A reason to smile in the abortion debate

4-D Ultra-sound of babies in the womb

Do babies in the womb hear? Do they react to sounds and music and voices? Chuck Colson reports on a new PBS special with footage that reveals that babies in the womb indeed hear and react and even smile in reaction to music and voices- particularly the voice of their mothers. He believes this can have a similar impact that the film Silent Scream did in shifting the debate toward life. Colson writes:

The footage was part of a recent PBS special, The Music Instinct: Science & Song. The program was an exploration of, among other things, music’s “biological, emotional and psychological impact on humans.”

Part of this “exploration” included how music affects babies. If we are, as some scientists believe, “wired for music,” then babies are ideal test subjects since their reactions are, by definition, instinctual.

Part of this research involved the effect of music on fetuses. While we knew that mothers often sing to their unborn children, we weren’t sure that the unborn child could hear them.

We are now. A segment of The Music Instinct featured Sheila C. Woodward of the University of Southern California, who has studied fetal responses to music. A camera and a microphone designed for underwater use were inserted into the uterus of a pregnant woman. And then Woodward sang.

The hydrophone picked up two sounds: the “whooshing” of the uterine artery and the unmistakable sound of a woman singing a lullaby.

Then something extraordinary happened. Upon hearing the woman’s voice, the unborn child smiled.

It was one of those moments that makes you catch your breath. The full humanity of the fetus could not have been clearer if he had turned to the camera and winked.

Apparently, fetal responses to music aren’t limited to smiling. They have been observed moving their hands in response to music, almost as if conducting. They have been soothed by Vivaldi and disturbed by loud tracks from Beethoven. They have even responded “rhythmically to rhythms tapped on [their] mother’s belly.”

The power of a child's smile can soften some pretty hard hearts. Pray that God might make this little smile to cause many to have a change of heart- especially President Obama.

Drinking Water from Your Own Well- Proverbs 15:5

This week we have seen yet another public figure destroy his life with adultery. Nothing new, but few things are more devastating to families. Gov. Sanford from South Carolina was found out in his affair with an Argentinian journalist. Though it appears that his wife was well aware of his sin, it is now public and the damage has just begun.

I spoke to my wife about how it is that a man, so much in the public eye, can convince himself that adultery can be hidden. What possesses a man who lives in a fish bowl that he can keep this a secret? Even if it can be hidden for a season, God has said that He will always judge the adulterer (Heb 13:4). That verse should scare the lust right out of us. Sin however, has a powerful blinding effect to reason and good sense. Sin makes us dumber than a box of rocks (Proverbs 6:32).

Years ago I read a list of reasons to guard us from the sin of adultery. Randy Alcorn put this list together and it is meant to put the fear of God before us in our moral purity. Here is Randy's list... (Hat tip: Justin Taylor)

Personalized List of Anticipated Consequences of Immorality

• Grieving my Lord; displeasing the One whose opinion most matters.
  
  
• Dragging into the mud Christ's sacred reputation.
  
  
• Loss of reward and commendation from God.
  
  
• Having to one day look Jesus in the face at the judgment seat and give an account of why I did it. Forcing God to discipline me in various ways.


• Following in the footsteps of men I know of whose immorality forfeited their ministry and caused me to shudder. List of these names:


• Suffering of innocent people around me who would get hit by my shrapnel (a la Achan).


• Untold hurt to Nanci, my best friend and loyal wife.


• Loss of Nanci's respect and trust.
  
  
• Hurt to and loss of credibility with my beloved daughters, Karina and Angela. ("Why listen to a man who betrayed Mom and us?")
  
  
• If my blindness should continue or my family be unable to forgive, I could lose my wife and my children forever.
  
  
• Shame to my family. (The cruel comments of others who would invariably find out.)


• Shame to my church family.
  
  
• Shame and hurt to my fellow pastors and elders. List of names:


• Shame and hurt to my friends, and especially those I've led to Christ and discipled. List of names:


• Guilt awfully hard to shake—even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?


• Plaguing memories and flashbacks that could taint future intimacy with my wife.


• Disqualifying myself after having preached to others.


• Surrender of the things I am called to and love to do—teach and preach and write and minister to others. Forfeiting forever certain opportunities to serve God. Years of training and experience in ministry wasted for a long period of time, maybe permanently.


• Being haunted by my sin as I look in the eyes of others, and having it all dredged up again wherever I go and whatever I do.


• Undermining the hard work and prayers of others by saying to our community "this is a hypocrite—who can take seriously anything he and his church have said and done?"


• Laughter, rejoicing and blasphemous smugness by those who disrespect God and the church (2 Samuel 12:14).


• Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the Enemy of God.


• Heaping judgment and endless problems on the person I would have committed adultery with.


• Possible diseases (pain, constant reminder to me and my wife, possible infection of Nanci, or in the case of AIDS, even causing her death, as well as mine.)


• Possible pregnancy, with its personal and financial implications.


• Loss of self-respect, discrediting my own name, and invoking shame and lifelong embarrassment upon myself.

Randy's list is good. Be afraid. Be very afraid. But there is also a need to put before us the positive effects of guarding ourselves in this way.

