God's people will reign with Him on the new earth forever. An angel was speaking to Daniel and said this: "But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever." 7:18 We have a lot to look forward to. Heaven will not be a place that we'll go to in a disembodied state. We will have full functioning bodies. We will work and it'll be great.
What is your view on heaven?
The heaven we go to when we die is a place without suffering, but it is not the place where we'll live forever. Our eternal home, where God will come down to dwell among his people, is called the New Earth.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
Someone asked me if I believed in a woman's freedom and her right to choose. I thought about it. The proabortion group assumes by that question that those who favor abortion do not want a woman's freedom. The opposite it true. I have found that abortion actually imprisons a woman. It takes away her freedom. She becomes a prisoner in her own mind. Chains of unresolved memory hold her. Yes, I do believe in a woman's freedom - true freedom.
Baby Blues
I fell asleep last night with my 2 year old still being awake - big mistake. I woke up with pen mark all over my arm. (and she was covered in ink as well) When I saw the pen marks I thought, "I have another story about my 2 year old. -oh goodie. I thought of the Thessolonians. They emulated Paul and became an example of the power of the Holy Spirit working in them. They had a story and Paul loved to tell it. What's your show n tell - concerning Jesus working in you? I'd love hear your stories.
Kelly Patterson is a Counselor and a Pastor for Restored Life Outreach in Rapid City. She specializes in working with victims of sexual abuse/assault.
Much publicity has been given to the idea that rape/incest victims need and want abortion. From my experience, this is simply not true. In fact, most victims of rape/incest do not agree with abortion.
As many politicians and organizations have presumed to speak for the victims of rape/incest, I wish to address this issue from a very personal perspective, both as a sexual abuse counselor and as a victim of rape. I know and understand the devastation of this crime of violence against the innocent victims. As a rape survivor, I abhor violence against any innocent human being. And who is more innocent than the unborn baby?
I have worked with hundreds of victims of rape/incest. Of the women I know that conceived in their abuse, all have reported that the child was the one beautiful thing that came from such an ugly experience and actually helped in their healing process. For the incest victims, the pregnancy was the thing that finally exposed what was being done to them in their homes.
The issue of abortion comes up frequently in counseling, not because the client became pregnant from rape/incest, but because they have had abortions at other times in their life. Almost without exception, these women hold to the belief that the abortion hurt them much more than the abuse ever did.
The trauma from the abuse and the trauma from abortion are so similar. They experience the same nightmares, shock, hyper-vigilance, depression, etc. As one who has experienced post-traumatic stress after rape, I would never promote a procedure that has such a high rate of trauma after the event. To suggest abortion to someone who has just been the victim of a violent crime becomes a short-sighted solution. Promoting an abortion at this time, knowing that it will most likely compound her pain and prolong her healing, is simply wrong.
Also, statistically, only about 1% of abortions are from rape/incest. Of that 1%, many of those cases are statutory rape reported by young women under 17 who have consented to sex. Therefore, the actual abortions from forced rape/incest are far less than 1%.
There have been some attempts to make abortion an issue of equal rights. I absolutely believe in the equality between the sexes. If we indeed believe this, then we must look at the facts. For every abortion, there is a father somewhere. Since over 99% of these abortions come from consensual sex, then there is a male who should legitimately be included in this process. For those men who objectify women, abortion provides an easy way out of responsibility for their present actions and for any future actions.
I have counseled many post-abortive fathers and grandparents who are equally devastated. Though they undergo a very real sorrow, they are generally unrecognized in the grieving process. Often, they don’t know where to turn with their pain.
We are creating an epidemic in our country with post-abortive trauma. As with any traumatic experience, the pain of abortion needs to be dealt with in the open. While there has been some recognition of post-abortive trauma, it is generally minimized. It is time society acknowledges this detrimental aspect of the abortion issue.
There has also been the misrepresentation that there is no provision for a woman’s life that is in danger. Quoting from the sample ballot in South Dakota, it states that it would not prohibit "a licensed physician from performing a medical procedure to prevent the death of the pregnant woman”.
Therefore, with the passage of Referred Law 6, the woman’s life who is in danger is protected; the rape/incest victim is protected from further trauma; and the unborn baby is protected. I urge you, please vote YES on Referred Law 6!
Abortion sure does start a war. I haven't found one single person that is on the fence on this issue. They either are for it or against it. Seems to me the last time America had such a clear sided issue was that of slavery. What was the argument at that time? Blacks weren't human or they were subhuman. It's the same argument with abortion today. A fetus isn't human, is the argument. Of course blacks are human; Of course a baby fetus is a human.
Voting yes on this initiative – Referred Law 6 – will make certain that abortion is banned in South Dakota. Please join the effort to protect women and children from the dangers of abortion and vote yes on Referred Law 6.
The second initiative appearing on the ballot, Amendment C, states that only marriage between one man and one woman will be recognized in South Dakota.
A constitutional amendment is the only way to protect traditional
marriage from activist judges who want to redefine it to include
same-sex couples.
He would be 28. He would probally have a family and children. Yet he's not here and they are not here. Why? Because I and my wife made a decision to erase him off this earth. His name is RJ and I do think of him often with feelings of emptiness. I've been forgiven by my creator but it doesn't erase the act. My wife has been forgiven of the "procedure" but it doesn't erase the pain - only he was erased. My older daughter has lived under the shadow of, "I wasn't the oldest, yet I lived in that position." Someone's husband was erased. Someone's older brother was erased. My son was erased. He was aborted.
