An Almost Abortion Story

An Almost Abortion Story

by | Jun 24, 2022 | Uncategorized

There was a 16 year old girl who had her life ahead of her. She was in JROTC and she had plans to go into the Air Force. This girl also had a crush on a guy in his young 20’s who was in a gang.

There was a party that this guy was going to be at and this girl really wanted to have a chance at seeing him, so she went. 

Both this guy and this girl inebriated their senses with drugs and alcohol. One thing led to the other and months later, this girl discovered she was pregnant.

The guy had threats towards his life from the gang life he was involved in and so he ran away to another state to go in hiding to survive.

The girl was told by most of her peers and family to have an abortion. Even the father’s friends threatened to get metal hangers and remove the baby forcibly.

Only a small handful of people tried to persuade this girl not to have an abortion.

Though this girl chose to give her baby boy life, she also resented the child as an interruption. Not to mention, the maleness of the child was a painful reminder of the men who had wronged her. 

With repetition in her story, the girl reminded her male son of the daughter she intended him to be. 

This child mainly grew up in an abusive home with seasons of a single-mother house and other seasons of a shuffle of men and temporary step-fathers.

The child saw that most other children had a parental male figure, so he wondered out loud, “Who is my daddy?”

His mother responded tersely, “the postal man” which confused the young boy.

At elementary school age, the boy met his father. They both only had several summers together before the daddy left the world at 34 years of age leaving a 12-year-old son to figure out how to be a man.

Darwinian Evolution seemed like reality when it was taught in middle school. The world seemed cruel so his perception of his life experience seemed congruent with Darwinism. 

Sinking deeper into despair and suicidal ideation, he allowed more of the nihilism to permeate his lenses on everything. He longed for death and tried numerous times to end his life. 

In his science class, the teacher set up a debate on pro-life vs pro-choice. Even though his life was almost an abortion, he was on the pro-choice side because this was what he was conditioned to believe.

He took the pro-choice stance while a girl in the class defended the pro-life position. Normal to him was seeing the devaluation of human life, so seeing the middle school girl passionately argue for life moved him to question his views. He began to think that maybe there was hope in the world if there were people who cared about life. 

It was powerful to face a courageous defender of life and not be impacted by the experience.

The girl identified as a Christian and spoke of the God of the Bible as a reason to defend life. 

One of the last people he was close to who lived an authentic Christian faith was his father who discovered faith before he passed away.  His dad’s last words to him were, “If you want to get closer to me get closer to Jesus first.”

This boy lost his safe haven when he lost his father.

He tried to cling to the advice of his father and so he found himself seated in a church pew, but the church was founded on legalism that shunned the boy, so the boy left bitter and bruised.

 

But the experience with the girl was a foil to his church encounter. 

 

Maybe someday all of this will make sense and maybe someday it will have been worth it to live.

 

Why? Because someone finds life worth living. That message didn’t only speak of babies but it spoke about now. 

Fast-forward in time and this boy became a man who came to Christ and married a woman whose health took a tailspin and left her immobile. 

Some encouraged him to let his wife die or encouraged euthanasia but her life was valuable to him, so he fought for her life and cared for her as her full-time caregiver.

His wife was told she would never be able to carry a baby, but her broken body became pregnant. Her pregnancy was considered high risk so he received advice to prepare for an abortion in case the pregnancy put his wife’s life at risk.

Not only did his wife give birth to a healthy child without defect, but her health began to improve from the life of the child within her. She received enzymes and other benefits from the child within her womb which transformed her from bedbound to now mobile.

I’m that boy turned man who was almost an abortion story, who was also a full-time caregiver to a wife whose own life was saved by a baby.

I celebrate the value of life today as the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade was overturned because I’ve discovered how much life matters. Life is worth fighting for.