1. The blessings of years of faithfulness to my spouse that brings a trust that cannot be found in any other manner. Just think of looking at a photo album after 40 years of marriage, without twinges of guilt or feelings of what might have been. Rather, think of being reminded of years of faithful commitment that is like looking with satisfaction in seeing a tree you planted growing three feet across and fifty feet tall.

2. Children who have a model of faithfulness, who can find no excuse in mom or dad for their own adultery.

3. A thousand small blessings of a touch on the hand or look across the room that says "I love you" and "I trust you". Small inside jokes that only come from deep trust and intimacy.

4. A life of serving Christ together as a model for many to follow.

5. Never having to try to repair the bond of sexual intimacy. Think of never having to worry about trying to overcome the deepest hurts possible. Think of never having to have brain surgery. How much better to never have to undergo major surgery on your relationship with your spouse!

6. People who engage in adultery see it as a freedom of sorts. What a massive lie from the pit of hell! In reality it is a brutal prison with its own torture chamber. Real freedom is in being faithful to one spouse so long as you both shall live. Only in marital faithfulness is there freedom to know joy and trust and the blessings of God. Marriage is never without troubles, but there are enough troubles without the nuclear explosion of adultery.

7. God designed sex for marriage alone. If it is put anywhere else but marriage it destroys. I love the illustration of a fire. A fire is a great thing if it is kept in the fireplace. But if you build a fire in the middle of the floor of your living room, it will burn down the house. Keep it in the fireplace and it will be a glorious thing. It will bring both warmth, light and a wonderful atmosphere.

8. Ultimately we are faithful to our spouses because it honors Christ. For husbands we witness to Christ's love for the church, and wives witness to the church's commitment Christ. What a glorious privilege that will bring with it eternal rewards.

Because of sin we need both fear and joy set before us as motivations to faithfulness.

Take this opportunity to pray for your own commitment to your spouse, and for one other couple and their faithfulness. And do something special for your wife or husband today that will say to them, "I am committed to you and I love you, for Christ's sake." Maybe a note or a breakfast in bed or just a hug in the kitchen.

From the End of the Road to the Ends of the Earth

What a great weekend we had to hear about how the good news of Jesus Christ is changing the nations - specifically Hungary and Albania. We had the privilege of having the Grant Olson Family for the weekend. Grant and his wife Deb and their children Mandi, Lydia, Anna and William work with Campus Crusade for Christ in Hungary and they brought with them Kajdis (pronounced "Kay- dis"). Kajdis is an Albanian national working in Hungary who also is hoping to plant a church in his native Albania.

If you would like to help Kajdis, he is looking to raise $1,000.00 a month for his missionary efforts. Contact Grant Olson at grant.olson@ccci.org to find out more about helping. Kajdis is looking to plant a church in a area of about 1 million people who are without any gospel witness. Find out more on the Olson's ministry at www.OlsonUpdate.com

Be a Dad for Jesus' Sake

This Father's Day let me just give an encouragement to those who are dads and are sinners- from one who is both. I am joyfully a dad and regretfully still a sinner. God has called imperfect men to lead imperfect wives and imperfect children, but he has called us to do this the power of His grace. He supplies the wisdom in his Word and his Spirit gives the power to apply the Word to both ourselves and our families. What we do imperfectly He is somehow directing it perfectly in his sovereign plan. Take courage then and lead, be humble when you fail and ask God to bless you in both your strengths and your weaknesses. Remember your responsibility is great, but your God is greater. Know that He loves your wife and family more than you and he has placed "imperfect" you to lead and shepherd them. It was not a mistake that He chose a sinful man to lead as a husband and father. Rather it was his plan to cause his grace to be glorified in your weaknesses.

This never excuses our weaknesses, but it gives us confidence to lead with great humility, fear and a great sense of calling.

If you are dad who has been saved by grace alone all through the work of Christ alone here is a Father's Day prayer for you:

God, may you give wisdom to those who are fathers
Cause us to be faithful men, though we still fall
Grant to us tongues that speak wisdom
Give to us words that heal rather than wound
May our corrections be firm but gentle
Supply courage to face down temptations
Stiffen our spines to lead in uncertain times
Grant tenderness to listen to broken hearts and discouragements
May we be sources of laughter and song in our homes
Let us teach our children warmly and not woodenly
Help us to love our wives in a way that honors the Cross
Make us fearless in the face of evil
Willing to make great sacrifices for the gospel at home, church and world
Oh let us be men who would die a thousand deaths for the glory of our justification in Christ
Let us teach our children well the message of Christ crucified as the only remedy for our sin
Supply us with great patience and careful instruction.
Let us imitate the strengths of our own fathers and avoid their weaknesses
May our children be given grace to rise above our own failings
Make us good and quick repenters
Give us sons and daughters who fear nothing but God,
Who love all that is Christ-centered
And whose blazing passion is to find their great joy in God and not in the trinkets of this world
May they long to be found in Christ not having a righteousness of their own, but that which comes completely from Christ on the basis of faith.
May both we, our wives and our children be faithful unto death or until Jesus Christ returns. Amen