Tag: Holy Spirit

Ohio Bill to Ban Abortions For Down Syndrome

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

babyreachingforhandfromwomb2Is it alright to end the life of a baby in their mother’s womb, simply because that baby will be born “genetically imperfect”?

I cannot even believe that I have to ask that question.

THE ANSWER IS NO.

The state of Ohio now has to answer that question for themselves.

Foxnews.com reports that

Ohio lawmakers are considering a controversial bill that would ban abortions sought because the baby has Down syndrome, placing the swing state at the center of a new battle for anti-abortion advocates. 

The measure also has implications for the 2016 presidential race, as Ohio Gov. John Kasich seeks the Republican nomination and tries to walk a fine line between burnishing his pro-life credentials and positioning himself as a moderate member of the GOP field. He has not taken a position on the legislation. 

“The governor is pro-life and believes strongly in the sanctity of human life, but we don’t take a public position on every bill introduced into the Ohio General Assembly,” Rob Nichols, a Kasich spokesman, told FoxNews.com. 

The Ohio bill would ban a physician from performing an abortion if they know the woman is seeking the procedure solely because of a test indicating Down syndrome in the unborn child.

The bill would hold the doctor, not the mother, responsible for violating the proposed law, which carries a penalty of six-to-18 months in jail.

The legislation is unique, though not unprecedented. North Dakota passed a similar measure in 2013 that banned abortions motivated by the sex of the baby; a diagnosis for a genetic abnormality such as Down syndrome; or the potential for a genetic abnormality. 

The proposal in politically purple Ohio, though, could have widespread implications, particularly if it spurs even more states to act. According to a 2012 study in the medical journal “Prenatal Diagnosis,” U.S. women who receive a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to have an abortion between 50 and 80 percent of the time, down from 90 percent in 1999 from a study in the same journal. 

The legislation is thought to have a good chance of passing. The bill recently passed out of committee in the state House of Representatives on a 9-3 bipartisan vote. Ohio Right to Life, which helped draft the bill, is hoping it will be voted on in a few weeks, when lawmakers return from recess, and reach Kasich’s desk by Christmas.

“What does that say of us as a society if we make decisions about who lives or who dies dependent on if they are going to be an inconvenience, or they are [costing] too much money for health care costs?” Ohio Right to Life President Michael Gonidakis told FoxNews.com. “Someday we are going to find a genetic marker for autism. Are we going to have a 90 percent abortion rate for people with autism? I hope not.”

Gonidakis says he thinks the legislation will pass and Kasich will ultimately sign it. 

“We have a track record of being strategic and putting forth an incremental approach to all our initiatives,” Gonidakis said, adding that they have worked with Kasich on roughly a dozen pro-life measures, including a late-term abortion ban. 

Republican state Rep. Sarah LaTourette, a co-sponsor of the bill, also told FoxNews.com she is confident the bill will pass. 

“While I make no effort to conceal my pro-life convictions, I firmly believe this bill is about discrimination, not abortion. Choosing to end an individual’s life simply because they are different, or might have Down syndrome, is discrimination,” she said in an email. “There is simply no other way to look at it.” 

However, if Kasich chooses to back the bill, he is sure to face stiff opposition from pro-choice groups.

“We believe we should all work to ensure people with disabilities are treated with equality and dignity. However, we oppose this ban because it interferes with the medical decisions of Ohioans and does nothing to help people with disabilities or their families,” Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, told FoxNews.com.

Copeland said she believes it will be an “uphill battle” to oppose the legislation, but people have flooded her group’s phone lines with calls offering donations to fight it.

“We have to make it clear to Gov. Kasich that this is not good health care, this is not what the people of Ohio want,” Copeland said. “This ban would encourage patients to keep information from their doctors and that is bad medicine.”

Gonidakis said he is “100 percent” confident the governor will sign the bill. “He is the most pro-life governor in our state’s history,” he said. 

