What Would You Do To Save A Life?

"She heard the baby cry."

"She what?" my wife exclaimed.

"She heard the baby cry." Martha sighed as she explained what happened during an abortion that took place recently in Miami.

Martha recounted the counseling provided to this broken woman who now regrets her abortion and has sought help to silence the echoes of that call for help.

My wife and I just came back from our 10 year anniversary trip to the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area. While there, we were able to have dinner with Martha Avila the lady who heads up the Heartbeat of Miami crisis pregnancy clinic. (They are associated with John Ensor and Heartbeat International).

I was moved yet again as I talked to Martha about what is going on in the abortion movement in Miami and all that their clinic is doing.

Here are some stats on Miami and the Heartbeat clinic:

1. Miami has the highest abortion rate in all of the United States. (We saw newspaper ads with coupons to get discounted abortions).

2. Miami allows abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancy. We saw many ads promoting these kind of practices.

3. Hundreds of women come to the two Heartbeat clinics every year (Martha said 12 ladies per clinic was a slow day)

4. 95% of the ladies who have come to have abortions have decided to keep their babies. This means that Heartbeat of Miami has been used to save 100s of babies every year.

5. The gospel is shared with many of the ladies (and their partners) and many have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Heartbeat then seeks to get these new believers plugged into a local church.

Heartbeat wants to open up a third clinic, but currently they do not have the money. I think that if Life-loving people knew about this, they could get this money. Would you be willing to give? Even just $10...or sponsor Heartbeat of Miami for $30 per month. My wife and I have been supporting Heartbeat of Miami since they opened 3 years ago. I can't emphasize what a blessing this has been.

I encourage you to support your local crisis pregnancy centers, but also consider fighting this fire where the fire burns strongest...in Miami, Florida. You can click on "Donate Now" on the Heartbeat of Miami website to give.

Helping Your Marriage

My friend and senior pastor, Mickey Connolly, did an excellent series on Marriage recently at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, NC. I would encourage you to listen to all four parts. (they start on January 12, 2010).

Tebow Commercial and a Washington Post Feminist

This is a very interesting and well written article about Tim Tebow's Super Bowl commerical by a columnist would would disagree with Tebow's Pro-Life stance. Enjoy!

ESPN Magazine and Transgender Reporters

Most nights, my wife and I will end our evening with reading in bed. About once per month I will read my new ESPN magazine. Last week, I got the latest ESPN magazine and read through the many articles while really needing to turn the light off and go to sleep. I kept saying in my mind..."Okay, this will be the last article." But then I would read another one. Finally, I ended up at the final article of the magazine. This one was by Rick Reilly (seen in photo) who is one of my favorite columnists. It was called called "Sometimes One Death Can Mean Two Losses." Unlike a lot of Reilly's articles this article was greatly disappointing. It talked about a reporter that he knew who killed himself. That is disturbing, but what is more disturbing is that throughout the article Reilly referred his friend as "he" or "she" because the man became a woman during part of his life and then went back to being a man again.

It was so sad to hear about someone being depressed and killing themselves and it was also sad to see ESPN blur the distinction between gender. In the same magazine (actually two pages prior) a professional fighter was asked if he would ever fight a woman and he said an emphatic "No!" But if you read the article by Reilly, you behold a gender confused, pronoun perplexed article in which there is no definition on the meaning of being a "man" or being a "woman."

Genesis 2 shows God creating man and woman. No amount of surgeries or hormones change that. The guy who had a sex change did not cease to be a guy because he dressed like a girl. "He" was not a "she." "He" was still a "he" even when he dressed like a "she."

So, I turned my light out and tossed and turned for about an hour because instead of reading about sports, I read about a transgender suicide. I am sorry for the man's sad situation and for his family, but I also wish that ESPN would keep the distinction of male and female like most athletics do. The Olympic committee will take away medals if a "he" tries to compete like a "she." ESPN should know the difference.

