BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

George Tiller is done slaughtering babies for profit.

(Tim, w/thanks to David T.) While attending worship at Reformation Lutheran Church this morning, child-slaughterer George Tiller seems to have been assassinated. Without a doubt the most bloodthirsty and cruel of our nation's baby-murderers, Tiller's name has been infamous among men committed to stopping the bloodshed. He's one of the few willing to take money to murder babies so late in the pregnancy that they would be viable outside the womb.

Operation Rescue publicity hound, Randall Terry, expresses regret at Tiller's assassination. We express regret for the years he was allowed to slaughter babies with the civil authority doing absolutely nothing to stop him. One wonders what Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer would say at the news that he was attending church this morning when he was killed?

May Almighty God keep another man from picking up his traffic in murder.

Recommendation of National (Roman) Catholic Bioethics Center...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) Comparing the witness on bioethical issues of any number of Roman Catholic organizations to that of any Protestant organization--any one at all--is depressing. Several times I've gotten hopeful only to see evangelicals prove once again that ethics to them consists of taking a position halfway between Scripture and the world's current practice. And of course, the world's current practice is a target that never stands still.

Nevertheless, here's another excellent Roman Catholic resource. It's the web site of the National (Roman) Catholic Bioethics Center and all of us committed to opposing the wholesale slaughter of men made in the image of God who are unborn, newborn, feeble, and aged would do well to familiarize ourselves with its resources.

The Lord giveth: Anne-Claire and Elise Holmes...

(Tim) God is so kind to us! Shortly after Noon, today, with her husband by her side, Mrs. Chris (Michelle) Holmes gave birth to twin daughters, Anne-Claire Evangeline Holmes at 12:52 PM weighing 3 lbs. 11 oz., and Elise Lydia Michelle Holmes at 12:54 PM weighing 2 lbs. 10 oz. Join us in giving thanks for the Lord's mercy to the least of these.

The first pic is of Anne-Claire, the second of Elise. Both babies are fine. Right now, Chris is up in the neonatal unit seeing his daughters, and Michelle is praising God with Barbara (who attended the birth with Chris) and Mary Lee (who arrived soon after). Praise God with us for saving both girls' lives, and protecting their mother!

And as an explanation to those of you who have not followed this dangerous work Michelle has been doing, her twins were diagnosed eleven weeks ago today with Twin-toTwin Transfusion Syndrome, and for most of the weeks since then, mother Michelle has been in the hospital hooked up to fetal monitors asking the Lord to allow her daughters to survive until they were large enough to live outside the womb. So today, by God's grace, they were both born--tiny, but living and healthy, even. And yes, that is a syringe.

Teach us to number our days: Rev. Dr. Ralph Winter, 1924-2009.

(Tim; MTW missionary teacher in Zambia, David Wegener, writes)

Ralph Winter, Presbyterian minister, missionary to Guatemala, founder of the United States Center for World Mission and missiologist, died last week on 20 May 2009.

Much of the talk today about reaching the unreached people groups of the world stemmed from Ralph's ministry and writing. One of the books he authored and edited, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, has been life-changing to many Christians.

Teach us to number our days: Rev. Dr. Larry Allen, 1953-2009.

(Tim) Late last night, David forwarded an e-mail that my longtime friend, Larry Allen, had died. It was a sudden death with no prior warning. Larry was on the phone with a co-worker and friend, laughing, and then God took him. The cause of death is unknown.

For seven or eight years, I served on the board of Presbyterians Pro-Life with Larry and that's when I knew him best. Being a witness for the unborn in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a pagan denomination where, as early as 1983, official denominational documents said that abortion "can be an act of faithfulness before God," meant the entire time we were at denominational meetings and general assemblies we suffered the most vile opposition. Everything short of physical attack.

Larry cared very much about the weak and oppressed, being pleased to humble himself in his association with the despised work of speaking up for the unborn. And in speaking up for them, he wasn't simply associated with God's "Yes" in supporting crisis pregnancy centers (which he did); he also said God's "No," preaching and teaching and calling us to repentance for our cruelty in slaughtering our little ones.

Court asserts itself over private lives of citizens...

(Tim, contributed by Ben Crum) Everyone knows it's wrong for the government to meddle in the health issues of individuals. So it surprised me to see this statement in an article about a 13-year-old boy being ordered by a court, against his parents' will, to undergo treatment for cancer:

Medical ethicists say parents generally have a legal right to make decisions for their children, but there is a limit.