Copeland seemed to agree with Gonidakis: “He’s signed everything they slapped on his desk so far so I don’t see why this would be anything different.”

I have some strong feelings about this bill.

You see, I am the father of a wonderful 28 year old daughter, who happens to be developmentally delayed.

She has brought unparalleled joy to my life, and I cannot imagine it without her.

I have always said that, it what seems to be a majority of the cases, abortion is a selfish act. It ends the life of an innocent human being, before they have even had the chance to live it.

Life is not, and never will be, a bicycle ride in the park.

Life is a series of challenges, which every person has to meet head on, and make the choice between right and wrong for themselves.

We have been given Free Will by Our Creator because WE ARE LOVED.

In fact, He loves us so much, that he gave us that still small voice, which resides in each one of us, which is referred to, in secular terms, as the conscience, and, is known to Christians as the Holy Spirit.

It is this still, small voice that helps us make the important decisions which we face in this life, in order to overcome the challenges which we are faced with.

It’s also undoubtedly why the overwhelming majority of Americans are so upset about the ghoulish resurrection of the practices of, and imitation of, the Third Reich by Planned Parenthood, through their monstrous marketing of the body parts of aborted babies.

Regardless of what you see in the Main Stream Media, the majority of Americans still know the difference between right and wrong.

Even those among us who claim to be the most tolerant, but, who would argue to their last breath their “right” to end the life of a Down Syndrome baby in their mother’s womb.

This potential law isn’t about protecting the life of a lion in a preserve in Africa.

This law will protect those who will be born to have dominion over that lion.

They are special.

And, they are loved.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

 

 

KJ’s Sunday Morning Thought: A Selfish Generation

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity2 Comments

American Christianity 2During every generation, there comes a point, where the previous generation becomes frustrated in their attempts to communicate with the current generation.

The era we are living in now is no different.

However, as far as the effect that this failure to communicate may have on the future of America as a strong and vibrant nation, it is definitely more frightening.

The Christian Post reports that

A San Diego State University study published earlier this month has found that millennials appear to be the least religious generation ever recorded. SDSU psychology professor Jean M. Twenge suggested that one main reason for millennials abandoning religion is rising individualism in American culture, which is less prone to showing commitment to institutions.

“These trends are part of a larger cultural context, a context that is often missing in polls about religion,” Twenge said in an article published by Eureka Alert.

“One context is rising individualism in U.S. culture. Individualism puts the self first, which doesn’t always fit well with the commitment to the institution and other people that religion often requires. As Americans become more individualistic, it makes sense that fewer would commit to religion.”

The detailed study, which published its findings in the journal PLOS One, looked at data from 11.2 million respondents from four nationally representative surveys of U.S. adolescents ages 13 to 18 taken between 1966 and 2014.

The study defined millennials as “American adolescents and emerging adults in the 2010s,” and said that they were “significantly less religious than previous generations (Boomers, Generation X) at the same age.”

The analysis, led by researchers Ramya Sastry from SDSU, along with Julie J. Exline and Joshua B. Grubbs from Case Western Reserve University and W. Keith Campbell from the University of Georgia, presented that twice as many 12th graders and college students today never attend religious services.

Additionally, twice as many 12th graders and entering college students in the 2010s give their religious affiliation as “none,” compared to those in the 1960s-’70s.

“Recent birth cohorts report less approval of religious organizations, are less likely to say that religion is important in their lives, report being less spiritual, and spend less time praying or meditating. Thus, declines in religious orientation reach beyond affiliation to religious participation and religiosity, suggesting a movement toward secularism among a growing minority,” the study said.

The findings noted that millennials are the least religious generation of the last six decades, and possibly in the nation’s history.

Earlier in May, a major Pew Study found that Christianity continues declining in the U.S. as a whole, while the religiously unaffiliated keep rising.

Pew said that Christians as a whole fell from 78.4 to 70 percent of the population between 2007 to 2014, while the religiously unaffiliated group rose to 22.8 percent share of the population. The “nones” now outnumber American Catholics, Pew said, who fell to 20.8 percent.

