Analysis of a Pro-Choice Graphic

I saw this info graphic on tumblr. As someone who has studied in depth the science of embryology and fetal development, as well as the social statistics of abortion, seeing these things presented as "fact" makes me cringe. I have decided to analyze and address each claim.
First off, searching through various dictionaries, I have found that there are several varying definitions for murder. Some use the adjective unlawful, some don't. The one thing that is common in all of the definitions is that murder is the killing of another human being with intention or aforethought. The unlawful part refers to a legal aspect. If we want to stick with this option, let me remind you that, as the great Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal,". So with this definition that you proposed, none of the Jews that died in concentration camps during the Holocaust were murdered. I cover this more in point 4.
I have always considered murder the intentional killing of another human being. I've never heard of a murder that was not one human being intentionally killing another human being. So, for the sake of this response, I am simply going to keep the definition of murder as being "the intentional killing of one human being by another"
Before deciding how we should treat the unborn, we should first be clear about what the unborn is. This is a scientific question, and it is answered very clearly by the science of human embryology and fetal development.

1. "A fetus is not a person. You cannot murder non-persons or washing your hands would be murder."

A.)"A fetus is not a person"
As I cannot be sure what the author's definition of the word "person" is, I'm going to assume, for the sake of this post, that the definition of "person" is synonymous with human being, as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary says. So, if this is true, then the author says that a fetus is not a human being. This statement is completely contrary to what science tells us. Science tells us that from conception the unborn is a distinct, living and whole human being--a full-fledged member of the species Homo sapiens, like you and me, only at a much earlier stage in her development. Much like a toddler is at a much earlier stage in their development than an adult.

The facts of reproduction are straightforward. Upon completion of the fertilization process, sperm and egg have ceased to exist (thus the term "fertilized egg" is an inaccurate term); what exists is a single cell with 46 chromosomes (23 from each parent) that is called a zygote. The coming into existence of the zygote is the point of conception--the beginning of the life of a new human organism. The terms zygote, embryo and fetus all refer to developmental stages in the life of a human being.

This fact is confirmed by embryology textbooks and leading scientists. TW Sadler's "Langman's Embryology", Keith L. Moore's "The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology", and O'Rahilly and Muller's "Human Embryology and Teratology", just to name a few.

"The development of a human begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female  unite to give the rise to a new organism, the zygote." -T.W. Sadler (Langman's Embryology)

"Physicians have now arrived at the unanimous opinion that the foetus in utero is alive from the very moment of conception.....The willful killing of a human being at any stage of its existence is murder" -Dr. Horatio Storer (1868) (Criminal Abortion: It's Nature, It's Evidence, & It's Law)

"[The zygote], formed by the union of an oocyte and a sperm, is the beginning of a new human being." -Keith L. Moore, Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology, 7th Edition

"Although life is a continuous process, fertilization (which, incidentally, is not a 'moment') is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte." -Ronan O'Rahilly and Fabiola Müller, Human Embryology and Teratology, 3rd edition

"After fertilization has taken place a new human being has come into being. [It] is no longer a matter of taste or opinion...it is plain experimental evidence. Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception." - Dr. Jerome LeJeune (Professor of Genetics, University of Descartes)

"By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception." - Hymie Gordon (Mayo Clinic)

"The beginning of a single human life is from a biological point of view a simple and straightforward matter – the beginning is conception." -Dr. Watson A. Bowes (University of Colorado Medical School)

"The two cells gradually and gracefully become one. This is the moment of conception, when an individual's unique set of DNA is created, a human signature that never existed before and will never be repeated." -National Geographic (In The Womb) 2005.

In 1981 a U.S. Senate judiciary subcommittee heard expert testimony on the question of when life begins.
"It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception" -Prof. Micheline Matthews-Roth (Harvard  University Medical School) (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary Committee S-158, Report, 97th Congress, 1st Session, 1981)

"The beginning of a single human life is from a biological point of view a simple and straightforward matter - the beginning is conception" -Dr. Watson A. Bowes (University of Colorado Medical Center) (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary Committee S-158, Report, 97th Congress, 1st Session, 1981)

The official subcommittee report reached this conclusion:
"Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being--a being that is alive and is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this point in countless medical, biological, and scientific writings."

The report also noted that "no witness who testified before the subcommittee raised any evidence to refute the biological fact that from the moment of conception there exists a distinct individual being who is alive and is of the human species. No witness challenged the scientific consensus that unborn children are 'human beings,' insofar as the term is used to mean living beings of the human species."

Scott Klusendorf, president of Life Training institute best sums this point up, stating:
"In short, you didn't come from an embryo. You were once an embryo. At no point in your prenatal development did you undergo a substantial change or change of nature. You began as a human being and will remain so until death. Sure, you lacked maturity at that early stage of your life(as does an infant), but you were human nonetheless." -Scott Klusendorff (2009) (The Case for Life)

B.) "You cannot murder non-persons or washing your hands would be murder."
As already shown by science in 1A, the unborn are in fact "persons", thus this makes this argument completely invalid. When you wash your hands dead skin cells fall off. These skin cells are 100% you. They contain your unique set of DNA, nobody else's. A fetus has a completely separate set of DNA than either the father and the mother. The fetus, as stated above, is a distinct, living, and whole human being that has a human signature that never existed before and will never be repeated. Thus, comparing a human being to skin cells lost during washing your hands.