Really? A limit? And how would this limit be defined? Does that mean a parent's desire, comfort, will, even rights can be trumped by those of another; namely, their child? The parents have a belief, but that belief can be considered to be in opposition to the child's well-being?

Honda's new Insight hybrid...

(Tim, w/thanks to Jake) Back in the day, Mary Lee and I drove diesel Rabbits and loved them. We averaged 40 MPG, handling the clogged fuel injectors endemic to diesels used in very cold climates which left the driver sitting in a car that would barely idle by cutting the diesel fuel with ten percent regular gas. It worked fine.

To give an idea what an excellent car this was, when we moved to Boulder, we drove the Rabbit loaded to the gills with stuff, two adults and a child, two bikes on a roof rack and pulling a 1,930 lb. trailer containing all our earthly possessions from Sawyer, Michigan to Boulder. Given the weight of the trailer, we couldn't touch the brakes or we'd have jackknifed. Getting up to speed took about three hours, and that was only if the on-ramp wasn't uphill. Most of the trip, we ran at 55 MPH in third gear (out of four). So what was our mileage on that trip?

An older woman teaching younger women, just as Scripture commands...

(Tim) This just in from Mission to the World missionary to Taiwan, Mrs. Joel (Judy) Linton (Lin Huan-chun). Judy and I had the joy of being bound into the same church body back in the late nineties when I was Sr. Minister of Evangelical Community Church here in Bloomington, Indiana.

Readers will note Judy's husband, Joel, has been helpful commenting (under the name "JHL") here on the current promotion of woman deacons in the PCA. I commend a paper Joel's written on the main passage of Scripture used by proponents of woman deacons, 1Timothy 3:8-13.

If you'd like to know more about Joel and Judy, their ministry and family (past and present) here's a good place to start. As you'll quickly realize, Judy's typical of the strong-willed women who really are daughters of Sarah. (Here's a longer version of her testimony.)

Recently, a reader asked if I could recommend reading for her to suggest to a friend of hers in the PCA that would help her with the seeming unjust limitation of women within the PCA in their exclusion from teaching and exercising authority over men. This testimony from Judy is a good start.

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A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE ON WOMEN'S ROLE

I have had countless conversations with Christian women who are in various stages of dealing with the issue of women’s roles. Many of the conversations were incredibly tense, and some with heart-rending tears. I realize that this issue is emotional and controversial.

The controversy lies with...

Raising daughters, part II: The father's love, endless talk, conjugal bliss, and work...

(Tim, w/thanks to the godly mothers, daughters, and wives of Church of the Good Shepherd who obey Titus 2) This is the second installment in a series of e-mails I received from several women of our congregation advising me what to say on the subject of raising daughters to a class on childrearing held here at CGS.

* * *

Girls need both a mother and a father actively involved in their lives. Dads are immensely important in raising young women. A young woman ought to feel so securely loved by her father that she does not need to prematurely seek the affection of a boy. This means dad needs to give his daughter plenty of time, attention, and hugs. From how her dad treats her mom, she will learn what to expect from her future husband. If the daughter learns to respectfully submit to her father's care and instruction, it will be easier for her to lovingly, respectfully submit to her future husband.

Time to apply to ClearNote Pastors College...

(Tim) Last Lord's Day, our sermon was preached by a second year student at ClearNote Pastors College. He's half Arab, has never known his Dad, and never been to college. He came to Church of the Good Shepherd a couple years ago with a ring through his eyebrow, a spike through his tongue, bleached hair, and the hunger for God's Word typical of those who are brand spanking new Christians fresh from paganism and pool halls.

He doesn't have BibleWorks, Logos, or Gramcord on his computer, but he's read Calvin's Institutes and has thought carefully about the challenges Jonathan Edwards faced in Northampton and Stockbridge. He's dirt poor, but by faith he and his wonderful wife have already been blessed by God with two children.

Why do I write this? Listen to the sermon and you'll know...

AUL's short list for justice, with two notes to readers...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) Americans United for Life has long served as the principal legal arm of the antiabortion witness. Here's their short list of likely candidates as President Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A couple comments...

Raising daughters, part I: The nature of true beauty and how to avoid fear...