Some Evangelicals, such as Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, commented on the study by saying that the “increasing strangeness” of Christianity is “good news” for the church.

“Christianity isn’t normal anymore. It never should have been. The increasing strangeness of Christianity might be bad news for America, but it’s good news for the church. The major newspapers are telling us today that Christianity is dying, according to this new study, but what is clear from this study is exactly the opposite: while mainline traditions plummet, evangelical churches are remaining remarkably steady,” Moore said in a statement.

He is exactly right.

The church I attend, which happens to be Southern Baptist, is in the process of growing weekly, with Baptisms being witnessed every Sunday morning.

San Diego State psychology professor Jean M. Twenge’s theory is 180 degrees off.

It is not an act of ‘individualism” which is causing these young people to turn away from the “Faith of Our Fathers”.

It is selfishness and an innate conceit, imbued in them by those, whose familial nurturing and raising, with or without exposure to Christianity, could not compete with the Siren Song of American Popular Culture and secular socialization.

While the Scriptures of our Christian Faith tell us that “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37), America’s Popular Culture, reinforced by the current President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, and his fellow “Progressives”, tells those who have achieved, through the Grace of God,

You didn’t build that.

Popular Culture, under the guise of “making the individual feel better about themselves”, actually constrains individual achievement.

These “millennials”, by believing that they are “their own god”, are limiting themselves.

History has shown us, time and again, what happens to a society, when man starts worshiping himself.

As Proverbs 16:18 tells us

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Right now, you’re probably saying to yourself,

Hold on, KJ, you just said that the individual CAN achieve.

Yes, I did.

Those who have gone before us, such as our Founding Fathers, our military leaders, our civic leaders, and our spiritual and familial leaders, all had one thing in common:

They all possessed a spirit of self-sacrifice.

Not sacrificing their will to achieve for the “good of the State”, but, rather, unselfishly sacrificing their time and talents for the betterment of those around them.

And, that is where the “Progressives” (i.e., Liberals), such as Professor Twenge, get it wrong.

It is not “the State”, nor the community-at-large, that drives, or allows, Individual Americans to succeed.

It is that “still, small voice” that resides within each one of us that has endowed us with our “certain inalienable rights” as Americans, of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, that gives us the strength and discernment to succeed.

Without God, nothing is possible.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glen Campbell And The Still Small Voice (A KJ Sunday Morning Reflection)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity1 Comment

glencampbell1One of my favorite entertainers has always been Glen Campbell. Like many Americans my age, I grew up watching him on television with my parents, as we sat there entertained by his weekly variety show, “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”  (1969-1972)

This past week, Glen’s wife, Kim, wrote the following opinion piece for Fox News, in conjunction with the release of his final album  and a documentary, detailing Glen’s journey through the stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

It touched my heart. I believe it will touch your heart as well.

My husband, Glen Campbell, has stage 6 Alzheimer’s disease. Seven months ago, at the recommendation of his doctors, we placed him in a memory care facility close to our home in Nashville.

It’s a community that’s designed specifically for the needs of those who have Alzheimer’s and dementia. They have all kinds of therapies and activities that stimulate parts of the brain affected by the illness. It’s a safe and secure environment where he receives around-the-clock care.

It’s been good for him. He just seems more at peace there than he was at home, where he became increasingly agitated and frantic.

He lives in a mental fog most of the time. He’s lost most of his language skills and has a hard time communicating. He still has moments of lucidity, though, and those moments let us know he’s still in there and that he’s the Glen we’ve always known. He can make short sentences and say things like “I love you” and “We are so blessed.”

The aides and nurses say he must have been a godly man because they always see him thanking the Lord. I’ve seen him walk over to the window and lift up his hands and say, “Thank you, heavenly Father.” 
The aides and nurses say he must have been a godly man because they always see him thanking the Lord. I’ve seen him walk over to the window and lift up his hands and say, “Thank you, heavenly Father.”

