthanasia-for-people argument? Will euthanasia advocates now say, "If we can give pets life-affirming care like hospice, why can't we do the same for humans?" One would hope so, yet it would be sadly ironic that it would take uber-love for pets to get us to view people from the proper perspective.

It's too late for those who have been legally euthanized in places such as Belgium and the Netherlands. And in Oregon and Washington state. (Click the above links for the latest statistics.) Here's some commentary from those who have digested the figures:

• There have been 5,500 cases of euthanasia in 10 years of legal euthanasia in Belgium. The European Institute for Bioethics raises serious questions about the practice, including how intertwined it is with organ retrieval for transplants. Wesley Smith says Belgium has gone "off the moral cliff."

• The Netherlands prize their euthanasia efficiency, but Dr. Bernard Lo questions the extent of government oversight in a recent Lancet article, (volume 380, issue 9845, pages 869-870, 8 September 2012, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61128-3). Alex Schadenberg says euthanasia there is "out of control."

• The Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation bemoans the steady increase in numbers of physician-assisted suicides in Oregon and the lack of transparency in the process. (This seems to be a common theme.)

• Washington is the latest arrival to the euthanasia scene, but it appears to be surpassing Oregon in numbers, according to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Church. 

Postscript: Get ready for the next assault on the sanctity of human life -- plant rights! See also Pea Personhood? and (for the inevitable twist) Why Did We Ever Start Calling Patients “Vegetables?”

Friday feature: Pregnancy care ministry in Papua New Guinea

Lori Smith is a missionary nurse in the mountains of Papua New Guinea. She runs a clinic that sees many people every day -- people who've let an illness go on too long, victims of violence. People who can't make it to the hospital in town, or have been turned away from there. Each one hears about Jesus.

Many patients are pregnant women. A few years ago, Life Matters helped Lori get a used ultrasound machine to help them see and bond with their unborn babies. It's a wonderful tool for life. Many have turned from their abortion plans as a result. Here's a report from this week's newsletter:

Four moms . . . came to our clinic seeking abortions. Sharing God’s Word with them, praying with them, and encouraging rather than chastising them for their request made a huge impact on their decisions . . . all have chosen life for their babies. One is just weeks away now from delivery. It will be a choice she will be thankful about for the rest of her life.

Lori and her husband Bill, who teaches at and administrates Goroka Baptist Bible College, have also turned their home into a haven for premature or abandoned babies. Village women help nurture the premies until they're able to go home and the abandoned ones until adoptive homes are found.

I wish everyone read Lori's newsletters. They're jam packed with stories about moms and babies, about patients tended to in the clinic, about churches begun because Christians cared for a newborn belonging to that tribe. Life in PNG is hectic, often frantic, and sometimes frightening with physical and spiritual warfare going on all around. Please pray for Bill and Lori and their family.

• Find them on Facebook
• ABWE website
• Previous mention on this blog

Thankful Thursday: Vendors

We've been busy making our Christmas card list and addressing the envelopes. We especially like to remember the companies we work with throughout the year -- some who give us discounts and a little extra of their time and resources to help us out.

This week, I'm most grateful for Tim at CDW.com for helping me find a huge discount on software that needed to be updated before the end of the year. There are countless people like him -- in printing companies, IT services, our mailing service, etc. -- who make our lives easier and help us steward the funds that the Lord entrusts to us. I like to think of them as an extension of our staff.

Thank you, Lord, for our vendors!

Working Wednesday: Baby Bottle Boomerang

If you could see Sharlene's office right now you'd wonder, "What's she doing with all these baby bottles?"

She's busy packing them up for several churches that have agreed to conduct Baby Bottle Boomerang campaigns in January, surrounding Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

What's a Baby Bottle Boomerang, you ask? It's a donation drive in support of the the pro-life ministries of Life Matters Worldwide. Churches distribute empty baby bottles to church members and return them to us at the end of the campaign full of coins collected from pockets and seat cushions. It's a fun project for families and a good opportunity parents and children to discuss the sanctity of human life.

Here's our President, Tom Lothamer, to explain more:


Baby Bottle Boomerang: Message for Pastors on Vimeo.

To find out how to a Baby Bottle Boomerang at your church, click here or email Sharlene.

Tuesday prayer: For enlightenment

In light of yesterday's musing, pray that Christians everywhere will continue to develop a biblical understanding of the sanctity of human life and godly ways of expressing it.

I've found that a "way in" to this huge topic is to study related biblical themes:

• Look at what the Bible says about violence and the destiny of violent people. There are many references found in Proverbs.

• Note what God's word says about injustice and how often it's tied to both the shedding of innocent blood and the neglect of widows and orphans.

