They are His first and foremost, and then ours. I would like you to read a devotional from a very good friend of mine. He is a Pastor of a church in Mobile. He has been one of the biggest influences in my christian life. He is a father-figure to me and a true man of God. I think we could all benefit from reading what he has to say about our present President-elect.
Friends, My wife Frances has been a Labor & Delivery RN for 30 years, and is currently Assistant Manager of the L&D unit at a local hospital. She has witnessed thousands of births, and has personally delivered many babies when doctors could not arrive in time for the blessed event. As the title of a book she is working on about her experience in Labor and Delivery indicates ("Memories of Miracles"), she says that every birth she witnesses is an obvious miracle, an obvious act of God. As such, she has a unique perspective regarding the election of Sen. Barack Obama as President of the United States. As many of you know, Sen. Obama has in the past advocated and legislated for a procedure known as partial birth abortion. In the present, he is unrepentant for having done so. The procedure involves allowing babies to die if an abortion fails to end its life, usually by setting it aside in some out of the way place (although occasionally, some kind-hearted health care professional may hold the baby as it dies). In essence, the procedure is death by neglect, to put it very moderately. Before the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007, and opposed by Sen. Obama), lowest estimates indicated that at least 500 partial birth abortions a year took place in the United States, while higher estimates were in the thousands. "Did not He that made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?" (Job 31:15). "But Thou art He that took me out of the womb: Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts" (Psalm 22:9). The born again Christian who believes the Bible must be deeply disturbed that such a procedure was once legal in the United States, and that Sen. Obama - now President Elect Obama - was an ardent supporter of its legality. Clearly, God is involved in our conception and gestation, as the passages above declare, and it is He that takes us out of the womb through the agency of nurses, doctors, midwives and others. L&D nurses therefore see obvious acts of the Creator in every birth. Their perception and understanding of the sacredness of birth is therefore to be expected, as is the horror which many of them feel that we have elected a president who advocated and legislated for this "death by neglect." I was in my 20s when science shows on TV began to show childbirth. I cried the first time I saw a baby born on film, and I have cried every time I have seen any baby born (including, of course, my own). I have never sensed the presence of God more than when witnessing the miracle of childbirth. God is there in some special and glorious way whenever a child enters the world, and crying for emotional types like myself is the obvious response. Of course, you don't have to cry, but the point is that anyone with any heart whatsoever is going to be deeply affected. You have to be because, again, God is present in His glory when His splendid creations, His babies, are called forth from the womb. The history of Barack Obama regarding this issue is a matter of public record despite his statements in the campaign which contradicted the facts. Again, he has advocated and legislated for partial birth abortion, or infanticide, or death by neglect. I've wondered recently if he was present when his own children were born. I suspect not. I sincerely hope and pray not! Because if he could have witnessed the birth of his children - and the manifested presence of God in their entrance into the world - how could he could have been the ardent proponent of partial birth abortion that he has been? What are we to believe about his heart? No excuse will suffice, not "the mother's choice," or "women's rights," or "the antiabortion crowd will use banning partial birth abortion as a stepping stone to banning all abortions." I sincerely wish that every American would be required to witness either in person or on film a partial birth abortion. Somehow the baby survives the savagery of the abortion process, and then if the mother nevertheless chooses its death, it is denied care which would preserve its life. The death process may take as little as 45 minutes, or 8 hours or more. It is simply left to die, or perhaps someone may hold it until it does. Make this very personal. Imagine for a moment that you are witnessing the film of a partial birth abortion, or the actual event. Feel your heart break, and the tears flow from your eyes. Hear the sounds of the dying baby. Look at its struggle to breath, to live. See the reality. Look at it. Look at it! Watch in your mind's eye, your heart's eye, the baby die. If we were required to witness this horror, would any American with any semblance of a heart continue to support such barbarism? Or, could we vote for any politician who advocated and legislated for the procedure? Barack Obama's history is known, and easily researched. He knows what partial birth abortion is. He has advocated and legislated for it. If, therefore, he is successful as President in matters of economics, foreign policy, social issues and any other aspects of our society, the believer must nevertheless ask the question: Can I give him my support until he repents of his support for partial birth abortion, and until he decisively advocates against it? The answer is obvious. Certainly we will pray for him as a human being and as our President, as the Bible commands, and we will respect him as our President, as the Bible commands. But never should he have our political support. We must pray with all our hearts that Americans will become aware of what partial birth abortion is, and that the man our nation elected as president has been one of its primary political supporters. And let us pray that God will change his heart, and indeed, break his heart for having supported the barbarism that is partial birth abortion. "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (Psalm 139:14). Glen" The above is the exact quotation from the OM devotional. I would encourage anyone that would like a good place to be stirred to visit his site at www.omcafe.org Ryan |
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