To Love One Another

I have received E-mails from very angry women.  Due to content, I have not been able to post them on my blog...but my heart has been touched and I do not want to cast these women aside as if what they think and feel means nothing to me.  I am not so far removed from most of them.  I am in no way calloused to the conditions and circumstances that often lead people to the disparity that draws them to thoughts of abortion and euthanasia. 

I remember being sixteen, pregnant, unmarried, and absolutely terrified.  I remember hearing, "You only have one option!" and "This is not a doll you are carrying!"  I remember running away to another state and hiding out for a time for fear that others might be able to kill my baby.  I remember the two years of nightmares that someone took my child.  I remember being told repeatedly that I was an idiot and that there was no way that I could possibly be a decent mother.  I remember my failures.  I also remember the things that my child suffered because of my immaturity.  I can't tell you all of those things without also telling you that I remember standing by the crib day after day as my baby slept and marveling how God knit this child together in my womb and that I look at her today and the many, many grandchildren the Lord has blessed me with through her.  Yes, there were things that we suffered because of my youth and immaturity.  However, I have never once looked at her and thought that she had been better off aborted!  I remember looking at her as she lie on a hospital bed at the age of 27 when we didn't know if she would live or die.  I watched as the toxicity from a spider bite drained the life out of her and praised the Lord that He had allowed me to conceive her, Love her, birth her, raise her, and know her.  I praised the Lord for the many wonderful things He had manifest in her life even using those painful times of being raised by such a young, immature mother.

I also saw my parents suffer before the Lord took them home, but never once felt that euthanasia had been a better option for them.  As the phrase, "Death With Dignity" becomes increasingly popular; I realize that this is a term created by those who didn't want to be bothered with the care and nurturing of those whose conditions were more needy.  According to my heart, my parents did die with dignity!  They were not perfect people, but I know that they always did the best they could with what they had.  In the last days of their lives on this earth, I was able to tell them how deeply I Love them and how thankful I am that they gave me life. 

A few years ago after very reluctantly agreeing to have lunch with an antagonist, I learned something I will never forget.  I had agreed to the lunch with hopes that this individual with whom I am forced into association would understand that she was not going to make me see things in her liberal view and that, for the sake of the relationship we could not avoid, we needed to agree to disagree.  Soon after we arrived at the designated meeting place, it was clear that this was just another attempt on her part to wear me down.  I was irritated and certainly had no appetite for food as I sat there listening to her drone on about why her liberal views were imperative.  Then I saw him.  There was a man, probably about forty, sitting in the booth across the isle from us.  His countenance was one of the utmost despair and I was immediately drawn into instant prayer for him.  He sat slumped forward with his head in both hands.  Although I had no idea whatsoever what was wrong, I knew that he was in terrible physical, mental, and/or emotional pain.  I continued to pray throughout the meal and my heart truly wept for him.  As we were leaving, I felt that there was something I should do.  I sat in my car for a couple of minutes asking the Lord to inspire me.  And so He did.  I grabbed my small notebook and penned a short note to him.  I told him that he could be assured of God’s Love for him and presence with him because He had taken the time to press his need upon the heart of a complete stranger.  I signed it, “Another child of God.”  I then took the note to his waitress and asked if she could pass it on to him. 

As I drove away that day, I realized that God had a plan.  He desired to press a need on my heart for a fellow human being, for this is how we are made.  We are not to cast aside one another when the need is great, but rather we are to Love one another and lift one another up.  I then came home and wrote the following poem:

Cry of the Heart

There are tears that can be seen

And cries that can be heard

But oft we miss the weeping of one’s heart

The sound of which our human eyes

And ears cannot detect

For these can only understand in part

Words fail to express

Pain beyond the flesh

A wounded heart comes not within such bounds

Look into one’s eyes

Seeing with your soul

Your spirit then can hear the grievous sounds

Weep with them if you will

Let flow the waters deep

A river bearing salve beyond compare

The language of the heart

Then offers up to God

The purest, most sincere, though wordless prayer

Following are just a few of the Scriptures, which command us to Love one another.  We are to value all human life as God values it, which is from the moment of conception. 

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Ro 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 ¶ But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

1 John 3:11 ¶ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 3:23 ¶ And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1 John 4:7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

1 John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

2 John 1:5 ¶ And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

Taking the time to really think things through...