(Tim, w/thanks to the godly mothers of Church of the Good Shepherd) We offer several classes Lord's Day mornings in between two worship services. One on childrearing is taught by Pastor Stephen Baker.

Being the father of five sons, Stephen asked if I'd come into his class for a week and teach on raising daughters. In preparation, I asked Mary Lee to write down some of her thoughts. She, in turn, wrote a couple women of our church (including our daughters) asking for their thoughts...

Fear of judgement is God's gift to pastors and elders...

(Tim) Church of the Good Shepherd hosted Ohio Valley Presbytery for our Spring Stated Meeting a week or so ago. Here are my sermon notes...

Barack Obama rocks XXIII: At Notre Dame...

(Tim, w/thanks to Mick) A post over at the web site of the New York Times gives a blow by blow of President Obama's reception of an honorary doctorate and commencement address at Notre Dame this past weekened. Here's the text of the post, with comments interspersed:

Father Ted | 4:00 p.m. Near the end of his speech, President Obama spoke about the Civil Rights Commission, whose resolutions were the foundation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

President Obama lays a garland on the tombs of dead and dying prophets.

One of the six members (one black and five whites) was the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, then president of Notre Dame. Mr. Obama acknowledged how “Father Ted” brought the members of the commission to a retreat in Land O’Lakes, Wis., to break an impasse. Rev. Hesburgh found common ground when the men all spoke about being fishermen and took them on a twilight fishing trip.

"Father Ted" who on this day is giving no thought to the helpless little babies...

Only dopes do dope...

(Tim) Son Taylor passes on a link to this article which proves, once again, what had already been clear to most of us concerning bodybuilders...

Hitchens + Dawkins = Ditchkins

(Tim, thanks to James) Alright, alright; I'll say something good about Stanley Fish. Check out two posts (one and two) he recently did for the New York Times' web site in review of Terry Eagleton's Reason, Faith, and Revolution. To whet your appetite, here's an excerpt from the first post...

"Right-sizing" at Covenant College...

(Tim) A few news items related to the PCA's Covenant College. First, Inside Higher Ed ran an article a couple months ago titled "Broken Covenant" which reported on Covenant's financial crisis and the initiatives being planned by Covenant's administration in response to that crisis. Those initiatives include downsizing of academic programs and staff (labeled "right-sizing" by Covenant's President Nielson), along with spending $500,000 for a new building and to beef up athletics--both efforts to attract more students...

Smugness while swimming in blood...

(Tim) Each of us should be on such intimate terms with the slaughter of children at the core of our cities and nation that we find the hypocrisy our national smugness is built upon to be unbearable. Not the smugness of President Obama whose leadership consists of assuring the world that, now that we've all joined together in the righteous act of dispatching that old white guy from the White House, peace and enlightenment and humility can happen. In our postmodern feminized world, though, it's the warrior who's truly humble--not the supercilious intellectual who tours Europe touting his own administration of humility.

No, not that smugness, but the smugness of Christians and cultural conservatives who reassure ourselves that we've a wonderful heritage of truth and justice in this nation, and other nations would do well to do the hard work necessary to share in the pristine virtue we now enjoy.

Yesterday, son Taylor told us at the dinner table of a movie his teacher had shown in his Film/Lit class. He couldn't remember its title, but he described how this movie--one of the most significant movies ever made, his teacher had said--restored the KKK to a position of respectability across the country. Of course that was awful. The teacher went on to assure her class that, in time, the movie received the just opprobrium (but grudging respect, technically) that it deserved. The class was an exercise in smugness--that we've come a long way, baby, and we must never go back to the days when black men were mocked and persecuted and lynched.

Agreed...

The state of the PCA union: woman deacons and the local option...

(Tim) Along with several others, Ruling Elder Brian Eschen of Northern California (NorCal) Presbytery submitted a complaint which was one of two filed against the recent action of his presbytery approving unordained male deacons serving alongside female deacons, without sexual distinction.

The proposal adopted by NorCal Presbytery is the same proposal recently adopted by Metro NY and Metro Atlanta (Perimeter) Presbyteries.

In response to another complaint filed against Metro NY Presbytery, last week the presbytery rescinded the proposal, but granted only one of five amends. It may be further amends will be granted as time passes, but the well-established practice within the presbytery's bounds of non-conformity to Scripture and the PCA's Constitution leave some doubtful any further amends will be granted without formal discipline applied from the national level of the denomination.

