TEXAS MONTHLY Reports!

TEXAS MONTHLY is not a pro-life magazine. However, to their credit, they offered a very detailed account of the experience Abby Johnson claimed pricked her conscious and motivated her to resign from her position as director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas. In covering Johnson’s decision to walk away from her job, TEXAS MONTHLY questioned Johnson's integrity.

Johnson's account states that on September 26, 2010, she assisted a doctor, in her Planned Parenthood clinic, who performed an abortion on a woman who was thirteen weeks pregnant. The following is quoted directly from the TEXAS MONTHLY text:

The doctor asked Johnson to hold an ultrasound transducer to the woman's stomach as he performed the operation. Johnson [said] she had never seen this done before, since ultrasound machines are not commonly used for first-trimester abortions, which make up the vast majority of abortions done in most clinics. What she witnessed on the ultrasound monitor, she said, horrified her. The fetus seemed to be moving away from the doctor’s probe, which was clearly visible on the screen as it entered the patient's uterus. Johnson thought of all the patients, whom she had told that their fetuses wouldn't feel anything during the procedure. Then, as Johnson watched, the doctor turned on the suction....

For about the past decade, the only thing I have asked of the media is to be as descriptive reporting the facts of abortion, particularly in regard to the procedures of abortion, as it is with reporting events of war. In this instance, I believe TEXAS MONTHLY has done so. I applaud the editors for this.

FOX Proves Yet Again To Be Fair and Balanced

Unrelated to the previous story (although somewhat ironic), I saw where an episode of the FOX NETWORK’S program, THE FAMILY GUY, took a cruel shot at Sarah Palin’s son, Trig. Trig, in case you do not remember, has Down’s syndrome.

In the episode, a character in high school develops a crush on a girl, who has Down’s syndrome. While on a date, he asks the girl what her parents do for a living. The girl answers, “My dad’s an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.”

This is the most egregious slam on a public figure’s child that I can remember since Saturday Night Live lampooned Chelsea Clinton in a skit when she was in Junior High. It proves FOX has the ability to insult people on both sides of the political spectrum.

I don’t want to tell anyone how to vote, but I do believe that networks should show at least a shred of decency toward politicians, even one who is an atheist, Muslim, and communist. To start, they should leave the children alone.

And here is free advice to politicians. As NBC and FOX have demonstrated, never suffer under the illusion that the media wants to be your friend. No matter how much they share your views, they will gladly “throw your children under the bus” for a good rating. Ultimately, a network’s first priority is not sharing truth or presenting art to the general public. These may be desires; but the ultimate priority of a network is to make money.

David, How Could You?

Last Sunday morning, I preached on David’s sin with Bathsheba. While I only looked at II Samuel 11, our adult classes included chapter 12, as well. The thing that struck me about David’s sin was the Bible’s emphasis on David’s abuse of power. That seems to provide the basis for the parable Nathan offered David when he confronted David with David’s sin.

Connected to this thought, one of our elders, J. B. Berry, told me Monday morning that his class discussed how murder and adultery were symptoms of a deeper issue—David’s had violated his relationship with God. In light of David’s beautiful prayer to God in II Samuel 7 ("Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”), who is this man who so callously disregard’s his benefactor?

I think J. B. and his class were spot-on. As bad as sexual sins and sins of murder are—and they are bad—the story of David and Bathsheba is not a story emphasizing the importance of sexual purity or violence-free lives. It is the story of man who utterly disregarded the grace God had extended to him—a sin we are daily susceptible to as well.

It’s Monday, but Sunday’s Coming!

“The decision of the judges is final.”

After much consideration and study, I have decided change move my weekly blog to Mondays. [I also prayed about this, but I am not sure I have enough readers for the Lord to care. :) ]

To those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, or who drop in from time-to-time, thanks, and I hope you will continue to read on Mondays. And for those of you who read my daily blog, TELL ME A STORY, I will continue to post the stories on a daily basis—Monday through Friday.

My next posting of this weekly blog will be Monday, March 1, after I return from Washington D. C. Who knows, maybe I will have some wonderful adventures to report such as the President’s request to consult with me privately in the oval office, Congress’s petition that I open a session in prayer, and the Chief Justice’s appealing to me to meet with him off-the-record.

Nah.


Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I have managed to catch some of the Olympic Games and have enjoyed them.

2. Best wishes to Tiger Woods. I don’t know how to improve his apology. I hope he is able to continue his process of repentance. As he himself stated, what matters now are his actions.

3. Congratulations to the ETCA Girls’ Basketball Team. They lost last Saturday in their playoff game with Dallas Covenant. (That WAS the team that defeated another school last year 100-0.) ETCA played well. Wait until next year!

4. So long, Jeff Christian. We’ll miss you here in Tyler, but I know you will do a great work in Houston.

5. Tomorrow, Lord willing, I leave with my daughter, Abby, for an ETCA class trip to Washington D. C. I am thrilled to be going. In honor of my trip, each story in my daily blog TELL ME A STORY will be about a U. S. president.


Have a great weekend!