In addition, our website lists numerous references that apply to any discussion about abortion. See What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?

This is our prayer for you:

We . . . ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Colossians 1:9-12

Monday musing: Is the biblical pro-life message ancient or modern?

Blogger Jonathan Dudley started something when he wrote "When Evangelicals Were Pro-Choice" (for CNN) and "How Evangelicals Decided that Life Begins at Conception" (for the Huffington Post).

His contention is that "what conservative Christians now say is the Bible’s clear teaching on [abortion] was not a widespread interpretation until the late 20th century." For proof, he cites individuals and groups who agreed with the legalization of abortion in some, if not all, circumstances in the late 60s and early 70s.

Dudley explains the migration to the current pro-life view as evangelicals falling under the influence of powerful leaders of the "Religious Right," such as Jerry Falwell. Christians should, in his view, "consider the possibility that they aren’t submitting to the dictates of a timeless biblical truth, but instead, to the goals of a well-organized political initiative only a little more than 30 years old."

Why does it matter that what evangelical leaders say is "the biblical view on abortion" was not a widespread interpretation until about 30 years ago? For one thing, it's harder to argue the Bible clearly teaches something when the overwhelming majority of its past interpreters didn't read the Bible that way. For another, it illustrates that evangelical leaders are happy to defend creative reinterpretations of the Bible when it fits with a socially conservative worldview -- even while objecting to new interpretations of the Bible on, say, homosexuality, precisely because they are new. And for another, by looking at the history of how today's "biblical view on abortion" arose, one can begin to see the worldview that made it possible. In the process, it becomes apparent it is that unacknowledged worldview, and not the Bible, that evangelical opponents of abortion are actually defending.

Several Christian writers generated helpful responses: Mark Galli of Christianity Today (here and here), John Stonestreet of Breakpoint, and Albert Mohler. I'd like to add a few points to the discussion:

• InterVarsity may have published (and then rescinded under pressure) a 1984 book that said abortion was legitimate in some instances, but it had already published Michael Gorman's Abortion and the Early Church in 1982. This book built the case that from its earliest days, the church opposed abortion.

• Regular Baptists, from which Life Matters Worldwide sprang, were solidly pro-life from the beginning. In 1971, two years before the Roe v. Wade decision, the GARBC (which would call themselves "fundamentalists" rather than "evangelicals)" acknowledged that "the sanctity of human life is well documented in Scriptures" and resolved to "go on record as being thoroughly opposed to abortion on demand."

• Diverse methods for interpreting Scripture -- in the past or today -- better explain why there's diversity in Christendom on abortion. Your stance on this issue has more to do with where you land on the errancy/inerrancy spectrum than anything else. Those who approach the Bible with a non-literal hermeneutic are the ones who come up with novel interpretations (concerning homosexuality, for instance), while we who take God's word literally have always maintained it's a sin. 

The same is true of abortion. Taking God's word at face value and employing grammatical-historical methods of interpretation, we are satisfied with statements about the personality of unborn humans as found in Genesis 16:11-12 and 25:22-24, Psalm 139:13-16, Jeremiah 1:5, Hosea 12:2-3, Luke 1:15 and 41, and Galatians 1:15-16. 

• What hindered many Christians from early involvement in the pro-life movement was not lack of biblical support, but hesitancy to join the political fray. What increased the comfort-level with the pro-life movement for many evangelicals (and brought them into the political arena by the backdoor) were hands-on ministries such as pregnancy care centers that sprang up in the 1980s. PCCs gave them opportunities to prevent abortions by offering alternatives. They could serve families in their communities, reach out to women who'd already had abortions, and share the Gospel.  

Over time, our understanding has grown about just how pervasive the sanctity of human life ethic is in Scripture, and what we are called to do about it. More than a few proof-texts, it's a theme from Genesis to Revelation.

Every age has been confronted by challenges that require Christians to go to work "rightly dividing the word of truth." If, as Peter says, "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness," then we are equipped to handle questions that didn't necessarily arise in the 1st century -- or the 3rd, or the 13th.

No, the word "abortion" never appears in the Bible, but if you study topics such as violence or the murder of innocent people, you'll find those are the domain of wicked people. Furthermore, the treatment of widows and orphans as well as all poor people is also tied to the sanctity of human life. Thus, if you make a move to strike someone, or abandon a hungry person to her own devices, you're placing them at risk of death -- their blood would be on your hands.

Abortion is nothing if it is not violent; it is the ultimate injustice. The pregnant mother and her unborn child must not be abandoned. We are learning what to do when it comes to this issue.

Postscript 12/6/12: Here's a pertinent article by Phil Cooke that appeared on a Huffington Post blog -- How Christianity Lost Its Voice in Today's Media Driven World