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BLOGPOST: Whisper Freedom

My cage confines me all around;
Abroad I cannot fly;
But though my wing is closely bound,
My heart’s at liberty.
My prison wall cannot control
The flight, the freedom, of the soul.
Jeanne Marie de la Motte-Guyon
Two kinds of vetos threaten freedom in our world today, according to this month’s issue of The Economist–“the assassin’s veto” and the “heckler’s veto.”  Death threats–the ultimate appeal to force–limit the freedom of news entities and private citizens. Hecklers shout down those who disagree.
The tightening noose of limits on speech are not just overseas and not just from violently radical elements. 
This turn of events puts us under the shadow of bully nations of the world.  The gaggle of “usual suspects” comes to mind. There are the radical Muslim entities–“state and non-state” oppressors. And in China, where liberty had been growing, a recent “anti-corruption” law now limits freedom of speech and assembly as well. Continue reading “BLOGPOST: Whisper Freedom”

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Redeeming the Horrible: Raped, Pregnant, Having the Baby

It was a flashpoint in the argument to legalize abortion–rape. How could anyone be so cruel as to suggest that woman who’s been raped has to carry the child of the rapist to term?
The surprising answer is that abortion is frequently pushed onto these victims, and abortion victimizes them further.
We are 43 years from the complete eradication of abortion laws that Roe v Wade and Doe v. Bolton enacted. Surprising is the scant discussion of such the compelling subject of abortion because of rape or incest.
And there seems to be little interest in finding facts to support what was and still is assumed: That women who suffer rape and girls or suffer incest are better off having abortions than they are delivering babies. Continue reading “Redeeming the Horrible: Raped, Pregnant, Having the Baby”

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Historic Move: Britain Exits EU

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.
And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. (Revelation 13: 1-5, ESV).

 
It was supposed to be the first step in world domination for the evil end time world government. In the 1990s, many Christian fundamentalists thought the European Union was the formation of the world-ending kingdom. It marked the beginning of the end of the world. Continue reading “Historic Move: Britain Exits EU”

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When Choice Isn't Choice

I was volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center (CPC) years ago when the couple walked in. They were young, but he was older than she was. He was clearly “of age.” She was clearly not.
Our policy was to talk to the woman alone. To tell her whether she was pregnant where she could express herself freely, where she would not be under the influence or power of someone else.
This man refused to let us tell her anything. He just wanted to know. Was she pregnant? When he understood that he would not receive the information himself, he said, “I’ll just take her to Pittsburgh.”
To Pittsburgh, for an abortion.
She had not spoken a word. They left. Continue reading “When Choice Isn't Choice”

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BLOGPOST: The Spirit and the Bride Say "Come"

Take my hand and take this ring
And know that I will always love you
Through anything.
Matthew West
June is the month of weddings, and I went to a special one recently. Many aspects were like any other wedding. But in some ways, this wedding differed from most. And those ways enhanced the significance of the day.
As is typical, the dresses, flowers, and church were beautiful. The bride glowed in the love of her groom. He beamed in her love for him. She was from head to toe a princess. He was a handsome prince. Parents smiled. The photographer snapped.
The day seemed to unfold without a hitch–at least until the ushers, aided by the groom’s mother, struggled to unfold the reluctant aisle runner. Every wedding has such a moment. Continue reading “BLOGPOST: The Spirit and the Bride Say "Come"”

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BLOGPOST: Exempting Abortion Industry from Free Press

In 1978, the Chicago Sun Times published a series of articles on abortion clinics in the Windy City. Thirteen articles based on undercover reporting comprised the expose revealing–until then–unprecedented abuses. “Abortion Profiteers” engaged in “dangerous and unsavory, unsanitary practices, including performing the procedure regularly on women who were not pregnant.”
A grand jury investigated. And the newspaper decided to refuse future advertising for abortion clinics because “it would not be able to verify their competence.”
But the expose did not end abuse in the abortion industry. Continue reading “BLOGPOST: Exempting Abortion Industry from Free Press”

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Abuse Victims Speak Out in Bathroom Wars

“My children don’t want to use the bathrooms anymore. That is huge for a child who’s been sexually abused.” ADFlegal (5:45) 
The Alliance Defending Freedom recently posted a video discussion regarding the debate over gender neutral bathroom laws. The video gives voice to several women who have been sexually abused as children. The parent quoted above has adopted several children who have suffered sexual abuse.
One suffers the indignity of “accidents” at school rather than using a bathroom where she feels afraid.
The school this mother’s children attend recently changed its bathroom policy. The trauma of being trans and not wanting to use the bathroom has become trauma for those who have suffered abuse.
Some of those speaking out are years removed from their abuse. At 1:25, the video shows one “survivor of sexual trauma” who found herself in a workplace conundrum. Continue reading “Abuse Victims Speak Out in Bathroom Wars”

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BLOGPOST:Drug addiction, a form of slavery

“The Moth don’t care when he sees The Flame.
He might get burned, but he’s in the game.
And once he’s in, he can’t go back, he’ll
Beat his wings ’til he burns them black…
No, The Moth don’t care when he sees The Flame. . .
The Moth don’t care if The Flame is real,
‘Cause Flame and Moth got a sweetheart deal.
And nothing fuels a good flirtation,
Like Need and Anger and Desperation…
No, The Moth don’t care if The Flame is real,”  —Aimee Mann.
Typically translated as witchcraft or sorcery, pharmakeia appears in the New Testament three times: Galatians 5: 20 and Revelation 9: 21 and 18: 23. Its earlier meaning related only to medicine. But by the time of Christ, the word had developed multiple meanings, including the use of drugs, poisoning, sorcery, or the seduction of idolatry.
Paul’s use of the word in Galatians–as he lists the “acts of the flesh”–refers to the “evil use of drugs.”It indicates a mixture of illicit drug use and the occult.
Today, drug addiction holds all the connotations of pharmakeia. Oh, it’s not directly connected to the occult as it was in the days of the apostles. But the evil it carries is profound. It is physically, mentally, and psychologically damaging. It carries all the menaces of an evil spell. Continue reading “BLOGPOST:Drug addiction, a form of slavery”