2. " Lack of malice. People getting abortions are not getting them to punish the fetus or because they want to kill the fetus."Those are literally never the reasons for abortion. People get them because of poverty, work, school, their age, abusive situation, rape, medical reasons and fetal abnormalities. But not because they want to hurt or kill something." 

A.) "Lack of malice. People getting abortions are not getting them to punish the fetus or because they want to kill the fetus."
Of course nobody is getting abortions to "punish the fetus", the fetus hasn't done anything wrong to be punished for.

But purpose of an abortion is to kill the fetus. That is exactly what and only what an abortion does. I've talked with former abortionists and have heard testimonies from countless abortion clinic workers including a former director of Planned Parenthood, and all agree that that is what an abortion does, it kills the fetus. It kills an innocent human being (see 1A). I've even seen a video recording of a sonogram of a surgical abortion, it is very obvious that the intent of the abortionist is to kill the unborn child. I watched as the medical instruments ripped the arms and legs of the unborn child from its body. The unborn child tried to squirm away from the instrument as it was doing so. Finally, after the limbs have been ripped off, the head of the unborn child is ripped off and is crushed I between tong-like instruments. You can watch this by searching for "The Silent Scream" on Google or YouTube.
This whole point is like saying that people who point a loaded gun at someone's and pull the trigger aren't doing it because they want to kill a person. The logic is completely flawed here.

B.) "Those are literally never the reasons for abortion."
Although those aren't the reasons people have for getting abortions (which I address in 2C), abortion, as shown in 1 and 2A, the abortion IS the killing of a human being. This is like saying,  I didn't decapitate them because I wanted to kill them. (Harsh imagery, I know, but not that much of a stretch because in many surgical abortions, the unborn child's head is ripped from the body). I used this imagery because decapitation is simply a form of killing a human being, just as abortion is a form of killing a human being(although there are several methods of both decapitation and abortion).

C.) "People get them because of poverty, work, school, their age, abusive situation, rape, medical reasons and fetal abnormalities."
Yes. Poverty, work, school, age, and abusive situations, these are the socioeconomic reasons that women get abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, these make up over 90% of the reasons people get abortions. Whereas in cases of rape & medical issues with the mother or child, those make up less than 1% of the people who get abortions.

D.) "But not because they want to hurt or kill something." 
See 2A-C

3. "No premeditation. No one has sex just to get abortions."

A.) "No premeditation"
All abortions are premeditated. A woman comes to an abortion clinic because she has an unplanned pregnancy. The woman either doesn't know what she is going to do, or already has her mind made up about getting an abortion. If she has not yet made up her mind, most abortionists will suggest getting an abortion. The abortionist either gives the woman the abortion pill(s) or performs the abortion procedure. This isn't an accident or "act of passion", this is an act that is thought out ahead of time.

B.) "No one has sex just to get abortions"
Of course not. People have sex for pleasure and for procreating. I'm not even sure why this is mentioned in this point. It makes no logical sense.

4. "It’s not unlawful"
Well, it all depends on where you live.  Also, Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it is right. Slavery was legal, that didn't make it right. What Hitler and the Nazis did in Germany was legal, that doesn't make it right. As I previously stated in the introduction, the Nazis killed Jews in mass numbers. Most would consider what the Nazis did murder, but according to the author of the original statement, which I am analyzing, as well as anyone who agrees with them, what the Nazis did was not murder, because it was not unlawful. I have had the privilege of seeing a holocaust survivor speak in person at my university a number of years ago. Almost everyone in her family was, as she said, "murdered" by the Nazis. I would urge you to find her and tell her that her family was not murdered. She's up in her eighties, but I can imagine that she could work up enough strength to slap you in the face. As one of my professors once said, "Ideas have consequences," and bad ideas have bad consequences. The idea that killing someone is not murder because it might be legal, could have very bad consequences for you, depending on who you talk to.

5. "You have a lawful excuse, that being your right to bodily autonomy. No one has the right to use a persons body, resources or internal organs without that persons consent regardless of circumstance or reason."

A.) "You have a lawful excuse,"
 See 4

B.) "..that being your right to bodily autonomy. No one has the right to use a persons body, resources or internal organs without that persons consent regardless of circumstance or reason."
This is absolutely correct, nobody has the right to use your body or any part of your body without your consent. But according to the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, in 99% of the times people get abortions, they have given consent. They willingly consented to engaging in the one natural act that results in a new human being being made (aka pregnancy).  Just because someone doesn't like the result of the action that they willingly engaged in, doesn't mean that they have the right to kill another human being.  The unborn is not an intruder. He/she is precisely where he/she naturally belongs at that point in his/her development. In other words, the unborn cannot be an unwanted invader that uses the mother's body without consent. If someone willingly engages in this action that creates a new human being, they have given consent. One must be responsible for one's actions.
Also, just because you have the rights to your own body, that doesn't mean that you have the right to kill another human being.

