A Bedtime Story For The Kids

I'm a loner this week. That is to say, my wife and kids are in Pennsylvania visiting family and I'm still here in Florida by myself. The kids, both mine and my Niece, like for me to tell them bedtime stories that I make up, so, I thought that it might be fun to write one and sent it up to them. So I did. I'm told it was quite a hit, and I thought I'd share it here. I know it's kind of cheesy, but come on, the target audience is between 5 and 9.
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Once upon a time in a faraway land there lived a small family on the outskirts of a grand and mighty Kingdom.

The family consisted of a father and mother and a little boy.

Life could be hard for the family, since they didn't own much, and the little boy's feet didn't work quite right.

Shortly after Jacob had been born, one of his feet had been hurt in a terrible accident, leaving him to shuffle, dragging his bad foot behind him, for his entire life.

All three of them worked hard, day in and day out, to earn enough money and grow enough food just so that they could survive.

From the time that Jacob was very young his father would wake him just as the first grey light of morning was beginning to paint the sky.

From his earliest memories, every morning when his father woke him up he would find his mother preparing breakfast.

Breakfast didn't always amount to much, sometimes just a bit of rice, or some fruit they had managed to pick, or, on very special occasions, an egg for them all to share.

Once breakfast was finished, the three of them would spend the day going about their work, pausing briefly for lunch, if there was any to be had.

Work was long and hard, and the pay was meager.

At the end of each day, just after the sun had gone down, they would all return to their home.

Not much more than a hut really, but the four walls were strong, and the roof was solid and well built, it was safe, and it was home.

So meager was their living, that even Sundays could not be complete days of rest, there was still much to be done.

Sunday was very special for a number of reasons, though.

You see, Sunday was the one day when work was not from sun up to sun down.

On Sundays the work was early in the morning, with a long break when they could go to a neighbors house and hear someone read and teach from the Bible.

Then they would go home, finish the chores that needed to be done, and then spend the rest of the day together.

For all the hardship that this life offered, Jacob and his parents were very happy.

They loved each other, and they were always willing to help anyone in need.

They would even share their meager food with someone who was hungry, and none of them ever complained about it.

This is the story of just such an occasion.

It was a Thursday evening, and Jacob was shuffling home with some fruit that was his pay for working in the orchard of a nobleman.

It was late, and the sun was already nearly down, when Jacob heard someone crying.

As he drew near he saw a young lady sitting by the side of the road, looking like she had taken quite a tumble.

Her dress was torn and dirty, but he could tell that it had been a very nice one before whatever had happened to it, and to her.

Jacob carefully bowed his head low toward the ground, showing great respect, as someone of his status in the Kingdom must do.

"My lady," he said softly, "forgive me for approaching you, but it is late and this road may not be safe after dark."

The crying stopped and she looked up at him, after a moment she asked, "who are you."

He raised his head slightly so that he could see her and said, "My name is Jacob, is there some way that I can help you?"

"I have nowhere to go tonight," was her simple reply.

"Well, I don't have much to offer, but I know my parents would never wish for you to sleep out in the woods, if it pleases you, my lady, come with me."

She rose to her feet, and followed him down the dark dirt road to the little hut that his family called home.

Just as Jacob had promised, his parents were warm and inviting, careful always to be respectful, for she seemed that she might be a nobleman's daughter.

They shared what food they had with her at dinner time, and Jacob's mother cleaned her cuts and mended her dress.

She had not told them who she was, or what had happened to her, nor even her name up to this point.

She was surprised by the interest they showed in her, and they love they showed to her, even though they didn't know her.

When it was time for bed, such as that was, Jacob's father asked the young lady, "if I may be so bold, what is your name? So that we may know what to call you."

She smiled, just now realizing that she hadn't been properly introduced, since she wasn't used to having to do that kind of thing herself.

"I am called Abby," was all she said.

This was enough for Jacob and his parents, and living so far from the castle as they did, the connection to Princess Abigail never crossed their minds.

Early the next morning, Abby awoke with the family, shared in the meager breakfast, and then, something she had never dreamed of, she shared in their chores.

For the next few weeks Abby lived and worked with Jacob and his parents, always working hard and doing her fair share.

Finally, one night after dinner, she started speaking.

"As I'm sure you've been able to tell, I come from a life that is much different than yours.