Those moments are so comforting because when you’re facing your mortality, that’s when you want to know God is there. That’s when you really want to draw close to Him.

When I see him do that, I know God is with him, and he’s aware of His presence. He’s relying on the Lord and gets his strength from Him.

People should not give up on others who have dementia. The essence of who they are is still alive and still in there.

He’s still the Glen Campbell he’s always been. He’s always especially loved children and old people. There’s this little lady in a wheelchair in the facility, and she can’t speak at all. He will walk over to her and take her little hand in his and say, “You are so precious.”

He’ll kiss her on the forehead, and she’ll just look up at him. She has no idea who he is, but you can tell it comforts her.

Even in his affliction, he’s ministering to people and trying to be a blessing.

In between those moments, he’s lost. He wanders. He can’t communicate. He doesn’t understand what others say to him. It’s very hard to direct him even to sit in a chair in the dining room.

When we did the film, “Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me,” which documents his last farewell tour, Glen was in stages 2-4. He knew what was happening to him and he wanted to let people know what Alzheimer’s is really like.

He was passionate about making this film because he hoped it would be a catalyst for more funding for research to find a cure. He wanted to encourage other families who are dealing with this disease to keep living their lives, supporting each other and lifting each other up.

When Glen got the diagnosis and decided to go public, it was because he wanted fans to know what was going on in case he exhibited odd behavior on stage, like repeating a song or forgetting what key it was in.

He just wanted them to understand. But after he made the announcement, we all wondered if anyone would want to come see someone with Alzheimer’s perform.

We wondered if his fans would rather remember him the way he was. Maybe it would be depressing. Or maybe no one would be interested either way.

But what we found was the exact opposite. The first show he did after making the announcement sold out. From the time he walked on stage to the time he walked off, it was one standing ovation after another. It was clear fans were there to shower him with love and to root for, support and encourage him. It really blessed Glen and encouraged him to continue on.

Offers began to pour in from around the country for Glen to come to their cities to perform.

What began as a five-week farewell tour turned into 151 dates. His last show was at the Uptown Theater in Napa, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2012.

The first 15-20 minutes were a train wreck. He was having difficulties. His guitar wasn’t loud enough. It didn’t have the quality he wanted. He became very agitated on stage. He kept turning his back to the audience. His band was very uncomfortable. It was a tough show.

But the audience, again, was so supportive. They cheered for him without fail and without question. They loved him unconditionally.

He snapped back and finished the show strong. It was good, but it was clear it was time for us to end the tour and say farewell.

He closed the show with “A Better Place.”  

Daily we pray for grace and mercy as he approaches the final stages of this illness and are so thankful for the moments we see Glen being Glen.

For those cynics out there, yes, Glen went off the rails for a time, during his marriage to Tanya Tucker. After that, though, Glen fell in love with Kim, and she led him back to Jesus Christ.

Recently, I had a Liberal atheist tell me that he believes that he has no soul.

Now, whether he was just trying to get a rise out of me on the Political Facebook Page we were chatting on, or whether he truly believes that, he could not be more wrong.

I worked in a hospital for 7 years, and have had close relationships with those in the medical profession, who have told me, over and over again, that when a man or woman passes away, if they have not made their peace with God, and listened to that Still, Small Voice within them, that the agony of their death remains frozen on their face. If they have made their peace with their Creator, there is a look of bliss and contentment on their face, as it should look, when you go to a better place.

Just as the essence, or soul, of Glen Campbell is shining through the fog of the Alzheimer’s  Disease, which is slowly taking his life, so should we allow the goodness, the Still Small Voice, which Christians know as the Holy Spirit, guide us through our daily lives.

There are moral absolutes and non-negotiable ethics.

God gives us Free Will, in order to make those choices for ourselves.

It is up to all of us to make good choices in our lives.

All we have to do is listen.

Until He Comes,

KJ