Conferencing Questions

 

 

  1. Have you ever questioned the value of life? If so, can you detect the roots of what led you to diminish the value of life? In this story, Michael mentions that his abusive upbringing led him to see life through the lens of nihilism and Darwinism which colored his perspective on life.
  2. In the story, the boy is impacted by a girl who stands up for life in their debate. Have you ever taken a similar stand? If so, consider taking a moment to pray that your stand in the past would still have an impact on the people surrounding you today and in the future.
  3. In the story, Michael mentions that his wife carried a baby which helped her health improve through enzymes provided in pregnancy. Have you ever considered that carrying a baby could have a valuable impact on a woman, even one considered high risk?
When a Cult Came to My Christian College

When a Cult Came to My Christian College

by | May 2, 2021 | Adults, Comparative Worldviews, Teens

I was nineteen and naive to the ways of life when a cult came to my Christian college. At the time, I was fresh to my first out-of-home experience with university life.

 Since I was out of my local town element, I knew I needed a community to plugin to. So I found a group of people that seemed fun-loving, mentioned God frequently, and hung around the cafe sipping espressos.

Ah, the quintessential college life.

And when you’re a young college student with a faith-based perception, this appears like everything you could want in a community. Oh yeah, and did I mention that most of these people had cars and I didn’t? Definitely a bonus.

After about two months of cafe trips around town and around the town excursions, I was invited to a meeting at a local Panera.

When the invite was thrown my way, I thought, what could go wrong? Panera sandwiches are amazing, the company was what I had grown accustomed to, and it seemed kind of exclusive. As in, not all of the people we hung out with as a group were invited.

The group was led by an attractive and charming man named Drew who was nearing forty, but most of us never paid attention to this critical detail, coupled together with the other critical detail that he didn’t actually attend our college as a student.

At the exclusive Panera meeting, Drew recounted the wonders of the somewhat mysterious leader, Jerry. I couldn’t help but get the impression during the meeting that Jerry was perceived to be more special than us. He survived a car accident that almost snuffed out his life and Jerry was the chosen one of God; or at least, so we were told. 

 

 

 

 

Assignments were then delegated to the participants at the meeting. We were told that Jerry’s work was of vital importance to the work of Christ. The Bible would always be there–but Jerry’s work–Jerry’s work needed a careful transcription process by us all to preserve his special words. I heard one of the participants say, “Studying his work is more powerful than reading the Bible.”

After the speel from handsome Drew and his couple of sidekicks, I got the drift that this was a cult.

Talk of living together in “community living” for the sake of serving Jerry onto God was the cherry on top of the heaping ice cream cone that screamed, “This is a cult!”

As my nineteen-year-old brain didn’t have a fully developed pre-frontal cortex yet, I spouted off whatever tongue and cheek barbs that floated into my mind at the time.

“So, when are moving to the commune?” And “When should I get my tattoo with my number on it?”

I know there were other similar comments I interjected into the cult recruitment meeting.

In case you were wondering, I was never invited back.

When I met up with my mentor in the car a week or two after the incident I said, “I think I went to a cult meeting.”

“Really? A cult meeting. What makes you think that?”

“Well,” I recounted the details. “They placed a figure in such a lofty position where they could do no wrong, almost as if he was a messiah figure. 

Their focus is on this guy Jerry who I haven’t met but I’m already supposed to love,

Jerry’s works are elevated above the Bible and taken with more authority, 

we all have to think the same way,

and we’re all supposed to live in a house together.”

My mentor at the time returned with her response, “ There’s a reason you thought that was a cult. It was one.”

PARENTS: I’m sharing this story with you so that you know that even if you send out your children to a Christian university, cults and competing worldviews can still slip in. Are we as parents equipping our children to reason well and discern what true Christianity is between counterfeits? 

Many of us are concerned about the fallaway rate where teens and young adults deviate away from their faith once entering college. Most of us fear of them turning towards agnosticism and atheism, which are valid concerns, but there are cult-like counters to Christianity that may be vying for your children’s attention as well.

TEENS: Do you know why you believe what you do? What makes a cult a cult and separate from Christianity?

For practical takeaways, we will have a featured post by our very own Cynthia Hampton who grew up in a cult background of Jehovah’s Witness. She was featured on Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath with an episode focused on Jehovah’s Witness. Cynthia will be discussing ways to detect a cult. 

Why Did The Wise Men Bring Jesus Gold, Frankincense, And Myrrh?