"In my... um... house, there is always plenty of food to eat, and I've never had to work for any of it, or for anything at all.

"All I've ever done is to sit around and look pretty."

Jacob's mother smiled at her and said, "You do that quite well dear, wouldn't you agree Jacob?"

Jacob turned red and started to stammer, not knowing what would be an appropriate reply, although he did agree, wholeheartedly.

Abby went on, "But for all the things that I had, all the food, and all the servants, I never had what I wanted most, I never felt loved.

"I never wanted to be ungrateful for all the things that I had, but I was never happy.

"So I took a horse from the stable went for a ride, something spooked the horse and he threw me, that was when Jacob found me by the side of the road.

"I never knew that there were people living right here in this Kingdom who got by with so little, not knowing from day to day if there will be enough food to eat.

"And I've never worked like this before in my life, or even close to it. But for all that, I want to thank you, I have never been so happy in all my life as I have been since I've been here with you."

Jacob's father smiled and said, "And it's been a joy having you here, Abby, and you are welcome to stay as long as you like, but do you think you're parents might be worried about you?"

"I guess they might be," she replied, "and I guess I need to be getting on home, but I would like to return your hospitality, in the morning, would you be willing to come to my home with me?"

So, in the morning, instead of working the day away, Jacob and his parents followed Abby along the dusty road back toward the center of the Kingdom.

As they walked, on and on and on it seemed, and the Castle kept growing larger in the distance, Jacob's father's curiosity got the better of him.

"Abby, do you live very near the Castle?" He asked.

"Oh yes, very near," was all she said.

The three commoners followed in stunned silence as Abby led them right through the gates and across the castle draw bridge.

When the guard at the inner gate saw her he fell to his knees and to the astonishment of Jacob and his parents he said, "your Highness, we have been worried sick and looking everywhere for you, are you alright?"

Abby smiled and said, "Yes, I'm quite alright, you may rise."

The guard stood up and shouted across the courtyard, "Thomas, tell the captain and inform the King, Princess Abigail has returned, safe and sound!"

Turning to the now very pale and trembling trio she said, "come now, it's quite alright, you are my guests."

That night, the three lowly commoners ate dinner at the King's table, a feast such as they had never imagined possible.

After a few days of being back at the Castle, Princess Abigail requested and audience with her father, the King, which was promptly granted.

She had someone provide Jacob with a new suit of clothes, and made sure he was cleaned up nicely, then took him by the hand and led him into the throne room, before the King.

Before she had a chance to speak the King looked down at Jacob and said, "Young man, I want to thank you and your family, not only for helping my daughter to survive, but also because I have never seen her so happy in all my days."

Jacob bowed low, but was too scared to speak.

Still holding tightly to Jacob's hand Abigail made her startling request... well, it was startling to King's servants and guards, but not to the King.

"Father," She said, "as I am the youngest of your children, I ask that I could be released from the requirement that I must marry a prince."

Jacob, dumbfounded by all of this, had no idea what was going on, so when the King asked him, "Jacob, is that what you want as well?" He didn't know how to respond.

After a moment the King realized that Jacob hadn't put it all together yet and decided to help him out, "Son," he said kindly, "she's asking me to give her permission to marry you."

It took a moment, but as understanding dawned on Jacob he looked at Abby, not quite sure that this was what she had in mind, but she looked into his eyes and nodded her head.

Jacob's heart raced in his chest and suddenly he was barely able to contain his joy, "Yes, your majesty, I would like that very much!"

The King laughed with overflowing joy and said, "Then it is done, we will have a grand wedding, and a grand feast, and you and my daughter, and you're parents will live on the Castle grounds, and enjoy the benefits that come with being royalty."

So it was that a lowly boy from the outskirts of the Kingdom married Princess Abigail.

And Jacob, and his lovely wife Abigail, and Jacob's parents lived happily ever after, not because they now enjoyed a life of riches, but because they understood where true joy and true happiness are to be found.

THE END

A Truly Sad Day

Michael Jackson died yesterday, but that's not why I'm saying that it's a truly sad day. I understand that it is sad news for a lot of people who are his fans, and especially for his family and close friends, and I do feel for those people. But what is truly sad about all of this is the media coverage.