Further scientific facts on the humanity of the unborn:

Four features of the unborn (i.e., the human zygote, embryo or fetus) are relevant to his or her status as a human being. First, the unborn is living. She meets all the biological criteria for life: metabolism, cellular reproduction and reaction to stimuli. Moreover, she is clearly growing, and dead things (of course) don't grow.
Second, the unborn is human. She possesses a human genetic signature that proves this beyond any doubt. She is also the offspring of human parents, and we know that humans can only beget humans (they cannot beget dogs or cats, for instance). The unborn may not seem to "look" human (at least in her earlier stages), but in fact she looks exactly like a human at that level of human development. Living things do not become something different as they grow and mature; rather, they develop the way that they do precisely because of the kind of being they already are.
Third, the unborn is genetically and functionally distinct from (though dependent on and resting inside of) the pregnant woman. Her growth and maturation is internally directed, and her DNA is unique and different from that of any other cell in the woman's body. She develops her own arms, legs, brain, central nervous system, etc. To say that a fetus is a part of the pregnant woman's body is to say that the woman has four arms and four legs, and that about half of pregnant women have penises.
Fourth, the unborn is a whole or complete (though immature) organism. That is, she is not a mere part of another living thing, but is her own organism--an entity whose parts work together in a self-integrated fashion to bring the whole to maturity. Her genetic information is fully present at conception, determining to a large extent her physical characteristics (including sex, eye color, skin color, bone structure, etc.); she needs only a suitable environment and nutrition to develop herself through the different stages of human life.
Thus, the unborn is a distinct, living and whole human organism--a full-fledged member of the species Homo sapiens, like you and me, only at a much earlier stage in her development. She is a human being.

Further Reading
www.princeton.edu/~prolife/articles/wdhbb.html

www.prolifemn.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-science-tells-us-about-unborn.html

www.caseforlife.com

www.abortionfacts.com

"In the Womb".  By National Geographic. Video, 2005

United States, Cong. Subcommittee Report on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary Committee S-158. 97th Cong., 1st Ssess. Washington: GPO, 1981

"The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology". By Keith Moore & T.V.N. Persaud. Saunders. 2003.

"The Case for Life". By Scott Klusendorf. Crossway Books. 2009.
"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health". By Lawrence B.Finer. Guttmacher Institute. 2005.

"Langman's Embryology". By T.W. Sadler. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2009
"Human Embryology and Teratology". By Ronand O'Rahilly and Pabiola Muller. Wiley-Liss. 2001.

An Atheist and a Calvinist: A Tale of Two Methods

Thursday night I went to hear a Christian speaker on campus who is a scientist and he was speaking on how modern genetics proves neo-Darwinism wrong. The event was sponsored by the Society for the Advancement of Creation Science (SACS) which their president goes to church with me. The auditorium was almost packed, I estimate about 75 people attended. There were a lot of atheist who came, as well as Christians. The atheists were pretty easy to spot. It was interesting and VERY scientific, so it was all over my head. The speaker hardly mentioned God at all, but when he opened the floor up for questions the majority of people were angrily attacking him for being Christian and believing in God, which had nothing to so with his thorough presentation about modern day genetics. It was getting a little too hostile for me in the Q&A so I left and just sad down in the hallway and prayed for the speaker. I prayed that The Lord would give him strength and the right answers to give these harden-hearted people. And I prayed for the people,that they would see the love and amazement of God.

While I was sitting out there, a guy approached me. I've known him for over a year and he is a very strong Calvinist who is a follower of John MacArthur, a well known scholar who has some very far fetched misinterpreted  views on salvation. I've had some dealings with the student before and he has always been very hostile, even when he is being nice, he just comes across as hostile. So anyways, he and I are making small talk about the lecture we just heard when two guys walked by. One I recognized as a atheist that my friend Corbin and I talked to 3 years ago on the drill field. Corbin shared the gospel with him and brought him to Mr Jabe Nicholson to talk to. The guy has since been involved with the atheist group on campus. I've seen him many times in passing throughout the years but he didn't remember me. But I always had a feeling like I needed to share the gospel with him, but I was never in a situation where the opportunity presented itself.

So the atheist asks us what we thought about it and we told him, and I mentioned that, even though I am a Christian and I believe that God created the world in 6 days like the bible says, I get kind of frustrated when Christians put arguing about Creation/Evolution above sharing the gospel. I agree with them on the issue, but I see sharing the gospel as a much bigger thing than arguing over how old the earth is. The atheist guy agreed with me on that issue. He mentioned that he was an atheist and talked about how he sees issues like climate control as a much bigger issue. Not wanting to open or discuss that can of worms, I kept quiet.

In comes the Calvinist.

C: Are you a good person?

A: I'd like to think so...

C: Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments?

A: I don't think so. I grew up Catholic.

C: Have you ever lied?

A: I uh, um, yes, I've lied before

C: What do you call someone who lies?

A: a liar?

C: Correct! You're a liar

A: You're being kinda mean....

ME: That's just his voice, he can't help it (trying a bit of humor to lighten the tension)

C: Have you ever stolen anything?

A: Uh......yeah. When I was in second grade I stole this crystal rock thing because it looked really cool. But then I found out that it was quartz and it was worthless so then I felt bad.

C: What do you call someone who steals?

A: a thief...

C: Have you ever looked at a woman with lustful thoughts?

A: Um......yes....

C: Well, the bible says if you even look at a woman with lust then you have committed adultery in your heart. So by your own admission you are a lying stealing adulterer at heart. You are a sinner

A: I uh, um...

C: The bible says that if you are a sinner you deserve to go to hell.
(At this point the atheist is clearly offended and upset from the time and hostility that the Calvinist is using towards him)

ME: May I interject?

C & A: Yes

ME: Look, I see this all as like a courtroom setting. You know, like the courts we have in America. Laws are set up and if we break those laws we go to court and the judge gives us our punishment. Well, God set up these laws and told us what we can and can't do. But we have all sinned, and the bible says that if we even do one little sin, we deserve to go to hell. God requires perfection to go to heaven, and we aren't perfect. We all deserve hell! Even me! All the terrible things I've done, I deserve hell.

