Tag Archives: baby

by

Is It OK to Be “Pro-choice”?

See the source image

Is It OK to Be “Pro-choice”?

James R. Aist

“Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” – Romans 14:22b

On February 25, 2019, forty-four Senate Democrats blocked a vote in the U.S. Senate that would protect the life and health of babies who survive botched abortions in the United States. Apparently, they prefer to either let such living, breathing, babies die slowly and painfully for lack of care, or murder them with a lethal injection. In effect, these Democrat Senators voted to legalize infanticide! This despicable, cold-hearted act of pure evil was a tragic fulfillment of Jesus prophecy in Matthew 24:12, “Because iniquity will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” In view of this development, I am compelled to address here the Christians who support and approve abortion and/or infanticide, despite the clear teaching in the Bible condemning such acts as the sin of murder (click HERE). Moreover, the biology of human reproduction informs us that human life begins at conception (click HERE), thus confirming that abortion and infanticide are, in fact, murder. God clearly condemns murder (Exodus 20:13) and declares that “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in His own image” (Genesis 9:6). This is how thoroughly evil God considers murder, including abortion, to be; it is a grave offense against the very image of God Himself! And to murder an innocent, helpless baby either before or after delivery is diametrically opposed to the sovereign will of almighty God who declares that “…children are a gift of the Lord…” (Psalm 127:3). God did not create us to murder babies, who are precious human beings that are made in His image and are His gifts to their parents!

People who are “pro-choice” believe that they are just defending a presumed “right” of the mother to decide whether her unborn or newborn child lives or dies; thus, they identify as “pro-choice.” At the same time, they deny that they have any responsibility for the death of the unborn or newborn child if the mother decides to terminate. This is nonsense. By supporting a mother’s so-called  “right to choose”, you are, in effect, implying that you believe either choice, life or death, is equally good and moral, and to the extent that you influence them to agree with you, you share in the moral responsibility for whatever decision they make. Let’s be honest and realistic for a moment: Every time you say, “It’s a woman’s right to choose”, you’re also saying, “It’s OK to murder unborn or newborn babies, either male or female.” Do you really believe that a woman has a right to murder another woman? How does it promote “women’s rights” to deny unborn or newborn women the most basic human right of all, the right to live? And, what if the choice were up to you? Would you choose to murder your own unborn or newborn baby? If not, then why would you support someone else’s choosing to do it? The only way you can avoid a shared responsibility in a decision to terminate is to take a stand against abortion and infanticide, i.e., to be “pro-life”, for “Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves” (Romans 14:22b; see also Romans 1:28-32)!

Does the Bible have anything else to say about this issue? Indeed it does. The Bible has stern rebukes and dire warnings for those who approve of sin or encourage others to sin (Isaiah 5:20; Malachi 2:17; Matthew 5:19-20; Matthew 18:6; Romans 1:28-32; and Romans 14:22b). Thus, anyone – including born-again Christians – who even approves of or otherwise encourages in any way, the sin of abortion or infanticide will, someday, have to answer to God for it. It’s high time born-again Christians stand up for the protection of the unborn and the newborn whose parents do not want them!

So, here is the conclusion of the matter: No, it is not OK to be “pro-choice”, because if you are “pro-choice”, then you are condemning yourself in what you are approving; namely, the sin of murder. Think about that for a while: God will hold you accountable for approving someone else’s choice to abort the unborn or the newborn! We have His word on it (Romans 1:28-32; and Romans 14:22b).

Key Bible Passage: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not proper. They were filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil things, and disobedient toward parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, calloused, and unmerciful, who know the righteous requirement of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death. They not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” – Romans 1:28-32. (bolding mine)

(To read more of my articles on abortion, click HERE, and on other biblical topics, click HERE).

by

Hush Little Baby…Uh-Oh, Run!

tobacco-barn

Hush Little Baby…Uh-Oh, Run!

James R. Aist

This true story is one of my earliest memories, having taken place when I was just three years old and my older brother, Johnny, about four and a half. We spent a lot of time playing together, so what happened to one of us usually happened to both. The year was 1948, and we lived on a dairy farm in rural Maryland. To supplement the family income, we grew and processed tobacco on the farm and then sold it at a local auction.

It was early Fall, time to harvest the tobacco and hang it to dry in the tobacco barn. For this, it was customary in our region at that time to hire temporary farm help, so this particular year we hired a young “colored” couple, let’s call them William and Mary, who had a small baby boy, probably about six months old. Well, one afternoon this couple drove their black Ford Coupe into the barn to keep it cool while they worked on the tobacco and the baby slept peacefully on the back seat.

Out of curiosity, Johnny and I decided to mosey on down to the barn and find out for ourselves what the heck they were doing. There in one corner of the barn they were, William as skinny as a rail and Mary almost as wide as she was tall. They were standing at a work bench with their backs to us, busily slicing off the green tobacco leaves from the stalks with machetes and hanging the leaves on slender poles for drying. We had never seen such really big, long knives!