The passing of a celebrity of Jackson's stature is certainly newsworthy, and is going to be a big story, no question about it, and when there is something new to report, or something important to add to a previous report, that is a legitimate thing for the media to engage in. If that was the nature of the reporting of this story, I would have no problem with it at all. Unfortunately, that is not what I have seen. I have seen very little real news regarding the singers death, and virtually nonstop coverage of his life and all the times that he's been in the news in the past, and the seemingly endless line of Celebrities who think that they must put out a statement regarding his death.

I would have sighed and shrugged all of this off if it had been a slow news day, but therein lies the problem, it wasn't.

As I sit here, the Islamo-Nazi regime that runs Iran is brutally murdering their own people in the streets, shooting them, chasing them down and beating them with fists and with clubs, and kicking them to death, and, even more horrifyingly, in some cases, slaughtering them with axes! All because they had the courage to stand up and demand that the elections be honest! And the strongest response from our President so far is to tell them that they aren't welcome for hotdogs on July 4th after all. What he should be telling them is to stop it now, that we will not stand for it, and that if it continues they face a serious risk of the United States Marines knocking on their door and kicking their sorry butts all over the country! Maybe he could leave off the threat, but certainly he needs to be saying the other part.

Also today, the US House Of Representatives is debating the so-called "Cap and Trade" energy bill, which is much better defined, as Mark Levin calls it, "Tax and Kill." What it amounts to is a new tax scheme, so massive that it will kill jobs and brutalize an already strained economy, with absolutely zero impact on pollution and so called "climate change." The fact is that it will probably make pollution worse on a global scale, because companies won't be able to afford to continue doing business in the US and will go to places that will allow them to operate. Places like China, where they don't have anywhere near the pollution controls and standards that we have in the US.

And furthermore, the debate of the Healthcare still rages on, and other than a few hosts on Fox News, there has yet to be a serious story in the media explaining the facts of what the Democrat proposals on that front would really mean to our nation.

There are only three things, all of which are far more weighty and pressing matters than the death of Michael Jackson. As I said, I feel for his family, I really do, and am sad for them, and agree that this is a big story, but it is by no means the biggest or the most important story of the day.

If this is what we have come to, it is a truly sad day indeed.

John Piper-A Problem With Churches

Self-Image: Vice or Virtue?

Self-Image: Vice or Virtue?

Should we teach our children to feel good about themselves for the sake of a good self-image even if it is not an accurate one? Greg shares his thoughts on the balance needed to parent in a world that embraces the cult of self-esteem.

By: Gregory Koukl

While at a doctor’s appointment, I pulled out my iPhone with pictures of my children. Many of you know that I have a four year old that has very, very striking red hair. She gets a lot of compliments on it, which is nice. The female technician who was running some tests on me made the same comment about her hair. I explained that because she gets a lot of comments about her hair, we have to be careful because vanity is a little bit of a concern in a situation like that. We’re trying to keep her attitude balanced. It’s good for her to feel good about her hair, but we don’t want it to be the thing that makes her feel good about herself or become conceited about it.

The lady then said to me that at least it’s better than having a bad self-image. That was quite a provocative comment. The testing was done and I was preparing to leave. A lot of times I am looking for an opening to begin a conversation, but once in a while an opening catches me by surprise, and I don’t know what to do with it. So I just let it slide.

Sometimes the best way to find the clever thing to say, the productive thing to say, or the “one-liner”, is not when you’re under pressure to say it, because most of us are not quick enough on our feet to come up with something on the spot. The best way to prepare for the next time is to think about the situation afterward and ask yourself how it would be best to respond if this comes up in the future. We can become better if we practice like comedians. When they get fed the soft ball they are right there with the funny line because they’ve practiced it. They didn’t just think of it then. You can do the same thing if you think of answers and responses when the pressure is off. When is the pressure off? Two times: before an encounter, and after an encounter.

That’s what I did after this conversation at the doctor’s office. I think what I might have done, was ask for clarification of what she meant, and then said, Let me see if I understand. Are you suggesting that it would be better for my daughter to have a vice of vanity than it would be for her to have a bad self-image? I suspect if I had put it like that, the person might have paused for a moment and said, Well, I’m not really saying that. But I imagine there are a lot of people who do think that way.

