A Prayer for Our President Obama

Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.

He will judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.

The mountains will bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.

He will defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
he will crush the oppressor.

He will endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.

He will be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.

In his days the righteous will flourish;
prosperity will abound till the moon is no more.

He will rule from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

The desert tribes will bow before him
and his enemies will lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
will bring tribute to him;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present him gifts.

All kings will bow down to him
and all nations will serve him.

For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.

He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.

He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.

Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.

Let grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon;
let it thrive like the grass of the field.

May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
All nations will be blessed through him,
and they will call him blessed.

Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.

Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.

This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse. (Psalm 72)

James Samuel Kinney

February 25, 1923 - June 14, 2009

I love you, Dad.

The Wind Blows Whereever it Pleases (Jn 3:8)

I cannot speak for anyone else who was there, only for myself. It's the oddest thing.

I am at Planned Parenthood very little on Thursdays. Sometimes, it seems as though that is my whole world, but it's only one hour out of one day in a whole week of them.


God saved a little one Thursday from death. He did it so quietly, and with no help from us. God is powerful, able, and sovereign. God is frightening in His power! He saved one little one, the one He planned to save, the one who's Mom walked into the building without much being said to her. Suddenly, the fog cleared, the lights came on, and she said, "I don't have to do this!"

Now, this is what was told to me, and I believe it. There have been other events that have been told to me that I passed on immediately. This one I didn't. To my shame, in my mind, it is so unspectacular. What a sinful woman I am!

This was spectacular! God showed his servants here, that when we plead with someone, and they change their minds, GOD SAVED A BABY FROM DEATH! Although God calls us there, and makes us faithful and effective, it is GOD WHO SAVES and not we ourselves.

In what can I boast? Let him who boasts, boast in the LORD! (I Corinthians 1:31)

Middle-aged White Guys

Once a month, we try to get to the IU campus to talk to people about abortion, protecting unborn children, life, death, sin, salvation, etc.

In March, because of the whole discussion about being mindful of purpose, I was a little short with some people. I was disappointed in myself, frankly.

I am trying to figure things out, all the time. One of the hardest for me, is relational. How to talk to people. Small-talk for me deteriorates into empty jokes, or worse it becomes not worthwhile, and just evaporates along with whatever relationship and future opportunity for meaningful conversations that might have been.

Conversations about meaningful things turn into lectures, with me doing the lecturing, which has a tendancy to boil away most relationships and future opportunities for meaningful conversations that might have been.

God is good, though, and through my faltering attempts to keep my conversations that meaningful, He let me meet a young woman who is going into the army soon. I wish I could see her again. I will definitely keep her in my prayers. I hope to see her again, soon.

Two quotes of the day for this month:


1. "Yah, but if it is illegal, only criminals will get abortions!" This is true, and what an interesting way to put it! It just calls to mind for me some lyrics. I think they (didn't) go something like this:

Imagine no injustice
It's not so hard to do:
Someone kills a child,
They get arrested too.
Imagine all the babies
Being born in peace!

You-woo-who-o-o You may say I'm a dreamer
But I love the Only One
Who can save you from all these lies!
The Truth of Christ can set you free!

Imagine all the people
Born and unborn
The strong protecting the weak
A brother-hood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world.

You-woo-who-o-o You may say I'm a dreamer
But I offer hope to you.
Turn to Jesus now
Our Lord is quick to save!

Imagine all the women
Treated with respect
With her husband there with her
Not giving in to fear
Imagine all the people
Supported through tough times

You-woo-who-o-o You may say I'm a dreamer
But that how it should be
Those in need aren't enmies
But they are blessing indeed!

2. (A car full of young angry women) "I just love to see middle-aged white guys holding those signs! @P#^&@!"
(to the left you will see our middle-aged white guys holding signs...ya gotta lov'm)

Scott, the young white man with the sign, showing abortion statistics, wrote about this encounter at his blog. (In a more recent post, he defended scripture against attacks...very level-headed; highly recommended for it's quiet calm.)

While we were out, someone who claimed to be from the IDS came along and asked if he could ask us questions. (I finally figured out who he reminded me of. You can see in the pic to the right.) I thought that was fine, until he lead me away to a table and chair down the sidewalk. I think this is one of those distractions, those things that take us away from why we are there. I learned from this to remain where sent, and he is more than welcome to talk to me just like anyone else there. (I haven't found the alleged article in the IDS)

Afterward, we had everyone involved, except that young white man holding a sign, and the character from the IDS, over for food and fellowship. Both were invited. It was a good, good time.