It is clear that to murder the unborn is to punish them for a crime they did not commit, but this act is repeated again and again.  We would react with outrage if a woman were executed because a man raped her.  We would react with outrage if a storeowner were sent to jail because someone robbed his store.  Our outrage would be justified because the woman and the storeowner were being made to pay for crimes that someone else committed!  Where is the outrage that the unborn are being made to pay the death penalty having committed no crime!?  Where is the choice for the unborn child that the so-called "pro-choice" groups are clamoring for?  Having taken time to really think things through, can one honestly come to the conclusion that murdering an unborn child is the right thing to do?  Having taken the time to think things through, can a woman truly come to the conclusion that murdering her unborn child will solve her problems?  Since when did murdering another person ever solve anything? 

Following is an excerpt from an excellent article on my husband's blog, Christian Ease:

I read another letter expounding a woman's right to choose, after all our country was founded on freedom of choice...I am by far not as well read as I should be, but in all the historical accounts that I have read, I've yet to find one based on everyones right to choose what they want to do. They always want to apply a precept such as "freedom of religion," one of many principles our country was founded on, and liberally misrepresenting it, likening it to butter or jelly smothering the bread beyond recognition. I have read enough of the Founding Fathers to say with confidence that you're not going to find one that would not be repulsed at the killing of the unborn let alone the the idea that they implied any inherent rights to do so. They did overwhelmingly adhere to the idea that freedom of choice was restricted by biblical scrutiny and biblical truth trumped man's law. You were free to do good, period, as the Bible states. I realize they forget to teach that now, but omission doesn't change the reality of what was. Now I'm going to readily admit that while I would be opposed to a woman aborting her body I am adamantly opposed to her aborting someone else's body.  I like to reason these things out. You start with a common sense test like the following.

      If a woman is raped, who should pay?
            1. The woman
            2. The taxpayer
            3. The rapist
            4. The baby

     If a couple has sexual relations outside of marriage resulting in pregnancy, who should pay?
            1. The couple
            2. The taxpayer
            3. The baby

     The baby is the obvious fiend and punishment should be quick. Surely, if the little fiend can't be pulled apart in the womb then the job can easily be finished outside of it quickly enough or not. Payment for his or her crime can be made by way of research or by way of ingredient in a multitude of useful products.

What about babies and salvation?

Following s an excelent article posted by Glenn on his blog, The Watchman's Bagpipes.  I wanted to post it here to make it readily available to women who have repented of abortion and need to know that the Lord is holding those children in his Loving arms.

Over the years I have heard much debate as to the destination of young children, including those who died before birth (be it miscarriage or abortion); are they in heaven?

For those who believe in the unbiblical doctrine of baptismal regeneration, this becomes a real quandary.  The Roman Catholics invented a place called Limbo where these children go, which has been described variably as a place of natural happiness or of mild punishment.  Others, including a Lutheran pastor of a church we once attended, claim they go to hell.  Still others, like me, believe the destination of these children is heaven.

First, let me say that while I believe we are born with a sin nature and are “sinners” in that regard, I don’t believe that babies are sinners in regards to actually committing sins.  (For example, many people claim that when a baby cries for food it is demonstrating a sin of selfishness, but this is nonsense - it’s the only way a baby has of advising of its need!)

Let me give some thoughts from Scripture (HSCB).

+  Deuteronomy 1:39:  “Your little children who you said would be plunder, your sons who don’t know good from evil, will enter there....”  (my emphasis).  Notice how God said these “little children” didn’t “know good from evil.”  

+  Isaiah 7:15-16:  “By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating butter and honey.  For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.”  Again notice how God says young children do not know - have not learned - to choose between good and evil.

I think these passages talking about children not knowing good from evil, and not knowing to choose between them, demonstrates there is an age during which a child is innocent of being charged with sin - an age before “accountability.”

+  2 Corinthians 5:10:  “For we must all appear before the judgement sat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.”

+  Revelation 20:12-13 says that the dead are all “judged according to their works.”

These passages which state that we are judged according to our works imply that we have knowledge of right vs wrong, and a child not having this knowledge would be free from such judgement.

+  2 Samuel 12:23:  “But now that he is dead, why should I fast?  Can I bring him back again?  I’ll to go to him, but he will never return to me.”  David is talking about the death of his son.  Notice he says that he will be able to go where his son is.  Where is his son?    Apparently with the Lord.