Her comment, when you think about it, ought to be pretty controversial. But it isn’t surprising in light of the cult of self-esteem that has seized this country, especially with regard to children. I think it’s an excessively damaging point of view, of almost religious dimensions. It’s the thing that seems to be most important to parents, and it’s really changed the face of children’s sports and even education. Everyone gets a trophy no matter what they did so everybody is the same.
It’s also made its way up into colleges where some institutions don’t give grades anymore because they don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. It’s very, very egalitarian in that regard. It bothers me to see that kind of egalitarianism where everyone is treated the same. It bothers me to see this cult of self-esteem because I do not think this is an accurate description of the way the world is.

What the technician essentially said is that it is better to be a vain person, which strikes me as a vice, than it is to be a person who has a bad self-image, which doesn’t strike me as a vice. There is a disadvantage to a bad self-image, but it is not a moral harm, not a moral shortcoming to think ill of yourself. It might be unpleasant; it might make it hard for you to advance and fulfill your potential. (But I don’t know that that’s true at all, quite frankly. There are lots of people who do marvelous things who have a terrible self-image as far as I can tell. And there are people who have a wonderful self-image that have done nothing, and have even done very bad things. So I don’t necessarily see a correlation between a good self-image and a good contribution to society. The only correlation that I can tell with a good self-image is feeling good about yourself, and that’s kind of a tautology. A good self-image is just feeling good about you and that’s the end of it.) I’m troubled by this suggestion that it’s preferable to cultivate a moral vice in children.

I don’t want my children to feel good about being bad. I don’t know your kids, but I know this about them: They are bad. How do I know that about them? Because, they’re all bad. We’re all bad. We’re all sinful. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Of course, if we call them bad all the time that’s not good either. How then do we balance this?

The Bible does not say anything about having a good self-image. It says that we should have an accurate view of ourselves. Paul mentions this. What is the accurate view?

Human beings are made in the image of God. Do you know what that makes you? It makes you something wonderful regardless of what you do or don’t do. There is a nobility about you. It is a fantastic part of the Christian worldview. It’s something that we all know, even if you’re not a Christian. There is something about human beings that makes them uniquely valuable. There is something good and wonderful about every single one of us, which grounds the moral obligations we have towards each other. This is why we ought not take lives without proper justification. We ought to treat each other with kindness, gentleness, goodness, and respect.

But there’s another reality and that is that we’re fallen. We’re broken. There’s something wrong with us. Even though we are noble beings, we are broken and twisted, and the thing that is broken and twisted is a moral problem. We are bad. Each one of us is bad. We don’t want to protect ourselves from feeling bad because it’s the feeling bad about our badness that pushes us to seek the only solution that exists for the badness in us. The answer to guilt, which is our awareness of our badness, is not denial, but forgiveness. Once we get forgiveness, we are redeemed and rescued.
So we are created valuable, yet we are morally broken and bad. So we are good in one way and bad in another. And the badness can be forgiven, and we are rescued and then belong in God’s family again, where we belong.

Our self-assessment ought to entail these things. Do you want your child to feel good about themselves for the right reason and bad about themselves for the right reasons? In other words, they are valuable for nothing, but they shouldn’t be rewarded for nothing. This is the point where the distortion of the cult of self-esteem takes us astray because it teaches us to reward kids for nothing.

As an antidote to this, I saw an interesting line in a fishing magazine. It was an advertisement for a multi-tooled gadget. It had a bunch of guys who were cruising the self-help section of a bookstore. The message of the ad was to “just cut the garbage.” Don’t go poking around in a bookstore reading self-help books to feel better about yourself. Instead, just go find something broken and fix it. And, of course, you can fix it with their tool. Find something broken and fix it.

This is the key to having an appropriate, good feeling about yourself that goes beyond being made in the image of God, and beyond being forgiven for your blame. You do something worthwhile and you will feel good about yourself. You will have a better self-image, but it will be done properly. So if you want your kids to have a good self-image you don’t reward them for nothing. You acknowledge and treat them as if they are someone of value for no reason than they are. You are candid with yourself and them about their brokenness, which is why we tell our children they have to seek forgiveness from us and from God. Then we try to give them something meaningful to do. We help them to do that and then we reward them for it. The reward may be just in what we say. We encourage them for accomplishing something worthwhile.

Dear Miss Senator Ma'am

Does the Dwarf Senator from California really think that she worked "so hard" to "earn" the title of Senator? Personally, I don't think lying to people to get elected constitutes hard work, but maybe that's just me.