A: But why would you serve a God who is such a tyrant?

ME: He's not a tyrant, I was just getting to that in my analogy.

A: Oh, sorry, go ahead...

ME: It's cool. Now, I'm sitting in front of the judge and he tells me that I've broken his laws and that I deserve punishment. Which I do. But all of a sudden, a man stands up and comes I between the judge and I and says "let me take his punishment instead. I love him and I don't want him to suffer, let me take the pain and suffering so he won't have to". So the judge agrees. The man who stood up turns and says, I'm taking your punishment, if you simply believe that I am paying for your crimes and am saving you from that, then you can be free and live in eternity with me." That man is Jesus, God in the flesh. He loves us so much that he was willing to die for us and he offers everlasting life to all those who simply believe that he is who he claimed to be and that his death  accomplished what he claimed it accomplished. See? He's a loving God, not a tyrant. And even though we may mess up sometimes, he is waiting their with open arms as our father who loves us.

A: Huh....interesting...

C: May I say something?

ME: Sure

C: God doesn't want you. You're a sinner, you admitted it, and God doesn't want sinners. He won't take sinners. All the sins that you have done, you have to stop doing them and then he will take you when you believe in him. You have to turn away from all the sin in your life and the come to him because he doesn't want you right now

*At this point the atheist is very confused and still frightened by the hostile and accusative tone of the Calvinist. Throughout the Calvinist's confrontation the Atheist was slowly backing up, and I could tell by his body language that he was very nervous and uncomfortable.  Luckily, some more outspoken confrontational atheists come up and start arguing with the Calvinist, and he starts using the same questioning tactic with them. I notice that the first atheist is kinda slinking away and I can tell that he is very distraught and confused and timid. While the Calvinist is arguing with the other atheists, I approached the first one a bit always from the group of the others.*

ME: Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that I am sorry about the way he was acting. He and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things and I'm sorry he came across so hostile.

A: Oh......it's fine....he was acting very mean. If someone is trying to share an idea or their faith with you, they should do it in love and compassion, not mean attacking and hostile

ME: Dude! I completely agree with you. And unfortunately there are many people like him that aren't loving like they should be, and I hate it because it isn't right. I can't stand it

A: I can tell that you're a nice guy

ME: Ha, well, I'm a PR major and I love people, and I'm all about showing love and kindness to everyone.

A: That's good

ME: Look, here's my number, and if you ever want to talk more about this stuff, or if you have any questions, I would love to sit down and talk to you about all this in a non confrontation way.

A: I graduate at the end of this semester, but that sounds good, I'd like to do that sometimes.

ME: Awesome! You got my number, just call or text me sometime and we can get coffee and talk


So that was what went down. I was shaking the whole time (partly because I hadn't eaten hardly anything all day and I was nervous) but The Lord kept me calm and let me calmly and in a loving manner share the gospel with the atheist. I was worried because the Calvinist was very hostile and mean to him and shared a false gospel about how God doesn't want him until he cleans up his life, but I now realize that it was a good thing. The atheist saw two different approaches to witnessing. He saw an angry hostile judgmental and condemning person who claimed to be Christian and a quiet loving gentle and compassionate Christian. And he showed more interest in talking with the latter because if the love and compassion. Now, Im not at all trying to make myself look better than the Calvinist, Im just merely observing how the atheist reacted to the two types of approaches. I am argumentative by nature, but the Lord gave me the confidence and the right words to speak to the atheist. I could feel God's presence there. It was amazing.

Jesus never approached lost people and immediately started telling them that they were going to hell. He showed nothing but love and compassion to people. Also, Jesus never said he didn't want sinners, in fact, he said quite the opposite. He said he came to save the sinners. And in the book of John, which was written with the sole purpose of leading an unbeliever to faith, the word faith or believe (same Greek word) is used over 76 times in reference to eternal salvation. Not once does it give any prerequisites or additions to "believe". That is because we are saved by God's grace through our faith alone in Christ alone, not by our works. "Cleaning yourself up" or "stop sinning" is never a requirement to go to heaven.
John 3:16 says that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life."

The moral of this event is that we should always show love and compassion to people, ESPECIALLY when sharing the gospel with an unbeliever. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love."

He then goes on to say in the same chapter, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Now, some "Christians" who just pick and choose what they like from the bible will focus on the extremes. On one end you have people who focus solely on love, for instance, the author Rob Bell. He is notorious in the Christian community for writing all about how, even if you are living in a life of sin, then God is okay with that, God approves of your sin, and that it is wrong of other believers to confront you, even in love, and try to help you with overcoming your sin. That teaching is completely against scripture. The bible clearly says that if we simply let a brother continue to live in sin without trying to help them or talk to them in love, then that is the opposite of love. The bible tells us that God hates sin, and loves what is good, and that we should do the same. A person's sin does not define who they are. I hate the sin I do, but I don't hate myself. Likewise, we can love a person, but not approve of their sin.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have people like Westboro "Baptist Church", who have the infamous website God Hates Fags .org. Notice I put quotations around the second two words of their name. I put those there because these people have nothing in common with ether Baptists or the Church. These people focus on Gods wrath and judgement. They pick scripture out of context and use it to attack and viciously condemn people. They protest funerals of actors and soldiers because they believe that God killed those people because they were agents of satan. These people focus on hate. I have not heard an ounce of truth come out of these people. They are not a church, they are a violent and vicious hate group.