+  Matthew 19:13-14:  “Then Children were brought to Him so He might put His hands on them and pray.  But the disciples rebuked them.  Then Jesus said, ‘Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this.’”  Mark 10:13-15 is a parallel passage to the Matthew passage, and vs 14 gives this as Jesus’ response: “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”   This is repeated in Luke 18:15-17.

David believed that his child was with the Lord, and Jesus says that God’s kingdom is for “such as these” - not only children but those who become like children in their faith.

So let’s look at the issue of not only children, but also those with the mental capacity of a child - or even less.  There has been a long-standing teaching among Jews and Christians about an “age of accountability.”  Some give numbers such as 8 years old, but others don’t.  If there is such an age, I would say it would have to be variable because each person matures at a different rate, and some may be a genius at four years old while other may not have a clue until they are almost pubescent!  

The God of the Bible is a loving and merciful God, and not one who would condemn to hell the souls of children who never saw life, let alone children who not only never learned right from wrong, but also never matured enough to know anything about spiritual matters.  And this of course would apply to those with severe mental disabilities whose mental capacity is no more than a child’s.

I cannot be dogmatic about this subject because the Bible does not specifically state children are saved, but I think the implication is certainly there.

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Posted By Blogger to The Watchman's Bagpipes at 4/08/2011 12:17:00 PM

Persons NOT Products!

I recently became aware of the story and website of Rebecca Kiessling.  By permission, I am attaching her story here.  I encourage you to go to her website and read through her gallery of stories regarding the lives of those conceived in rape.  These are NOT products of conception!!  They are lives created by the Loving hand of God for His glory and they were not made to pay the price of the death penalty because they had been conceived in rape.  Rebecca's story is one you simply must read! 

Rebecca Kiessling's Story

- Short Form

I was adopted nearly from birth.  At 18, I learned that I was conceived out of a brutal rape at knife-point by a serial rapist.  Like most people, I'd never considered that abortion applied to my life, but once I received this information, all of a sudden I realized that, not only does it apply to my life, but it has to do with my very existence.  It was as if I could hear the echoes of all those people who, with the most sympathetic of tones, would say, “Well, except in cases of rape. . .  ," or who would rather fervently exclaim in disgust: “Especially in cases of rape!!!”  All these people are out there who don‘t even know me, but are standing in judgment of my life, so quick to dismiss it just because of how I was conceived.  I felt like I was now going to have to justify my own existence, that I would have to prove myself to the world that I shouldn’t have been aborted and that I was worthy of living.  I also remember feeling like garbage because of people who would say that my life was like garbage -- that I was disposable.

Please understand that whenever you identify yourself as being “pro-choice,” or whenever you make that exception for rape, what that really translates into is you being able to stand before me, look me in the eye, and say to me, "I think your mother should have been able to abort you.”  That’s a pretty powerful statement.  I would never say anything like that to someone.  I would say never to someone, “If I had my way, you’d be dead right now.”  But that is the reality with which I live.  I challenge anyone to describe for me how it’s not.  It’s not like people say, “Oh well, I‘m pro-choice except for that little window of opportunity in 1968/69, so that you, Rebecca, could have been born.”  No -- this is the ruthless reality of that position, and I can tell you that it hurts and it’s mean.  But I know that most people don’t put a face to this issue.  For them, it’s just a concept -- a quick cliche, and they sweep it under the rug and forget about it.  I do hope that, as a child of rape, I can help to put a face, a voice, and a story to this issue.

I've often experienced those who would confront me and try to dismiss me with quick quips like, “Oh well, you were lucky!”  Be sure that my survival has nothing to do with luck.  The fact that I’m alive today has to do with choices that were made by our society at large, people who fought to ensure abortion was illegal in Michigan at the time -- even in cases of rape, people who argued to protect my life, and people who voted pro-life.  I wasn’t lucky.  I was protected.  And would you really rationalize that our brothers and sisters who are being aborted every day are just somehow "unlucky"?!!

Although my birthmother was thrilled to meet me, she did tell me that she actually went to two back-alley abortionists and I was almost aborted.  After the rape, the police referred her to a counselor who basically told her that abortion was the thing to do.  She said there were no crisis pregnancy centers back then, but my birthmother assured me that if there had been, she would have gone if at least for a little more guidance.  The rape counselor is the one who set her up with the back-alley abortionists.  For the first, she said it was the typical back-alley conditions that you hear about as to why "she should have been able to safely and legally abort" me -- blood and dirt all over the table and floor.  Those back-alley conditions and the fact that it was illegal caused her to back out, as with most women. 

