Thoughts for the week - Pastor Larry Quinnell

 From Pastor Larry:

Greetings church! 
I feel like I need to have a voiceover by a professional announcer, who says, “Please stand by as we leave our regularly scheduled programming for an important announcement.” One of the most significant piece of news was released this week. As we now know, a draft of a decision by the Supreme Court to overturn the abortion right codified in Roe vs Wade. When I first heard the story, I confess that because leaks from the Supreme Court were incredibly unlikely, the magnitude represented one of the largest impactful stories, and the timing could be used to rally the financial support of one of the political parties, I thought it was a hoax. The next morning, Chief Justice John Roberts affirmed that the document that was released was authentic. 

I remember Obama saying that the definition of life was above his pay grade. My beliefs about this come from my understanding of what the bible says about the sacredness of human life. 
God has a plan for each of us before we are formed in the womb. The first verse for us is Jeremiah 1:5

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

That crafting of our physical frame and personality begin in the womb. Being born with a facial birth defect, I had my own feelings about how I was made. But scripture declares in Psalm 139:13-14

For You created my innermost parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.

But when does life begin? Ahh, there is the difficulty. We do know that the bibles states in the first part of Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood,…”.  My belief about that is that life begins at the inception of a blood circulatory system. Medically, this occurs around 6 weeks. I know that this presents challenges for the mother because she may not know that she is pregnant at that time and may make choices that are dangerous to the baby.
 

Another verse I use for my perspective is found in Psalm 127:3 “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.” Children are a blessing from God. Yes, some children represent significant challenges and especially at certain seasons in life. But in faith, I affirm what God declares. How dangerous it is to declare something to be a curse when God has declared it to be a blessing.
 

As a part of a side commentary, there is some information for us to know. For almost all women who have had an abortion, it was not an easy decision, with many of them already having at least one child. Another thing to know is that approximately one in five women who have attended church have had an abortion. We need to be sensitive to those who have had an abortion or thoughts of abortion that they likely have feelings of guilt, shame, regret, anger, grief. In addition, because these women may not be able to have the healthy conversation that takes them through that valley of despair, they could have feelings of numbness, hopelessness, and guilt. 

There is a position that says, “be loud and be proud” of the abortion. This position does not deal with the guilt. But stuffing all of those feelings down is not a solution either. Until the truth is brought into the light, victory is not possible.
 

Each of us can be that safe person with whom secrets can be shared. Those secrets need to remain a secret lest they become gossip. But listening to the woman, praying for her, helping her in whatever we can to help them get closer to a God who loves them best is a way for us to be the heart and face of Jesus. In so doing, we can be the bringer of truth, hope, and love.