Why Did The Wise Men Bring Jesus Gold, Frankincense, And Myrrh?

by | Dec 25, 2020 | Adults, Kids, Teens

Why did the wise men bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus? We know from Matthew 2:11 that Jesus was visited by wise men who followed a star to the place where Jesus was born. We’re told from the nativity story that upon seeing Jesus with his mother, Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him and presented him with offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 

Although the story filled me with enchantment as a child, I first heard of the story before the Young Living and Doterra days, before liquid amber bottles of frankincense and myrrh adorned medicine cabinets nationwide. So to me, frankincense and myrrh held little significance. And even now with frankincense and myrrh becoming household names that easily roll of the tongue, we can still be very confused about the significance. So, why did the wise men bring Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

Why Did the Wise Men Bring Jesus Frankincense?

Frankincense was used in in ritual ceremonies in ancient times. It represents Jesus’ priestly role in our lives that the author of Hebrews talk about. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Takeaway for us: We have access to our Great High Priest through Christ, and unlike the priests of old, Jesus suffered greatly yet is without sin. As Henry Nouwen says, “No one can save us except for a suffering God.”

 

Why Did the Wise Men Bring Jesus Gold?

Gold is a gift that represents Jesus’ honor as a king on earth and inaugurating the Kingdom of Christ on earth. It should be spectacular to us that the Magi from the east from most likely a faraway pagan location recognized the kingly status of a baby in a humble manger from impoverished parents. Although we may feel the social class disparity in the western world of our day, it was even more pronounced in the first century. 

It would be easy to recognize a messiah who came from wealth and who was the offspring of a king or someone of noble status. And it would be easier to spot a kingly messiah if you were raised in a Jewish home, familiar with the Torah. If you read the Torah, you would have a reference point, knowing of the prophecies concerning Jesus and how he was a descendent of King David.

 

Takeaway for us: We can give thanks to Christ for sacrificing His position on His kingly throne in heaven to become a king without an official title or position. 

Why Did the Wise Men Bring Jesus Myrrh?

Myrrh was an expensive fragrance used for burial purposes in the ancient world.  The gift of myrrh was a prophetic representation of one of the main reasons Christ entered this world–to become the final sacrifice for our sins. No longer would we need to slay goats, lamb, and doves to atone for our sin. We have One perfect life who came into this world and whose blood would be enough to atone for the sins of humanity.

 

Takeaway for us: We can have gratitude that Christ sacrificed His life once and for all for those who humble themselves and put their trust in Him.

Why Did the Wise Men Bring Jesus Gold?

Gold is a gift that represents Jesus’ honor as a king on earth and inaugurating the Kingdom of Christ on earth. It should be spectacular to us that the Magi from the east from most likely a faraway pagan location recognized the kingly status of a baby in a humble manger from impoverished parents. Although we may feel the social class disparity in the western world of our day, it was even more pronounced in the first century. 

It would be easy to recognize a messiah who came from wealth and who was the offspring of a king or someone of noble status. And it would be easier to spot a kingly messiah if you were raised in a Jewish home, familiar with the Torah. If you read the Torah, you would have a reference point, knowing of the prophecies concerning Jesus and how he was a descendent of King David.

 

Takeaway for us: We can give thanks to Christ for sacrificing His position on His kingly throne in heaven to become a king without an official title or position. 

Why Did the Wise Men Bring Jesus Frankincense?

Frankincense was used in in ritual ceremonies in ancient times. It represents Jesus’ priestly role in our lives that the author of Hebrews talk about. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Takeaway for us: We have access to our Great High Priest through Christ, and unlike the priests of old, Jesus suffered greatly yet is without sin. As Henry Nouwen says, “No one can save us except for a suffering God.”

 

Why Did the Wise Men Bring Jesus Myrrh?

Myrrh was an expensive fragrance used for burial purposes in the ancient world.  The gift of myrrh was a prophetic representation of one of the main reasons Christ entered this world–to become the final sacrifice for our sins. No longer would we need to slay goats, lamb, and doves to atone for our sin. We have One perfect life who came into this world and whose blood would be enough to atone for the sins of humanity.

 

Takeaway for us: We can have gratitude that Christ sacrificed His life once and for all for those who humble themselves and put their trust in Him.

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