Sanctity of Human Life Sunday - Jan. 23, 2011

The following is written by a friend of mine about a Sanctity of Life Sunday at Sandhills Presbyterian Church when I pastored there. I remember that day very well!

Sanctity of Life

By Steve Crain, January 19, 2011

“When I was in Teen Challenge, as a student, I dealt with my drug abuse and my addiction to alcohol, but God showed me one day that he wanted to deal with a part of my life I was so afraid to turn over to him,” said Debby DiBianca, as she spoke about three abortions she experienced. 

DiBianca gave this “testimony” to an audience at Sandhills Presbyterian Church (PCA), Southern Pines, N.C., on Jan. 24, 2004. Her husband Sal DiBianca serves as director of Sandhills Teen Challenge (TC), a Carthage, N.C., drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that is part of Teen Challenge, a ministry founded by the Rev. David Wilkerson, whose work with N.Y City gang members is reported in the book “The Cross and the Switchblade.” The DiBiancas graduated from TC and became leaders in that organization.

“This isn’t easy for me to share,” DiBianca said. “I want everyone just to think I’m the great mom that Jamie and Brandon need.” (Sal and Debby’s children, Jamie and Brandon, were teenagers at the time she gave this testimony.)

DiBianca said God wanted her to forgive herself for three abortions she experienced, but she kept pushing the problem aside.

“I gave my virginity to Sal when I was 15 years old,” said DiBianca, who became pregnant and underwent an abortion. “I found myself, again, at the age of 16, in the same line at Planned Parenthood, getting my second abortion…When I was a senior in high school, I was in the same line, signing for them to rip out my third baby.”

DiBianca, who said her operations cause ongoing physical problems and pain, became a Christian.

“From the day I accepted Christ, until our wedding day, Sal and I were abstinent,” DiBianca said.

After graduating from Teen Challenge and serving as TC leaders, the DiBiancas moved to Moore County, N.C., to work with Sandhills Teen Challenge in the late 1980s. They received invitations to speak on moral issues in public high schools. When a friend asked Debbie to speak about her abortion experiences, she hesitated but decided to overcome her anxiety and guilt.

“I walked out (on the stage) at Pinecrest High School in 1989 on a Friday in January and told 1350 kids about the damage these abortions did,” she said. “Six girls cancelled their abortions that were scheduled for the next day in Fayetteville (N.C.).”

DiBianca said her faith in Christ helped her handle life’s pressures, but that some days weren’t easy. 

“I wanted to kill myself, sometimes,” she said. “Not just because of the three aborted babies, but because of the damage those abortions did. Sal and I have eight babies in heaven. I’ve lost five babies because they got attached to the unhealthy part of my uterus.”

DiBianca expressed happiness about being the mother of her daughter Jamie and her son Brandon.

“I’m an over-protective mom,” she said. “I’m afraid the enemy is going to come and snatch them, again. So, I still have these issues in my life. But I’m so glad I let Jesus come into that part of my life and deal with it. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has forgiven me. And, yet, I had to forgive myself…I turned my life over to Christ, 100 percent…He’s so faithful.”

DiBianca concluded and the Rev. Steve Hill, then serving as the assistant pastor at Sandhills PCA, spoke to the audience.

“I don’t want anybody leaving this place feeling condemned,” Hill said. “In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, ‘Come to me.’ If you’re carrying that guilt, if you’re carrying that shame, like Debby was, Jesus says, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.’”

Hill said Satan continues accusing and condemning in order to keep a person from being able to “go ahead” with a future.

“Jesus will let you rest,” Hill said. “He’s not mad at you. Debby’s identity is not ‘murderer’ but ‘blood-washed, forgiven, child of God.’”

Hill said, “Whether you’re a Christian or not, you’re made in the image of the God of the universe.” He read from Genesis 9 and said God will demand an accounting for murder. “When you destroy the image of God, you’re going to have to deal with him. Death dishonors the image of God.”

