11.27.2008

Abortion a universally recognized human right?

I haven't researched this, but it rings true. Unfortunately.
October 20, 2008

Dear Colleague,

On December 10th, radical pro-abortion groups will present petitions asking the UN General Assembly to make abortion a universally recognized human right.

We have met the challenge and you can help.

We have initiated a petition drive that calls for governments to interpret the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as protecting the unborn child from abortion. Along with a coalition of pro-life groups from around the world, we will present our petitions at a press conference at UN headquarters.

So far, in only three weeks we have generated 46,417 names endorsing our petition; that is 15,000 a week! I now fully expect that we will present 100,000 names on December 10th, the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In order for this to happen, though, I need your help and I need it now.

If you have not signed the petition, do so now HERE or by going directly to
http://www.c-fam.org and clicking on the icon "UN Petition for the Unborn Child." Then, after you have signed the petition, send this email or one of your own to ALL OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

If you have already signed the petition, send this email or one of your own to ALL OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS and urge them to sign it.

What we are trying to do is create a real global internet campaign that will shock the pro-abortion radicals at the UN on December 10th! To help you, the petition has been translated into 11 different languages and each can be found HERE or by going to
http://www.c-fam.org

So, please act now. Go HERE or
here and sign the petition. Then send this message or one of your own to ALL OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President
C-FAM

PS We absolutely must submit more names to the UN than the pro-abortion radicals. They are bigger, richer and stronger than we are. So, act now; sign the petition
HERE or go here. And send this message to everyone you know!

11.25.2008

More Wisdom From Rev. Dr. Rick Stuckwisch

Excerpt: "The ground-zero problem is the presupposition that children are a choice. Every disagreement, every frustration, every poor decision (because there are choices and decisions to be made), and every fear pertaining to family size either stems from this presupposition or is exacerbated by it. Christians should know better, but they may be misled. They confess that God is the "Maker of the heavens and the earth," the "Author and Giver of life," but their decisions and actions may profess something else. Perhaps it derives from an imprecise and sloppy way of speaking, but the rhetoric has shaped thinking and solidified opinions contrary to the Creed." ~ Rev. Stuckwisch

Read the whole thing: Musings on Having a "Big" Family [RickStuckwisch.jpg]

11.11.2008

The Leprosy of Lust

Consider with me some of Luther’s thoughts from a marriage sermon from 1545.

Today marriage is constantly talked about: Is marriage truly a Christian estate? Is marriage only one man and one woman? Is there really a need for marriage? What about people just living together?

Before the fall of man into sin God did indeed institute marriage:

Genesis 1 [27-28]: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.’”

Genesis 2:24. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Luther says, “There it is; these are not my words nor those of any other man, but God’s Word. This is the way he created and ordained it.”

For this wedding, Luther’s primary text is Hebrews 13:4: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.” In his explanation to the sixth commandment he writes that “we lead a sexually pure and decent lives in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.”

This is difficult for human beings, as we sin and this sin Luther identifies as “leprosy of lust.” Because of our sin, marriage does not entirely and solely fulfill its original purpose, this we will never know and experience. The “leprosy of lust” is immoral and in all of us.

This issue of sexual immorality was just as big of an issue in Luther’s day as it is now (and has been throughout history). Luther addresses the issue of an unmarried couple living together. “It is like putting fire and straw together and commanding that there shall be neither smoke nor fire.” It is a dangerous situation and gives opportunity to fall to the devil’s temptation. And there are temptations for those who are married to sin in thought, word, or deeds. It is this “leprosy of lust” that leads to despising the gift of children and seeks only after selfish desires.

God granted the gift of marriage even before the fall into sin. And by his grace he continues to preserve marriage as he instituted it despite our sinful lusts. This is possible only by his love and grace and is shown to us in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5 declares that the Church is the bride of Christ. We see how a marriage is to be through Christ. Jesus loves his bride that he “gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” We, the Church, are not perfect in ourselves, we have the leprosy of lust; but Christ gave himself up for us so that we can be “presented in splendor” and through the blood of Christ and the waters of baptism we can be declared “holy and without blemish.”