I do not subscribe to either Calvinism or Arminianism, nor do I affiliate with any denomination. I believe in the Bible, the inherent Word of God in it entirety and in context.

The bible teaches that we need to teach the truth of the gospel of Christ in a loving manner. We are called to tell people that we are all sinners and that we all have fallen short of God's requirement to get into heaven, which is perfection, and that we all deserve the punishment for breaking God's law, and that punishment is hell. But Jesus paid for all of our sins and took on the pain and death that we deserved. He then rose again proving that He was God and that what He said was true. And that if we simply believe that he is who he claimed to be and that his death  accomplished what he claimed it accomplished, then we will spend eternity in heaven with Him.

The word gospel means good news. So its like a bad news/good news type deal. Bad news: we are all sinners and are bound for hell. Good news: God loves us and in his grace he provided a way out. He provided a substitution. He freely offers everlasting life with him to whoever accepts it. We don't deserve this free gift of everlasting life, yet God extends his grace to us. Grace means, an undeserved gift. The offer of Salvation through faith in Christ is that undeserved gift. We are saved simply by grace. And that is amazing!

Do all that you do in a way that is glorifying to God and that shows his love for them.

*UPDATE: Since originally writing this, I have received a text from the atheist and he is open to discussing and hearing what I have to say. And to confirm my suspicions, he did comment on the harsh and hostile methods of the Calvinist, and I informed him that much of what he said and especially about "God not wanting" him was false and was not taught in scripture. I ask for your prayers as I meet with him and share the gospel and hear his views. I know that I am not called to "argue someone to Christ" because that will never work. But we are called to share the gospel. As the writer of Hebrews says: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart."  My job is simply to share the gospel of Christ's love and grace, the Holy Spirit will take it from there. I will do my best and let God do the rest.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you know that my life has been riddled with trials and valleys of darkness. Ive suffered through 2 very traumatic experiences, they were the darkest times of my life. The first one I rarely talk about because my mind has blocked out a lot of it, but the second one I have been quite open about both on here and in person. There is something that I learned from those experiences that changed the way I went through them. And if I did not know this thing, I would not be here now. The thing that I knew and that kept me going even when I wanted t end it all, was four simple words: 

I knew, because of my faith in Jesus Christ, that I was never alone. I knew that even in my deepest and darkest of hours of pain and depression, that God was there with me. In both those dark experiences, I felt hopeless and lost and abandoned by those that I loved most. Except for the fact that I knew that God was with me. Yes, most of us all hear growing up that "God is with us" an that "Jesus loves you" and that "He will comfort you". I had heard all of that and I believed it, but I had never experienced it first hand. Until these two experiences. Those were times where I saw no way out, nothing but pain on all sides. I was in a deep dark hole all alone. But it wasn't until I looked up and saw the light, that I realized that all those sayings about God that I heard growing up were 100% true. And in those times, they became very real for me.

We always hear about "submitting to the Lord" or "humbling ourselves before the Lord", and those are actions in the life of a Christian that are often very hard to do, especially in this day and age. We find ourselves so preoccupied with school, jobs, family, friends, money, relationships, ect... that we forget to focus. And many times it takes us losing all of those things to realize that we need to set our sights on what can truly bring us life. For me, and for many of you, it has taken just that. We lose all and have nowhere to turn but to God, and in that time, we fall at the foot of the cross and bring all our troubles and worries to the one who loves us unconditionally. 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Now, I didn't completely understand this verse until last summer. I was working as a counselor at a Christian camp and my good friend Daniel was preaching and explained what the word "yoke" meant. My whole life I read this verse and others with the word in it and assumed that it meant egg yoke (yes, I am an idiot). But I learned that a yoke was a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull. So essentially what Jesus is saying is that the load that we carry is full and heavy and troublesome, but he is offering to take that from us and give us His yoke, which is light and easy too carry. 

There are two reasons that I have found that we are not alone. 

Reason 1

No matter what you are going through, no matter what emotions you feel, you are never alone, God is always with you! 

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for The Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave or forsake you." -Deuteronomy 31:6

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." -Psalm 23:4

"The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit" -Psalm 34:18

"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" -Hebrews 13:5

Reason 2

No matter what you are going through, no matter what emotions you feel, no matter who has wronged you or deserted you, even if you feel like your world is empty and you are worthless you are never alone, more than likely there is someone who cares for you. Someone whose world would crash if it weren't for you, someone that you make feel like they are not worthless. More than likely you have no idea of this person or how they feel. To them, you might mean the world to them. You might give them strength and hope. 
This could either be a romantic sense or just friendship. But no matter how alone you feel, the odds are that someone needs you and cares for you and wants to be there for you.

"The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray" -Proverbs 12:26

"A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need" -Proverbs 17:17

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." -Proverbs 18:24

"The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense" -Proverbs 27:9

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" -Proverbs 27:17

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up" -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?" -C.S. Lewis

So, if you are reading this and you feel alone, unloved, abandoned, or hopeless, remember these 2 reasons why 

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

A Raging Sea

I wrote this several years ago when I was at the beach. I remembered it today and found it in my notes. I wrote this before most of my bad stuff happened and it just made me realize just how true it is and that because I stood firm in Him, I was not knocked down, I was knocked around, but did not fall, I stayed firm  in Him.