Further, did she show this General any respect at all? Did she call him General? No, in fact, if you notice, she doesn't actually address him in any way other than "you." How, exactly, does she think he became a Brigadier General? Does she think he was working the drive through at McDonald's (not that there's anything wrong with that) and somebody pulled up in a car and said, "hey, how'd you like to be a General today?" I would say it seems likely that he worked much harder and much longer in his Military career than she ever even thought of in working to be a Senator.

And one other thing. I'd like to point out that this General was not being disrespectful to the despicable Barbara Boxer in the least. Quite the contrary, he addressed her as "Ma'am" which is a term of respect. Had he been talking to a male Senator and addressed him as "Sir" there would not have been a word said about it. For anyone who doesn't get this, "Ma'am" is the feminine equivalent of "Sir."

Narcissism in a sitting US Senator is a disturbing thing to see displayed, but if people keep voting for slime like this, what else can we expect?

On Iran

It's tough to tell just exactly what is going on in Iran, but this much is certain, it is serious. It is at least possible that we are looking at a full scale revolution, though that may not like the most likely scenario, it is possible. Either way, there are a lot of young people standing up for freedom and liberty, and we need to show them our support.

I understand that this is a difficult and sticky situation for the US, but we need to make it clear that we support those who stand up and fight for their own liberty, and that if they succeed, we will do whatever we can to help them. I also understand that we can't send in troops and win this for them, but we do need to make it clear, both to the protesters and to the Iranian thugs in charge, that we support pro-liberty movements, and do stand with them.

I know that some people will say that we can't show our support because, if they protesters fail to make any gains, we still need to be able to work with the leaders of Iran. Hog Wash! The Islamo-Nazi regime that runs Iran today will never work with us, ever. Period. They despise the United States and everything we have ever stood for. They despise freedom and liberty, and will never be willing to give an inch to anyone. They are committed to the utter and complete destruction of Israel, and ultimately the US also. They will never work with us.

The only way that we can ever hope to have a good relationship with the wonderful, oppressed, people of Iran is to support them in their fight against tyranny.

This is what we need to do. This is what we should do. Indeed, this is what we must do.

Consider This

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every principle of our socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without ever knowing how it happened." - by: Norman Thomas (6-time U.S. Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America)

The Missing Details

When President Obama talks, at length, about how the Economy got to be in the tough spot that it's in, why is it that he always leaves out the part that he played in bringing it all about. And I'm not talking about some votes he cast in his legislative roles. No, his involvement is much more direct than that.

It all goes back many years to the Community Redevelopment Act (I've also heard it called "Reinvestment") which forced Mortgage lenders to give loans to low income people who could not afford them, and would be very unlikely to be able to pay them back. Of course, lenders were very cautious and tried to push back and make as few of these bad loans as possible, and the Marxist Groups, such as the now infamous ACORN, resorted to strong arm tactics to try to force the banks to make loans that they knew would be bad. During this time, Barack Obama, then a lawyer and street activist (or Community Organizer as they like to say) was one of the lawyers that sued the lenders to force them to make these highly risky loans.

Why is it that every other person in the world can be blamed for this mess, regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with it, or did anything wrong, or were forced by legislation and lawsuits (some brought by lawyer Obama) to do what they did, yet Obama, who bears direct responsibility, never gets mentioned with regards to blame at all?

Lot's Of Stuff Happening

I know that I haven't been blogging all that much, but I have been paying attention, or the most part anyway. There is an awful lot of stuff happening, and most if is, well, awful.

We have a President who believes that Judges should be activists and pushing an agenda instead of applying the law, which is the primary role of Judges. Contrary to popular belief, they role of the Supreme Court is not the interpret the Constitution, but rather to read it's plain meaning and apply it. If a law violates the Constitution, or some higher law (Not higher than the Constitution, but higher than the law being considered), then they have the power to strike it down, other than that they are to be making sure that the laws are being applied fairly. Far too often, however, they force their will on society, ruling by judicial oligarchy, which is well outside of their purview. This is exactly what Politicians like Barack Obama like in a Justice or lower court judge, and that is why we have the current nominee that we have.