11.10.2008

A Petition to and a Prayer for Our New President


Please consider signing the petition against the Freedom of Choice Act.



While I did not vote for our soon-to-be new president, I hope that everyone will remember our duty to pray for him:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 (ESV)

From the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:
A Prayer for The President of the United States, and all in Civil Authority.

O LORD, our heavenly Father, the high and mighty Ruler of the universe, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; Most heartily we beseech thee, with thy favour to behold and bless thy servant THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and all others in authority; and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may always incline to thy will, and walk in thy way. Endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts; grant them in health and prosperity long to live; and finally, after this life, to attain everlasting joy and felicity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Or this.


O LORD our Governor, whose glory is in all the world; We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and to all in Authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness; and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

11.07.2008

"We have met the enemy...

...and he is us." ~ Walt Kelly
Excellent comment on the post "Hope vs. the Culture of Death." I thought it was so good I'd give the comment its own post.

Where were all the pro-life voters? Maybe they were never born because "pro-life" Christians have been using artificial contraception for going on 80 years and with a vengeance for the past 40 years.

How many pro-life voters would there be by now had "pro-life" Christians not used contraception during the past several decades and reared the children conceived as a result to believe the word of God that children are a blessing and, what follows as night follows day from that Scriptural teaching, that limiting one's family size shows profound lack of faith in the veracity of His word.

Read again Erich's quote from That Hideous Strength:

"Sir," said Merlin, "know well that she has done in Logres [England] a thing of which no less sorrow shall come than came of the stroke that Balinus struck. For, Sir, it was the purpose of God that she and her lord should between them have begotten a child by whom the enemies should have been put out of Logres for a thousand years."

Perhaps it was "the purpose of God" that Christians "should . . . have begotten . . . child[ren] by whom the [the scourge of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, etc.] should have been put out of [the United States]." But, instead, we have proven to be like Jane.

If we want to end abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and a host of other horrors, then instead of spending our time politicking, perhaps we should be spending it conceiving and rearing children in the faith. If we put first things first (i.e., demonstrating our trust in our Lord by obeying Him), then all these things (i.e., ending the culture of death) will be added unto us.

11.04.2008

Hope vs. The Culture of Death

"Und wenn morgen die Welt unterginge, würde ich heute noch mein Apfelbäumchen pflanzen."

"And if the world should end tomorrow, I would still plant my sapling apple tree today."

Blessed Dr. Martin Luther

Our oldest boy was about a year old when I came across this quote. I was with a friend from work in a CD store in Mannheim, Germany. He bought me a CD by Reinhard Mey called "Mein Apfelbaeumchen" or "My little apple tree" as a belated gift for the birth of our first child. Mey wrote the song for his daughter - it is actually more about fatherhood than his daughter - and to my joy I found the above quote by our beloved Dr. Luther on the back of the CD cover.

No the quote isn't scripture, but it has become one of my favorite "patristic" quotes in a way - maybe if I was Pr. Weedon, I would call it the "Old Lutheran Quote of the Day." It is truly a sentiment that trusts in God to order and direct all things, even when all appears lost.

We teeter on the edge of once again having a pro-abortion President in office. This brings the threat of more pro-abort justices to the nation's highest court. The nation has expressed its will and it has by some slim margain embraced the culture of death in its most hideous form - the destruction of life in the womb.

Where is hope? Will hearts remain hard and unchangeable?

In Christ we find our hope and our dear Luther gives us these words that could only come from the mouth of one who has the Gospel - plant your apple tree, even though all seems hopeless.



Jon Townsend

Mother murdered her "inconvenient" baby


Reuters:
LONDON (Reuters) - A mother who smothered to death her three-year-old son because she saw him as an 'inconvenience' to her social life, was jailed for life on Monday. [...]
It is all starting to sound the same to me.