Then she got hooked up with a more expensive abortionist.  This time she was to meet someone at night by the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Someone would approach her, say her name, blindfold her, put her in the backseat of a car, take her and then abort me . . . , then blindfold her again and drop her back off.  And do you know what I think is so pathetic?  It’s that I know there are an awful lot of people out there who would hear me describe those conditions and their response would just be a pitiful shake of the head in disgust:  “It’s just so awful that your birthmother should have had to have gone through that in order to have been able to abort you!”  Like that’s compassionate?!!  I fully realize that they think they are being compassionate, but that’s pretty cold-hearted from where I stand, don’t you think?  That is my life that they are so callously talking about and there is nothing compassionate about that position.  My birthmother is okay -- her life went on and in fact, she's doing great, but I would have been killed, my life would have been ended.  I may not look the same as I did when I was four years old or four days old yet unborn in my mother’s womb, but that was still undeniably me and I would have been killed through a brutal abortion.

According to the research of Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, co-editor of the book Victims and Victors:  Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions and Children Resulting From Sexual Assault, and author of the article "Rape, Incest and Abortion:  Searching Beyond the Myths," most women who become pregnant out of sexual assault do not want an abortion and are in fact worse-off after an abortion.  See http://www.afterabortion.org . 

So most people's position on abortion in cases of rape is based upon faulty premises:  1) the rape victim would want an abortion, 2) she'd be better off with an abortion, and 3) that child's life just isn't worth having to put her through the pregnancy.  I hope that my story, and the other stories posted on this site, will be able to help dispel that last myth.

I wish I could say that my birthmother was with the majority of victims and that she didn't want to abort me, but she had been convinced otherwise.  However, the nasty disposition and foul mouth of this second back-alley abortionist, along with a fear for her own safety, caused her to back out.  When she told him by phone that she wasn't interested in this risky arrangement, this abortion doctor insulted her and called her names.  To her surprise, he called again the next day to try to talk her into aborting me once again, and again she declined and was hurled insults.  So that was it -- after that she just couldn’t go through with it.  My birthmother was then heading into her second trimester -- far more dangerous, far more expensive to have me aborted. 

I’m so thankful my life was spared, but a lot of well-meaning Christians would say things to me like, ”Well you see, God really meant for you to be here!”  Or others may say, "You were meant to be here."  But I know that God intends for every unborn child to be given the same opportunity to be born, and I can’t sit contentedly saying, “Well, at least my life was spared.”  Or, “I deserved it.  Look what I’ve done with my life.”  And millions of others didn’t?  I can’t do that.  Can you?  Can you just sit there and say, “At least I was wanted . . .  at least I’m alive” or just, “Whatever!”?  Is that really the kind of person who you want to be?  Cold-hearted?  A facade of compassion on the exterior, but stone-cold and vacated from within?  Do you claim to care about women but couldn't care less about me because I stand as a reminder of something you'd rather not face and that you'd hate for others to consider either?  Do I not fit your agenda?

In law school, I’d also have classmates say things to me like, “Oh well!  If you’d been aborted, you wouldn’t be here today, and you wouldn’t know the difference anyway, so what does it matter?”  Believe it or not, some of the top pro-abortion philosophers use that same kind of argument:  “The fetus never knows what hits him, so there’s no such fetus to miss his life.”  So I guess as long as you stab someone in the back while he’s sleeping, then it’s okay, because he doesn’t know what hits him?!  I’d explain to my classmates how their same logic would justify me killing you today, because you wouldn’t be here tomorrow, and you wouldn’t know the difference anyway, so what does it matter?"  And they’d just stand there with their jaws dropped.  It’s amazing what a little logic can do, when you really think this thing through -- like we were supposed to be doing in law school -- and consider what we’re really talking about:  there are lives who are not here today because they were aborted.  It’s like the old saying:  “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?”  Well, yeah!  And if a baby is aborted, and no one else is around to know about it, does it matter?  The answer is, YES!  Their lives matter.  My life matters.  Your life matters and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

The world is a different place because it was illegal for my birthmother to abort me back then.  Your life is different because she could not legally abort me because you are sitting here reading my words today!  But you don’t have to have an impact on audiences for your life to matter.  There is something we are all missing here today because of the generations now who have been aborted and it matters.

