Impact

Licensed to Kill!

"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone." (Matthew 2:18 NET)

Signs of the Times (4)

The Lie

Abortion performed by Licensed M.D.’s (1) is a blessing, sacred, a family value, hope, a second chance, liberty, health care, and good medicine, etc. (4)

The Consequences of Believing the Lie

“Since 1973, there have been more than 60 million abortions (1) in the United States. While some women report relatively little trauma following abortion, for many, the experience is devastating, causing severe and long-lasting emotional, psychological, and spiritual trauma. Evidence of post-abortion trauma is increasingly attested to by psychologists, counselors, and those involved in post-abortion ministry. We now know, for example, that women hurt by abortion may have some or many of the following symptoms:

  • Low self-esteem
  • Grief (mild to profound)
  • Depression (sometimes to the point of suicidal thoughts and attempts)
  • A sense of alienation from family and friends
  • A feeling of being ‘numb,’ not able to feel joy from activities that used to be pleasurable
  • Isolating self from others to avoid discussing the abortion experience with them
  • Guilt and shame
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Anger toward self, or the child’s father, or others involved in the abortion decision
  • Sleep disorders
  • Abortion-related nightmares, flashbacks or even sounds of a baby crying
  • Alcohol and drug problems, to dull the sorrow
  • A desire for a ‘replacement’ baby
  • Anniversary reactions of grief or depression on the date of the abortion or the baby’s expected due date
  • Problems bonding with her other children (being over-protective but emotionally distant)
  • Fear that God will punish her, or is punishing her (3)

Some, especially young girls, experience symptoms soon after the abortion. Counselors tell us, however, that it is more common for the symptoms to occur over five to twelve years after the abortion before a woman seeks help. Abortion’s aftermath is mostly ignored by the general public. Groups organized to protect the availability of abortion claim that abortion is no different from any surgical procedure and that pro-life groups are fabricating the existence of post-abortion suffering. (3)

“It’s normal to grieve a pregnancy loss, including the loss of a child by abortion. It can form a hole in one’s heart, a hole so deep that sometimes it seems nothing can fill the emptiness.” (3)

Consequently, many women think that their grief reactions are somehow abnormal (1) and believe that there is nowhere to turn for help (1). Many women who have walked a path of grief and hopelessness after abortion, usually alone, eventually begin to understand that they have a deep spiritual wound. But sadly, they also are likely to believe that they have committed ‘the unforgivable sin’ (1) and fear God’s anger (1). Women who have had an abortion often have many questions, the answers to which are indispensable to begin the healing journey. Can God ever forgive me? (1) Can my child? Can I ever forgive myself? (1) Will the Church let me stay when I confess this sin? Will this horrible pain ever go away? Is healing possible? The answer to all these questions is, of course, YES!” (3)

Realize, while there may be accidental pregnancies there are no accidental babies. Note I did not say zygote, embryo, fetus, or some other name for the human baby. Why? I am glad you asked! While I understand and appreciate the desire to classify the different stages of the baby’s development it can also be used to de-humanize the baby thus rationalizing the legal, ethical, and prudential murder of him or her. Recall throughout history when humanity desired to murder a race the first step was to de-humanize them and the second step was to make them the enemy (e.g., Jews in the Holocaust, Native Americans in the expansion of the USA, Blacks in slavery throughout the world, etc). A similar strategy is applied in murdering (1) babies inside their mother’s bodies! That is, they are not considered humans until after some time period, stage of development, or only upon exiting the uterus while the Bible considers us humans in need of a Savior at conception (Psalms 51:5. Psalms 147:13). Furthermore, the untimely baby is considered an enemy to your career, finances, attractive looks, lifestyle, and relationships, etc.

Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak, for the legal rights of all the dying. (Proverbs 31:8 NET)
The Truth
God decided to make each of us in His image and each unique before our parents even met!
"Before I formed you in your mother's womb I chose you... (Jeremiah. 1:5 a NET)
Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb? (Job 31:15 NET)
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."  God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.  (Genesis 1:26-27 NET)
God made plans for all our lives before we were born!
...Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5 b NET) (The Prophet Jeremiah) (5)
But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being, (Galatians 1:15-16 NET) (The Apostle Paul) (5)
Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother's womb. I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew me thoroughly; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was made in secret and sewed together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence. How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God! How vast is their sum total! If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you. (Psalms 139:13-18 NET)
God has beautiful plans for our future from now on!
For I know what I have planned for you,' says the LORD. 'I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NET)
For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will– to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.  (Ephesians 1:4-8 NET)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you are saved!– and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.  (Ephesians 2:4-10 NET)
Summary:

This truth of God neutralizes both nagging fear and fallible philosophies by declaring you and your baby are no accident and we each have value!. Again, YOU AND YOUR BABY ARE NO ACCIDENT and YOU BOTH HAVE VALUE! Be forever free from the fear of pointlessness by knowing that God has cared, is caring, and will forever care for you and your baby! Now realizing your values on Earth go and help others realize their value.  That is, … ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39 b NET)

Testimony:

When I was being born the umbilical cord was found to be wrapped around my neck several times resulting in a complicated delivery that was threatening my mother’s life. The MD’s inquired of my Dad who did he want to be saved, the mother or the child, as they would abort me to save my mother if he stated save her. My Dad said that he was not God to make such a decision. However, upon further questioning he stated if only one can be saved then, of course, save his wife. Nevertheless, God honored my Dad’s confession (Thank you, Dad!), and saved us both! Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!

My mother’s entry into my Baby Book concerning the “unusually long labor.” Thanks, Mom for enduring the suffering to deliver me!

Dedication:

This article is dedicated to Grace and Mary, two of our seven children that did not make it through the full term of pregnancy (i.e., miscarriages). See you, my precious daughters, in Heaven! Daddy and Mommy love you both very much!

(2)


Shalom
(Security, Wholeness, Success)
Peace

Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 
(3 John 1:2 NET)


(1) Select the link to open another article with additional information in a new tab.

(2) As an art student, Martin Hudáčekof Slovakia was moved to create a sculpture (1) to draw attention to the devastation abortion can bring to the woman, and that through the Love and Mercy of God, reconciliation, and healing is possible. See the attached document for the history of this work of art.

(3) Project Rachel Ministry (1)

(4) Abortion is not a Sacred Blessing (1)

(5) You may say these verses were written to too specific people and do not apply to me. You are correct in the context they were written to Jeremiah and Paul; however, God does not show partiality and if He did it for them He will do the same for you (Acts 10:34. Romans 2:11. Galatians 2:6. Ephesians 6:9).

Hal has taught the Bible for over three decades. Through an interdenominational ministry dedicated to helping the local church build men for Jesus, Hal trained men, the leaders of men’s ministries, and provided pulpit supply. Before that, he was a Men’s Ministry Leader and an Adult Bible Fellowship teacher of a seventy-five-member class at a denominational megachurch. Presently, Hal desires to honor Jesus Christ through this Internet teaching ministry, thereby glorifying the Heavenly Father in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. He believes, second to cultivating his relationship with God that raising his family unto the Lord is the most significant task for him while on Earth. Furthermore, Hal believes that being a successful leader in the church or workplace is no substitute for failing to be a successful leader at home. 
DOULOS HAL'S TOPICAL INDEX