While wading out in the gulf of Mexico off the coast of Alabama, the waves reminded me of my spiritual walk with the Lord.
I was standing out about knee deep in the ocean with my feet dug in and planted firmly in the sand. I was ready to face the waves coming toward me. As the waves crashed into me, I was jerked around and shaken, but my feet remained planted in the wet sand. And after that I pulled my feet up and as the waves came toward me, I walked into them, determined to break through them, and I did just that.

Now, the analogy that came to me right then and there was this:
If I keep my faith and lifestyle firmly planted in the word of God and in a spiritual relationship with him, no matter what troubles or terrible events are thrown at me, I will not be brought down! If I know and have faith that he will be with me through it all and use it to strengthen me, I can withstand the highest and fiercest waves of trouble!

Now with the other illustration:
If I see troubles on the horizon or feel them coming towards me, and if I have strength and faith in the Lord to guide me through the troubles, I can face those waves of trouble head on and walk right into them. For the Lord is my shepherd and he will watch over his sheep.

I also physically experienced what MIKESCHAIR was writing about in their song "Let the Waters Rise":

"There's a raging sea right in front of me. It wants to pull me in. Bring me to my knees. So let the waters rise. If you want them to. I will follow you"

I saw a raging see literally right in front of me. I could feel the tide and the water trying to pull me under. And it actually pulled me down to where I fell on my knees. And I know that whatever happens in my life, God has a purpose for it. And if it's my time to die, it's his plan, or if I keep on living, that too is his plan! I do not fear death! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will be with him when I leave this world, and that is the most comforting thought ever! So, if it's his will, let the waters rise and I will follow you Lord! I will follow you no matter what!

Do "Good Works/Fruits" Validate Salvation?

The following was written by a friend of mine who I have done some video work for. He is a fantastic speaker and theologian and illusionist. In the past he was big into Reformed Theology/Calvinism/Lordship and listened to and read tons of John MacArthur's sermons and books. He then later came to believe in what the bible teaches about salvation, rather than what man teaches about it. I strongly urge you to check out his website www.scriptureunlocked.org

As I said, he wrote all of the following and I claim no rights to it. Enjoy!

Fruits of a Believer to Validate Salvation or Could a Believer be 100% Devoid of Any Fruits After Being Justified?

By René A. López, PhD

The Bible never teaches that fruits should be used to validate someone's justification. Of course, someone will read this and think of a number of passages that they believe explains such views. However, on careful inspection of them, they are not referring to using fruits to validate one's justification by faith alone in Christ which results in one getting justified at God's tribunal, which means "to be declared 100% righteous at that point in time forever, 'not' up to a point in the future. Some of these passages used to validate these misguided interpretations are Matthew 7:15-21 and Jas. 2:14-26. For a thorough treatment of these passages see the articles in www.scripture unlocked.org.

However, having said that, there are other people that believe Christians can go all their lives w/o having any fruit at all. I don't believe the Bible ever teachers that, and neither has that animal—figuratively speaking—has ever existed. Part of the problem with both of these views, incorrectly taken by some, is that they become the arbitrar of what exhaustively determines "good fruits." Not only that, such folks also become the judge of where and when should such fruits appear. Look, just like the Bible never draws the line on how much fruits, or lack thereof, bands one from entering the kingdom (again some folks use 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21; and Eph. 5:5-7, but for treatment on these passages which I wrote my dissertation on see www.scriptureunlocked.org), neither does it say that people after receiving Christ can be 100% evil (something that also does not exist—even in Satan who practices evil but of necessity having to do some things good in order to promote his kingdom and agenda, since evil employed at 100% level would cancel itself out—search below where I have written on this). Furthermore, for someone to say a Christian can go his entire life w/o having a single fruit, that person would have to have spent all, and I mean all of his entire life with that person. This is something that no one has done either. Similar to the argument of atheism, which does not exist. That is, someone claiming to be an atheist has had to have gone to every place in the universe to be able to claim that w/absolute certainty. No one has or will be able to do that on this side of heaven, Hence, the best such people could claim is to be an agnostic (he/she may not be sure that God exist). Hence, no one can claim a believer can go his entire life w/o ever having had fruits. This is bizarre to say the least.

So, in conclusion, let it never be said that "fruits" validate whether one is or is not a believer (although knowing that one professes faith in Christ people that know a little expect this to be manifested in their life, as John 15 and 1 John argues). Let it also never be said that a believer can go an entire life w/o having any fruits, for no one has hung around that long with a person to claim that from experience and God's Word does not teach that either.

Be careful what paradigms we seek defend, because in our zeal we may be placing grids on the Bible and forcing it to say what it does not. Check your interpretive methods so that you can correctly unlock Scripture.

2013 A Year In Review

      Wow, 2013 is over already?! That was fast! A lot has happened in this year in my life. Some good and some bad. But overall it was an amazing year. I have grown so close to The Lord and have found what my spiritual gifts are. So without further ado, I am going to give a somewhat brief overview of my year. Not everything will be on chronological order though.


One of the great things that happened this year was in my Students For Life Group. By the end of the spring semester of 2013 the only people still devoted to our group were me, my amazing Vice President, Robby, and our Friend Assanti. We needed more members and we needed more females. Standing up for equal rights for all human beings doesn't matter on the gender, but the liberal prochoice people and the people in the fence about the issue all see it as a woman's issue. So in order to have them listen to the truth, we needed to get to their level and speak to them through ways that they liked. So throughout the summer Robby and I prayed not only for more members, but especially for female members. 

