Obama to increase Title X funding?

First, a little light reading:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=356962
http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_fac_titlex2.html
http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14645
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40949
http://otrans.3cdn.net/3b21d35e246c18a427_d7m6bw2o1.pdf

I am not surprised to read about the potential for increased federal funding for abortions. I am surprised to hear that there are Christians who are still surprised that Obama wants to make abortions more easily accessible. After all, he did promise that the first thing he would do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.

Here's my point. The issue of abortion is a moral one and laws can not be called upon to enforce morals. Even if abortion was illegal, and the punishment for aborting a fetus was punishable by death, people would still find a way to do it. How many murderers do you think are on death row today, who knew in advance that the crime they were about to commit was wrong? Yet they did it anyway. The law can only condemn.

To quote one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Rich Mullins:

"The church is the only institution in this world who can bring about a change. The government can not do it so stop depending on the government. Education systems can not do it so stop trusting education systems."

The most powerful way we can impact a woman who's considering abortion is to love her and her unborn baby with the same kind of love Jesus shows us. Reveal God's grace to her through your life. Reach out and listen and care for her. We're not going to convince her that abortion is wrong by writing letters of protest to our congressman or picketing up and down Main Street. Not that writing letters to your congressman is bad. Write all the letters you want, but don't hold your breath.

I can understand if you're upset that your hard-earned money is funding something you believe is wrong. I'm not happy about it either. I'm guessing our money is funding a lot of other things we would think are wrong; probably more than we could even imagine. But guess what. If less and less women want to have abortions because they have found grace and truth and life in Jesus Christ, eventually less and less money will go towards women who want to have abortions. It's not rocket science.

Merry Christmas!

Commentary Pending

In case you haven't seen it yet.

But he hasn't done anything yet

Our president-elect, Barack Obama, has just been announced as Time's Person of the Year for 2008. I don't know. You couldn't have selected somebody that actually made a tangible difference in the world? Of course, if you look at the runners-up and their idea of people who mattered, the competition was not overwhelming.

To answer your question, no, I don't have anyone better in mind.

Feliz Navi-gation*

Some folks are gettin' serious about protecting their religious-ness.

Giving up on old-fashioned padlocks and trust, a number of churches, synagogues, governments and ordinary citizens are turning to technology to protect holiday displays from pranks or prejudice.

"They took the family Jesus," said Gloria Herrera, 48, a Catholic. "How can anybody do that?"

Or, you could just not display the scenes at all. I guess I don't get the point of "telling the story" during Christmas when you ignore the story throughout the rest of the year.

*Thanks to Karen for the creative title.

Forgiveness and Grace

A man who just lost his entire family is praying for someone else not to suffer.

"I don't have any hard feelings," Dong Yun Yoon, 37, told reporters near the rubble where his home once stood. "I know he did everything he could."

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," Dong Yun Yoon said. "I know he is one of our treasured for the country."

Dong Yun Yoon, who left Korea in 1989 and became a U.S. citizen, wondered aloud how he would persevere after losing his family.

"Please tell me how to do it," he said, surrounded by his pastor, sister, brother and church members. "I don't know what to do."

Jeff, is that really you?!

One of my favorite bloggers, pastor Jeff, put up a new post today; his first in over three months. Welcome back, Jeff!