After voting down an overture on woman deacons that would have put the presbytery on record as submitting to the PCA's Constitution and Scripture, two other proposals were voted on, with the pro-woman deacon proposal adopted by NCal and Metro NY getting 19 votes and another proposal presented to the presbytery by Steve Smallman and Phil Ryken that supports Tenth's current practice of women deaconesses getting 23.

The Ryken/Smallman proposal was acted on with the understanding that Steve and Phil would come back to the Presbytery's May stated meeting with their proposal perfected for final action. Then, the matter was tabled.

So New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and San Francisco continue to be the geographical centers of egalitarian feminist practices and initiatives within the PCA related to the removal of sexual distinctions in the office of deacon. Men from these presbyteries worked together toward the adoption of the same document (although there were some regional differences in their approach).

Although some would cavil at this, the rejection of the Book of Church Order at the heart of this proposal and the presbyteries' recent actions seems self-evident and would appear only to be remediable by changes to the BCO. It's also clear that, at the present time, the main thrust of these co-belligerents is not seeking redress at the national level. Rather, for the time being they appear to be turning aside from changing the Book of Church Order nationally or denominationally.

Their proposal and work seem to be moving toward a local option strategy similar to the strategy adopted by the pro-sodomy lobby of the PC(USA)...

A parable for those with disciplinary authority over NCal, Atlanta, and Metro NY Presbyteries...

(Tim) We've all been through it many times, with many different families. Struggling to survive, financially, and no high salary on the pastor's conscience keeping him from asking the Lord for His provision, one of the few wealthy families the church has managed to get bonded within her fellowship becomes an increasing problem and it becomes apparent the only answer is formal discipline.

The years past are littered with informal discipline: many pastoral visits to the home, pastoral counseling sessions, post-small group exhortations from fellow believers, deacons, and elders; the wife has had the sweetest and wisest Titus 2 women go aside with her to entreat and exhort her concerning the damage her sin is causing to her own home and the Household of Faith. But all the informal, quiet, gentle ministry has been to little avail.

The family's wealth has complicated matters beyond the simple question of the church's fiscal solvency. The pastor and elders wonder--at first privately, but then openly in elders meetings when harm the family has caused others in the flock is on the agenda--how the congregation and community would be able to understand the discipline of such a beautiful and gifted and (shall we say rich?) family. No one would deny the family's generosity has been used by God to strengthen the fellowship. They have been a blessing in many ways and are loved for it. But also for who they are: hospitable, kind, loving, generous.

Of course, the wealth also has been a key contributor to their failures. There's been a bodaciousness to the sin that's seemed to have its origin in the pride of wealth. But as the private admonitions have failed to produce any substantive change, the family's wealth and resources have continued...

And He will give you the desire of your hearts...

(Tim) Praise the Lord! He has seen the affliction of his beloved and comforted them! Joseph and Heidi just heard the Ethiopian court has approved their adoption of Mamush, here pictured. Lord willing, they'll be travelling to Ethiopia this Saturday to begin the process of bringing their son home. Read more about it, here.

Why men hunt in camo, with scopes and guns...

(Tim) Snopes says this story's quite accurate in its description of what would happen to the dumb person who tried it...

* * *

Deer Story

I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that since they congregated at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away) that it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, who had seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes my deer showed up...3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it. It took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and received an education...

For the encouragment of Godly mothers on Mother's Day...

(Tim) This is a transcription of a sermon given March 19, 1999, to the Lancaster Conference of the Mennonite Church. At the time, in addition to my call as pastor of Church of the Good Shepherd here in Bloomington, Indiana, I also was serving as Executive Director of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW). The occasion was a debate held to consider whether or not to begin to credential women for pastoral positions in Lancaster Conference churches. The other side of the debate was represented by the late Dr. David Scholer, Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary.

This is posted today, the day before Mothers Day, as an encouragement to all the godly mothers among us, daughters of Sarah who have cultivated a gentle and quiet, a submissive, spirit.

We love you and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for your faith and obedience.

* * *

PATRIARCHY: THE CLEAR AND CONSISTENT TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE

Lancaster Mennonite Conference
March 19, 1999
Rev. Tim Bayly

A Personal Note:
It is good to be with you. Let me please begin with a personal note...