So when September rolled around we attended the Students For Life Mississippi Regional Leadership Summit. All of the SFL college groups in MS attended and we listened to several amazing speakers. I was blessed to have been asked to be the Master of Ceremonies for the conference and got to introduce all the speakers. That was really neat and fun!  To me the most amazing part of it all was hearing the personal testimonies of women who have been doing sidewalk counseling outside of the lone abortion clinic in MS. Some of these women have been doing it for over 20 years. They talk to the young women going into the clinic to get abortions and they redirect them to a pregnancy center that offers free testing and loving care and counseling all free of charge. Since 2009, these women and the other folks with Pro Life Mississippi have saved over 650 lives by talking to the mothers who were considering abortion. And more than 10 times that many heard the truth about abortion. These women who do sidewalk counseling in Jackson are hands down the bravest people who I have ever met! They have been threatened, harassed, physically abused, arrested without given a reason, and have even been victims if police brutality. Their stance for Life is nothing less than a selfless act of love and dedication to The Lord. Not only have these insane actions against them affected them, but it also has affected their families. One woman's husband was actually demoted simply because of his wife's peaceful selfless passion to try to save lives. This goes to show you how much Satan is corrupting our world. One of these women that I met was the first abortionist in the State of Mississippi, but after several years of killing innocent children, she stopped and converted to being prolife. I will never forget these women and their bravery! 

Oh, back to the part about our group members at the conference we gained 2 new members! Both were female and were extremely passionate about the group! It was an answered prayer! We later gained 3 more female members, officially making the females the dominate sex of the group! Since then we have picked up traction and have accomplished a lot. We were awarded the Student Group of the Month for September from the National group Students For Life of America. We were one of only two in the country to be awarded this! We also held a bake sale to raise money for our activities since we hardly had any funds, and we raised over $200 in one day! This is truly amazing! Me, Robby, and Anja(our archivist that we met at the conference) attended 12 hours of training to be volunteers at the new Starkville Pregnancy Care Center that opened in December. We learned how to talk to people considering abortion, counseling them, providing them with hope and options, and many other great skills. We will start volunteering this year. I just recently finished making a commercial for the Center that will play at the movie Theatre in Starkville for the next year! That is exciting as well! The center is run by an amazing staff and I love all of them! They are sweet, loving, helpful, prayerful, godly women! There couldn't be a better set of staff to work there! This place is a Godsend will offer hope and save lives! Starkville is no longer the only town in the SEC without a Pregnancy Center. Praise God! all glory to Him! 


One of the biggest realizations I had this year was how much I am thankful for my breakup that I went through 2 years ago.  Because of the relationship and the breakup, I have grown closer to God than ever in my life. And had she not been in my life, there is no telling where I'd be now. So thank you God for letting me experience this trial and for delivering me from it and making me a better and more Godly man than before. And thank you Katherine for the year an a half of happiness and spiritual encouragement and for breaking my heart. Through the good and bad that you did, know this: because of you, I am now a better man and a more God-focused man! I forgive you Freckles and Im thankful for all of it.

Over the summer I worked at a camp called Ikthoos. It was started over 50 years ago by my church patriarch Dr Nap Clark. He passed away the previous summer while at camp. This 83 year old man of God shared the gospel one last time at the last night session and went to bed and went to be with The Lord. Mr Nap was a very inspiring man who wasn't afraid to share the gospel and did so for over 50 years and shared the gospel with thousands of people. This summer was my first time working there and it was amazing! Unlike the theatre camp I worked at previously, all the people were accepting, nonjudgmental, loving, and most of all, they all believed in the Gospel. I was a counselor at the camp and me and my good friend Andy mentored a group of about 8 high school boys. We also learned a lot from the speakers that were there. It was a fun and amazing experience to grow in The Lord! I will definitely be working there again! 


Now, I think the best thing that happened in my life in 2013 was my friendship with my new best friend, Erin. We had met the previous semester (fall 2012) in an incredibly boring and confusing Philosophy class. When I saw her in class, something about her stuck out,of all the people in the class, she stuck out. I couldn't figure out what it was. I soon found out that she too was a believer when her and I were the only ones who stayed after class to talk to the professor about the existence of God. We talked after class a few times that semester, but that was all. Well after I attended the Passion Conference in January,  I made it my New Years resolution to read through the whole New Testament in a year(I accomplished this goal in a slow pace at the beginning of December). So with 2 hours in between classes that semester, I would spend it sitting in Einstein Bros. Bagels reading my bible. In early January we ran into each other in there and she happened to be going through the same passages as I was. She then suggested that we meet up and talk about what we had read. So that's where the friendship began. We started meeting up at least once a week to get to know each other and discuss scripture. I found out that she had only been a believer for a few years and was still growing in her walk with him. So by the direction of the Holy Spirit I set out to help her grow. We discussed the gospel, controversial scripture passages, and how to grow in our relationship with Christ. In explaining some of the controversial passages, such as James 2, she caught on and understood faster and better than anyone I've ever discussed it with! As we continued in the friendship we became  a lot closer and felt comfortable sharing things with each other that we were struggling with and were able to help hold each other accountable. Com summer she worked the whole summer at a Christian camp where she changed the lives of many young kids! I have never been so proud of someone before! I know it is ultimately the Holy Spirit doing all the things through her, but the fact that she opened up herself for it to work through her was what I was proud of. I've had the privilege of watching her grow and become more mature in her walk with The Lord and it is one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences of my life! As I said, I set out with the intentions of helping and encouraging her in her walk with The Lord, but I never expected that I would benefit so much from the friendship. Seeing her grow encouraged me to do more, and she helped me through numerous trials and struggles that I have gone through. It is amazing! I've never had a friend like this that helped me so much and brought me so close to The Lord. 

