10 Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
11 So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?
12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."
None of us are perfect, but God will work through our imperfections, that His works might be displayed. Paul had an area of infirmity, a thorn in the flesh, but God said that His grace was sufficient; where Paul was weak, God is strong. That is a great reminder of God's intent to bring us into relationship with Himself and to produce through us fruit that honors Him and shows what He has done. He does incredible things through those who would submit to Him.
God desires to produce His glory through every human He has created. Jesus reinforced that idea in
John chapter 9:
1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
In this case, Jesus healed the blind man. But, we also recognize that Scripture teaches that God will work through our infirmities and in our fallibility - for His glory!
The subject of the sanctity of life is quite prevalent these days, especially when you have lawmakers who are intent on allowing more instances of taking that life in the womb, and even outside of it after a child is born. Yet, three-quarters of Americans, even those who would favor abortion in some circumstances, believe there should be restrictions, according to a Marist poll.
We can be grateful when the message of life is communicated, even when it is not necessarily communicated by someone who claims to be a Christian. Take, for instance, a recent video shared by the actor, Ashton Kutcher.
He shared, according to ChristianHeadlines.com, a video on his Facebook page. The article states:
An article at The Atlantic website from 2017 highlighted Stephens' testimony, pointing out that he is a Special Olympian and that he was testifying in support of designating Federal money to Down syndrome research. The article pointed out that:
Certainly, these stories serve as a reminder to keep your eye on the ball - life in the womb in precious. We can be involved in a variety of issues, but the question of what constitutes life is a foundational one. Frank Stephens was allowed to live, under conditions in which many babies with Down Syndrome have their lives taken. And, live he has!
And, we have to be cautious. There does seem to be an agenda out there to reduce single-issue voting in order to de-emphasize the abortion issue so someone will feel OK about voting for a pro-abortion candidate. This will lead to the implementation of more radical candidates who do not regard life in the womb and are committed to policies that are contrary to Scripture.
We can also remember to stand with those with disabilities and their families. Churches have launched disability ministries. Tim Tebow's Night to Shine proms are being used to affirm the value of the lives of those who are disabled; the first one in Montgomery is occurring tonight at Wynlakes, sponsored by Thorington Road Baptist Church. Hope Heals, the ministry of Jay and Katherine Wolf, provides encouragement for those who have special needs, and will be offering two camp sessions this year at Camp McDowell in North Alabama - check our website to learn more.
The so-called "final solution," to which Frank Stephens referred is no solution at all. And we can, as it's been said, pursue a culture of life and reinforce the idea that all lives are precious and have value because we all reflect the creative hand of our Maker.
+++++
God desires to produce His glory through every human He has created. Jesus reinforced that idea in
John chapter 9:
1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
In this case, Jesus healed the blind man. But, we also recognize that Scripture teaches that God will work through our infirmities and in our fallibility - for His glory!
The subject of the sanctity of life is quite prevalent these days, especially when you have lawmakers who are intent on allowing more instances of taking that life in the womb, and even outside of it after a child is born. Yet, three-quarters of Americans, even those who would favor abortion in some circumstances, believe there should be restrictions, according to a Marist poll.
We can be grateful when the message of life is communicated, even when it is not necessarily communicated by someone who claims to be a Christian. Take, for instance, a recent video shared by the actor, Ashton Kutcher.
He shared, according to ChristianHeadlines.com, a video on his Facebook page. The article states:
The five-minute video shared to his 17 million followers shows Frank Stephens, a man with Down syndrome, delivering testimony to a congressional committee in 2017. Although the hearing focused on Down syndrome research, Stephens in his testimony criticized prenatal tests that lead to unborn babies with Down syndrome being killed in the womb.Stephens says, “I am a man with Down syndrome, and my life is worth living,” adding, “... Some people say that prenatal screenings will identify Down syndrome in the womb, and those pregnancies will just be terminated. It is hard for me to sit here and say those words. I completely understand that the people pushing this particular ‘final solution’ are saying that people like me should not exist. That view is deeply prejudiced by an outdated idea of life with Down syndrome." Stephens also says, "Seriously, I have a great life."
Kutcher wrote above the video: “Everyone's life is valuable.”
An article at The Atlantic website from 2017 highlighted Stephens' testimony, pointing out that he is a Special Olympian and that he was testifying in support of designating Federal money to Down syndrome research. The article pointed out that:
“The life expectancy for someone born with Down syndrome has increased from twenty-five in the early 1980s to more than fifty today,” Caitrin Keiper writes in The New Atlantis. “In many other ways as well, a child born with Down syndrome today has brighter prospects than at any other point in history...But, these chilling statistics exist, according to Keiper:
“...the abortion rate for fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome tops ninety percent.” In Iceland, nearly every fetus with the condition is killed. CBS News reports that “the United States has an estimated termination rate for Down syndrome of 67 percent (1995-2011); in France it's 77 percent (2015); and Denmark, 98 percent (2015). The law in Iceland permits abortion after 16 weeks if the fetus has a deformity––and Down syndrome is included in this category.”By constrast, consider what Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney did the other day. According to Faithwire, he...
... gifted one of his team members with two tickets to the biggest sporting event of the year — Super Bowl LIII. David Saville, who has Down syndrome, works as the team’s equipment manager. In a touching video posted to the Tiger’s Twitter account, Coach Swinney gathers his team together and delivers some beautiful words before presenting the prized tickets.
“You do so much for this team,” Swinney said in the video. “The joy you bring every day. The perspective. How hard you work. You are one of the hardest workers we got around here. We all love you, so we got a special gift for you.”What a great way to show value to a person with special needs who is not allowing disability to hold him back.
Certainly, these stories serve as a reminder to keep your eye on the ball - life in the womb in precious. We can be involved in a variety of issues, but the question of what constitutes life is a foundational one. Frank Stephens was allowed to live, under conditions in which many babies with Down Syndrome have their lives taken. And, live he has!
And, we have to be cautious. There does seem to be an agenda out there to reduce single-issue voting in order to de-emphasize the abortion issue so someone will feel OK about voting for a pro-abortion candidate. This will lead to the implementation of more radical candidates who do not regard life in the womb and are committed to policies that are contrary to Scripture.
We can also remember to stand with those with disabilities and their families. Churches have launched disability ministries. Tim Tebow's Night to Shine proms are being used to affirm the value of the lives of those who are disabled; the first one in Montgomery is occurring tonight at Wynlakes, sponsored by Thorington Road Baptist Church. Hope Heals, the ministry of Jay and Katherine Wolf, provides encouragement for those who have special needs, and will be offering two camp sessions this year at Camp McDowell in North Alabama - check our website to learn more.
The so-called "final solution," to which Frank Stephens referred is no solution at all. And we can, as it's been said, pursue a culture of life and reinforce the idea that all lives are precious and have value because we all reflect the creative hand of our Maker.
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