Hill read Jeremiah 1:5. In that verse, Jeremiah said God spoke to him, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”

“Children,” Hill said to younger audience members, “your parents loved you the minute they set eyes on you…but God loved you before that, before you had a name, before you had a thought.”

Basketball and Life

I have been watching a lot of basketball - not as much as driving up and down the interstate - but none the less a lot of basketball. And it has been great. Not TV, but live college basketball with all of the excitement imaginable. It makes it more exciting when your daughter is playing! More about that is another post soon.

I just read a very interesting article about another female basketball player, just a few years older than MArgaret but younger than Katie who has been criticized. Candace Parker, who is many of my daughter's favorite female athlete, recently got pregnant. Read this well written article.

Parker Deserves Support, Not Censure, for Embracing Motherhood 

By Colleen Carroll Campbell
Posted: Saturday, February 14, 2009


ARTICLE
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Publication Date: February 12, 2009

Last month in California, 33-year-old unemployed single mother of six, Nadya Suleman, gave birth to octuplets conceived through in vitro fertilization and promptly hired a publicist to field the torrent of interview requests and book-deal offers headed her way. That same week, a group of middle-aged single mothers in New Jersey was the subject of a fawning profile in The New York Times that celebrated their decisions to intentionally create fatherless families. And just last week, 60-year-old Canadian Ranjit Hayer enjoyed celebratory headlines when she gave birth to twins conceived through IVF, becoming a first-time mother at an age when most women are doting on their grandchildren.

It was in this context of unconventional motherhood that St. Louis-born WNBA star Candace Parker recently announced her pregnancy. Parker probably figured the news would be non-controversial, given that the fresh-faced Los Angeles Sparks forward and Olympic gold medalist is happily married to Sacramento Kings forward Shelden Williams. Both earn more than enough to support a family: Parker alone reaps millions on and off the court as one of the most celebrated women athletes in the world.

But Parker's pregnancy was not greeted with the same approval and tolerance that many of today's child-bearing sexagenarians and single mothers by choice enjoy when they form their families. Instead, Parker was blasted by fans and pundits for becoming a mother at age 22. Critics bemoaned her selfishness in putting maternal ambitions ahead of her team's 2009 season prospects. Others lamented her foolishness for starting a family when she should be living a strings-free existence oriented around her glamorous career.

Not long ago, a 22-year-old woman was considered plenty old enough to marry and bear children. But in today's era of prolonged adolescence and commitment phobia, high-achieving women like Parker often face ridicule and scorn for defying the feminist conventional wisdom that marriage and motherhood are second-rate pursuits best delayed until middle age. Young mothers frequently are accused of forfeiting a hard-won feminist privilege: the right to spend their 20s single-mindedly pursuing sexual license, success and self-fulfillment without the hassles of a husband and children.

For her part, Parker told the Los Angeles Times that she wanted her children to grow up witnessing the athletic career of their young mother rather than arriving after it ends. Although she believes she can return to basketball as a mother, Parker said, "The biggest thing for me is not a matter of if or when [I return] but of coming back with a good balance in my life."

Parker's view of motherhood as "a blessing" that will "make me a fuller, happier person" is not as unusual as the media hoopla over her pregnancy suggests. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, the National Center for Health Statistics has released data showing that the mean age at which American women bear their first babies decreased for the first time since the collection of such data began in 1968. The decline in age among first-time mothers was slight -- from 25.2 years in 2005 to 25.0 years in 2006, the latest year for which numbers are available -- but the biggest uptick in first-time births was found among women in their early 20s.

The reasons behind that uptick vary from mother to mother. But the ones Parker cited surely motivate many young women, as does the desire to avoid the trials of infertility and single motherhood often experienced by women who awaken late to their longing for children. Rather than being criticized, Parker ought to be applauded for bearing her child in the stable context of a marriage and daring to trade some of her youthful freedom for the grown-up reward of committed family love.