One of the greatest things I’ve learned is that the rapist is NOT my creator, as some people would have me believe.  My value and identity are not established as a “product of rape,” but as a child of God. Psalm 68:5,6 declares:  “A father to the fatherless . . . is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families.”  And Psalm 27:10 tells us “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.”  I know that there is no stigma in being adopted.  We are told in the New Testament that it is in the spirit of adoption that we are called to be God’s children through Christ our Lord.  So He must have thought pretty highly of adoption to use that as a picture of His love for us!

Most importantly, I’ve learned, I’ll be able to teach my children, and I teach others that your value is not based on the circumstances of your conception, your parents, your siblings, your mate, your house, your clothes, your looks, your IQ, your grades, your scores, your money, your occupation, your successes or failures, or your abilities or disabilities -- these are the lies that are perpetuated in our society.  In fact, most motivational speakers tell their audiences that if they could just make something of themselves and meet this certain societal standard, then they too could “be somebody.”  But the fact is that no one could ever meet all of these ridiculous standards, and many people will fall incredibly short and so, does that mean that they ‘re not “somebody” or that they’re “nobody?”  The truth is that you don't have to prove your worth to anyone, and if you really want to know what your value is, all you have to do is look to the Cross --because that’s the price that was paid for your life!  That’s the infinite value that God placed on your life!  He thinks you are pretty valuable, and so do I.  Won't you join me in affirming others' value as well, in word and in action?

For those of you who would say, "Well, I don't believe in God and I don't believe in the Bible, so I'm pro-choice," please read my essay, "The Right of the Unborn Child Not to be Unjustly Killed -- a philosophy of rights approach"  which is linked on the menu.   I assure you, it will be worth your time.

For Life,

Rebecca

rebecca@rebeccakiessling.com

A Perverted Cell

Years ago I took hospice training.  About three weeks into our training, an oncologist was brought in to teach us about the stages and processes of different types of cancer.  After a bit of teaching he opened the floor for questions and discussion and I asked, "In one word, what would you say a cancer cell is?"  To which he replied, "Well, to put it bluntly, it is a ‘perverted’ cell."  Upon further discussion, the oncologist explained that the body basically turns upon itself as the "perverted" cell doubles, triples, etc., and literally takes over everything in its path.  Hmmmm…the body turns upon itself.  A "perverted" cell takes over and devours the wholesome, healthy cell.  We are told that there are cancerous cells within all of us, but health, habits (i.e., food, tobacco, alcohol, drugs), and exposure to certain chemicals and other toxins; as well as the overall health of the individual, will tell whether or not those “perverted” cells are given the environment conducive to growth and destruction.  I found his answer to be remarkable in its correlation between the spirit and the body.

As the battle continues between those valuing the sanctity of human life and those who do not, I consider the aforementioned “perverted” cell and its correlation to a “perverted” spiritual “cell.”  Consider how much easier it is to destroy a country from within by encouraging the people to develop a hatred for their own country and therefore becoming the country’s own worst enemy.  Self-hatred is a mighty, destructive force…a marked perversion.

Now consider the womb.  The womb is the God-given, God-sanctified, God-blessed haven for the development of human life from conception.  The womb is a sacred place, a safe place.  It is a place entrusted to women alone for the conceiving, nurturing, and protecting of the first months of human life...until the perverted enemy is allowed access.  We are often told that “most” women get through abortions with no consequential mental, emotional, or physical ramifications.  This simply is not true.  Whether or not we see the damage that is done, the damage has occurred.  The woman who claims to have suffered no consequences at all from having an abortion and states that she will have another if necessary, has suffered the worst and most obvious of all the consequences of abortion combined…the hardening of her heart.  A hardened heart is above all the most difficult of wounds from which to recover.  Whether or not the woman realizes it, in the act of murdering her unborn child, she has turned against her own body.

Is it not a perversion when a woman allows the child {male and female} in her womb to be murdered, claiming her right to her own body, denying the child’s right to life, and then denying that it has affected her at all?  Just as the cancer cell that multiplies and destroys the body by wiping out healthy cells, so also multiply the perverted thoughts of mankind that deny the sanctity of human life and murder unabated.