The Eye of the Tiger in Us All

The recent reports of Tiger Woods affairs is saddening (11 and counting). I think this is a good time for all of us (especially men) to take a step back and evaluate life. If you are anything like me, you were pretty surprised by Tiger’s hidden lifestyle and now you are disappointed in him. Let’s remember though, that we are all capable of such acts. We may think, “I would never do such a thing to my wife and children.” Well, I pray you and I don’t, but these kinds of sins don’t begin in full blown adultery. They begin in the lustful glance, the inappropriate website, and the friendly conversation with someone of the opposite sex.

Let Tiger’s mistake(s) be for our learning. Here are a few things we could evaluate from this.

1. Where are the “little foxes” (to use Song of Solomon language)that will ruin the vineyard of our relationship with our spouse? Pornography? Lingering over an immoral past? Second glances?

2. The phrase “I can look, I just can’t touch” is just the beginning of “I need to touch.” We must see that sin is never satisfied. If we don’t sever it, it will grow. If we don’t starve it, we are feeding it.

3. I once heard Jerry Bridges say for men to “live scared.” He didn’t mean we needed to be crippled by the idea of adultery, but to be very aware that we are all capable of extreme sins.

4. Have accountability. Do you have someone you talk to about even the smallest lustful glances or immoral dreams or accidental pop-up ads? If you can’t think of anyone…you don’t. Get someone…now! Confess your temptations and fight lust in the very early stages so it never leads to the hotel room with another woman, the fight with your wife, and the crashing or your marriage.

5. Be in a church that practices church discipline. Mine does and I am glad. If I wander, I have men (and women) that will come after me and confront me. This is grace even to know it is there. It is also God’s grace as a warning to me as I have seen others confronted (and even had to confront some).

6. The verse, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul” (Mark 8:36) should make us evaluate the way we value “things” and the way we pray for Tiger Woods’ soul.

May God grant repentance to Tiger and may his marriage be saved. I pray that the heat would continue to come to him until he sees that there is only one treasure…and it is not girls, golf, or gold…it is Jesus.

Biblical Womanhood in South Korea

I've been out of the blog world for several weeks in preparation for a trip, then actually on the trip, and then recovering from jet lag (and getting caught up on work). It is good to be back home!

One of the places I went was Seoul, South Korea. I had a wonderful time with Songwhan and Miran Kang, who have just started the first Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) Church in South Korea. Songwhan attended the SGM Pastor's College last year and is a humble man. It was wonderful seeing his gifts and how God is using this man to build establish a local church in a city of 10 million people.

It was also very interesting to me how Miran Kang is getting a lot of questions from ladies about biblical womanhood. South Korea is a country that is probably more "Christianized" than the United States and yet, biblical womanhood is not as understood as I had expected. The South Korean society places pressure on the women to put carriers first and family second. Miran has ladies calling her all of the time wanting her to explain how she and Songwhan came to the conclusion of her staying home with her boys and homeschooling them. It is a rarity in South Korea. Miran speaks first to these ladies about the gospel, but then explains how biblical womanhood is seeking to live out specific passages in the Bible. Obviously, a lady does not have to quit her job or start homeschooling to be positioned toward her home and Miran does not teach that. However, in a society where men (and women) work about 14 hours per day (sometimes even on weekends...because I learned "weekend" is a Western idea) and job status is often the equivalent to social status, the pressure of a women to focus on everywhere but her home is tremendous.

Miran said that biblical womanhood has been a breath of fresh air to many Christian ladies. She gets random phone calls from ladies seeking to learn more. She also gets lots of questions from the young moms who spent their lives seeking to build a resume and make good grades to benefit a career, but have never learned how to be a good wife or care for children. Miran is not on a crusade to turn every lady to biblical womanhood, she is on a mission to love the people of her country and point them to the gospel. She trusts that as the bible is taught, biblical womanhood will follow.

Blogiversary!

Three years ago, today, while living in Gaithersburg, Maryland and attending the Sovereign Grace Pastors College I started this blog. I pray that it has helped men and women grow in a greater understanding of biblical manhood and womanhood.