-- Colleen Carroll Campbell is an author, television and radio host and St. Louis-based fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Her website is www.colleen-campbell.com.

9.80 APG 3.8 EFF + 21.67
Born: Apr 19, 1986
Height: 6-4 / 1,93
Weight: 175 lbs. / 79,4 kg.
College: Tennessee
Years Pro: 1

Super Bowl Ad NBC Rejected

You didn't get to see this one.

John Piper preaching to us and to President Obama

Follow this link and listen to John Piper preach for just 3.40 seconds. Very powerful!

An Examined Look at Abortion

It was 36 years ago yesterday, January 22, that the Supreme Court came to a verdict in the case of Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion. This case is still as controversial today as it was in 1973 and continues to be in the forefront of our day.
Tim Challias  has linked  to a great resource that is free and available to you from my old seminary professor R. C. Sproul. At the Ligonier website there are now available, videos that in the past were very expensive.

I just finished listening and watching the first lecture on ABORTION.  It was a very well thought out presentation.  I think R.C. is at his best when he is in front of the camera or large audiences. 

I promise, you will learn something that is beneficial to you. Of special note, I think you will learn how better to dialogue with those with whom you disagree, simply by watching how RC approaches the subject.

Here is the link.

Since we are on the subject - or at least I am today - here is a short article that is very provocative about the four reasons you might be aborted if you are a fetal human.

The picture is of an ultrasound image from the website flicker.

36 million - is more than the 2007 official population of our most populated state -California. Check out the figures here.

Obviously I am opposed to abortion, but having been a pastor of 30 years I know many dear friends that have had abortions. For many, if it comes close to home - your examined opinion wavers. Actually, my opposition to abortion is strengthened by those that have told me of their stories. It causes so much pain and regret. I have witnessed the effects of forgiveness and grace, great grace from a loving Heavenly Father in their lives. These dear sisters have only fostered my passion that this legal option is the worst decision for young ladies, young fathers, new grandparents ... everyone. There are 36 million less people who could have walked the roads of this country.

Sanctity of Human Life

A number of years ago a judge from Alabama was very much in the news - here is an update. I love his stand on Sanctity of Life, especially when it deals with abortion. Sadly, our new president will soon approve federal funding of abortion again. When a republican comes to office they reverse this, when a democrat comes to power they reverse what the republican did ....

Some of you may be wondering what Judge Roy Moore has been doing since he was removed from the bench for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom wall. Please read the poem he wrote. It's below his picture.



The following is a poem written by Judge Roy Moore from Alabama .. Judge Moore was sued by the ACLU for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom foyer. He has been stripped of his judgeship and now they are trying to strip his right to practice law in Alabama ! The judge's poem sums it up quite well.

America the beautiful,

or so you used to be.

Land of the Pilgrims' pride;

I'm glad they'll never see.

Babies piled in dumpsters,

Abortion on demand,

Oh, sweet land of liberty;

your house is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly

poisoned by cocaine

choosing to indulge their lusts,

when God has said abstain

From sea to shining sea,

our Nation turns away

From the teaching of God's love

and a need to always pray

We've kept God in our

temples,how callous we have grown.

When earth is but His footstool,

and Heaven is His throne..

We've voted in a government

that's rotting at the core,

Appointing Godless Judges;

who throw reason out the door,

Too soft to place a killer

in a well deserved tomb,

But brave enough to kill a baby

before he leaves the womb.

You think that God's not

angry,that our land's a moral slum?

How much longer will He wait

before His judgment comes?

How are we to face our God,

from Whom we cannot hide?

What then is left for us to do,

but stem this evil tide?

If we who are His children,

will humbly turn and pray;

Seek His holy face

and mend our evil way:

Then God will hear from Heaven;

and forgive us of our sins,

He'll heal our sickly land

and those who live within.

But, America the Beautiful,

If you don't - then you will see,

A sad but Holy God

withdraw His hand from Thee.

~~Judge Roy Moore~~