Dear Christian Friend Who Has Participated in Abortion

I write this to fellow Christians who have turned to abortion because of pressure from important others.

I write this to fellow Christians who have turned to abortion because no one in their Christian community has shown support.

I write this to Christians who chose abortion believing that "God would forgive anyway."

I write this to Christians who sit in church fellowships secretly regretting abortions they have had or enabled.

I write this to all pastors who have provided little leadership on abortion.

I write this to Christians who may even support abortion in the name of political correctness.

I know that this is not a topic that we like to talk about. However, over seventy percent of all Americans identify as followers of Jesus while an estimated 4000 abortions take place daily. So this implies that many in our local church fellowships have participated in abortion in some way, whether aiding, abetting, or even compelling others to choose abortions, or choosing abortion in your own life. I know that many pastors, youth ministers and other local church fellowship leaders are silent on this social epidemic and offer little or no leadership on it. They may address it on Sanctity of Life Sunday, if they do that. Many of them may fear speaking of it for fear of upsetting you or bringing back bad memories or re-opening old wounds. As is true with any failure, poor choice or sin, time does not heal nor does denial make anything disappear. The issue just festers and will erupt later, often in forms that are not pretty. This may be why so many suicides and crimes occur, because people "snap." Actually, I think most "snaps" are just cases of hurts that have built up and have been stored up over time.

No, I have not personally experienced abortion myself. I know others who have and while they do not speak of that, I wonder what they think in quiet moments or when the topic of abortion comes up in conversation. Please know that abortion is not the unpardonable sin and, like any sin, you can be freely forgiven if you confess your sin, turn from it and turn to God. I invite you to do that today. Whether you feel sorry, guilty, afraid, or even defiant or bitter, you can share your feelings with God and find help. Whatever your role in abortion may have been, whether talking others into abortion, driving them to a facility that does abortions, having your own abortion, or even doing abortions, God can and will forgive you if you repent, turn from sin and turn to Jesus in faith. I have included a link to a website where you may be able to find help.

God is the God of second chances. Let Him give you that. Will you?

Visit Here to Find Out More

What You Can Do For Those Who Have Not Heard

"What about those who have not heard of Jesus? How will God judge them?" we often ask.

Good question. The Bible makes it clear that the only through calling on Jesus and looking to Him to forgive our sins, can we ever be saved according to God's terms, enjoy right standing with Him, receive the right to call God our Father, approach His throne with confidence and enjoy life forever with Him in Heaven. Even with all the progress that has been made with reaching many unreached peoples with the Gospel, much more needs to be done, so much that a research nonprofit, Joshua Project has been set up to bring awareness to the thousands of unreached people groups who still have not heard the Gospel in a way they can understand.

There are thousands of unreached people groups. An unreached people group is defined as a group of people of the same tribe and language and culture, who have less than 2 percent of people who identify themselves as followers of Jesus. Most of these unreached people groups live in countries where Christians are usually minorities and are severely persecuted for their faith. Many of these people groups do not have Bibles or other Christian translated into their own languages. Most of them practice either Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or a blend of ethnic religions. All of them live in darkness. We may tell ourselves that God will exempt them from the need to respond to Christ in order to make it to heaven, but the Bible does not give us wiggle room to believe that. Instead, we are told to get the Gospel to the unreached in every tribe, language and tongue and that Jesus will not return until every people group has a vibrant Gospel witness among them. How do we do that?

We do not all need to become missionaries to get the Gospel to the unreached. Many of us live lives that do not lend themselves to venturing to closed lands and hostile areas where people have not heard of Jesus. World missions are evolving from the model of the Western missionary going to lands where no one has heard to that of an increasing number of native missionaries who are making Christ known among people groups who need to be reached. However, Western missionaries continue to be needed in lands that have mostly unreached peoples, to assist native missionaries who are making Christ known among many of such people. Missionaries, though, have to be sent. It costs money to send them to those who need to hear about Christ and to keep them engaged in God's work. That is where sending agencies come in. We need to support agencies which send missionaries to unreached people groups. Below, I provide a link which gives you an opportunity to be part of the solution to this tragedy of thousands of unreached people groups.

I know that there are many needs that we followers of Jesus give priority to. We need, however, to gain an eternal perspective, and to grasp that all of us will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. These thousands of unreached peoples will also have to spend their eternities somewhere. With our involvement, the odds will be greatly increased that many of them will spend eternity in the presence of the God Who loved them enough to give His only Son for them.