We have a President who has no backbone when it comes to foreign affairs, saying that it's fine if Iran uses Nuclear power for electricity, and basically says that we'll just trust the bunch of thugs not to use it to create Nuclear weapons. The position that we should be taking on that is, if you want to have Nuclear Energy, ok, but you're going to allow us to inspect the program to make sure you're not using it to make Nuclear Weapons, and if you won't do that, we will take whatever steps we must to shut down your Nuclear Energy Program. Period.

We have a President who has made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that under his Administration, our longstanding alliance with Israel is pretty much meaningless, and if they dare to act to protect themselves from total annihilation at the hands of the maniacs who run Iran, then we will turn our backs on them (as a nation, not most of us personally). He is also sending signals that he doesn't feel that Israel has given up enough to the murderous thugs who want to steal their land, and seems to think that if they just keep on giving things to them, they will stop killing Israeli children one of these days. I guess he doesn't understand that these thugs will not be happy until every Jew on the planet has been wiped out... or maybe he does understand that? Now there's a scary thought.

There's a lot more to be said, but this should give us all plenty to think about for today.

John Piper--Where are the Faithful Young People?

Is Atheism a Crutch?

Is Atheism a Crutch?

Gregory Koukl

Some say Christianity is just a crutch. But let's turn the question on its edge for a moment. Is atheism an emotional crutch, wishful thinking? The ax cuts both ways.

Perhaps atheists are rejecting God because they've had a bad relationship with their father. Instead of inventing God, have atheists invented non-God? Have they invented atheism to escape some of the frightening implications of God's existence? Think about it.

©1999 Gregory Koukl. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only.
For more information, contact Stand to Reason at 1438 East 33rd St., Signal Hill, CA 90755
(800) 2-REASON (562) 595-7333 www.str.org

Seeker Sensitive Ignores The True Seeker

There is a movement in Evangelical Churches today that most have seen in play for some time now. It is a movement to become what is known as "Seeker Sensitive." You may here it defined in many different ways, but basically, it comes down to an idea that unsaved people will respond better if Church feels a little less like Church. The idea is that this Church is here to serve you, and while we will talk about Jesus, and you will here words like Salvation and Gospel, we're not going to talk about the fact that you are a sinner, or other things like that. Obviously there are many degrees of commitment to the Seeker Sensitive model. While some churches don't even preach the Gospel at all, some simply try to phrase it in softer terms, which is still not good, in my opinion, but certainly not nearly as bad as ignoring it. More commonly though, I would say, is the idea that hard Doctrines shouldn't be preached and all Sermons should be soft, and practical for daily living.

My biggest problem with the Seeker Sensitive movement is that, more often than not, the true seeker is ignored in this system. Of course, the true seeker is Jesus Christ Himself. Consider the following Scriptures;

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Luke 15:3-6 "³So he told them this parable: ⁴ "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' "(ESV)

Luke 15:8-10 "⁸"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." " (ESV)

In the Parables above, Christ is pictured as the Shepherd and the Woman respectively, as the one who searches diligently for that which is lost. That is to say, Christ is the seeker, not the thing (or person) which is lost. Romans 3:10-11 says, "¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. ¹¹There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Or as the ESV says, " no one seeks for God." You can see clearly from the Bible that it is not sinners that seek Christ, but rather Christ that seeks for sinners. If we water down the Gospel, or worse refuse to preach it all together, we reject what God has ordained as His way of seeking for His lost sheep. How sad truly sad is that?

"Forced" to Be Parents?

"Forced" to Be Parents?

Gregory Koukl

A new challenge to the pro-life view is the claim that restrictions on abortion actually force women to become parents against their will. This, of course, sounds like an unconscionable intrusion of government into our private lives.

I agree, no one should be forced to become a parent against his or her will, but this is not the situation we face in abortion. If the unborn is a human being, then pregnant women already are parents. It seems morally self-evident that no parent should escape her responsibilities by killing her unwanted children. The only legitimate way to escape from already being a parent is through adoption.

Clearly, the issue isn’t unwanted parenthood. If the unborn is a human being, the woman already is the child's mother. She should not be permitted to kill him just because she doesn’t want him.

Suggested STR resources:

Making Abortion Unthinkable

Precious Unborn Human Persons

© Gregory Koukl. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only.
For more information, contact Stand to Reason at 1438 East 33rd St., Signal Hill, CA 90755
(800) 2-REASON (56

"God, Where Are You?"