What does the Bible say about Abortion?

I got an interesting question in a comment on a previous post. This is a question that I asked myself, several years ago, too. I cannot hope to answer it perfectly, so I invite all to flesh out this response.

Could you please point me to the specific passage in the Bible which states that abortion is the terrible wrong you claim it to be?

The short answer: "No." (Well, Yes, Exodus 20:13)

Neither can I point you to the specific passage in the Bible that states that God is Triune. Rather, what we know about the Triune nature and substance of God, and what we know about what God thinks about the murder of unborn children in the womb is learned by getting to know God.

We know, for instance that God is the giver of life in general, initially and continually (Genesis 1-2; Acts 17:25). We also know that it is God who "opens the womb" and creates a child within the womb of a woman. This we know not so much from a direct statement (although I think it is stated), as from the narative and example after example. For instance: Jacob, through the deceipt of his father-in-law, ended up with two wives. He loved Rachel and did not love Leah. God saw that Leah was not loved, and He gave her a child by Jacob (Genesis 29:31). Then, Rachel was tormented because she had no child and God "opened her womb" (Genesis 30:22). These are just a scraping of the surface of the explicitely stated involvement of God in the conceiving of children. We could also talk about the midwives in Egypt, Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, Bethsheba, Elizabeth, Mary. If we have eyes to see, then we can look at Mildred, my grandmother who was given five sons, and, finally a daughter, who was my mother, Viola. (The gifts handed down to Viola and James, and to me are for another post.) I know of a woman who could not have children. She went through rigorous, expensive, and heart wrenching fertility treatments to no avail. Finally, giving up, the Lord opened her womb, and she has a little girl following her around as she carries her second-born in her arms. I know another woman who was protecting herself from pregnancy by several methods, and still the Lord opened her womb, and gave her a child, who has been an unexpected blessing.

God explicitely tells us that He gives children, and that they are a blessing or reward in Psalm 127:3-5.

God gives us a glimpse of His involvement in our growth and development in Psalm 139:13-16.

All of the above contributes to the conclusion that when God tells us that He knew Joshua, Esau and Jacob, and John while still in the womb that He knows each child in the womb, because He is directly involved in their creation, growth, and development.

God forbids murder (Exodus 20:13) and then the Bible continues throughout to define murder as the taking of innocent life (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=murder); and exacting punishment for murder (death).

If you, like I, have a wicked heart, and are still saying, "Yes, but so far you haven't shown me that God says, 'Thou shalt not abort your unborn child,'" there are two more places to look. If you insist on not seeing it, please let me know. I know the One, the only One who can change your mind and your heart.

In Amos 1:13, God was expecially angry with the Ammonites who tore open the wombs of pregnant women and killed their babies. "But look at the vicious damage they did to the women, this was what angered God! Abortion is safe for women now." No, look again. "...that they might enlarge their borders." It was not the women who threatened the Ammonite wealth enlargement, but those children in the womb, who would use up those resources. This was a vicious killing of innocent blood for the purpose of preserving wealth for those who are strong. And don't kid yourself about women not being hurt by abortion.

In Exodus 21:22-25 God tells the people (because like us, they had to have "what-if" laws to keep them from justifying themselves) that if two men are fighting, and one hits a pregnant woman, if the baby is born early, but well, the one who hit her will pay a fine, whatever the husband thinks is right. If the baby dies or is hurt, the laws apply as if that person were a person (life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.).

The language that GOd gave His people at the time, Hebrew, used the same word for a child whether that child had been born, or not. That's as refreshing as it is significant.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Glen called me this morning and told me that our neighbor's house had burned down!

I completely believed him. Why would I think that my husband would lie to me?

I asked him if he could go over and ask them if they needed any help. He said no one was there!

Oh my word, where could they be? I was having such a hard time taking it all in!

Then he said, "April Fools!"

The Open Mind: Is it a door we should walk through?

I am going to think this through. Feel free to voice your thoughts, because I haven't got it all figured out. Let's think biblically.

