Can't You Let Us Have This One?

Last night the House passed the Health Care Reform Bill which included an amendment to restrict Federal funding of insurance plans from paying for abortions. Today there were many reports of “enraged liberals” (NY Daily News, Washington Post) over the vote by some in the Democratic Party in support of this additional amendment. Anyone participating in a plan paid for by Federal subsidies will not be permitted to obtain money for an abortion.

Why is this a shocking revelation to everyone? According to Federal News Radio: “the Hyde amendment bars federal funds for abortion _ except in cases of rape and incest or if the mother's life would be endangered. The law applies those restrictions to Medicaid, forcing states that cover abortion for low-income women to do so with their own money. Separate laws apply the restrictions to the federal employee health plan and military and other programs.” Almost everyone on the Hill, including the voting Congress, is covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, so it certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise to them that some would want to carry that restriction over into this new health care program.

Planned Parenthood has reacted as if Rowe v Wade has been overturned…like that is such a bad idea. But it HAS NOT been overturned. We, the average citizen who vote pro-life, simply won’t have to pay for abortions which we disdain. It doesn’t make us heartless; it just means that we finally won a round for our side. Many of us understand all too well.

People who know me will tell you that I am one of the last to jump on the political wagon in a public forum. But the protection of human life is one of those rare times when I feel compelled to take a stand –something I learned when my daughter took a very public stand at school last year. You see I just don’t think that my tax dollars should go to something that I find so damaging to women. Yes, women who decide that there is no other way will have to pay for an abortion – just like I did. I paid financially and emotionally. And yes, maybe it will be more difficult, but in one of the few countries in the world that still allows abortion on demand, is that such a hard thing to live with?

Most women I know will tell you they live with the scars of their abortion – some even live with physical scars. It is never an easy decision to give up your child – either through adoption or abortion. We all think about that child – especially the unborn child. Was it a boy or girl? How old would he or she be now? Did I do the right thing? Today was the day….Every woman I know who has given up a child asks herself these questions. The mother who gives up a child for adoption has some peace though in hoping that her child is being cared for. The abortion survivors, however, don’t have that peace. Many have found forgiveness in the loving arms of Jesus, but even then…we wonder…

For many of us it is simply what we have come to believe: "For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb....Your eyes say my unformed body." Psalm 139:13-16. We believe God created all life – and that life began in the womb at conception. Maybe you don’t see it that way, but could you take a minute and understand how those of us with this conviction mean it with our whole heart. Some of us have learned the hard way—by living it. Some have seen other women (and men) recover from what we consider a sin. Maybe this isn’t your truth, but it is ours. Rather than call us names and make fun of our convictions – could you look in our eyes and see the pain of loss and the love of life we have? Could you walk with us a minute and hear our stories? Could you just respect us this one time?

We aren’t overturning the laws of the country; we are upholding them at this point. You have your Supreme Court judgment – could we just have this one crumb of respect and not pay to put women through the torture and aftermath of abortion? Believe me, no woman will tell you that she bounced into an abortion clinic or a doctor’s table for her abortion. No woman I know of would want to be there. No woman I know who has been there would easily recommend it to another. So please – you will have your health care reform – an issue I am NOT debating – please give us a small slice of life.

God's Will in Our Lives

So it seems that the next question then is about how one “will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” How do we come to trust God with the plan for our lives?

The easiest starting point is the Bible sitting on your night stand or gathering dust on the shelf. The best way to renew our minds and to fight against a culture that tells you to live a different life, is reshape our minds by diving into the Word. The more of God’s Word we use to fill our thinking the more likely we are to understand how to make decisions.

So if as Ed Young says, “God is preparing us for what he has prepared for us.”, than we need to take some steps. John Ortberg says it begins with meeting God in Scripture—asking God to speak to you as you read. Ortberg says: “It is uniquely in the Bible that we encounter Jesus.” He goes on to suggest that we:

• Read the Bible in a Repentant Spirit—a spirit of surrender.
• Meditate on a Fairly Brief Passage or Narrative—the goal is to get the Scripture in us.
• Take One Thought or Verse with You Through the Day—mediation is a slow process.
• Allow This Thought to Become Part of Your Memory—hide Scripture in your heart.

If we are to be more than just transformed for our selves, than we need to learn about other world views and we have to learn about our own faith. We can not simply rest on what we hear on Sunday and hope it will carry us through the week. We need to be deliberate about personal change and a desire to live a life in God’s will. This will become our greatest testimony and one that will draw others a desire to change accordingly.

If we want to avoid being sucked into today’s world than we have to understand what we are facing—and appreciate how difficult this is to live above the fray. According to Clifford Orwin, there is one element of common ground between the postmodern liberal society and Christianity—“a yearning for something higher, shared, and meaningful.” Richard Rorty, a postmodern liberal theorist admits that liberalism is a matter of faith, not reason, freeloading atheists who rely on a Judeo-Christian legacy of human concern. He says that postmodernists pillage Biblical tradition for their moral code but maintain an atheistic stance.

The challenge for Christian theists is to take the common ground, the points of dissention and bridge the gap with the humility of someone who is not judgmental but as one who genuinely cares for their spiritual wellbeing. Dr. Jeremiah suggests that we should focus on four things to put spirituality into focus:

• · Discover what Scripture says about spirituality and explore these riches daily.
• · Avoid any manner of spirituality that does not require commitment in the true God.
• · Seek fellowship with other Christians wherever they may do.
• · Look for mature leaders who will guide and nurture you in the Lord.

So the bottom line for me is…don’t think it to death. Read my Bible. Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit into my life so that what I read and meditate on has deep meaning. Have friends who hold me accountable…and then believe that nothing is too big for God to fix. If I go off on my own than he will still use me for his glory---I just have to be willing to be in his will. The FIRST STEP!

Transformation: Romans 12:2--A starting place.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (NIV) The Life Recovery Bible – New Living Translation says: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” The last part of that verse often goes unsaid: “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” That is what I strive most for in my life and what I find most difficult to understand.

The goal of this blog is to share with one another how we approach transformation in our lives – to take a step out of self and to share with others our experiences and how God has used those periods of time to change us. And to explore new ways in which God is leading us to not conform with the behavior and customs of this world so that we can live in his will and be a witness to others that we Christians are not your average Joe!

John Ortberg explains that the word conformed used by Paul is summorphizo—to shape a thing into a durable likeness—a spiritual molding process. Transformed, Ortberg describes as metamorphoo—metamorphosis—“like a creeping caterpillar is transformed into a soaring butterfly”

We were all something before—something before we took the leap into change. Or maybe you are just beginning the process and wondering what to do…how to change your behavior into a new person. In some cases the journey has been a slow cautious walk forward. Some of us are in the midst of this period of change. I think if we desire to grow in the Lord, we should all be in a period of change, coming out of that period, or realizing that God is nudging us to look at the next areas in our life that he would like to heal in us.

There are things, people, or events that have shaped the people we are – or the people we were before transformation. Some of those events left wonderful memories of love, of strength, and of hope. Unfortunately, for some there were events in our lives that left scars, that when scratched bleed on the joy that God intended for us and those events color our actions.

Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-based 12-step program founded by Saddleback Church talks about taking a first step by admitting: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” And thus begins a journey of change from our hurts, habits, and hang-ups—leading to a place of hope. Paul says in Philippians 3:13: “No dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”

So the journey starts with Romans 12: 2—where does it go from hear? What next steps would you take to no longer conform but be transformed???