After a few minutes of watching them do the same thing over and over again, we got bored and decided to entertain ourselves by playing tag around the car. It was so much fun that we began to laugh and giggle loudly as we chased each other round and round the car. Mary heard our noise and turned around, machete in hand, and warned us to be quiet, because the baby was sleeping in the car. To make sure that we understood the gravity of the situation, she (jokingly) promised to cut off our heads if we wake her baby up. Well, that put the fear of God in us, but we were, nonetheless, confident that we could play quietly enough to keep our heads attached.

After a quick peek into the back seat of the car to verify Mary’s story, we were right back at it, very quietly at first, but gradually louder and louder as we were pulled increasingly into the joy of the game, oblivious to the sleeping baby in the car. Next thing we knew, there came from the car the ominous sound of a baby crying, softly at first, but quickly rising to the amplitude of a full-blown tizzy-fit. Whereupon, we froze in our tracks and looked straight at William and Mary. What was she going to do? By that time she had already swung around, waving her machete in the air, and she was coming right at us scolding angrily, “I TOLD you not to wake up my baby!”

Well, Johnny and I were convinced that we were about to be murdered right then and there, and so, without the need of prior survival training, we instinctively began to run lickety-split out of the barn and toward the house, yelling repeatedly at the top of our lungs, “Mama help, she’s going to cut our heads off, she’s going to cut our heads off!” We ran like the wind all the way up the farm road to the long, wooden gate, at which point we each took a “rut” and dove under the gate. Picking ourselves up, we looked back, only to see Mary in the farm road, chasing after us, (innocently) waving her machete in the air and yelling, “Y’all come back, I was just kidding, I’m not going to cut your heads off, I was just kidding!” Well, that just convinced us all the more that she really was going to cut our heads off (What would you think?). So, we continued our flight toward safety, still yelling, “She’s going to cut our heads off, she’s going to cut our heads off!” By the time we reached the front yard, Mama had heard the ruckus and was out the front door to rescue us. After enjoying the humor of the situation for much too long, she hugged us and reassured us that Mary was not really going to cut off our heads, and that she really was just kidding all along. Needless to say, Johnny and I were very glad to hear that, and Mary was relieved to be exonerated!

And that’s why I survived to tell this terrifying tale. As it turns out, William and Mary were the nicest folks you would ever want to meet, but for a couple of minutes there, it sure didn’t seem like it to Johnny and me!

(For more of my TRUE TALES, click HERE)

by

Smells: Like Windows to a Wonderful World

English: Ocean Isle Beach, North CarolinaSmells:  Like Windows to a Wonderful World

by Angie Brown, Guest Author

We look ahead as we walk forward.  We look to the right and to the left when we cross the street.  We gaze at store windows and shelves to shop for merchandise.  We notice people rushing here and there, always looking.  Whether we’re bathing, playing or working, we use our eyes to recognize familiar things and faces.  Truly, our eyes are very important and necessary to our everyday lives.

But the sense of smell is also important and necessary; it can give us the feeling of both the past and the present. Oceans and sandy beaches, with their fishy smells, bring back memories of visiting Myrtle Beach or North Carolina Beaches with our southern relatives.  My granddaughter once commented, “It’s the smell of the south.” The musty moss and evergreen smells take me back to when, as children, we walked through the woods picking ground pine.  On our way to class, we often noticed the tantalizing smell of fresh bread coming from a nearby bakery.  The smell of chlorine greeted us when entered the YMCA pool area. And every classroom and locker room in school had their own distinctive smell.  You wouldn’t need to see it, because the smell would give it away!

The smells of the present are just as characteristic. A barnyard can be either pleasant or not so pleasant, but, either way, it’s a mighty homey smell to the farmer!  City streets have a different smell.  It’s a combination of several odors all mingled together: car exhaust pipes, trucks loaded with building supplies and dump trucks filled with debris all produce odors that are compounded into one strange mixture. Then there’s the smell of oil or gas as you pass a refinery or fill your car’s gas tank.  Stopping suddenly brings a smell of burning rubber. When lawns are mowed, there’s a sweet smell of clover blossoms and grasses in the air. Tightly closed houses in the winter may develop a stuffy smell, until Fido or your pussycat lingers at the open door before venturing out. After a heavy rain, the outdoors has a damp fungus smell for a day or so, but, eventually, the sunshine dries things out and removes it.

We all have our favorite smells, of course. One of the most pleasant smells I can think of is that of a home-cooked family meal on the stove, when everyone looks forward to dinner at the end of the day. But the best smell — one that can only be described as heavenly — is the soft, cuddly, precious newborn baby smell.

We need smells, along with our seeing eyes, to fully experience and appreciate the wonderful world around us!  What are you smelling right now?

(For more articles by Angie Brown, click HERE)