One of the other things that I realized through my amazing friendship with my sister in Christ is what exactly my spiritual gifts were. I have come to realize through her and several other situations with people that my spiritual gifts are encouragement and faith. And both go hand in hand when helping people. I am able to always encourage people and point them to The Lord in any circumstance and I am also able to maintain my faith as my solid rock foundation. No matter what happens in life, when all else has failed me, my faith and trust in Christ always remains. And The Lord always is faithful in helping me in those situations. 

All my life I've thought that I needed to lead someone to Christ. But I've never been good at evangelizing to random people. People like Nap Clark had a gift for doing that, and in his 60 some years of doing so, he only had one person refuse to listen to to it. While we are called to do this by The Lord, it doesn't always come easy. I have realized that I am not gifted at all at sharing the gospel with random people, but I have been able to successfully share the gospel while in conversation with people.

I had an old high school friend of mine bring up the topic of my "religious beliefs" as he called them and he praised me on my dedication, and that opened up an opportunity for me to share the gospel with him. And I wasn't nervous or scared, The Lord opened the door for me and I walked through it with ease. The funny thing with that particular instance is that I had been praying before hand that he wouldn't come in the bagel shop and bug me.  Haha! But after I prayed that is realized that it was selfish of me to pray that, so I rayed again "Lord, if it is your will for him to come in here, please give me an opportunity to share your word with him" and by golly that's exactly what happened! God is amazing like that. 

Anywho, back to the original point. I have found that although I am not gifted at random evangelizing, God has given me the gift of encouragement, as I mentioned before. He has shown me that encouraging other believers and helping them understand the bible better is a very important thing to as well. I realize that The Lord has gifted me in that area and that I am able to do that a lot better than random evangelizing. But as I shared, he also presents me with plenty of opportunities to share the gospel. We all act with the gifts he has given to us and we all work together to further the kingdom, the body of believers, the Church, the Bride of Christ. Each member does their part.

Another great experience I had over the summer was being able to convert a prochoice liberal over to being a prolife advocate. You can find more info on this incident in one of my previous posts from June 10th titled "An analytical response to a Pro-Choice Progressive" and it's follow up post from July 28th titled "One Won Over for Life". This goes to show that great things can come about through peacefully and lovingly debating with people. 

One last thing that happened this year, I see as very little of a thing compared to all else that has happened, is that I have lost some weight. I used to drink soft drinks all the time. So one day I randomly decided that I was going to go a week without drinking any. So I did. Instead I drank sugar free lemonade and sugar free grape juice. As a result, in the first week I had lost 5 pounds! I was shocked! Still used to not drinking soft drinks, I went another week without drinking them, and in 2 weeks I had lost over 7 pounds! Seeing the difference on that scale was such a good feeling! 

Overall this year has been amazing! It has had it's ups and downs, but overall, it has been a major up compared to previous years. The most important lesson I've learned this year is to completely turn things over to God and trust Him. Meditating in prayer a lot has helped tremendously! I urge you all to do the same. Here's to an even better year!

Happy 2014!



     

     

What did Jesus say about Homosexuality?

Christians often get attacked because they believe that having sex with someone of the same sex is a sin. Which the Bible clearly says is a sin, just like it says that sex outside of marriage or having more than one sexual partner is a sin. 

Sin is all the same in the sense that one sin separates us from God, and that Jesus paid for all sin. He paid it all on the cross. We are all sinners, and he loved us so much that he paid for our sins so that we may spend eternity with him in heaven. He said that whoever simply believes in him, has everlasting life with him in heaven. 

Now, Ive heard many non-christians and christians say that "Jesus never said anything about homosexuality", well, that is a common misconception. 

In Mark 7:21 Jesus said this:

"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders..."

The New Testament was written in Greek, the common language of the time written. The Greek is much more specific in the meanings than english is, allowing for a narrowed down specific/exact meaning. In this verse, Christ uses the word "fornication", which is the Original Greek word: πορνεία. The Transliteration of this word is Porneia.(Where we get the word pornography). The definition of that word is:  illicit sexual intercourse. (adultery, Incest, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.). This same word is used in Matthew 19:9 as the only reason for getting a divorce. In context, in the Mark verse,  Christ is calling any type of sexual relation that is not between that of a man and a woman in marriage, evil, meaning it is a sin. That is just one of the many things he talks about in that verse. 

Of course in our culture & language we see fornication as meaning just "sex" or sex outside of marriage, but because the English language is not as specific as the Greek, this was the closest English word used in the English translations. 

Do I hate people who do those things? Absolutely not! The Bible calls us to be loving and to treat others the way we wish to be treated and to do all things with love. Christ associated with all sorts of sinners. He was kind and loving to all sinners, but he did not condone their sins. He loved the sinners, but not their sins. THAT is the prime definition of Tolerance. Therefore, I love people who sin, but I do not approve of the sin. I don't approve of the sins I do, that is why it is an every day struggle. We are called, as Christians to "hate evil". Sin is evil. We should be more Christlike. We should love others regardless of their sins, but we should not love their sin.