Even though pro-life voices claim that the murder trial of abortion clinic doctor Kermit B. Gosnell hasn’t gotten the media attention it deserves, one does not have to search far to find descriptions of the conditions, practices and deaths that occurred at the Women’s Medical Society in Philadelphia. One such report can be found here. I would have to imagine that readers on both sides of the abortion issue are horrified at the grand jury’s report.
As one who believes in the sanctity of all human life and opposes legalized abortion, the story raises other questions in my mind:
Why are more people not horrified at all abortions?
We’ve been told for years that abortion is part of health care. How many more clinics like this exist, providing neither health nor care?
Why are we surprised that such a place existed? When we start down a path that legalizes death, do we really expect to end up in a good place? We were told long ago that we reap what we sow.
I know that not all will share my point of view and I know there is much more to the discussion than this one story. But I do hope that it will make us all think, talk and pray a little more about life issues. As one who has held many babies, including some of my own, at the baptismal font, my prayer today is once more, “Lord, have mercy.”
Symbol of baptism on the font at Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church
My heart goes out to the families of those who died in the bomb explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon today, as well as the many who were injured. I learned of it just minutes after it happened today when I quickly glanced at Facebook on my phone after a hospital visit today. In no time at all, there were prayers being offered (here’s one by our church body), rants against terrorists and the government, and even a Wikipedia page replete with details and references.
Instant news coverage means our lives are filled information, fear, anger and questions in an instant. It can be overwhelming. Thankfully, it also means that our minds are renewed with the perspective God’s Word gives us as the faithful have responded with proclamations of Christ’s victory over death, His mercy and healing extended through rescue workers, race officials, nearby churches and bystanders, and reminders to call upon Him in the day of trouble, for He promises to deliver us, and we will glorify Him (Psalm 50:15).
Our lives can end in an instant. Not just because someone has a gun, a bomb, mental illness or an ax to grind. It’s “because sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
But…”the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). That is where we will find hope.
From a long time runner who didn’t quite qualify for Boston in 1982: “Lord, have mercy.”
For a change, I answered the phone last Thursday while I was still at church finishing up my sermon for Sunday. It turned out to be a most unusual phone call.
I always answer, “Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church; this is Pastor Douthwaite.”
“Hello, pastor. This is K**** (name changed to protect the innocent). I visited your church on Mothers’ Day and I was hoping you could tell me more about the ship’s bell in your entryway.
Sometimes we have unusual items in our entryway, or narthex, especially when we are promoting Vacation Bible School. One year we actually had a ship’s wheel on display. I thought really hard about what might be out there, but finally said, “We don’t have a ship’s bell here.”
“Sure you do. You must be mistaken, pastor.” Really. You’d think I’d notice something like that, especially since I’ve been through the narthex almost every day for the last six years.
I decided to investigate a little more. “You attended Shepherd of the Coast?”
“Yes ma’am.” Respectful, but just a little off the mark.
“On Pine Lakes Parkway, on the west side of town?”
A moment of silence. “I think I may have called the wrong church.”
“Maybe.” Click. Conversation over.
Attend the church of your choice this weekend. Take note of any nautical items you see. Glance at the church sign. Pin the location on your maps app. And have a great week!
The presidential campaigns have begun already, eighteen months before the next election on November 6, 2012. Can we handle eighteeen months of speeches, commercials, debates and news reports?
When candidates traveled by rail and made speeches off the back of trains, it didn’t take eighteen months. So why, with so many ways to effectively communicate, do we have to start so early? To raise money? I suppose. It takes a lot of money to run for office. To win in the primaries? The Iowa caucuses are next February, only nine months away. Fail there and your chances are slim. To get your message out? Perhaps. Most of the messages we will get will be trash the other candidates. That shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish. Everyone’s got something in their closet. At least til it comes out. To create jobs? It takes a lot of people to run a campaign. Here’s a chance to demonstrate you bring unemployment down!
We should spend eighteen months praying for our country and our leaders, both present and future. Up against so much we can’t control, from the economy to terrorism, unemployment to foreclosures, problems in the classroom to health problems in our families, we certainly could use some divine intervention. Actually, this might take longer than eighteen months.
How much risk should we take as Christians? Do we throw caution to the wind and trust God to protect us? Ordo we play it safe, knowing that we are like sheep among wolves in this world?It depends on your definition of “risk.” Is it risky to talk to someone about your faith? It could be. You don’t know how they’ll react. You could offend and lose a friend. Or God could use you to reach someone. You never know.
Is it risky to go and do mission work in another country, like Haiti? It could be. Some of those who need Jesus the most live in some very unstable and dangerous places. Anything could happen.
Is it risky to play it safe and never let your faith leave the confines of your home or heart? Absolutely. You risk not experiencing how God can use you to make a difference. You risk not seeing someone experience his love in very tangible ways. Hopefully God will send someone else. He will, won’t he? How ironic. You can play it safe and still be taking a risk!