My dear brothers, David Scholer, Gordon Fee, and Roger Nicole...

(Tim) Going through old e-mails, I found the following request from David Scholer dated April 10, 2008:

Dear Tim,

You are probably surprised to hear from me. I am currently teaching my course “Women, the Bible and the Church” for the 30th time in my career. In my introduction to the course, I was reviewing some of my experience and included a brief report on the debate you and I had in Lancaster now about ten years ago (I did not use your name).

If you are willing to write 100-300 words in an email which I could read to my class on what you would like most to say to my students, I would be pleased. I am having them read 400+ pages of works by Complementarian authors.

Blessings on your ministry in Indiana,

David

David M. Scholer
Professor of New Testament, School of Theology,
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena CA

Following a long battle with cancer, this past August my friend David Scholer went from death to everlasting life, by grace through faith in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he rest in peace.

So what's the story behind the e-mail?

About ten years ago now...

New York Presbtery responds to complaint by rescinding previous action...

(Tim) Meeting earlier today in the offices of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Metro New York Presbytery responded to a complaint filed by five members of presbytery by rescinding her previous (March 13, 2009) action.

The previous action of presbytery had been taken at Metro NY Presbytery's March 13th stated meeting, and it consisted of the presbytery endorsing the practice of churches not ordaining male deacons and having female deacons serve alongside those unordained male deacons, without sexual distinction.

Today's rescission carried by a large majority.

Woman deacons and the PCA: Overture rejected by Philadelphia Presbytery...

(Tim) Philadelphia Presbytery will be meeting in May, just prior to General Assembly. Whether the presbytery will put back on the table its commitment to allowing woman deacons within its bounds remains to be seen. Meanwhile, back in March, Philadelphia Presbytery (PCA) rejected the following overture submitted by the Session of Crossroads Community Church (PCA). The overture was presented to presbytery by Crossroads' pastor, Timothy Witmer.

After the moderator declared the overture defeated, Crossroads' commissioners moved that a roll call vote be taken. Roll call votes are the means by which the members of a presbytery record their votes personally, name by name, for public scrutinty and an historical record. In this case, a roll call vote would have provided a way for the members or officers of a congregation to know how their pastor(s) or commissioner elder(s) voted.

The presbytery then went on to vote on the text of two other documents promoting woman deacons...

Please pray for Metro NY Presbytery, today...

(Tim) Metro New York Presbytery is meeting today and will respond to the complaint filed against her recent action by which she joined Northern California Presbytery (and more recently, Metro Atlanta Presbytery) approving churches not ordaining male deacons and having female deacons serve alongside those unordained male deacons, without sexual distinction.

Please pray for the men of this presbytery, that God would lead them to sincere repentance.

Lord willing, Ethiopian court will act this Monday on Joseph and Heidi's adoption...

(Tim) Our eldest son, Joseph, and his wife, Heidi (see pic), are in the late stages of adopting a child from Ethiopia. This coming Monday, the Ethiopian court will act in their case, Lord willing, after which they may be free May 16th to travel to pick up their little boy. As longtime readers will remember, Doug and Heather Ummel (Heather is our firstborn) have a son, Josiah, who was adopted from Ethiopia a couple years ago.

Here's a pic of Josiah, along with some helpful adoption resources.

Would you please keep Joseph and Heidi, and the Ethiopian authorities, in your prayers? And if you're interested, here's the blog where Joseph and Heidi update us on their son's entry into God's Covenant Community. Here's Heidi's latest update...

We need a neurologist, quickly: a man's life hangs in the balance...

(Tim) In Indiana, a man is poised to withdraw a feeding tube from a family member who is minimally conscious, breathes on his own, and is not terminally ill. A medical professional, likely a neurologist, is needed to rebut specious quality-of-life pronouncements and cold utilitarianism masquerading as compassion. If you can help or know of someone who could help, please e-mail me privately and quickly.  My e-mail address is tbbayly at gmail dot com. Spread the word.

Woman deacons and Northern California Presbytery: Complaint filed...

(Tim) Here is the full text of one of the two complaints that have been filed against the recent action of Northern California Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America--the action by which Northern California Presbytery approved not ordaining male deacons and having female deacons serve alongside those unordained male deacons, without sexual distinction.

If you find any error where I have not reproduced the complaint accurately, please send me an e-mail at tbbayly at gmail dot com. Thanks...

