Thursday, November 6, 2008

The Fastest Year of My Life
















Jackson will be one in about 6 hours. This time last year, Melissa had just received her epidural and we were settling into a long night of controlled contractions and passionate pushing. (I don't know if Melissa would quite use the word "settling".) And at about 5:48am on November 7, our little boy was born much to our great joy.

It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. I will never forget it. Truly it seems like only a few weeks ago now. It's interesting how long those first few weeks felt due to our lack of sleep, and now I'm saying it went so fast.

I've learned a few things this year. Here are four:

1. The Lord gives us kids to teach us how much we need Christ.

2. How absolutely blessed I am to have married Melissa.

3. That coffee can be a man's little helper when the Grim Sleeper won't leave you alone.

4. A little boy's smile and hug can make all the troubles of a day disappear.

Happy Birthday Jackson! May the Lord bless you with many more.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Pro-Obama = Pro-Abortion

Justin Taylor posted the following on his blog today. I believe he is 100% correct. If you are a Christian and you believe life begins at conception, you must read the following and ask the Lord for wisdom. Tomorrow's vote is critical on so many levels; most importantly concerning the lives of unborn children.

He writes: I want to plead with fellow evangelicals to recognize that this is a watershed election with regard to abortion. Barack Obama has promised to make signing the
Freedom of Choice Act his first order of business in the White House--and with a Democratic Congress, he will be able to make this happen.

The Knights of Columbus recently
catalogued the many small successes achieved in the pro-life political process since 1973:

The Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions;


The federal law banning partial birth abortions, which was finally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2007;


The “Mexico City Policy,” which has barred the use of federal taxpayers’ money to pay for abortions in other countries;


Laws in 44 states that preserve a parental role when children under 18 seek abortions;


Laws in 40 states that restrict late-term abortions;


Laws in 46 states that protect the right of conscience for individual health care providers;


Laws in 27 states that protect the right of conscience for institutions;


Laws in 38 states that ban partial birth abortions;


Laws in 33 states that require counseling before having an abortion;


And laws in 16 states that provide for ultrasounds before an abortion.

With a stroke of the pen, all of these would be gone.I am under no illusions that electing John McCain will necessarily lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But I do believe that McCain would be a good pro-life president, I know that McCain would veto the radical FOCA, and I know that Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to ever run for president.I believe evangelicals should care deeply--though not idolatrously--about this election, and that they should do what they can to stop, or at least slow, the slaughter of the innocent. Voting is one of the things you can do. I encourage you to do it, and to do so with a view toward the weakest and most defenseless members of the human race--3,700 of whom are being killed every single day in the United States.