Good Thursday morning, my friends.
If you have never seen the movie "Amazing Grace", I highly recommend it. If you have seen it, you should watch it again. This movie is about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn "Amazing Grace". The film also recounts the experiences of John Newton as a crewman on a slave ship and subsequent religious conversion, which inspired his writing of the poem later used in the hymn. (You can see a trailer here. I have actually watched the whole movie on YouTube.)
After watching this movie I wondered what is the "slavery" issue of our day - the issue that many (even most) people see as perfectly acceptable, yet is contemptible in the eyes of God. One thing came immediately to mind: Abortion. Hopefully, prayerfully, our society will look back in the not to distant future and think "how could anyone have possibly thought that it was OK to kill a child in the womb?", just as we look in horror at our history of slavery.
Lift this prayer today, and be brave enough to ask God if there is more you need to be doing about this scourge.
(One fantastic organization in the Ottawa area that does much to help women with unexpected pregnancies is First Place Options. They have a Ladies Chocolate Extravaganza event coming up on Thursday, March 7 at The Metropolitan Bible Church. My lovely wife, Rosemary, and a number of other ladies on this mailing list are already registered to attend. If you would like to join them, please click here for more information and registration or contact me and I will connect you with Rosemary. The event is free and is a great opportunity to invite your "non-church" friends to join you for a night out.)
Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours,
Bruce
Father, when You took the dust of the ground to form man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life You had a purpose for his existence on earth.
And You have a purpose for all human life.
Forgive us for assuming that we know more than You, the Creator of life, in willfully choosing whether one is allowed to live and another is destined to die before one breathes his or her first independent breath.
We thank You for the millions who take a visible stand for life, based not on a popular theme but on truths established in Your Holy Word.
Help us to be vigilant in doing what is right and good in Your sight, even when it is inconvenient and costly to our personal lives.
In our disposable society help us never to dispose of human life that You created or to dispose of truths that You intended for us to live by in favor of a political, intellectual, or financial agenda.
We pray for those in the abortion industry who are motivated by financial gain by the taking of innocent life much like Judas who took the 30 pieces of silver as He handed Jesus over to those who would crucify Him.
Like Joseph's brothers who took the 20 pieces of silver in exchange for selling their innocent brother.
Father, we look to You in faith asking that You speak to the indifferent and bigoted hearts that cause innocent lives to be slaughtered every minute of every day.
We pray this impassioned prayer in the name of Jesus who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Like Joseph's brothers who took the 20 pieces of silver in exchange for selling their innocent brother.
Father, we look to You in faith asking that You speak to the indifferent and bigoted hearts that cause innocent lives to be slaughtered every minute of every day.
We pray this impassioned prayer in the name of Jesus who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Amen.
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