Abortion, postpartum depression, and murder...

(Tim) A Presbyterian pastor who also works as an attorney sent me this e-mail last week:

A bill in the Texas legislature (would) essentially would make killing your baby (up to 1 year-old) the equivalent of a Class D felony in Indiana--sort of like a fairly serious drunk driving--provided you prove by a preponderance of the evidence (lowest standard--the standard in civil, rather than criminal lawsuits) that you were suffering from post-birthing stress. Up to one year, remember.
 
Martin Niemoller, a German pastor who opposed Hitler, famously recalled...

Liberals are liberal with taxpayers' money, not their own...

(Tim) President Obama's charitable contributions prior to being elected to public office a couple years ago were less than one percent. Less than one percent, folks!

And now, occupying the White House with a recent household income in the millions, his giving is lower than other presidents who have preceded him. (Probably with this public embarrassment, his giving will go up in future years.)

Turning to Vice President and Mrs. Joseph Biden...

Robert and Phama, meet Scott and Marcy...

(Tim) Just received by e-mail today...

For all our readers with fond memories of Scott and Marcy Naylor, as well as readers with sons who soon will be seeking a helpmate, preferably with a full head of red hair and the spirit that normally accompanies such glory, this picture of Scott and Marcy's quiverful is, as one son used to say, the bomdiggity!

If woman is man's glory, Scott's heavy duty glorious.

By the way, the Naylors are paedo--not credo--although some find that cross-polination isn't the worst thing in the world. Still, it's better to have the husband paedo and the wife credo so the husband is able to exercise that thing Tim Keller says is the center of the Creation Order of sexuality, "tie-breaking authority."

The NGO liturgical fashion society...

(Tim) I'm loathe to pass on humor having to do with sacred things and despise the constant use, in churches, of humor that takes the Lord's Name in vain. The glorious Name of the Living God is not given us for our entertainment and it's hard to understand how it's happened that so many of us who confess His Name also use that Name in our jokes. Who has memorized the catechism or heard a sermon series on the Ten Commandments, recently? But that's another post.

Some things are so awful that they must be mocked, publicly. Such is the NGO liturgical fashion society known as the Episcopal Church USA. So here's one for the record...

What happens when pastors preach for a price...

Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and twist everything that is straight, who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with violent injustice. Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests instruct for a price and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, “Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.” (Micah 3:9-11)

(Tim) A military officer who was a member of our flock here in Bloomington some time ago and is currently stationed in Afghanistan (so please pray for him, his wife, and children) writes: "I came across this article and thought you might be interested in it. The double standard immediately becomes obvious to me as I try to comprehend that it is illegal (and punishable with a life sentence) for killing a child in a mother's womb by a mere civilian, but a doctor who does the same thing gets paid money and there is no consequence (setting aside eternal consequences).

Airman Sentenced to 10 Years for Forced Miscarriage
Sunday, May 03, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An airman in Alaska has been sentenced to almost 10 years behind bars after being found guilty of trying to force his wife to miscarry by lacing her food with ulcer medication...

A pastoral word to critical wives...

(Tim, but written by Curt--an Evangelical Free pastor and dear friend of mine) I have noticed a trend that I find to be instructive and disturbing. Over the course of my pastoral ministry, I have been approached by a steady stream of women who are upset with the church and more specifically its men for not chastising their husbands for some spiritual problem or lack of spiritual qualities. Typically, I have taken such criticism to heart, admitting that we have not done enough to hold men accountable. Clearly, this has not been an area of strength in today's church.

But lately, my thinking has shifted. I have found myself being defensive about our church and its men. I see them as being faithful in modeling, and preaching, and teaching, and mentoring, and confronting, and offering assistance, and even hand holding when necessary. Time and again, they have given of themselves, often at the expense of their own families to help others. And yet, I've noticed that the criticism comes the next time as if no help had been provided or offered in the past.

Children are a blessing from the Lord: Abrielle Larie Weeks...

(Tim) About forty-five minutes ago, God blessed our son-in-law and daughter, Lucas and Hannah Weeks, with a daughter, seven pounds, twelve ounces, twenty inches, named Abrielle Larie Weeks.

Mother and child are tired, but happy. Actually, everyone's happy.

No, joyful!

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalms 127:3)

On the next page, there's a pic of Aubrielle...