I’ll bet most Christians (at least in this country) don’t even think of faith as something risky. Depending on your beliefs or church, it could be boring or entertaining, tedious or fun, predictable or inspiring, irrelevant or demanding. But it doesn’t seem dangerous or risky.
I’m always looking for better ways to manage my time and get things done. Tony Schwartz’s 90-Minute Plan for Personal Effectiveness is surprisingly simple and effective. I’ve actually only tried it once, but found it very productive. My office can be such a distraction-filled place that for this to work, though, I either need to shut the door and turn everything off (email, phone, windows), or get out of there altogether.
It’s been a year since the earthquake hit Haiti, devastating an already devastated country. Where were you when the earthquake happened? I have no idea. I don’t remember the news even really showing up on my radar a year ago.
But now we think about Haiti all the time. Last March, when the call for help went out, my wife went with an LC-MS World Relief medical team and saw first hand what had happened and what people were going through. Although she touched a lot of lives, it turns out that others touched her life even more. Those who survived, those who had to stay there after she came home, those who email us, and those whose faces we can’t forget, touch our lives each day.
There are lots of articles out there to read about Haiti a year later, from LCMS World Relief and Human Care,Relevant magazine, and so many others. In some ways, not much has changed. Some have found homes. Many receive care. Some are back in school. A few have real hope. Hopefully our hearts have changed. We are planning on having our friend Lophane here in February to speak to us about his life, his work and his hopes for Haiti. I think it’s amazing just to be able to write that we have friends in Haiti, a place I hardly ever took notice of before.
Ed Stetzer has written an interesting article for Q ‘How Christian Consumers Ruin Pastors and Cheat the Mission of God’. I have often struggled with those folks who simply come to church for a product or service, not unlike taking your car to an auto mechanic or hiring a contractor to work on your home. It could be a baptism, wedding, funeral,counseling or some other type of inspirational entertainment. We pastors step in it all the time, willingly providing what we think people are looking for, fearful of what will happen if we do not continually attract and retain an influx of new people at church. How effective and healthy can ministry be if that’s the model?
In retrospect, it was so good to get away to Haiti for nine days. Even though it was an intense, tiring week, the only expectation was that I be a pastor. “Do justice…love kindness…walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Help people, show compassion, pray and preach the word. No meetings, few demands, and countless opportunities to proclaim the gospel in words and actions.
You get spoiled real quick. It’s freeing to not be hounded by time and schedules. So when you get back to the real world, it’s hard — real hard — to take seriously some of the things you used to spend time and energy on. Like meetings that accomplish little if anything. Complaints and concerns about our facilities. Shopping and travel plans for Christmas. A whole bunch of people who live in tents in Haiti, including many of our friends, are now in the path of a hurricane in the Caribbean. Suddenly, it’s real hard to focus on that other stuff. And maybe that’s a good thing.
Each day in Haiti was pretty much the same for us. Wait for rides, people waiting for the clinic, long, hot, dry days. But each day there was also a new adventure.
Like the outhouse. Up the hill from the church it didn’t look (or smell) too badly from a distance. But up close — watch out! Unable to last all afternoon, Gail decided to brave it, and could barely get in the door. Lisa gave it a shot on Thursday and it took just about everything she had to endure the “squat pot.” And that was before Quinton told us that he had gone up with a flashlight to look in the hole, and saw tarantulas crawling around in there. After that,
The outhouse: up close and personal
many decided it would be better to use the bushes around back. Safer — unless, like Jesse, you forgot to check for cactus.
The first few days, we got no lunch and there were few if any drinks brought in for us. Finally, we worked that out, but then faced another dilemma. How do you drink a soda or eat a sandwich in front of all these people who have so little to eat? Most of us felt like we had to take a swig or bite in hiding, because we couldn’t bear to do it with all those eyes on us.
I asked one of our translators, Jean Enock, what he and his family usually ate when not helping out at the clinic. He told us he usually ate one meal a day, typically some rice and beans. That’s all. Known as Enock, he was in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake. He was taking a bath in his home when the tremors started, and he jumped out of the tub and ran outside naked before he pulled on a pair of shorts. I can’t imagine what kind of terror and panic there must have been that day. But that’s not the worst. Later that day, a wall fell on his father, killing him. Enock now helps care for his family, some of whom live in a tent next to the rubble that used to be his house. He was one of the most pleasant, helpful, thoughtful and easy-going people we met there.
When we were at the hotel, we were introduced to another unexpected bathroom custom. Even though we had flush toilets, you weren’t supposed to flush your toilet paper. You put it into a can next to the toilet, and they would empty it each day. If you remembered to give them your key in the morning so the housekeepers could get in there.
On Thursday, we discovered that the fish at the restaurant, red snapper, was pretty good and a good supper option. That day, a translator caught up with me and said a mother and her son wanted prayer. I later learned that the boy may have had leprosy, an ailment even the doctor hadn’t seen before. Another lady told her translator she wanted private confession, but then backed out before I had a chance to speak with her. Friday was the day we gave out lots and lots of toys, so much so that it looked like a carnival, everyone walking around holding large stuffed animals.
Waite for it... 