For some time, the CGS Pro-life group has been going on campus (actually, just across the street from on-campus, where free speech by non-student entities is still allowed) with a pro-life outreach. Some people hold signs, some hand out brochures or flyers, and some are able to engage people in conversations regarding dangers to and protection of the unborn, the characteristics and needs and rights of the unborn, etc.

This is an area of outreach that Glen and I at first avoided. Various "reasons" held us back. We are old; they are young. They won't listen to us. That is for the younger people. They are sophisticated and swimming in wisdom, and we are ordinary and have fumbling tongues. Eventually, all these things got shook out, and we are convinced that this is where we need to be from time to time.

The very things that previously held us back, now spur us on. We are old, and must share our wisdom and experience with the young. They won't listen to us, unless we have something to say. Very often, it is one's contemporaries that are the hardest to talk to, or to listen to, even though everyone struts about stating the opposite, together. Most importantly, the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God (I Corinthians 1).

Jeremiah 8:9
The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
what kind of wisdom do they have?

On February 16, we went on campus, and Glen and I were not alone, but we had the Clint&Ginger family, and Carole, who introduced me to the idea of standing in defense of the unborn.

It's good to have others involved. Among many reasons is because through them I am able to see more clearly. I can see that what I had previously thought was great might be some distraction; but I am not sure, and this is what I am trying to think out here...
A man named Stephen came along, and when I first approached him, he refused my brochure. I asked more direct questions, attempting to engage him in conversation. He said that he undertands my point of view, but also understands the pro-choice view. I encouraged him to speak openly to me and to read my brochure, since a child is a person from conception, and ought to deserve, and certainly needs our protection.

He took the brochure and saw the panel that tells about sin and judgement and mercy. "Ah," he said, "you see, I have a problem with organized religion." ...and away we went. This man had read so many things, and accepted so many conflicting ideas as possibilities, that he frankly was at a loss for words at times to express the profoundly inexpressible. The only thing that he seemed opposed to considering was the God of the Bible, especially as revealed as a masculine entity. At this point, a friend of his inturrupted our encounter, and I slipped away. I was surprised that he reapproached me after his friend moved on.

He again asserted that he was too open minded to go for the old god-bible-religion thing. Since his basis for truth seemed so nebulous and broad-based, I told him that we really need to have a solid foundation of truth on which to bounce all these ideas, whether foolish or wise, off of to determine which to keep and which to discard. He talked, starry-eyed, about love for everyone as a basis of truth. I told him that he is right about that. The Bible tells us that true religion is caring for the orphan and widow, and loving our enemy and our neighbor as ourselves. So I told him that I, for instance would be in sin to leave this encounter if I didn't love him enough to tell him that he was dying in his sin, and that he would die and go to hell unless he submitted to God's Word in repentance, and embraced His Son in humility (I can't remember how I said it, certainly not so eloquently). He was visibly taken aback by this. I was certain he would walk away, but he continued.

He regained his composure, and said that even Jesus said that people would do things even greater than the things that he did, so he was admitting that he wasn't "all that." Praise be to God, who by His Holy Spirit is able to give us all that we need to do His good will, I was able to tell this man that Jesus said:

John 14:11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Eventually, I encouraged him to call or email me to continue the conversation, and we parted with a handshake and a friendly smile. I walked away, and moments later looked to where I had left him, and he was still there, looking at the brochure, and he waved at me again.

Another thing that happened that made me think, was that we saw a the woman that I have mentioned before, who is pregnant and will be keeping her baby. I had been unable to reach her for such a long time, and I was overcome with joy to see her. I spent quite a few minutes talking to her, both me and Ginger.

I am just not sure if I let myself get tied up with these people, or if they were valuable conversations. Can I be brief and caring? Do I cling to people because they will talk to me? Do I want nothing more than to win an arguement, for the sake of winning? How can I tell if this is a conversation that God wants me to engage in or a distraction sent by satan to prevent someone else from hearing a word from God's servant?

Talk to me.

Friendly Fellow

"Friendly Fellow" generally refers to an animal when googling.

Open-Minded Guy

Just a warning:

I was going to look for a picture to illustrate my upcoming post on our Campus Outreach for Life and Christ last night, so I googled, "Open-minded guy." Don't do it. You will find a bunch of people so comsumed by "the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another" that they "become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity." (From Romans 1:24-29)

Who knew that "open-minded" now means bi- or homosexual?