There are 1108 unreached Muslim people groups alone, among other unreached people groups. Will we be part of the solution?

Visit Here To Learn How You Can Be Part of the Solution

The photos in this post have been used courtesy of Frontiers.

To My Friends Who Support or Oppose Planned Parenthood

To All Our Friends & Defenders of Planned Parenthood:

This letter is not another rant about how your pitting the right of women to have abortions against the rights of the right of unborn children to live. This is not another online scolding about your defense of an organization that is doing what "the other side" is against, performing abortions. I don't think our rants about how you are not agreeing with us and are showing your lack of humanity, are doing much good. I believe that our side needs to see that while we truly believe that you are misguided on some matters, does not mean that we cannot listen to you and what you are saying about what is going on in our society that makes Planned Parenthood a safety net, especially for needy women. We who call ourselves "conservative Christians" need to practice the love that Jesus tells us that we are to show, and that means to meet you on your own ground and, while we may not agree with you, honestly see things from your point of view. For you have valid points.

I live in a household of people who support Planned Parenthood, and I an regularly exposed to television programming that supports their worldview. I know that many people who call themselves "progressive" or "liberal" Christians also support Planned Parenthood. You may be among them. So I know all the arguments and much of it makes sense. I have heard it said, over and over again, that Planned Parenthood provides numerous services for women, including cancer screenings, birth control devices, birth control education, and Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) testing. These are very good things. Women need cancer screening and we are to be prolife about women's lives, and cancer screenings save lives. Birth control education is very useful and can prevent unwanted pregnancies before they happen, thus preventing abortion from even being an issue for women and the important people in their lives. This is good. Birth control devices? I'm not comfortable with them being handed out to just anyone, especially to teenagers. Science tells us that they do not provide adequate STD protection. But STD testing saves lives and is a safety net. We who call ourselves prolife should commend that. One of your arguments is that abortion services make up only about five percent of what Planned Parenthood does. However, those of us "on the other side" feel strongly about this five percent, as you do.

I know that many of you who call yourself prochoice may believe that you have little or nothing in common with those of us who call ourselves prolife. But consider:

1). We support the idea that unwanted pregnancies should be prevented.

2). We generally support adoption for unwanted babies.

3). We all know abortions are a painful choice and should be avoided as much as possible.

4). We generally truly want to help abortion-minded women and men in crisis.

5). We generally believe that the Bible backs up our views on this matter.

6). We have Bible proof texts that we believe back up our positions.

7). We feel strongly about Planned Parenthood and abortion.

8). We are very vocal about our position on our view on this matter.

9). We are willing to be attacked for our positions.

10). We detest injustice in society.

11). We care deeply about people and human rights.

We have a lot in common. We just have different answers to address the marginalization of women and children. I have never been inside a Planned Parenthood Clinic, though I have protested outside them. Defenders of Planned Parenthood whom I know have not, to my knowledge, ever been inside a Planned Parenthood Clinic either. So I cannot prove or disprove the their actual proportion of abortions. I know about the photos that have come out about Planned Parenthood, in underground efforts to expose what goes on inside its doors. my only view of one of the videos was when someone else had on a politics channel and the anchor, who is prochoice, played the video. The footage seemed fuzzy and did not say much. I do understand that three other videos were released, which I did not see. I do not know if we need videos to confirm that the very fact that Planned Parenthood exists, to rescue desperate women and men who want to get rid of what they believe is causing their plights, means that things are wrong with us as a society. Instead of holding abortion as an option to women in crisis, why not spend time, energy, and even money, to create conditions that will abortion-minded women and men will be less desperate and less tempted to turn to abortion? If we who call ourselves prolife would listen to those who call themselves prochoice when they try to say, "Many in crisis pregnancies have no choice but to get abortions, so they should have the choice," we would do better than we are. Also, Planned Parenthood is defended because it serves low-income women in many ways other than abortion, as stated above. Just declaring the humanity of the unborn and the evil of abortion is not enough. We who support Planned Parenthood and those who oppose it, need to listen to each other, find common ground, and do what we can so people in crisis pregnancies will make life-affirming choices. And prochoice people need to listen to us and extend their care for women into equal care for the unborn. As one source has said, both sides need to love mother and baby.

Those of you who call yourselves Christians and followers of Jesus Who values all life, how can you support an act that takes human life and an organization that endorses it?

