December 12, 2014

Abortion

Loving Them Both by Sarah Terzo

After Birth Abortions: “Ethicist” Says It’s Okay to Kill Terminally Ill Newborn Babies by Sarah Zagorski 

Adoption

Giving away “Anatoly Z.” by Lisa Belkin – “One boy’s un-adoption, two families who love him and a woman’s mission to bring ‘rehoming’ out of the shadows.”

Family Living

Rebelling Against Mediocrity – Young Folks Doing the Hard Things that Matter by John Stonestreet – “If you ever needed a reason to disbelieve in adolescence and recapture the beauty of high expectations, here it is.”

Worldview and Culture

Chaplain punished for sharing his faith in suicide prevention class by Todd Starnes

Three LCMS missionaries in PNG face deportation threats – Please keep these missionaries in your prayers.

Third of kids don’t know Christmas is about Jesus by The Christian Institute

Creches and Crucifixes by Adriane Heins

Report on the annual March for Life in The Hague, The Netherlands
by Michael van der Mast – Cry for Life International

At 1:00 p.m. December 6, 2014, more than two thousand five hundred participants of the March for Life gathered in the city of The Hague, home of the Dutch government and King Willem Alexander.

After the sofar horn sounded to open ceremonies, the founders of Schreeuw om Leven–Dutch for Cry for Life–Mr. and Mrs. Bert and Willy Dorenbos welcomed the people and asked the Lord for His guidance over the twenty second annual March for Life. These marches began in 1992.

A woman named Nicole gave her testimony. As a student she was raped, resulting in an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy. “I consumed a whole bottle of wine that evening,” she recalled, “hoping the pregnancy would end.” It did not. Her parents and her friends all suggested that an abortion would be the easiest way to solve the problem. “Who would want a child conceived from rape? With all options against me, I was in despair,” she told the crowd. “I took a shower three times a day. That’s how filthy I felt.”

A defining moment came when a church member read Psalm 23 with her. She was able to completely change her attitude toward having the baby. Today she is married and a mother of three children. Her husband loves the first child just as much as their two others.

Kees van der Staaij a Dutch politician, of the Reformed Party (SGP, Second Chamber-Tweede Kamer) spoke, calling for the Dutch people to be free of sin of abortion. He was pleased to mention that more funds are being appropriated for girls who face an unplanned pregnancy crisis.

Peter Schalk, the appointed member of the First Chamber (Eerste Kamer), cited Psalm 130.

Johannes van Voorst spoke on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church.

Michael van der Mast of Cry for Life International introduced the international guests. Among them where Paul Genoux vice-president of the French organisation Choisir la Vie; Laurel Hughes Leadership Inst. Washington DC; Daniel Becker president of the Personhood Alliance; Pat McEwen director Life Coalition International and Maaike Rosendal of the Canadian Centre of Bio-Ethical Reform. A banner of the newly formed European federation ONE OF US was displayed and carried during the March.

The March began at 2:00 p.m., with police escort. Walking quietly in prayer the participants attracted the attention of the people in the streets. The silence of the marchers imitates the silent unheard scream of the baby in the womb, who screams in fear and pain as the abortion instruments tear him to pieces.

The March for life is an annual event, held in December to commemorate the adoption of the pregnancy termination law in the Netherlands enacted on December 18, 1980.

Michael van der Mast is responsible for international relations for Cry for Life International. He also is a member of the executive committee of the EU Foundation ONE OF US. Cry for Life International is a founding member of the foundation ONE OF US.

This and That

Baby Landon Meets His Twin Cousins – A very cute video.