Important Takeaways:
- The topic of abortion is very personal to me—not just because I am a pastor, but because I myself was not planned. I was conceived as a result of a one-night stand, and could have become another abortion statistic. Thankfully, that did not happen.
- God Planned Our Lives Before Birth
- Though it took me a while to discover it, my life was planned by God:
- Psalm 139:13–16 KJV – “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
- Jeremiah 1:5 KJV – “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
- Notice that God says, I formed you in your mother’s womb. God doesn’t say, I waited until you were born to have a plan for you, because you were not yet really a human, but only a mass of tissue.
- Each child is created by God and is granted the gift of life at conception
- God has a plan for every single baby conceived, regardless of the circumstances. There is no such thing as an illegitimate child. Illegitimate parents, perhaps, but not children.
- We read Paul’s words in Galatians, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace” (1:15)
- Since the passing of Roe v. Wade in the early 1970s, an estimated 63 million+ babies have been aborted.
- The abortion industry creates revenue in excess of $4 billion in the United States alone.
- Despite the fact that Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, many states have continued this practice, under the banner of “woman’s rights.” The truth is that abortion takes the life of an innocent child in the womb. It is, plainly speaking, murder.
- I think one of the reasons abortion has persisted is because we are so desensitized to murder. Our culture today is awash in violence. Everywhere we look, we see it: on our television screens, in theaters, in music, and in video games. But it’s sin. It’s the Sixth Commandment: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
- Our Pro-Life Role as Christians
- With all the emotion and passion about this topic, let’s do everything we can to help any woman who finds herself pregnant to make the right decisions, so she doesn’t have to struggle with the aftermath of a wrong choice.
- Let’s also do everything we can to care for families who need it. Caring for moms and children should be a priority of the Church more than ever before.
- To refrain from voting is irresponsible and bad stewardship. Scripture tells us, “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17 NKJV). We should vote for the candidates and policies that best reflect the values we find in Scripture, and that includes voting pro-life.
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Important Takeaways:
- Greg Laurie lists 3 possible reasons why the US isn’t mentioned in End Times prophecy
- Harvest Christian Fellowship Pastor Greg Laurie offered a few possible reasons why the United States is not mentioned in the New Testament book of Revelation.
- After noting that the “two superpowers” mentioned as fighting at Armageddon are “the kings of the east and the forces of the Antichrist,” Laurie asked, “Where is the United States of America in all of this?” he said. “Now, some people will say they know Scriptures that identify America in the End Times scenario. I don’t find anything of the kind. You can guess, but I don’t think there’s anything that’s certain.”
- Laurie then listed a few possible reasons why the U.S. goes unmentioned, the first of which was that “maybe we’re not mentioned because our country is decimated in a nuclear attack.”
- Laurie then read from 2 Peter 3, which says in part that “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
- “Horrible,” said Laurie. “We think of these Maui wildfires and how quickly they spread. To go from paradise to horror in just moments. Terrifying, horrible thing.”
- “Is [2 Peter 3] a description of nuclear war? It could be, because you look at the mass devastation that happens in the book of Revelation. In many ways, it matches what is called a ‘nuclear winter.’
- The second possibility, according to Laurie, is that “we simply decline as a world power,” explaining that “every nation has a shelf life, every nation has a beginning, a middle, and an end.”
- “The glory of Greece was eclipsed after 268 years. Mighty Rome ruled for nine centuries. America is 247 years old and counting,” continued Laurie. “So, maybe we just come to the end of our reign as a superpower, and we fade from the scene.”
- The third possibility outlined by Laurie, which he described as his “favorite option,” was that maybe the United States might not be present “because a great revival takes place.”
- “If we had a spiritual awakening or a series of spiritual awakenings, and thousands and thousands, and millions and millions of Americans came to Christ and were all following Christ and then the rapture happens, that would explain a lot,” he said.
- “Even without a revival, when the rapture happens, people are going to disappear. Think about this, people in the military, people in law enforcement, people in the medical field, people in every field you can think of.”
- Laurie said that since “a lot of people disappear,” this situation “could shut the nation down over night,” adding that he prayed that “we do have an awakening” in the U.S.
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Luke 8:13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
Important Takeaways:
- Greg Laurie Reveals the Simple Statement That Snapped Him Out of a Life of Confusion — and Led Him to Accept Christ
- Laurie also spoke about the 1960s and 1970s, noting that “America was in flames in the ‘60s. Between “upheaval, turmoil, riots in the streets, young men coming home in body bags from Vietnam … there was such chaos in the culture”
- A 1966 Time Magazine cover read, “Is God Dead?”
- “I was a 17-year-old kid. I was using drugs every single day. I was going in the wrong direction in my life,” he said, noting that he stumbled upon a Bible study one day on the lawn of his high school, and it changed everything. “I sat down close enough to eavesdrop on what was being said.”
- That’s when Laurie heard someone proclaim a truth that stuck with him: “Jesus said, ‘You’re for me, or against me.’” The statement struck him and he wondered, “Am I against Jesus?”
- Decades later, he’s now personally led thousands of people to Christ, preaching to young people and adults, alike.
- “Let’s not sacrifice the gospel for coolness … what this generation needs is not more cool stuff, they need Jesus Christ,” Laurie said. “They need to know what the Bible says and they need it in a way that they can understand it.”
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