Visit This Website To See How You Can Provide Women With Life-Affirming Choices

Christians, It Takes Only Minutes of Your Time to Help the Autism Community

Hello, fellow Christians,

I know that we think of people groups in terms of race and ethnicity, and we should. The Bible portrays them in these terms. I would like to call your attention to a people group that is found in virtually all countries, including on the continent of Africa. They are identified by diagnosis, and all those who are associated with them are part of this community, including their parents, other relatives and those who work with them in schools, in counseling settings or on the job. I'm talking about a community that you may have heard of: the autism community. Just as we are all familiar with "the Deaf community" and the Black community" and even "the LGBT community," we need to know about the autism community.

These are often people with unmet needs. If they or their families have money for autism services and can afford to pay out of pocket, they may be able to afford to buy costly autism services, first, to get diagnosed to access these services in the first place, and then to get those services to reach their God-given potentials. Also, many of these people feel typically misunderstood by most in the Christian community, and tend to sympathize with LGBT people in feeling rejected, misunderstood, excluded, and bullied. Autistic persons have much in common with LGBT persons in that they are usually victims of bullying and abuse, feel judged by the Church which they often feel does not value their abilities and differences, and are passionate about their cause, autism. Autism services are usually not included in health insurance plans, Medicaid covers autism services for children only, and many health care providers do not work with Medicaid plans. Result? This can explain why many poor families with autistic children are often overwhelmed, overburdened, and have trouble getting services for autistic loved ones. Some parents, unable to handle the stress of dealing with severely autistic loved ones, have done the unthinkable, despairing and killing their loved ones. This by no means excuses their actions, but it can explain them. Last year, on Dr. Phil, the high profile case of an autistic girl, severely autistic and so violent that her mom was afraid of her, was covered. This mom had tried, repeatedly, to deal with her daughter and end the behavior, but one day she tried to kill this girl and the girl was removed from her custody. Then there are the many cases of autistic children (and some autistic teens and adults) who go missing because of what is known as "autistic wandering." This happens over and over! Can we just simply say, "Well, where were their caregivers?" In some cases, maybe. But is there anything that can be done to prevent many of these wanderings, which sometimes end in tragedy?

Not all autistic children are severely autistic, nonverbal or violent. Most are not violent, and being nonverbal does not mean lack of intelligence. Many children and adults have more "mild" forms of autism, known as Asperger's Syndrome or Pervasive Development Disorder. Whatever the form of autism, it looks different in each person of all ages. I have a beautiful, precious daughter, diagnosed at age three with Pervasive Development Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. She has always been mainstreamed, has never had a complaint of misbehavior from her teachers, and makes good grades, especially in math. Her difficulties are primarily in the social arena, and in the ability to make and keep close personal friends. There are many children, teens, and young adults with diagnosed autism. More and more adults, who had grown up with lifelong challenges in academics and in the social arena, have often fought long and hard to obtain diagnoses as adults, not to get services (unavailable for adults) but to get answers to explain their difficulties. Most of these people do not set foot in our organized local church fellowships. Many have had bad experiences where pastors or other churchgoers have subtly (or not so subtly) frowned on the different behaviors of their loved ones. I have spoken with parents at past local church fellowships, who have tried their autistic children in church-based schools, and have had bad experiences because the educators were ill-equipped to deal with autism. People with autism and their families, have been sent the message by the church, in general: "We do not include you because we do not know how to, or do not want to learn how to, deal with you or your loved one." Not all church fellowships are like this, but much needs to be done. Autism is a complex disorder, and we need to educate ourselves on it. neurological Years ago, I have come across articles with titles like, "Autistic people are less likely than the general audience to believe in God," and "Autistic people are more likely to be atheists than other people." I read an article years ago, by an autistic adult, where he said that he avoids local church fellowships because he gets the message that his the social and non-autistic" values of the Church make him feel that he, as an autistic, is bad. What he may not realize and what the Church has not been equipped to convey, is that his autism does not, itself, make him bad, but it aggravates the natural sinfulness in each of us--just as many other neurological or mental health conditions do.

You may already have connections with autism, whether you are related to an autistic person, are friends with such a person, work with autistic persons, or may be interested in a diagnosis to explain your past. You may not be aware of any connections with autism. If you want to make a difference for the autism community, kindly do one or two things.

First, please SIGN this petition, if you have not yet done so. If you have already SIGNED it, please SHARE it. If you are outside the United States, you can still help by sharing this petition with your networks! Thank you!

Second, Join My Facebook Page On Autism & Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Thank you Very Much for This Simple Gesture of Love To the Autism Community!

Lisa DeSherlia